Planters Ride on tree planter

[andrewj]

hi guys - I am going to be planting several acres in pines in january. my county will rent me a tree planter which has a coulter, then a shank, then wheels for covering the hole. I am going to a lot of trouble to get help for a weekend to put 2500 trees in the ground.

What I wnt to know is do these pull behind planters really work or should I just use dibble sticks? any information will be helpful.

 

[TCowner]

I used one on a couple of occasions over the past twenty years planting around 3500 conifers and 1000 black walnut. It worked very well in soil that had been previously tilled. The planter I used had a press wheel similar to that used on a corn planter and it packed the loose soil quite well around the roots of the seedlings.

I also planted in some sod and it worked OK but I noticed I didn't get a uniform planting depth and the press wheel didn't pack the soil as well. The survival rate was not as good using the tree planter in sod although there could have been other factors as well.

If you have a lot of trees to plant then I think it is a good trade off between tree survival and the labor required to plant the trees. Using a planting bar or spade and manually planting each seedling probably does the best job of getting the seedling roots in good contact with soil but it is labor intensive. I planted 500 like this a few years ago and didn't think I would ever walk again. It is tough on the back.

 

[johan3400]

Use the tree planter. They work well and save back and time. Follow up care will help with survival of the seedlings. My job as RC for the Soil and Water Conservation district puts me in charge of one of those planters and they do work.

 

[DrRod]

Christmas tree growers use these all the time. While I haven't, I've seen them at work and heard the discussions of them.

So what I've heard is that you need someone walking behind them to tramp the soil around the tree. If you put the seedling in a little deep you that guy can also pull it up ever so slightly so that the roots will hang down straighter -- otherwise you'll get a lot of roots with a sweep back effect, which isn't a big problem but isn't optimal.

Also, you need to prep the ground well -- generally plow and disk it so that the planter will cut-in consistently and the dirt will fall back around the tree. Turf tends to fight back during planting.

Plus, consider trimming the roots (I use a plain old set of hedge trimmers on each bundle) as these vary a great deal in seedlings. You'll probably get better performance with the planter if you don't have long stringers handing out.

One other thought to share (maybe you don't need this but I'll offer it just in case). Many trees die because of their handling in the field. You tend to get busy and pull out trees and move them around and without noticing it you've let a bundle of them dry out before planting. So think through how you will manage the planting stock in the field and feed them to the planter to avoid this.

Best of luck on your project.

 

[DrRod]

Also -- I've found dibble sticks, planting bars and the like useless in anything more than sand. They're very hard to punch through turf and the hole just sticks open. When you go to lever it closed there's no way to ensure that the roots are covered. Lots of times you get an hour-glass shaped hole that lets the roots dry out.

I plant on old hay fields and don't plow or disk -- so I use a one-man post hole digger with a 4" auger. After marking the grid on the grass, I just walk through boring holes. It can be tough going if there are lots of roots and rocks, and it does take some muscle to control. Wouldn't want to do 2500 trees that way -- most I've done is 500 at a time that way.

But my survival rate is above 95%. I attribute this in large part to using fresh loose dirt at the bottom of the hole. I have a cart full of very gritty soil and dump a scoopful into the hole before backfilling. The dirt that came out of the hole tends to be clumpy and won't neatly fall to the bottom. So I ensure good coverage with the sandy stuff and then fill the rest with the clumpy stuff.

 

[beenthere]

I've done both ways. 6 years ago, the spring after I retired, I hand planted 3500 oak, pine, and spruce. Just worked steady at it, and about 6 days had them done. Good survival. The fall before I dragged a sub soiler tooth bar where I wanted to plant, and that slit (although closed) cut the sod and helped plant in the spring. The rows then helped keep the trees lined up for later spraying for competition and for mowing around them. Other than that, I'd rather not have the trees in rows.
If using the planter, be sure to have someone that can bend over at the waist while seated. I tried that and it didn't work for me. I'm not fat, but still enough spare tire to make bending difficult, if I also wanted to breath too.
The suggestion to have someone walking behind to 'step' the trees in is a good one if in sod. The packing wheels sometimes don't quite get a good pack around the roots.
Very quickly, the exposed roots can 'air dry' enough to kill the tree. Biggest reason for non-survival, IMO. There is a 'dip' that will help keep the roots from air drying, that you might ask about.
Also, the guy walking behind and 'heeling in' can give the planter instructions to 'plant' the next tree to keep the spacing what you want. Otherwise, its hard to ride the planter and not get them too far apart or too close together.
Having enough tractor to pull the planter is a consideration as well.

 

[Ford850]

I've planted a couple of thousand with a dibble bar, over a couple of years. As others have said the bars are difficult if the soil is sticky. My survival rate is relatively high though, and I just stick them in and forget them. I have noticed sod really slows the growth of trees over that first year or 2. Stunts them bad. Those that established themselves for a year and then sod came in around them seem to do fine. For example pines that were planted in sod are still the size as when planted 8 months ago, but look less healthy. Those planted in weeds or bare ground are double that size and are huge. It's amazing how well they do with so little care though.