tree planting

[BrettFF205D]

Hello to all,
I'm new here and appreciate all the imput I've been reading. I have a lot of trees to plant and I want to know if there is an attachment that does this easily. Dig the holes, I mean. I have a 20 hp PTO, cat 3 hitch. thanks, brett w

 

[Alan L.]

A post hole digger comes in real handy. You can get one for $500 at Tractor Supply vs $5000 + for a backhoe.

 

[MossRoad]

How many trees are you talking? Post hole augers work pretty good for small amounts of trees. For really large amounts of trees, there are special 3pt hitch planting attachments that slit the soil open, the operator stuffs the tree in the hole, the machine packs the soil around the tree and them gives it a shot of herbicide to keep the weeds down for the year. You can plant several thousand trees a day with one of these and two people.

 

[beenthere]

More information will help. How many trees? What size are the trees? What kind of trees, and what kind of soil, conditions of the soil (sod, plowed, brush, logged, ??)?
Your comment on a 20 PTO HP tractor with a cat. 3 hitch was a little confusing. Maybe 3pt hitch of category 1 size?
You say "dig holes" , although the typical method of machine planting a lot of trees is to pull a planter which opens a trench or slit in the ground, that seedlings are laid into by someone riding on the planter. There are however methods of using a post hole auger on a 3pt to dig holes to plant trees into, especially if the trees to plant are larger than seedlings.
Does this narrow in on what you were asking?

 

[Turfman]

You're probably planting bare root trees that are small. For them a posthole auger works well. The bigger the hole the better, insure the roots are not curled or they will grow in a circle and girdle the tree. Also, if the soil is wet and clay be sure that you don't glaze the sides and make it like a clay pot. The roots won't penetrate the glazed clay wall. If that happens, just scrape up the sides a bit.

Kevin

 

[MossRoad]

Also, you might want to check out this thread <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.tractorbynet.com/cgi-bin/compact/showflat.pl?Cat=&Board=rural&Number=99206&page=&view=&sb=&o=&vc=1> tree farm </A> which has some links to pictures of a tree planter, as well as some great discussion on tree planting.

 

[billboe]

As many have suggested, it depends upon what size trees you are planting... I just did some transplanting and with the size the "root balls" I dug up, a backhoe was the only way to go... I'm not an expert, but, I believe you should have a bigger hole than the size of your balls... (root balls that is...)

 

[BrettFF205D]

Guys, thanks for all the help. Yes, I messed up what I typed. I have a 20 hp, PTO , and cat1, 3 pt hitch. I will be planting maybe 200 white pines I think. Can't tell yet exactly how many. They will be small/ root ball type. One other question, is it possible to pull trees out of existing woods and have them live after relocation? I'm talking bigger now. Probably red oak. This would be in place of having a nursery come out and put me in a large tree. Just wondering as I have lots of oaks in the woods, some easily accessible. thanks again, brett w

 

[DocHeb]

Oaks do not do well with transplanting since they have very deep central taproots.

 

[MossRoad]

The question isn't how deep are the roots, it's how deep are your pockets /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif. If you dig deep enough to not disturb the roots too badly and prune the tree properly you can transplant anything. I've transplanted several 5' and under oaks with good success. Haven't tried anything larger.

 

[Mosey]

I have transplanted various trees from the woods by hand with a shovel. The biggest I've done was a 7' maple. The trunk was about 1" in dia. It was in the center of the woods so it was tall and skinny. I have moved cedars, maples, poplars, and sycamores. I also moved a bradford pear from one part of my yard to another, it was about 6' tall and about 1 1/2" dia trunk.

I tried to move a 18' yellow poplar with a 3" dia trunk and failed. I found out the rule of thumb is that the root ball needs to be 1 foot in dia for every inch of trunk dia and half that amount deep. So, I dug a 3' dia root ball about a foot and half deep. The problem was that I couldn't pick it up with anything. I tried to slide it onto a tilt trailer, but couldn't. I was able to drag it up out of the hole with a tow strap, but couldn't get it up on the trailer. My neighbor came over and tried to pick it up with his big tractor with a front end loader and we couldn't get it balanced. By the time we were done trying, the roots and trunk were pretty tore up and not much dirt left on the root ball. So, we shoved it back in the hole. I know this is a long story, but the point is, don't try a tree that big! I hired a tree mover and got two trees moved for $150. His tree spade dug a 4' dia root ball about 4' deep. The trees didn't even know they were moved. So far they’re doing good. Believe it or not, the last time I checked, the one I almost destroyed was still alive! Barely though.

I planted 50 white pine bare root seedlings last year and did it with a shovel. I dug a 1’ dia by 1’ deep hole for each one. It was a lot of work in the hard clay on my property. I’m planning to get a post hole digger with a 12” auger for any future bare root or small potted tree plantings. Good luck.

 

[theboman]

Try a good ol' post hole digger. The kind you put your hands on. 200 is a lot, but you don't need 9" holes for a pencil sized tree, at least in my thinking.

 

[Mosey]

When I planted my trees I followed the instructions that came with them (I got them from Musser Forests). They said to dig a hole 1' dia and 1' deep. Then, when planting the tree, spread the roots out as you put the loose dirt back in and pack it by hand. The loose dirt will help the tree roots get started better than the hard ground will. Also, make sure they get water every week for the first summer.

 

[forestcreature]

in case anyone is interested....

containerized tree planting 101 [includes the burlap wrapped flavor]; http://www.arborday.org/trees/NineNum7.html

bare root tree planting 101 [seedlings and saplings];
http://www.arborday.org/trees/NineNum8.html

[not that your favorite forest creature is a member or anything]

 

[forestcreature]

boy i sure would love to have one of those tree planters! thanks MossRoad!

 

[keeney]

RE:

--
The question isn't how deep are the roots, it's how deep are your pockets
--

The town I used to live in, Eagan, MN recently spent $50,000 to move a very large Oak. They were building a new park, and the best place for the access road and parking lot was right where this tree of particular historical significance was. Instead of redesigning the park, they had some kind of save the oak fund-raising thing and got the money.

The operation looked a lot more like moving a large house and involved a lot of big timber and steel beams, multi-wheel dollies, excavators, and cranes. After the tree was gone, the hole looked like something larger than a house had been removed.

After they got done moving the special Oak, they turned the remaining few dozen nearly identical trees into firewood and built the parking lot.

- Rick

 

[MossRoad]

Makes you wonder if it was worth it to spend all that money on one tree VS spending it on many thousands of trees, doesn't it?

 

[Anonymous Poster]

$50,000 , YIKES! ,I'd have to say the people were smoking a little too much of something else in the plant variety.