3 point tree shovel for digging?

[ZAR2USA]

Curious if anyone either fabricated or bought a tree shovel to dig out and transplant large numbers of trees.

I'm familiar with excavators, hydraulic tree spades, and DynaDiggr.

I am in search of something faster than a tree spade for digging up and transplanting 500 trees.

Excavator/backhoe will work for preparing 500 new holes but not for digging out existing trees.

Hydraulic Tree Spade is too slow a process.

Anything else out there where you can use the tractors weight to to backup onto a 3pt steel blade to cut the tree roots and then reposition 3 or 4 more times?

I'm familiar with the Bobcat tree shovel/spade......I just don't own a skid steer but might have to rent it if there is nothing else close to it. Seems to be the most productive and economical way to dig up 500 trees, 12-20' height.

 

[Steppenwolfe]

I once had a similar bucket made for my backhoe. It was u shaped with a pointed cutting edge, had an Amish blacksmith make it for me. We could remove 2 1/2 to 3 " caliper shade trees in about 10 minutes right to the burlap, then wrap them up. Start researching the internet, you'll find something similar.

 

[Halftrack]

Check this website index and see if that is what you are looking for. They advertise it as a tree mover so they probably will warranty it if you bend it. Let us know what you find out. I have a similar device that I have not tried out yet. I will post some photos in a few days.

 

[ZAR2USA]

Thank you SteppenWolfe and Halftrack. Curious to see the pictures of your implements.

 

[mikehaugen]

http://attachmentsintl.com/wp-content/gallery/front-loader/landscape-tree-spade1.jpg

One of my old neighbors had a small nursery and had something like this on his tractor. I never got to see it in action so I can't tell you how well it worked.

 

[nybirdman]

Three point hitch's are not made for pushing,look up "stump buckets".If you don't have a FEL,it's not going to be much help tho.

 

[Halftrack]

Came across this on CL and brought it home. It was set up similar to the orange one in mikehaugen's post with an approximate 90 degree angle and additional brackets to support the angle. The seller thought it had been mounted on a front loader and he remembered breaking the single top cylinder using it. There are no markings on it but some of the brackets I removed would have supported a Cat II 3 pt. eagle claw hitch which I think was a Case exclusive.

My intended use is a root crop harvester so it won't be put to use for a while, although I will try it out this spring. working width 23", working depth 16", overall heigth 34" It looks like a universal design to be either pulled, pushed or front loader mount. If anyone has further info on it, please advise.

The seller called it a tree spade. I have seen similar devices called: tree lifter, root cutter, root spade, undercutter, root crop harvester, and any combination of those.

 

[ZAR2USA]

What is the hp rating of the tractor you are planning on using with it, hard packed or sandy soil?

 

[Halftrack]

I will try my TC 33 and go from there. I have access to larger tractors so we will see what works. My soil types vary but most are sandy loams.

I did some net digging and actually found the patent paperwork for this implement. It is listed as an "ADAIR DIGGER", early 1950's and is convertible from a front loader mount to a rear mount. All the nuts and bolts were square headed so the early 50's time line matches. The patent diagrams show a very elaborate rear hitch setup, due to the non-standardized hitches used by different companies. While sanding on it today, found lettering on the bottom side of the top "U". It had been painted over but appears to be "ADAIR TREE SLICER" "CHICAGO HEIGHTS, IL". Googled that and nothing. I wonder how many were actually made?

 

[Cat_Driver]

I went with this it's great for pouring concrete also into forms, tubes, etc.