Can I move this apple tree? Edit* No way chucko!

[Bullvi22]

Hey guys, my brother has this apple tree in his backyard and he wants it removed. Me being the arborist wannabe that I am, I hate to see it die an unnecessary death. Could I dig the root ball enough by hand to hope to move it? About how big a root ball would it have to retain to live, given that the trunk is around 5-6" in diameter at the base?

I would probably do a good haircut on it before moving, you can tell from the pictures that it is in bad need of pruning, although it is covered in little red apples as is.

What say you arboristsite? Can it be saved by a rednedck with a shovel, trailer and truck?

 

[Oldman47]

No way. That tree has roots that go down and out for far more than you will ever dig. If you like the variety of apple he has, consider grafting a few branches onto another apple in your own yard.

 

[Bullvi22]

No way. That tree has roots that go down and out for far more than you will ever dig. If you like the variety of apple he has, consider grafting a few branches onto another apple in your own yard.

Thats my gut feeling too, although I hadn't considered the grafting idea. Thanks

 

[Jed1124]

A tree that size if you tree spade it would be about a 4500-5000 pound root ball. It can be done but not advisable by hand.
I've transplanted tree that size after air spading then moving them with a Bob cat. That was only moving the tree from one area of a property to another though.

 

[Bullvi22]

A tree that size if you tree spade it would be about a 4500-5000 pound root ball. It can be done but not advisable by hand.
I've transplanted tree that size after air spading then moving them with a Bob cat. That was only moving the tree from one area of a property to another though.

Whoa nelly! Thats a lot of hand digging! Thanks for the responses guys, I'll take your word for it!

 

[BC WetCoast]

You could do it, but by hand would be an onerous task. You would need to dig a root ball about the width of the canopy and about 18" deep. Then wrap the root ball in burlap to hold it together while you transport it.

To do it by hand, dig a trench around the outside of the rootball to be retained. It needs to be fairly wide because you will be crawling in it. Once you are to depth, you now need to start undermining the root ball. When you have dug under the tree as much as you can, wrap a rope around the remaining pillar of dirt and hooking it to your truck, use the rope to 'cut' under the tree. That was the easy part. Now you have to move the tree and rootball. I did a Japanese maple about that size and when I tried to lift it with the bobcat, the backwheels were bouncing off the ground. (Got er done though).

Of course the efficient way would be to use a machine, a backhoe loader would be easiest.

Also do it in the winter when the tree is dormant.

I've done an apple about 20 years ago, dug it out with a backhoe and didn't take much care with the root ball (just moved it across the yard). Made sure it had plenty of water and it's survived just fine.

Your tree doesn't need a haircut, it needs proper structural pruning. In the arborist world, a haircut is a euphemism for a hack pruning job with topping and heading cuts.

 

[Bullvi22]

[QUOTE="BC WetCoast, post: 5460094, member: 18180"
Your tree doesn't need a haircut, it needs proper structural pruning. In the arborist world, a haircut is a euphemism for a hack pruning job with topping and heading cuts.[/QUOTE]

Hey, great post! Thanks for all the info, I appreciate it. Thats what I love about AS, lots of helpful people that know what they are talking about, at least enough to fool me!