Sometimes, you just need a bigger machine...

[dbdartman]

So I had a friend of mine over today with his machine to get a pile of of old foundation & a few root balls removed.

Pic #1: Meet my friend Ray. I've known him more than 40 years.

Pic #2-3: Ray's machine is just a little bigger than my JD 4400.

Pic #4: Now that's a grapple! Took about 15 minutes of labor to get it mounted. The pins are something like 3" diameter.

Pic #5: This is a triple root ball, around 6' in diameter!

I even got a minute or two of seat time on the Komatsu. Wow! Talk about uncoordinated! After running the JD back hoe, the SAE controls felt so foreign. Needless to say, Ray didn't have anything good to say about the JD hoe controls (& personally, I think he's right).

Anyway... it was a good day. The "pile" is finally gone, the trees along the lot line are gone, a friend now has a good truck load of firewood, & I'll have a much easier time mowing the fields!

Pic #6-7: Found these "things" on the one cedar we removed. The pics are not that great, but they are brown "things" about 1" diameter, & were pretty high up on the cedar. Anyone have any idea what they are, or what made them?

 

[ToadHill]

What you found is Gall. It can get bad enough to kill many trees.

 

[dbdartman]

Gall, eh? That may explain why half the trees there were half dead.

Well, these trees are about 3-400 ft from the house, & maybe a little further from any trees I'm concerned about. Now, the neighbor's trees... that could be a problem, for them.

I guess it's good I didn't find Gaul, huh? Would have made me wonder how it ended up in central NJ. (sorry for the attempted bad joke)

 

[Racer71]

Looks like the right tool for the job!

 

[EddieWalker]

Awesome grapple on there!!!!! Man would I love something like that.

Thanks for sharing,
Eddie

 

[dbdartman]

Fresh pixels! Get 'em while they're got!

Ray was back this morning, got the machine loaded, & it's now on route to Camden (yes, that Camden ) for a house demo. Anyway, here's the machine loaded on the low-boy, grapple still attached with the bucket in there along with a 16" I-beam about 10' long (the I-beam was used for final grading).

 

[Slacker]

What you found was a juniper Gall. It causes diseases of apple tree's. Google Cedar apple rust "CAR" for a full description. If you have any apple tree's in the area it'll eventually kill them. It doesn't effect the cedar tree's that it grows on.
Here is a pic I took of some I picked off my cedars. They need to be burned not just thrown on the ground.

 

[dbdartman]

Oh my! THE ALIEN SEED PODS HAVE LANDED!

Thanx for the info Slacker. There are no apples around here (the nearest apple orchard I know of is 7-8 miles away).

 

[WTA]

I guess I know now why my apple tree died. We have these all over a big cedar outside the back door.
What makes them kill apples and does it effect pears or other fruit trees?

 

[Slacker]

I guess I know now why my apple tree died. We have these all over a big cedar outside the back door.
What makes them kill apples and does it effect pears or other fruit trees?

Google "Cedar gall" of cedar apple rust (CAR) for all the details.