Removing trees

[Anonymous]

We are in the process of removing a number of 2 M high palm trees, this is not fun and i would rather not do it has anyone got any ideas about how to do it easier.

If we were to have a working bee this weekend with free beer and barbie would anyone come to help please

One good thing about it is that they are not Australian natives, because this is such a dry land the root sytems are incredible. As well you have to get a permit to remove Aussie natives and promise to plant something similar in its place.


Rgrs


Ian Kawana Island tropical railway.

[Anonymous]

Hi Ian,
Get that beer in, plane leaves on Thursday!! Looks like a hard work weekend for you mate, no easy way to do this thing. I've cut a couple of small trees down in my back and I then drilled holes into the stump, 1/2" by 2" deep, which I filled with salt. I put a brick over the stump to stop it being washed out and leave it to the trees own circulation system to pump the salt round. I top it up now and then. I do it this way because getting the stumps out now would mean destrying a few beautiful flowering bushes, but if I leave it till the end of summer I will be cutting the bushes back anyway.
Cheers,
Kim
[tup]

[Anonymous]

Love to help but I live several thousand miles away.As Kim says ,salt and various additives(i.e.copper sulphate ect) will kill them slowly but if you want them out now it's dig down time! Easiest way I've found of pulling them (not palms)is to dig round the tree and get to the most accessible roots first.Then use a lever to bend it over to get to the underneath ones.Not a nice job.Easier way is to cut it down,kill the stump and use it as a beer rest.More stumps,more beers!
Did you recieve my E-mail ,by the way,and was it any help?
Troy

[Anonymous]

Only help I can be is to advise you.
What we do (by hand) is get shovels and cut into soil all the way down at a slant, some what of 3 to 2' from the tree depending on the growth and hight.
So cut and make the circle all the way around the tree and leave 1 month for new feeder roots to form.
Then come back and get it and replant. Less shock and less damage to tree with smaller risk of killing it.

[Anonymous]

This topic turned on the light in my head with this oiece of info. Farmers around here in Ohio used to place copper sheet metal under, around and over clay drain tiles to keep them from being destroyed. Just a little FYI.

[bman36]

Matt,
It is amazing what roots can do! Ian: my heart goes out to you pal. Taking down trees is hard work plain and simple. Did you mention FOOD? Just ask my wife...I can easily be bribed with a meal done on the "Q" as we call it. Gee you will probably be done by the time I get there though....right??? As I always tell my friends..."Don't worry I will find work for you to do". ***grin*** Later eh...Brian.

[vsmith]

I only have one sure footed way to remove trees roots.

After cutting and removing the tree .Drill a 2" round holeabout 12 to 18 inches into the stump as close to the ground as possible, pack with two sticks of TNT (still avalible from mining suppliers!) insert blasting cap get about 200 feet away and turn that plunger, BOOM! Just backfill with loose dirt and your all done...


Of course this doesnt work too well in a suburban environment....

[Anonymous]

In case you don't have any loose dirt to backfill with, there will be a big pile in your neighbors yard after that trick.

Somebody told me a stupid sounding idea but it worked. Drill a big hole in the top of the stump and fill it with grass clippings. Water it once in a while if not in the path of your lawn sprinklers. Apparently some sort of bacteria will grow as the grass rots and eat the stump. I cut down a 20" dia cottonwood tree last spring and tried this. Last fall I removed the stump with my bare hands. Just grabbed it and broke off large chunks. Below ground level a small axe cut right through it.

Tom

[vsmith]

QUOTE: Originally posted by denboske

In case you don't have any loose dirt to backfill with, there will be a big pile in your neighbors yard after that trick.

Somebody told me a stupid sounding idea but it worked. Drill a big hole in the top of the stump and fill it with grass clippings. Water it once in a while if not in the path of your lawn sprinklers. Apparently some sort of bacteria will grow as the grass rots and eat the stump. I cut down a 20" dia cottonwood tree last spring and tried this. Last fall I removed the stump with my bare hands. Just grabbed it and broke off large chunks. Below ground level a small axe cut right through it.

Tom

NOW THAT ADVICE!

I wish I had known this BEFORE I yanked out a stump using a chain and my truck! Oh well, that was kinda fun too![:D]

[Anonymous]

We tried the truck trick once too.
Many years ago.
Big tree, small chainsaw.
Cut all the way around but couldn't quite reach the middle.
Threw a rope over a branch from the top of the barn. Got it up pretty high.
Tied the other end to the bumper of a Chevy LUV pickup.
Truck moved - tree bent. To a point.
Truck still had some momentum when the tree stopped bending.
Lifted the back wheels off the ground.
We believe this may have caused the truck to lose some traction. (2 wheel drive)
Tree decided to unbend.
Dragged the truck backward. Just a little farther than it had gone forward.
Set the back wheels in an irrigation ditch.
The wrecker driver still laughs whenever he sees one of us.

Tom

[Anonymous]

Well men have i learned something; the Aussie way is to surreptiteously hammer a few copper nails into them in the middle of the night, then deny all knowledge of it. As well suggest that your mother in law had intentions of doing something about them damn trees, killing two birds with the one rumour.

However we have been successful thanks a lot any way.

We dug all around them as suggested, then got a crow (pry) bar under it, resting on a brick and levered bit by bit all round and then using a long piece of stout wood, again resting it on a few bricks we levered it up. Wasn't it Pythaorus who said give me alever long enough and somewhere to rest it and I will move the Earth

Then this is where the innovation comes in, we help it up on one side and pushed a trolley (luggage trolley type thing) heaved and heaved and there we were tree on trolley next to the hole.

We had five to do, three we did at the rate of one per day and the other two we have left in place for effect.

We have even replanted the trees we moved, as they are worth quite abit of money and everything grows like crazy here in the tropics even in winter. Hole filling was no problem. I think I have mentioned previously about how well it drains arouns here well when we got to the bottom of the holes we found out why we came across the oddest sand it was light gray in colour our sand is usually golden.

By the way we have had a record cold winter here, we got down to 10 deg C the other night; lowest for several years and you people think you have real cold all to yourselves.

Rgs Ian

[bman36]

QUOTE: Originally posted by denboske

We tried the truck trick once too.
Many years ago.
Big tree, small chainsaw.
Cut all the way around but couldn't quite reach the middle.
Threw a rope over a branch from the top of the barn. Got it up pretty high.
Tied the other end to the bumper of a Chevy LUV pickup.
Truck moved - tree bent. To a point.
Truck still had some momentum when the tree stopped bending.
Lifted the back wheels off the ground.
We believe this may have caused the truck to lose some traction. (2 wheel drive)
Tree decided to unbend.
Dragged the truck backward. Just a little farther than it had gone forward.
Set the back wheels in an irrigation ditch.
The wrecker driver still laughs whenever he sees one of us.

Tom

Now THAT IS FUNNY!!! I love reading a story I can totally picture when reading it. I'll be telling this one around a few campfires this summer! Later eh...Brian.