Tree Planting, BH Mounted Roto-Tiller......??

[smstonypoint]

There is a tree planter that is used to plant seedlings for christmas trees, oak ,apple etc. Bought one for planting CRP set aside acerage. Used it on 10 acres with good success. Resembles a tobacco transplanter. 3pt hitch had a single disk followed by a ripper to open a small 3'' x 14'' deep trench. People had two steel seats and a basket to hold saplings. They were seated backwards as the tractor moved forwards. After the saplings were put in the trench two rubber tired wheels pinched the earth back together. Good soil was a key. Would post a picture but I am 104 miles from storage location. Renter has probably sold it for scrap.

Here's a link with photos of one- and two-seat transplanters.

Mechanical Transplanter Christmas Tree Transplanters

Steve

 

[Rickstir]

We planted 15 fruit trees in about an hour and a half using a 12 inch auger. Wouldn't do it any other way

 

[JohninCT]

I agree that if you are planting seedlings then you don't need a large 12" dia hole. Building a small auger out of a 2" dia piece of pipe with a purchased or fabricated tip and some kind of ripper teeth a foot or so up the length would be the kind of tool you need to use with your PHD. I'm thinking something like a few pointy pieces of angle iron welded to the sides of a pipe might do the trick.

 

[smiley]

Scotty,

I was thinking of a dibble or planting hoe.

SCFC Tree Planting Guide


IMO, you don't need an auger-sized hole for small seedlings. You are going to have to do a lot of back-filling with a shovel.


You might want to check with your local Cooperative Extension office. Cornell may have a publication on Christmas tree production.

Steve

Scotty,
I planted thousands of seedling pines when I was a kid a couple hundred miles east of you near Utica. We worked in pairs with one guy stepping on a skinny shovel to open the hole, the second one dropping in the seedling and compacting the soil with his heel while the shovel man paced off the next hole. It goes almost as fast as you can walk that way.
I think we could do a couple thousand a day with no problem.

I do think your idea of a hoe mounted tiller would be great for preparing sidehill flower gardens, landscaping etc.

 

[Taylortractornut]

The the reason why we used the larger auger with the disc was we were in heavy slash and super thick grass. this thing panned out a wide hole but it was shallow and the pilot was used to drop the seedling into,.

 

[257NH]

Get the seedlings ready,I'll be right over ;-)
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r287/257nh/tc40pics018.jpg

Brian

 

[Willl]

See, ya cant compete with that.

 

[Champy]

Not a expert either....... but we've planted 1000 Xmas Tree seedlings every Spring for the past 3-4 years.

First year - we did everything by hand - with shovels.
Second year - we tried using a hand-held power auger (Earthquake)
Years 3&4 - We use a two step process now.

Step 1 - Use a subsoiler to rip a nice straight line cut in the soil.
Step 2 - Use a Dibble-Bar to walk down the cut planting seedlings

The auger was too big; left a smooth sided hole that root bounds the trees and was really more time consuming than you could imagine. The dibble bar is easy to use and you can plant a seedling in 10 seconds, and then firmly "back-dibble / stomp" the top soil back into place preventing any air pockets from forming around the roots (which will kill the tree real quick). The subsoiler cuts a nice straight line and also provides a good soil rip for the roots to spread and grow. I considered buying a 3pt hitch planter, but for our needs it was just too much money for a weekend worth of use.


I've tried 3 different dibble-bars and this pointed one has been the best:
http://www.forestry-suppliers.com/product_pages/View_Catalog_Page.asp?mi=1592&title=JIM%2DGEM+OST+and+KBC+Dibble+Bars

 

[chips papaw]

heres and ideal i brought a 2 row tobacco setter for another project but i found out that it will plant more than tobacco plants.the state of ohio uses them to plants pine trees they will also plant any kind of plant even seed potatoes /straw berries just about anything.they are adjustable they make the rows drop plants stright up water and cover them up in one pass when you get to the end you have 2 rows done before you could carry the water you could add lig feralizer to water tank if wanted. this could make the job a lot easier and faster for you. i brought mine for 50.00 used it also works great on garden plants. you can also plant cabbage early because frost wont hurt cabbage and you can get 2 crops of cabbage per year.

 

[JFS2295]

I'll through my 2 cents in as I plant C-Trees as well. Ours is sandy soil.

First if there are no stumps I'll rototill about a month earlier then planting. With stumps (which are cut right to the ground) I'll just brushhog just before.

For clear ground, I lay a starting cord so I have a straight edge. I c-clamp a 2x4 to my FEL so I can have a dangling chain guide to the side for my 6' spacing to run the cord line. I place my PHD on the tractor and drag the auger on the ground to mark my row. Do the same for the next row, etc until I see the row starting to curve. Then it's time to move the cord over and re-establish straight. If it's a square field, I might criss-cross to establish my grid.

If the field has stumps from old growth, then I'll just be planting in the center of my rows and now need to mark out a grid at all.

If I'm planting seedlings it will be with a Dripple-Bar, and if I haven't established a marked grid, I'll drag a 1x2 6ft long with me so my tree spacing is consistent.

If I'm planting transplants, I'll use the PHD with either a 6" or 12" (mostly 6") auger to pre-dig the holes. If not fully gridded, I'll drag a chain behind just to the side of the auger so when the end reaches the last hole, I'm at my 6ft spacing. I can't imagine trying to use a hand help power auger. That would be work!