Brainstorming: design a small tree removal tool

California

California

Super Moderator
Staff member
I occasionally move immature trees around in the apple orchard. Some are stunted, others overshadowed by oaks at the perimeter etc.

Presently I need to expand my storage area for implements, and build some kind of shelter. There is one nice little tree right in the way.
(right center in the photo, with its trunk painted white)
IMG_5703rEqptParkedBehindBarn.jpg

Nothing I've tried for removing trees brings up an intact root ball. I thought I had the answer by trenching on each side then tugging with the tractor to drag a cable under the tree, like this:
IMG_3049rTransplant.jpg
but that still ended up with the root bare and much of the hairlike moisture-gathering roots stripped off. (That tree is finally thriving now, 2 years after that photo and re-planted in full sun).

Now that I have a backhoe I will re-explore the cable idea. It should be simple to pull a cable at full depth under the root, rather than sloping upward as in that photo.

New design, for discussion: I'm thinking of making a carrier from a 5 gallon plastic bucket to slip under the root before lifting it.

The bucket would be split vertically down one side and peeled back to wrap around the rootball. The 'forward' lips of the bucket walls would also be cut free from the base so the base could be pulled under the ball. Attachment points to pull this device would be along the new edges created by the vertical cut. (probably drilled through straps laminated to those vertical edges).

Has anyone tried to build something similar?

Can you heat plastic and work it like this, or should I start with a metal bucket? Or maybe a heavier metal object?

Do we have any mechanical engineers, amateur or professional, in the house? :) Any ideas would be appreciated. I have a welder, but don't have tools for metalworking beyond the rudimentary recipro saw, grinder, etc.
 
Is the idea just to get rid of trees or to succsefully transplant them?

I would think I nomoving shear of grader blade set at a 45 degree angle in your bucket with a stop at the end would make a simple shear for small trees that you would just drive into tomake work.

Or you could find a large piston somewhere (like a forklift)and tap your back hoe's axilary pto pump to make the piston pull up on a choker chain around the base of the tree.

BUt in the end your hoe is probably all you need if it is only occasional use
 
I ran across this and maybe it‘s something that will stimulate your imagination.
Click to expand...
Mark, that tool looks like it might work. Maybe I should modify a shovel like that - maybe just double the length of a slender trenching shovel. I think you've started me in a new direction. Now if I can just drive it with hydraulics....



Shinnlinger: Transplanting.

The trees I've moved so far are healthy but were started in inappropriate locations.

I had forgotten but the most recent two got mauled by tractors. One got disked over and was cut up pretty bad. The other was in the way of my neighbor who was working near the unmarked property boundary. He backed over it with his crawler then turned, gouging it pretty bad. Both are recovering nicely.

When I get a better technique I want to start moving a dozen or so stunted trees. Some are competing with blackberry roots that are larger than the the tree's roots - see my pix in this thread. Others have equally severe gopher problems undermining their roots. Some seem to be in pure clay subsoil for some reason.

I got the idea of moving them from a garden show I was listening to. The arborist said if a tree isn't doing well, take it out and give it a stern lecture then plant it somewhere else. Replacement Gravenstein Apple trees are $25 from the nursery so I'm going to work with what I have, first.

Ideally I would like to pluck the tree out with a divot the size of a 5 gallon bucket, minimum. I think the rule of thumb is 10 inch diameter undisturbed rootball for each inch of trunk diameter. The local growers say you can't transplant anything over an inch diameter but I'm going to try moving a few stunted ones up to the size of my wrist since they are useless as-is.

I would think I nomoving shear of grader blade set at a 45 degree angle in your bucket with a stop at the end would make a simple shear for small trees that you would just drive into tomake work.
Click to expand...
I've thought about welding something up from a reinforced shovel to 'dig' driving forward but I think I can work more precisely with some sort of backhoe accessory. I don't think the tractor is heavy enough to run a grader blade, even a short one, a foot into the ground.

I appreciate everyone's ideas. Is there anybody who has built something like this?
 
California said:
Do we have any mechanical engineers, amateur or professional, in the house? :) Any ideas would be appreciated. I have a welder, but don't have tools for metalworking beyond the rudimentary recipro saw, grinder, etc.
Click to expand...
You might want to consider making a simple FEL tree spade... this one commercially available for skidsteer quick attach-type tool carriers. I've got a stump bucket, but I've never tried it for small tree transplanting.

Dougster
 

Attachments

  • tree spade.jpg
    tree spade.jpg
    91.6 KB · Views: 291
I've drooled over those tree spades. But I don't think my loader has the weight or strength to drive one into the ground. I could build and attach a small one the same way my forks are held (see photos) but I think prying with it would risk distorting the bucket. I think its better to apply the force with the backhoe.

That's got me thinking, though. If I had the right materials it would be tempting to make a small tree spade just to see what it could do.

Incidentally here is a picture of the little tree that got disced over then moved.

I appreciate all the ideas. This is broadening my perspective. Keep em coming!
 
California said:
I've drooled over those tree spades. But I don't think my loader has the weight or strength to drive one into the ground. I could build and attach a small one the same way my forks are held (see photos) but I think prying with it would risk distorting the bucket. I think its better to apply the force with the backhoe.
Click to expand...
Your concerns are well-founded. At least in regard to my skidsteer stump bucket, unless you have soft soil with few rocks, a small to mid-sized compact tractor is going to have a tough time. Those skidsteer stump buckets are attractive because they are so cheap, but they are best left to the skidsteer machines which are far better suited to use them. In particular, since I cannot even see the "snout" of my stump bucket over my tractor's hood, any sort of accurate placement requires a second set of eyes. A tree spade should work better than a stump bucket for your sapling relocation purposes, but the second set of eyes will still likely be needed.

Dougster
 
Ok here is the plan,

Get an old big rig leaf spring and mount it to the hoe bucket with a little fabrication and a chain binder (see attached) and then make yourself a tree spade like in Marks video out of a another old car leaf spring.

In theory you could poke all around under the tree with the hoe set up, but that would mean repositioning your tractor 57 times so instead stick your homemade hand spade all around per video and then take your hoe mounted one and go under the loosened tree and pry it up onto the tree cradle. You could stap it to your dipperstick with a ratchet strap and then transport the tree to it's new home.
 

Attachments

  • tree planter.jpg
    tree planter.jpg
    61.3 KB · Views: 283
California,

I would stop by a big rig repair facility and try to get a broken spring pack. They will probably give it to you, If you go to a junk yard ask only for broken springs, but they will probably want to sell it to you if it is any good or has any scrap value.

A narrow spring from an older car would make a nice blade for you hand spade.
 
Ok I am excited about this...It appears your bucket on your hoe has a tooth right in the middle. If it were me, I would heat up the truck spring about 4-5 inches in and bend it to a 90 degree angle on the concave side of the spring. Then with the torch still running I would torch a hole big enough to slip over that middle tooth started at the crease you just made extending up into the 4-5 inch section. Then I would set the spring on the bucket and weld a peice of angle or sometehing(another hunk of leaf?) where the back of the bucket is. If you can get a way to wedge or lock it in place, all the better. This peice gives you something to loop a short chain around or you could torch a hole in that for your chain binder to grab. I wouldn't torch a hole in the main spring

Once fixed to the bucket, torch a V shape at the bussiness end of the spring and pehaps sharpen it with a grinder.

By using just this and spearing below a small tree so that the point is under the root ball and curling the bucket out while extending the dipperstick, while booming up you might just break the tree loose without even getting off the tractor. If it doesn't want to go it would be time to bust out your hand tree spade, but if you are lazy like me you could still use your bucket to scrape a bit around both sides of the tree with the spear still in place and then try again.

I dont think your spring needs to be ridicously long as you only want it under the center of the tree. Obviously 4-5 inches wide would be nice and maybe you would want to stack two springs on top of each other if it seemed too flexible, but I think it would work with just one as long as you dont force it.

When weldiing on high carbon steel such as a leaf spring, it doesn't hurt to preheat the area with a torch and weld it while it is bright red, and weld with the lowest possible amperage to maintain some flexibility (You still need enough to make it stick, just dont crank it all the way up and melt everything, you want to see your weld, but NOT balled up on the surface either)..and of course grind a bevel to increase penetration.

Good luck...I want to see it...soon!
 
cl_8.jpg

cl_11.jpg

http://www.gehl.com/const/prodpg_cl.html
 
Paul - I wish I could afford that purpose-built gear. Mine is frankly a hobby application. This orchard is in commercial production, but I'm lucky when it covers the property taxes. I don't have much of a budget to write off tractor stuff! I wish I were operating at that scale.

Shinnlinger - Yes! That design seems to be exactly what I need. I'll have to build it simple because I don't have a torch, only the 230AC stick welder. (Plus angle grinders from 9 inch/15 amp on down, etc for cutting and shaping.) I can fabricate attachment brackets similar to what you described.
Your plans have moved this along from a wishlist to a pretty clear intended design.

I probably won't get started on this until after Christmas. Meanwhile keep the ideas coming!

Thanks!
 
California dreaming,

If you would refrain from any Harbor freight purchases for one month and looked on your local craigs list, I bet you could find a torch outfit for little $$. You have to be able to cut metal to weld metal so now that you own two welders I would think a torch is a mandatory pickup.


My Victor outfit is now 10 years old and it works well, but about every year or so I burn up the cutting valve and have to replace it for about $30. The good news is I can get parts for a victor outfit, but if I were to buy another setup I would look at going with propane as it is much cheaper to operate.

Why I mention this is I might go ahead and buy one or look at swapping some of stuff out as propane is corrosive so I cant use the same hose and there are special tips that light easier. I hear it is a little different technique that some dont like, but since you don't know the difference I would say start with propane.

If you can get a used acetylyne setup though dont pass it up as you can use the regulators and the O2 tank and torch body and stuff. I would wander into your local welding supply houses and ask around. You will need to get gas and electrodes and the like from them at some point so it is probably worth your while to feel them out and see who you like/compare prices etc.
 
I would rather avoid the complexity of gas or propane here. I haven't needed it so far and I'm not sure this project justifies it. Remember I started out with the objective of moving a dozen or so immature trees.

I like using the tractor for my projects but in the back of my mind I'm reminded that Dad, a retired schoolteacher, did his planting with just a wheelbarrow. (The landowner plants and establishes the replacements, then the farmer who contracts to operate the orchard maintains them.)

What I'm using to cut steel would probably amuse you. There is a radial arm saw in the shop that I researched, and discovered that Sears is offering $100 if you send in its motor. Apparently it can pick up a board and suck it into the saw, and your hand too. There's no retrofit kit available, just the recall. I'll never use it to cut lumber.

I inherited a pile of metal cutting abrasive blades intended for a Skil saw and I'm using them on that radial saw. It cuts plate and angle fine. :)
 
Calafornia,

I would tell you the radial arm saw is stupid and dumb, but I have the exact same set up for working steel in my shop. I have heard radial arms saw are the most modified tool in the world.

You still need a torch though....
 
Tree Toad

California have you looked at Tree Toad? Light weight small tree transplant spade and transporter. Might be worth a look.

http://www.treetoad.com/

I would also think there is a few used ones out there.

Ted
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top