Moving trees without a tree spade ??

For areas where a tree spade won't fit, but a crane can reach, what techniques are used to get under and support the root ball?

Excavating the sides seems easy enough. And tying a wrap seems straight forward, but how is the underside of the ball cut and secured?

I've seen a few photos of Davey Tree balled trees and another company where they have the entire ball wrapped, or a type of pallet underneath, but I'm wondering how that's accomplished.

http://landscaping.about.com/cs/shrubsbushes/ht/transplanting.htm

This gives a pretty good description on how to accomplish the task.

I don't know if this will do you any good, after you have drum laced and reenforced the the sides of the root ball you could pull the tree over slowly with a winch and undercut with hand tools then put the support under the root ball, then let the tree fall forward slowly of course unto the support. It helps to have the rootball tapered at the bottom instead of straight down.

Another way is pull a cable under the ball with a winch, but you have to improvise a way to guide the cable so it doesn't ride up into the root ball. If you have Harris's book on Arborculture their is a little section on how to do this by digging trenches and using pulleys and pins for the cable, but the description is kinda vague but it will give you a start in the right direction.

All these methods require space to work, sounds like your a little cramped for space. Hope this helps a little. Good luck.

Larry

Hi M.D.,

I'm glad you started this thread. A little less than a year ago my video guy asked if I could transplant a Japanese maple for him. I said I'd do it in trade for him videoing the process. This morning I finally sunk a few hours into editing all the footage and got this project finished.

I had what I thought was a somewhat original idea of how to dig up and move a tree. I was pretty sure it would work, but you never know until you try. So we tried.

We shot the video in real-time, beginning to end and it took us 43 minutes. This was just the digging up, lifting and moving of the tree. Re-planting it brought us up to about an hour.

Since I can't post an hour of video, what I did was eliminated the replanting of the tree, since that's pretty obvious of how to do. Your question seems to ask of medium-sized trees, since you refer to mebbe using a crane. The video is smaller-scale, but I think possibly this method could be used for bigger trees with some modification.

I didn't use a crane to do the lift. I used a log arch, which worked magnificently. One could use a skid steer / bobcat, a lull, a crane truck, tow truck, etc as the video will clearly address your question of containment of the rootball and the rigging necessary to do the lift.

Since this section of the video was 40-some minutes long, I had to crop out quite a bit, and what was left of the pure action I sped up into fast motion, whacking several minutes of activity into 20 or 30 seconds. I did this repeatedly until all the clips were squeezed and I pumped it out into a streaming Quicktime that was 14.87 meg. The total view time is just over 4 minutes in length.

Since Arboristsite limits videos to about 4 meg, I posted it to a server so it will stream. That way I don't have to bust it up into 4 seperate chunks.

I hope it comes across smoothly. I wanted to attach some music but the file would end up being humongous. It was a really fun project. If my income transplanting trees could be that of my being a climber, I would probably do more of it.

Click here to view the video and be patient. Dial-up guys, it may really take awhile. Broadband, about a minute and a half. Enjoy.

Years ago I did some work at a tree nursury. I've dug and transplanted my fair share of trees. The soil needs to be slightly damp but not soaked, so the dirt will stick together. We used tree spades (flattened out, heavy round shovels with sharpened edge). We marked the outer edge of the root ball and then dug outside of that, digging TO the rootball but not digging into or prying on it. Trench all the way around the tree and continue excavating around the ball, tapering down to about 2.5-3 feet. Then chop under the root ball to sever it off. As long as you don't dig into or pry on the root ball, it usually won't break. Wrap the trunk tightly with a piece of burlap (or small towel) and then tightly wrap your lifting choker over that. On some larger trees, holes were drilled through the trunk and steel rods inserted for lifting. Later, a wooden dowel would be put in the hole and trimmed flush to hide the hole. Hook on with your boom and lift. As soon as it's lifted out of the hole, wrap the ball with burlap and pin it so you prevent dirt loss.

On a commercial operation, it is similar to how TM did it but without the fence slats.

Seems we have similar background Skwerl, before I got into cutting trees I was in the nursery landscape end of the green industry.

Back on topic, to me the best tool to use for B&B for digging trees or shrubs is a tilling spade with a flattened end, a good sharp edge, polished and shined so dirt won't stick the spade. The tilling spade can slice out small sections of earth and helps to shape a rootball as you work around it. A regular round point shovel was good for the actual digging of the recieving hole or for moving piled dirt.

TM is on the right track, that log arch looks like a handy tool to have, that was a small tree to move but he saved a few steps of getting it up and out of the hole and tranporting the tree by using his arch, pretty sharp, Congrats

Larry

TM, wow I would have never thought of using the boards. Excellent job!

I agree, that was a great idea. And once again, another great video. Thanks.

Thanks, gang.

Once the tree was set in the hole, the lower cam strap was removed and dirt filled up to the level of the higher cam strap. Then the upper one was removed and dirt filled in up to grade. Lastly, the slats were pulled out one at a time with the help of a set of vise-grips.

I used three different types of boards. The white one that I cut off with the Silky was a regular 1x4 and did not do so well. The other two kinds were fence slats, nice because they were ready-made with a point. One type was from the least expensive fence panels available at your home improvement center, thin and rectangular from the end view. They were OK, but only because the soil was forgiving. The best of the three was thicker, and the face side had a convex profile. That one was tougher and could really take a beating.

The January 2006 issue of Tree Services offered a whole host of planting and transplanting gear, from small to large. Most were transplanting spades, but there was one called the tree toad that was sorta like the fence slat method, only it was made of steel and you would pound the 'spades' in.

Try this link.

Thanks for the post Tree Machine.

I downloaded the file, but it does not open in Windows Media Player like most other videos I've downloaded.

Anyone have regular photos?

Gotta use Quicktime. Go with the standalone installer for the fastest iTunes-free installation.

Great video, Jim! I'm tempted to put a soundtrack on it, but I don't have Premiere on this computer. Wait, I have Premiere Pro on this one. Ah, but I should do my homework first. When the Chipmunks started going, I couldn't hold in the laughs.

Mario, Larry's description is what you would want for a larger tree where you're dragging a cable underneath to sever any roots. With/after the cable, you could pull burlap or something similar underneath to contain the root ball. My Arboriculture copy is at work.

Tree Machine.. Looks like you had that video set to launch in Quicktime, which for some reason has not installed on my computer. But I found a program download called QuickTime Alternative which installed and played the video.

That's a good idea with the boards wedged in. In think I'd experiment with a jig of 2 x 8s to slip over the top of the cedar to take the brunt of the hit. Or maybe dry my ground tamper. But you method seemed to work smooth.

I'd really like to know how to slip a HORIZONTAL supportive layer underneath.

This is one example of what I'm thinking about, only not protruding as much. I'm more after how to add a horizontal tray within the ball rather than a ball on a tray.........

DAVEY TREE LINK

:jawdrop:

DAVEY TREE LINK WITH THAT IMAGE AND MANY MORE

I Don't need to move trees that large right now, but I'd like to be able to offer the service soon, for trees with balls in the 2000 to 10000 pound range.

Over years at country clubs and university campuses, I've become very adept with heavy equipment, including operation. Right now, I can easily deal with a 500 pound tree. It's how to get under and secure the big ones that I need to ascertain.

I believe they use pipe pushers (or directional borer?) to do that, that's for really big transplants. Are you thinking of doing something that large? I've always wanted to do a huge tree moving project.

Trees4est...

Yes, I'd like to head in that direction for size. Since I've been in Medford, I've had many calls from landscapers trying to track down tree spades or figure out how to move big trees.

I don't think anyone in Medford has a trees spade. I heard of one guy that came up from California, but I don't think he can do it legally yet. A landscape contractors license is needed to do transplanting here. And I may be the only arborist in southern Oregon with a landscape contractors license. At least I don't know of other arborist landscape contractors.

A tree spade may not be a tool I want to buy, because there is a lot of rock in many soils here. Not all, but quite a bit. I have a feeling that that a combination of shovel, backhoe, crane and ingenuity might be the best alternative right now.

I'm 100% certain I can handle this with ease. I'd like to kick myself for not starting it when I was in Portland.

One of the more established companies in portland - with a landscape license, is...

BIG TREES TODAY

As this town grows - and it is - if I can get a reputation and work for moving big trees, then a tree spade may be a good alternative later on.

This company has some of the better photos I've seen so far to give an idea of how much excavation is needed.

http://www.capitaltree.net/photo_gallery.htm"

The images are good quality too.

trees4est said:

I believe they use pipe pushers (or directional borer?) to do that, that's for really big transplants. Are you thinking of doing something that large? I've always wanted to do a huge tree moving project.

Click to expand...

Are those - directional borers - like the units that the cable companies use to bore for large conduit?

What trades use pipe pushers?

Can these be rented?

I have moved a few medium to larger trees. a good trench around intended root ball, good drum lacing are both important. soil condition is also important, too dry and it crumbles and falls away, to wet and its mush. There is a specific sling with leather straps ans such but I only know of one landscaper that has one around here, and he has had it for a long time, cant find them for sale anywhere these days.

his site:
http://mypage.uniserve.ca/~aaaallen/specimen_trees.htm

Nice link. The more the better.

I'm certain I can lace at least that well.

Those trees look like they were dug in a bit deeper with a taper, and possibly rocked to get burlap under.

If wrap is to come off, I think heavy duty landscape weed fabric is incredibly tough.

My preference would be to undermine to drive a platform underneath.

But I think a mimic of a tree spade ball shape can be mimicked by digging.

What do you folks think of a 2 cycle one man auger. It reaches 30" and can go horizontal since it has no oil for the engine. If a jig supports the bit to keep hands clear, it can drill 30" from each side, allowing a 4 x 4 post to be driven though.

What think ye?

I was involved with a big move about three years ago. It was a 70 foot tall Ficus Watkinsiana at the San Diego Zoo. It was an awesome process to observe. The rootball was approximately 20' x 35' and roughly three feet deep.

Preparation of the rootball began a couple of months in advance with a careful root pruning to the shape of the root mass to be excavated. This perimeter trench was then backfilled with a loose growing medium and the roots allowed to heal.

Drill pipe was driven horizontally below the root mass to create a "lifting platform". Beams were then placed along the two long sides below the horizontal pipes (perpendicular to them) and were lifted with a gantry crane system.

jimmyq said:

I have moved a few medium to larger trees. a good trench around intended root ball, good drum lacing are both important. soil condition is also important, too dry and it crumbles and falls away, to wet and its mush. There is a specific sling with leather straps ans such but I only know of one landscaper that has one around here, and he has had it for a long time, cant find them for sale anywhere these days.

his site:
http://mypage.uniserve.ca/~aaaallen/specimen_trees.htm

Click to expand...

Maybe you have not seen those straps because they are going out of style.

Today, I went to a business called Fluid Connectors in Medford - they also carry pulleys, straps, chain, rigging (hard to know by the name)

They have straps of all kinds with loops at the ends. 2' to 12' or more long and 1" to 4" wide. The 3" wide x 3' long straps are about $18 apiece and are rated for 5,400 lbs. straight-up load and near 10,000 lbs. if part of a web-work.

If I put a chain below and a chain above the ball in circles, and cradle up and down with 12 of those straps, that's better than 60,000 to 120,000 lbs. of lifting strength in the straps. I'm going to start with a 16,000 pound chain, so that chain will be the ceiling of the load limit for now.

Several wraps of heavy duty woven weed fabric will increase tons of containment to the rootball when placed over the burlap. I found two sources for the weed fabric.

We have several crane services, with low-boy flatbed trailers. I also located the 2-cycle post hole digger I wanted to prep for driving 4 x 4s under as a pallet.

I'm going to have a metal fabricator weld a long retangular bar onto the edge of a 2' x 3' sheet of 1/4" steel. That will provide a striking edge for a sledge hammer. I'll sharpen the other edge like a knife with a grinder. It will be for driving horizontally at the bottom of the ball's soil to sever it - possibly allowing the passage of burlap and fabric on smaller balls if I don't want to use the pallet method.