Dug out and pulled down tree

BobRip · Jul 18, 2007

I had a tree in my back yard that was dying and also blocking my driveway a little. It was about a foot in diamter. Usually I cut them down and then grind the stump. This time I decided to dig it out while pulling on the tree with a rope and hi lift jack. I tightened the jack and put about 2000 pounds of tension on the rope (just a guess on the tension). I used the stump grinder to cut the large roots around the tree and then used the minihoe to dig a trench around the tree. I had to go about 18 inches down on all sides and then a crack started in the dirt on the back side. I then pushed on the back side of the tree with the minihoe and the tree went down. No it was not quite that easy, it took about two hours. See picture of the completed job. Sorry, I did not get in progress pictures.

ldabe · Jul 19, 2007

Good job ;~)

But you have some dry nasty looking dirt in VA.

BobRip · Jul 19, 2007

ldabe said:
Good job ;~)

But you have some dry nasty looking dirt in VA.

Yes, it is dry. I finally found a little dampness about 2 feet down. Of course the tree was pulling up some of the moisture. We could sure use some rain.

Edit: The ground was very hard and it was a good test of the minihoe. This was one time that I apprecated the narrow 8 inch bucket.

Grrrr · Jul 19, 2007

Looks like you got the tree out good. Bit of a mess on the lawn though! That sure is some strange soil!

cqaigy2 · Jul 22, 2007

That is some nasty looking soil. Looks like decompose shale.

BobRip · Jul 22, 2007

cqaigy2 said:
That is some nasty looking soil. Looks like decompose shale.

The soil is mostly red clay, but it is very dry now. If it had been wet, I think the digging would have been a lot easier.

I have filled the hole in and smoothed it out. Looks OK now, but it will probably settle and then I will add some gravel. It is on my driveway back to the large shed behind the house. Not a lot of traffic, mostly just the PT.