Need to move a tree

[ETD66SS]

The house I'm buying has a very skinny driveway, and I'll need to widen it and make some parking spaces.

There is a ~10ft tall ornamental tree that will have to be moved.

I have no idea what it is, and if I will kill it when trying to move it with my Ford 575D backhoe.

Here is a picture of what the leaves look like, and the seed pods that hang from the tree:

What kind of tree is it?

 

[MrDig]

Redbud

 

[radman1]

If you are going to move it, wait until it goes dormant after the first hard frost. If you really want to save it, have it moved with tree spade. Each inch diameter of trunk needs a spade diameter of 10-12 inches. My rule of thumb is about 5-10% tree loss moving with spade under good conditions. Pines more likely to survive than decidious. Big tree with backhoe is out of my league. I have moved small pines with backhoe and 24" bucket and picked them up in one scoop. They all survived with some TLC.

 

[ETD66SS]

Redbud

Thanks, looking on wikipedia, that's definitely it.

Judging by it's height, it's maybe 5-10 years old.

Too old & big to move???

I'm not gardener, so I'm thinking it will just get cut down. It looks like I'd probably just kill it. And I guess I don't care enough to pay for a tree spade to come & move it...

 

[radioman]

I noticed that if a tree has a spread out roots like pine and walnut, they tend to do well with backhoe transplant. Maples are another story- its the tree is less then 3 years old, it can be moved with backhoe, other wise anything over 10 years the tap roots is a bear to work with and try to save yourself without a tree spade.

 

[ETD66SS]

I noticed that if a tree has a spread out roots like pine and walnut, they tend to do well with backhoe transplant. Maples are another story- its the tree is less then 3 years old, it can be moved with backhoe, other wise anything over 10 years the tap roots is a bear to work with and try to save yourself without a tree spade.

Yeah, I have dug up many different kinds of stumps, and I can attest to the maples being a huge pain in the neck. I have a CAT 225 excavator, and a 40-50 year old Maple will give that excavator a good fight...

I suppose I can look into how much it would be to rent a tree spade.

The tree has about a 4"-6" diameter trunk, how big of a tree spade would I need? 4ft diameter tree spade?

This looks interesting:

http://easylink.playstream.com/nursery/VTS_01_1384K_Stream.wvx

 

[8934]

I had a number of large oak trees 10"-12" moved to my property when I purchased it from my old place. I hired a company with a tree spade for something like $75 per hour, but that was about 10 years ago. Guy was a expert operator and it was worth every penny. Only 1 died.

 

[radman1]

The tree has about a 4"-6" diameter trunk, how big of a tree spade would I need? 4ft diameter tree spade?

42-60" could probably do it. Rule of thumb is every 1" diameter of trunk requires 10-12" diameter of spade. Don't need to measure right at the ground. 6" or so up is fine. The bigger the spade the less risk. I have to hire someone to move 6 out of 12 ornamental pear trees this fall that line my driveway for street widening. I have a 36" skid steer and 42" trailer mounted spade. They are about 6-7" diameter. Guy is going to use a 96" spade which is a big spade mounted on a dually truck. Price is $200/hour. I will move them about 100' and move them back the fall 1 year later. They have a 66" spade which probably could have done it, but the risk of killing the tree increases and I have to move them twice.

 

[pat32rf]

After it goes dormant, dig around it with the hoe as deep as you can. Pull a cable under the root ball to cut any roots that remain going straight down. Sling the root ball very carefully and protect the trunk from damage while you carry it to the new predug hole.
If it doesn't work, plant a Tulip tree. They survive in southern Ontario/Pennsylvania and grow fast and clean.

 

[laurencen]

I have moved lots of trees with a 60 inch spade, if you are moving from to same soil conditions survival is prety good, if soil to sandy clay not so good but sandy clay to soil good, I have moved trees 4 to 5 inch diameter with 100% sucess, had a few 12 diameter and about 50% died within a year, going rate here for a 6 inch tree is $75.00 to load and $1.00 per Km

Good luck