How big of a tree is too big to move?

[galaxie428]

I have a guy that lives close to me that bought a nursery that is going out of business. He is cleaning up the ground to farm and selling what trees he can. He has some really nice trees that are about 6-7 in dia at the base and probably 25 tall. How successful do you think I would be if I tried to move a few of them to my house? I have a backhoe I could dig them out with but I am not sure how far around them I would have to dig or even if they would live. But, he is only asking for $35/tree. He has several varieties of maple and oak.

 

[BeezFun]

I think you would not be too successful unless you had someone prune the roots first so you don't tear them with the backhoe. Tree care companies can do that. Even then it would be very hard to form an intact root ball.

You might also price the cost of having one of those tree movers do the job for you. The machine has 4 large blades that are driven at an angle around the base of the tree, forming a root ball. They travel with the tree in that position and place it in the ground. Those are very successful, we have one at work and they use it all the time to move trees for construction projects. They can move trees much larger than what you have.

 

[hayden]

For the tree to have a good chance of survival it needs to be removed with a spade. It's one of those giant things with fingers that plunge into the soil around the tree root ball and lift it out intact. Not exactly a homeowner piece of equipment.

But you might be able to hire someone, or the guy selling might be willing to hire someone to remove all the trees and wrap the balls in burlap. That way he'll be much more likely to sell the trees. As you are discovering, trees in the ground are hard to give away, let alone sell, because of the difficulty of transplanting.

 

[galaxie428]

The guy has a guy that has a spade on a skid steer but he can only do 3" dia trees. I am going to get a couple of those too but was hoping there was a way to move some of the larger ones. They are almost instant shade as opposed to waiting several years for the smaller ones to amount to anything.

 

[pacerron]

I have a guy that lives close to me that bought a nursery that is going out of business. He is cleaning up the ground to farm and selling what trees he can. He has some really nice trees that are about 6-7 in dia at the base and probably 25 tall. How successful do you think I would be if I tried to move a few of them to my house? I have a backhoe I could dig them out with but I am not sure how far around them I would have to dig or even if they would live. But, he is only asking for $35/tree. He has several varieties of maple and oak.

Price for the tree might not be bad depending on the shape and condition but
digging it with a backhoe is a lot of work and a lot of risk of killing the tree.
Your equipment could not lift a root ball big enough to keep the tree healthy even if you could keep it in a ball with the roots, in my opinion.
Check this article and then see how much it would really cost to have it done right before wasting money and a lot of time.
PM's Guide to Planting Mature Trees - Popular Mechanics

 

[plowindeeper]

Good tread I'm moving 50 trees from one piece of property to the other in a couple months I was going to go arround them a few times with a subsoiler and dig them out with the loader some are 10ft tall down to 2ft all are pin oaks

 

[Brack]

Since you're able to move a few of the smaller trees successfully be sure to consider the transplant shock effect on the larger, instant shade trees. The general rule of thumb is at least one year/inch diameter. IOW your smaller trees will probably catch and pass your larger trees and be healthier in the long run...especially those oaks with the tap roots.

 

[schoolsout]

don't dig them up until they go dormant...

 

[woodlandfarms]

I have seen very large california maples moved. The process takes years. They slowly dig around the tree, in the winter, going down a foot at a time, then they put a wooden planks in a box shape around the newly dug space. rinse and repeat until they are at quite deep. I have seen it go as much as 8 feet. they then dig under, placing the bottom of the box. Then a dozer or a large crane the the box out of the ground, the tree is transported by large truck and some bilionaire gets an endangered tree in its estates yard...

Carl

 

[EddieWalker]

What am I missing? You want to pay him $35 a tree to clear his land so he can farm it?

I'll sell you any tree on my land for $25!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Heck, I'll even make it a ten for one deal. You buy one tree, and you can have ten for the same price. Just dig them out, and get them off of my land. :laughing::laughing::laughing::laughing:



Eddie