Nellie Stevens Burlap and holly ball trees (B&B) move with great success. We want to cover; the best way to unload the truck, the equipment selection, the advantages of pre-digging the holes and exactly how to position and straighten the trees without damaging the root ball connection to the trunk, and the best use of your planting equipment.
Treat the trucker right!
Nellie Stevens’ burlap trees and holly balls will arrive in a flatbed truck. Standard trucking practice will allow a two-hour window for unloading, after which the customer will pay the trucker $ 100 per hour for the additional time needed. This is paid in cash directly to the trucker. Usually the trucker will cut the thread that holds the tarp in place, but will help you when it’s time to remove the tarp from the trees and help you pull it back to the trailer after unloading, especially if it is wet. .
Taking the trees out of the truck
I have a short 7 ‘piece of 3/8 chain that I made and attached a hook at each end. Run that chain along about five teeth on the bobcat bucket so that there is about 2 ‘hanging on either side of those teeth. Gently lower the bucket down so that the hooks hang just above the root balls you want to hook onto. Have a helper stay in the truck to connect the chains to the upper strand of the wire baskets. If you are downloading 22" or 28" root ball trees, you can take two at a time by hooking the chains to the wire basket of two different trees. Hook to the top strand of both wire sneakers. If you are downloading 36" root ball trees, connect both chains to the same root ball, hook to the top strand at two points at least 16-24 inches apart. You can also hook one of the hooks to a lower thread of the wire basket and the other to the upper thread. Remember that the goal now is to simply unload the truck so that at this point the trees do not have to be hooked in any special way. It is good if the trees travel about 45% at an angle to the vertical. If you have a lot of trees, have a helper stay in the truck to hook up the chains and another stay on the ground. Once you gently lift the trees, step back and turn the lynx so the trees are off the truck, then gently lower the bucket so the trees are less than three feet above the ground. You have to travel with the trees hanging close to the ground this way in case a wire basket breaks, the Nellie Stevens Holly tree won’t fall far enough to damage it. Have your helper on the ground walk holding the tree tips as you travel, so they don’t sway backwards and end up under the bobcat tracks. The goal now is to somehow line them up so you can move them into the holes after the trucker has paid and left. The use of unloading forks requires the man (or men) on the trailer to position each tree vertically on its pointed root ball for the bobcat operator to slide the forks around the root ball tip. I downloaded previously using this approach; Do not do it. Someone can get hurt from all that lifting in the truck.
The best equipment to download
I usually use a T190 bobcat and a 10 ‘tree tooth bucket in a 28 “root ball. One point about using rental equipment, as I do – make sure they deliver the equipment overnight before your trees arrive. Let the rental company know it has to be delivered the night before. I personally prefer to stop by the workplace that night and take out the key so that no teenagers go for a walk. So Generally, I request a Bobcat equivalent to T190.
Using a dingo to plant trees.
If you are planting smaller trees, with a 22 inch root ball in 7 ‘, you can use a Dingo and you may have to if you have a 3’ wide gate to get through with the trees. One point about using a Dingo: it may be rated to lift 500 pounds, which means you can use it to handle 28-inch root ball trees, but it won’t rise high enough to allow discharge as described above using strings from above the root -balls. You will have to get forks with your dingo, then you will only have to lift as high as the truck bed or slightly higher if the Thuja Green Giant trees are stacked in two heights. The man in the truck will have to lift more, etc., as the trees must be in a vertical position to slide the forks under the root ball. If you stop too fast with a 500 pound tree in the forks of a Dingo, your machine could tip forward. If I had a tractor with a trailer that brings only half a load of 28" root ball trees, for example, having 45 instead of a full load of 80-90 trees, you could use a Dingo with forks and you would only have a layer of Nellie Stevens Holly trees, it would not be difficult. A problem with the use of a Goofy; Assuming you are also digging the holes with the same machine, it is easy to blow out the hydraulic seals on the Dingo bit head due to digging in rocky terrain. Instead, use a lynx with the most powerful hydraulics if possible. For example, your Bobcat with delivery and auger attachment can cost $ 650 vs. the $ 450 Dingo, but remember that if the auger head started pouring liquid, your work will stop until the equipment rental company sends a repairman, and only if they have a second auger head are they willing to bring you . They will realize that their rocky soil has ruined one auger head and if they have another one ready to bring in, they probably won’t let their work damage a second head. I remember my last Dingo rental turned out exactly that way, I had half the holes dug when it started to leak liquid, the repair didn’t come all day, finally a neighbor came with a backhoe and headlights and saved the day by digging my holes. Always rent a machine with a higher load capacity than your trees will weigh. 22-inch plug trees weigh 250 pounds, 28-inch plug trees weigh 500 pounds, 36-inch plug trees weigh 1,000 pounds, and 44-inch plug trees weigh 1,500 pounds if Leyland Cypress, Thuja Green Giant , Nellie Stevens Varieties of holly or Cryptomeria Yoshino. The root balls of the same size in trees such as Zelkova, etc. they will be lighter.
Tree weight based on root ball size
Handling larger Cryptomeria Yoshino trees (44-inch or larger root ball) can be difficult as they weigh 1,500 pounds or more. Trees over 36 inches in our nursery will have seat belt material woven through the wire basket. When connecting your hooks to the seat belt material, always connect them to the hooks where they intersect so that you are distributing the load on both straps.
Security First
While your bucket chains are connected to one or more trees that you plan to remove from the truck, you can knock down a neighboring tree from the truck. There is a risk for anyone standing on the ground near where the trees are dislodged from the truck. Your man on the ground can walk holding the spikes toward his landing area, but don’t allow him to be near the truck where the trees were first dislodged. One thing to note that causes an additional tree to be pulled off the truck is that twine wrapped around tree limbs can catch on a loose piece of wire in the root ball of a tree you are lifting. Also, renting a skidsteer and doing cleaning work, etc., is a good way to learn how to handle a bobcat. Don’t learn to handle a bobcat by renting one to unload a tree trailer truck! Your bucket movements should be smooth and easy when working in close proximity to your helpers to be safe. As you learn, you will occasionally move a controller in the wrong direction and you will also not be able to handle the controls smoothly until you have run it for eight hours. Always rent a skidsteer with a higher load capacity than your trees will weigh.