transplanting trees with backhoe

[JimMorrissey]

I've got an opportunity to transplant a number of fine fir trees in the near future. The trees currently live on a friends property and he offered them to me before he chips them. They're the remains of an old Christmas tree farm.

My question is.....how am I going to get them successfully transplanted? I've got a backhoe with a 24" bucket and a quick attach front end. I'd rather not have to buy anything like an expensive tree spade. Will the hoe be too blunt an object to successfully remove the tree and root system? My gut says yes, but I'd love to hear some success stories using a hoe to transplant trees.

I'm open to any suggestions.

The trees are about 4" in diameter and about 15' tall. The root ball if they were pulled with a spade would likely fit in a 44" basket and weigh roughly 1800lbs.

 

[RobS]

I think we're all going to need to know how big the trees are to give you all the help you need /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[JimMorrissey]

I updated my original post with the sizes. Forgot to add that little tidbit of info /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[RobS]

Ah, big trees!

I helped a bud move a shrub last summer with my backhoe. Trenched around four sides with the hoe leaving a square root ball intact. Dug a ramp affair on one of the sides then used the FEL to go under the whole thing. I got this from This Old House where they used the same technique for a MUCH larger tree. Took a full sized front loader to move theirs.

Trouble with this method is it's slow and you disrupt a lot of the surrounding soil /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Buck]

Jim,

I've tried all three methods. I have a neighbor with a XMass tree farm too.

Tree spade.
Pro=Speed.
Con= Survival of my tree spaded pines are poor. Why? Root ball depth less important in pines. Width is more important.

FEL with toothbar
Pro: Life of tree.
Con: Time.
Comment: make sure to get wide roots going horizontally. These roots will eventially keep the tree standing better in winter winds than tree spaded trees. I find I can take the braces off my trees transpanted earlier than the tree spaded trees.

If I were you and I had a backhoe on my CUT, I'd use the BH to outline the area to be picked up by the FEL.

The BH method alone is to tough for the wide area associated with a 15' pine. Difficult to transport.

 

[tawilson]

I'll be doing some of the same with my bh. One tidbit I picked up was to loosen the soil around the hole you dig for your tree. It helps the roots get established.

 

[Scozz]

I transplanted 6 white pines last summer using my backhoe. They were a small of 10' to a tall of 15'. 3-5" trunks I lost 3 of them. I think mostly due to lack of water though. They were transplanted about 500" from my house and watering them was a PIA. I'll bet if I had been more diligent the sucess would have been higher ... Scozz

 

[SPIKER]

I did this with my back hoe on my CUT 2 months back:

2 were 10+' tall and 3~4" trunk I dug reciever holes first and were too deep so my survival may not be god on these two. the smaller ones I didn't dig holes untill I had them there.

I used CUT hoe to dig around base (size of the branches outwards) and down about 2+ feet all way around & used FEL to pry em out. this wasn't so good as I should have dug deeper, tap root was broken on both of them this way. (experment anyhow moving em under high power lines where they were to be cut down)

I moved them 1/4 mile and in doing so lost a lot of dirt around outlaying roots. bad. and the deep dug holes were worse though as I couldn't back fil with out going onto stump. (likely these 2 will croke) dig hole shallower and fill (hump up) dirt around them to depth.)

anyhow moving them was the hardest part, need to get them into something to keep the dirt root ball intack

mark M

 

[JimMorrissey]

Buck,

I went back to the farm today to check out the situation in more detail. The trees are close together, so I'll have to eliminate the two trees to the sides of the one(s) I want. I'll start by digging a trench on the sides then scooping the "root ball" up with the loader....

My question is, how or what do I use to keep the soil intact and the ball from crumbling apart on the way home? I have to move these trees up onto a dump trailer, then transport them on a 4x4 trail (not too rough with some ruts), then transport them about 15 minutes north of the farm. It's not going to be easy. Any ideas on how to keep the ball intact, if I'm not using wire baskets? I don't think the large area cut by the bucket would fit in a basket anyway. Burlap maybe?....don't know how well that would hold up going that kind of distance over that kind of terrain.

I thinking about moving 12 or more 15'ers.

 

[WhyNot]

With that many tree's that big have you thought about hiring a landscaper with a spade mounted on a truck? I'm sure it would not be cheap but all you would have to do would be to mark the location of the tree's, go to work, come home and it would be done. Saving more time for "fun" spring chore's like mulching and raking gravel out of the grass.

 

[Jstpssng]

Landscapers use burlap, but spend time compacting the soil after they're wrapped to ensure the root ball stays intact. We used to tie the corners as tight as we could; pat the soil with our hands to compact it; then retie the burlap as tight as we could. For that size tree however it may be worthwhile to invest in a basket or 2, they could make your job a lot simpler.

As I'm sure you know, you'll want to dig the roots outside the drip line of the foliage; i.e, the radius of the root ball wants to be as big as that of the crown.

Good luck.

 

[JimMorrissey]

As Buck said.....a spade is not the best for conifers and I have heard the same from others. It's better to go wide and shallow, then narrow and deep. If a spade was the way to go I'd have them do it.

 

[EddieWalker]

We have allot of pines in my area, but I'm not sure what a fir is?? From what I'm told, it's very,very dificult to transplant a pine after it gets a few years old. They almost always die.

Is the soil in both places the same?

From the other posts, I'd really wonder if it's worth the effort to transpant them with very low odds of them living.

Before you start this, check with some nurseries or tree experts on the surviviablity of the species your dealing with.

Good luck,
Eddie

 

[JimMorrissey]

Just spoke with a local expert here in VT who moves spruce with his backhoe all the time. He has confirmed Buck's advice on going big and shallow. He quote was "if you have a tractor that can lift the tree and a backhoe, you'll be at least as well off, if not better than a tree spade". His advice was to line the bed of the trailer with a layer of dirt to make a cushion....then pack the trees in standing straight up (two by two wide). The limbs need to be tied back on each tree, then all the trees need to be tired together so they move as one mass or not at all. The tree in the front of the trailer need to be protected from the wind with some kind of plastic tarp. No burlap necessary /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif Looks like I'm going to have a go at it.

 

[JimMorrissey]

They're actually a mix of spruce and fir. Fir trees are what you envision when you think of the perfect Christmas tree. The needles are very delicate and soft. A spruce grows in higher elevations and has hard, prickly needles with sparse brances (simple description). Both these species transplant well if the soil conditions are right and water is available, which it is. I expect them to be reasonably successful. Water is the key and we have plenty of that in the northeast. ...especially on this property. I'll likely buid a berm and shallowly plant them up out of the wet areas. The guy I spoke with said the roots will grow to the water and stop when it gets too wet for them.

For similar trees of this size and number (20) I was quoted $8000 just for the trees, not to mention the time to install them. Looks like a good deal to me for free and definitely worth a weekend of labor.

 

[rswyan]

Year before last we decided to redo the area around our pool at the back of the house. One side of the area had 10'+ arborvitae and 5' juniper shrubs in two rows as a shield on the west side of the pool - about 10 to 12 in each row. These were really planted too close together to begin with and they were going to be in the way of renovations so we decided to relocate them.

The wife and I used the backhoe (junipers) and the FEL (arborvitae) to dig up and relocate about half of them before the weather turned too bad to do anymore. We didn't get real elaborate on trying to preserve and pack the rootballs - these were only being moved about 100' to 150' max - whatever we were able to pull up when we took them out was what we got.

Out of about 10 or 12, we have lost only two (or are losing) - one arborvitae and one juniper - both of them probably because they were not planted high enough above grade. The arborvitae went into an area that was probably wetter than ideal ..... the spot where the juniper went wasn't particularly wet, although it was in a shallow depression/swale that possibly was wetter than the area immediately surrounding it. I believe that had we planted them only a few inches higher we would not have lost any. FWIW.

 

[Ryno1]

The layer of dirt in the trailer that was mentioned will help. Something else, that might save some weight on the trailer if it becomes an issue, set a couple of trees in and pack straw in tightly between and around them. Drive slow and you'll be fine. Just remember don't put to much pressure on the trunks when lifting/moving them. In other words don't loop a chain around the trunk and use the fel to lift it.

 

[BigEddy]

I've moved several spruce and pine of that size successfully.

I dig all around, 3 feet down. With a spruce or fir - you have to dig outside the drip line. I then drop a cable in the "moat" and pull it under the root ball like a cheese cutter to cut off any remaining small roots and free up the root ball. I end up with a root ball the same dia as the branches and about 2 1/2' deep

I have an old tractor tire chain that I wrap around the root ball then I drag / lift the root ball up out of the hole onto an old sheet of plywood or similar on top of a pallet. The pallet makes the whole thing easier to move around after it is out, and reduces the loss of earth. Would make it easier to lift onto your trailer too.

I always plant my trees about 2" deeper than they came out, but without filling in around the trunk. I like to thing the depression will attract and retain a little extra water to give them a head start.

I have about the same survival rate as with planting 12" seedlings from the nursery.

 

[chatcher]

In addition to what everyone else has said, mark the north side of the tree before digging and plant it facing the same way. Sure, it may be just a crackpot theory, but what harm can it do? Seems to me to be one less way to potentially shock the tree.

 

[Buck]

Jim,

It feels like a carnage when digging up trees that size with your tractor. Roots broken, dirt falling, limbs a' cracken.

Of course all the pros will be telling you this and that, but it ain't gonna happen.

I frankly, don't have a clue how you'd burlap a root system that wide without screwing the tree up further.

If I had any advise it would be this: A 15' foot tree in your bucket is going to move about quite a bit -- especially on a trail. Plan on mounting the tree to your tractor with a rope.

Plan on not seeing in front of you. Have someone with you.

My experience has been good using the method you have decided to use. Despite broken branches, despite LOSING practically all the dirt on the roots of spruces and firs, the transplants look great 3 years later. You'd never know they were transplants!

Best of luck!