moving young walnut trees with a bobcat tree spade

[317farms]

Hi - I have about a dozen or so young walnut trees growing in the wild that are going to die as the parent walnut trees grow. It would be a shame to see that happen. The smaller/younger trees are anywhere from half an inch to up to 2 inches in diameter. I'd like to move them and I'm thinking a bobcat tree spade might do the trick.

My concern is the tap root and the circumference around the trunk. Would a 36" ball bobcat tree spade be sufficient? I have access to one, it's a few hundred bucks and I don't mind just giving it a whirl.

Thoughts? I know about doing this in the fall or early spring. I'm hoping to make this happen in the coming weeks. I know that older walnut trees are a challenge but is a 4 to 8 year walnut tree that difficult to move?

Thanks everyone. And no, I don't want to use shovel.

 

[Sotipnomon]

The general rule for spading is 10" of rootball for every inch of caliper so that'd be plenty of spade to move those trees.

Make sure to close any big gaps around the ball after transplant and mulch them really well.

Then keep an eye on them the first year especially when it's hot for needing watered but that big rootball shouldn't need much maintenance.

Good Luck!