how to get rid of a large tree root ball

[kenmac]

I wish I had gotten someone to take pics as I was pressure washing.I was covered from head to toe in mud.Like has been suggested.Get yourself a bucket of water to keep your glasses,shield,etc,clean.I used the red tip & the green to finish/ wash down.

 

[Egon]

No fire, darned.

Some lumber? If you have a good chainsaw you might consider doing your own milling right on site?? A "Beam Machine" attachment is inexpensive and will do the job for you.

If people in your area burn wood for heat there is a possibility of selling it for firewood.

On the root ball: cut the trunk short, use a come along to move it to convenient work area, use a hose to get it real wet and repeat every few days. The roots are usually soft so an axe should work for trimming them off.

 

[CliffordK]

No open fires
Perhaps you'll just have to build a barbeque pit around it

You may be able to sell or give the trunk away to a local hardwood resaw company. It looks like a lot of straight grain wood, as long as it isn't rotten in the center.

Chopping and power washing sounds like a better option all the time. If you get it clean, you might be able to saw the roots into firewood too.

Personally, for branches and stuff, I get my firewood down to about an inch or so. I don't mind the small wood, and it is the best way to use it up.

Hopefully you have a good wood chipper. If not, hunt for a good used one on Craigslist.

 

[keegs]

No fire, darned.

Some lumber? If you have a good chainsaw you might consider doing your own milling right on site?? A "Beam Machine" attachment is inexpensive and will do the job for you.

If people in your area burn wood for heat there is a possibility of selling it for firewood.

On the root ball: cut the trunk short, use a come along to move it to convenient work area, use a hose to get it real wet and repeat every few days. The roots are usually soft so an axe should work for trimming them off.

I burn about a cord a year here in NJ. We have a little Jotul in the TV room. Since the storm there's firewood all over the place down here and I have an old maple that has to come down as well. When it rains it pours I guess...

I was considering bringing some of it up to the Maine farm but Dave mentioned that's a no-no so I guess that won't work. As far as cutting it into boards, the spirit's willing but I'm not sure the wallet is. I could sell it as rounds I guess on CR, but my nephew will be looking for some to heat with next season..

 

[Gary Fowler]

Pressure was off the dirt from the roots, remove them with your best method for the rental available, then saw every thing up into firewood and stack it for next years use. Maybe rent a splitter for that big tree. Most folks likely will be paying someone to cut and haul away the blown down timber and next year be buying fire wood. You should get several cords from that tree.
Of course if someone could use the lumber, 30-40 cents a board foot is pretty cheap and that old growth tree looks to be free from knots so it would make some good lumber or sell it to a lumber company to haul it away for you. That option might take a while if every where has downed trees from the storm.

 

[Egbert]

Waking up an old thread ....

I've had a number of good-sized root balls scattered around the property for some while. Power washing the dirt away just sounded like way too much fun for me, so they sat. Considered burying them but that was going to be a monumental task for a tractor and fel. Even thought about paying to have then hauled away.

I've been building a few giant burn piles, cleaning up dead treed debris that has accumulated for years. So, I revisited the root ball issue. I found, for the balls that were under about 2500 lbs, I could lift them in my grapple and drop them from about 10 feet in the air. I was pleasantly surprised to see, after 6 or 7 drops, the vast majority of the dirt was broken away from the roots. I've stacked a number of these on the burn piles and expect to see them consumed or at least made much smaller and easier to dispose.