Tree Spade - You think this will work?

[woodlandfarms]

I did indeed. What a great idea.

Of course I just got some good news / bad news and I am not stuck in LA for at least the next 4 weeks... BUMMING....

 

[KentT]

I did indeed. What a great idea.

I thought I remembered lusting after them, but I wasn't sure...

Glad to help!

 

[MossRoad]

I have the fixed width forks on my PT425 and frequently use them to pry small trees and bushes out of the ground. Just one thing to remember.... your PT has extremely powerful hydraulics for its size. You can bend the forks if you pry too much. I bent mine with the little PT425. Just take your time, wiggle them into the ground until they are burried to the quick attach, then lift them back out. Don't do any prying until you get the ground cut all the way around the root ball.

As for the size of the trees that you are planning on moving... that seems huge and I would be surprised if you get them to live. As others have mentioned, there are some general rules of thumb as to how big your root ball should be for each inch of trunk diameter. The soil alone for a tree that big would weigh a couple tons, plus the weight of the tree on top of that is another couple hundred pounds.

Good luck, though. Since you have the forks already, it won't cost anything to experiment. Remember the unwritten rule of TBN... We want photos!

 

[gemini5362]

I think you are biting off more than you can chew. You will need about an 60-80" diameter rootball for these to transplant and survive.

Sounds like a chainsaw is your best bet.

Dave I have a T shirt with your quote on it. I got it at ThinkGeek :: Stuff for Smart Masses
I can tell you that I have never in my life had more response from a shirt I wore. People would stop me and say I know what that shirt means. Others would just read it with a puzzled look on their face.

 

[Renze]

Dave I have a T shirt with your quote on it. I got it at ThinkGeek :: Stuff for Smart Masses
I can tell you that I have never in my life had more response from a shirt I wore. People would stop me and say I know what that shirt means. Others would just read it with a puzzled look on their face.

Which quote are we talking about?? the "i think you're biting off more than you can chew" or "you need a rootball to survive" or "a chainsaw is your best bet"

 

[teg]

(It's from Gatorboy, post #6)
____________________________________________
D A V E
There are 10 kinds of people in the world, those that understand binary and those that don't.

 

[hz293]

Carl, if the forks work, let us know. I have to move some large bushes and I'd like to do it that way.

Harris

 

[woodlandfarms]

Carl, if the forks work, let us know. I have to move some large bushes and I'd like to do it that way.

Harris

Will do. Won't be until the end of June, though...

 

[jeffinsgf]

...We are moving cedars... 25' high with 6 to 8" trunk. ...

The tree almost outweighs your tractor, let alone the soil that needs to accompany the root ball. All in all, I am guessing you're talking about picking up three tons with a 2 ton tractor.

Just to give you an idea, I have a John Deere 4410 -- about the same weight and capacity as your PT. I just dug up some Eastern cedars in the 15 foot range. I dug around the roots with the backhoe, but I was digging to extract the stump, not to transplant the tree. Cutting the trunk off the root, my tractor stuggles to get the root ball out of the hole. There's one or two that I don't think I can get out safely (or even unsafely).

You are going to try and move a survivable root ball (about twice or three times the size of my root ball), the trunk, and all branches intact. I believe you need four or five times more tractor than you have.

I had a tree spade guy tell me one time that they would not spade anything over about 5 inches.

EDIT: My Eastern cedars are not as tall, but larger diameter (12ish inches at the base). Even so, I think you're fighting an uphill battle.