24 Ball & Burlap trees to plant (and holes to dig) - best approach?

[eljuncal]

Hello Everyone, We are having a miniature Clarkson's Farm moment and decided to plant a bunch (24) of fruit trees ... they will all be Ball&Burlap sized and thus I'm wondering what is the best way to dig these holes?

I have a B2601 with a LA435 FEL ... should I:
1) Use a stump bucket
2) Rent a backhoe
3) Other Suggestions?

Thank you!

 

[fried1765]

Hello Everyone, We are having a miniature Clarkson's Farm moment and decided to plant a bunch (24) of fruit trees ... they will all be Ball&Burlap sized and thus I'm wondering what is the best way to dig these holes?

I have a B2601 with a LA435 FEL ... should I:
1) Use a stump bucket
2) Rent a backhoe
3) Other Suggestions?

Thank you!

Hire a guy with a tree spade!

 

[D2Cat]

Whatever you use fill the hole half full of water, then when you set the ball in shovel the dirt around and that will eliminate air pockets.

 

[Vlach7]

What is the diameter of the root ball? I have planted many trees of all sizes, how well your soil leaches also is a concideration how to prep your soil, my soil leaches very well so I would for large root balls, "24", dig a hole about double the size with a BH, I am not sure how well your tractor would handle a stump bucket for that size of hole, nice to have an expensive extra attachment if you plan on more trees in the future or would have some other need for it. If you have hard or rocky soil, you will definitely want a BH for that many trees.
I add some mulch or whatever soil amendment you feel is needed, mix it some, put the tree in attempt to have it slightly above ground level so it won't settle below ground level and put a well around it and keep a little moist.

God Bless, let us Know how it all works out and OfCourse some pictures.

 

[ctfjr]

I planted several trees this year with a stump bucket. I don't know how large your burlap ball is but mine were about 18". Easy work for a stump bucket. Also used it for several azalea plants. Here we have an abundance of large potatoes and tree roots to contend with.
Potoatoes:

and dealing with roots:

 

[The Evil Twin]

Their diameter make a difference in what I'd recommend. We sunk a dozen screen trees this fall. 18-20" balls. I just took the post hole auger out and bored 3 holes for each. Cleaned the void out by shovel and called it good. A little manual labor is good for me.

 

[jyoutz]

Hire 4 big high school football players and give them each a shovel. Pay them $15/hour and tell them they have 4 hours to dig the holes.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Rent a mini Ex!

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Hire 4 big high school football players and give them each a shovel. Pay them $15/hour and tell them they have 4 hours to dig the holes.

HAHAHA, Good luck with that!
I've offered 30/hr and they laugh at me.

 

[MapleLeafFarmer]

Hello Everyone, We are having a miniature Clarkson's Farm moment and decided to plant a bunch (24) of fruit trees ... they will all be Ball&Burlap sized and thus I'm wondering what is the best way to dig these holes?

I have a B2601 with a LA435 FEL ... should I:
1) Use a stump bucket
2) Rent a backhoe
3) Other Suggestions?

Thank you!

around here ball/bur-lapped trees weigh in range of 100 - 1000 pounds. So I would use my L3301 w/back hoe to dig holes and forks to move trees around and place in holes.

But your tractor too small loader lift capacity for the bigger trees and no backhoe.... so depending on size of trees looks like you going to be renting something.

Since tree spades are specialized and rare around here I would go and rent an L with backhoe and forks or mini ex and straps but I hate moving trees with straps.

 

[jyoutz]

HAHAHA, Good luck with that!
I've offered 30/hr and they laugh at me.

That’s what I did when I built a patio a few years ago, and I do it every spring with yard clean up.

 

[Flintknapper]

Hire 4 big high school football players and give them each a shovel. Pay them $15/hour and tell them they have 4 hours to dig the holes.

So that's 2 hrs to dig holes, 2 hours to play on their cell phones?

 

[Motion]

Layout the orchard per recommended spacing for the type of fruit, rent a skid steer with a 30 " auger and bucket. Purchase a load of good top soil and a couple of bails of admendment ( peat moss, perlite, etc.), as others have said add water, admendment and some top soil, don't plant too deep it's better to be high, don't have soil above the soil line as it came from the nursery. Stake accordingly, paint or purchase tree guards, install an irrigation system ( allow for orchard expansion). A couple of friends and I set out 71 pecan trees in a day back in "95, using a planting board, rototiller to chop the grass and break the soil, set the tree on top the ground (no hole) and placed two wheel barrows top soil around each, 10 years later I only lost 4 trees to Katrina. Do as you feel is best, but always remember " Don't put a $10.00 tree in a $0.10 hole".

 

[GreensvilleJay]

The company that the city subs out tree plantings to, uses a skidsteer with a large tapered earth auger. Those guys work as a TEAM and are fast. 1 digs the hole, moves to next spot. By the time he's there, guy on truck has lowered tree from truck into hole, then moves onto #2 and drillers on #1 while 3rd guy tidies up the 1st tree.
When the CITY crew did my sapling, 3 guys spent an HOUR to plant it......

 

[mikester]

Tree Auger Bits| Baumalight

Tree Augers for Auger Drives Baumalight. Our tree augers are designed to make planting trees quick and easy.

baumalight.com

 

[SDT]

Hello Everyone, We are having a miniature Clarkson's Farm moment and decided to plant a bunch (24) of fruit trees ... they will all be Ball&Burlap sized and thus I'm wondering what is the best way to dig these holes?

I have a B2601 with a LA435 FEL ... should I:
1) Use a stump bucket
2) Rent a backhoe
3) Other Suggestions?

Thank you!

Post hole auger if balls are small enough.

Consider commercial auger otherwise.

 

[SDT]

Tree Auger Bits| Baumalight

Tree Augers for Auger Drives Baumalight. Our tree augers are designed to make planting trees quick and easy.

baumalight.com

Bingo.

Should have read your response before replying.

 

[D2Cat]

Hire 4 big high school football players and give them each a shovel. Pay them $15/hour and tell them they have 4 hours to dig the holes.

Where do you find a high schooler that wants to work, much less know what a shovel it? the amount of pay does not matter!

 

[jyoutz]

Where do you find a high schooler that wants to work, much less know what a shovel it? the amount of pay does not matter!

Friend’s kids

 

[dirtydeed]

my $02. I've planted hundreds of trees (landscaping business) of various sizes using several methods. I think a small backhoe is best (that's why I've always had one). Soil conditions and root ball size will dictate the size of the hole.

For large commercial jobs, I've used a "dingo" with a large 30" auger. It's fine if you have decent soil. I would not recommend that method in hard soils as the roots tend to stay within the hole and wrap themselves (think of root bounded plants). Square holes (cut by machine or shovel) work better for this reason.

The comment above with adding water to the hole is a good one, I've always used a bar or spade to work the soil in with water to remove air pockets. Whatever you use, be sure to plant them with the top of the root ball/crown about an inch above the ground surface.

Root balls are heavy. Just be prepared for that. My old BX 23 wouldn't handle a root ball larger than 26".

Edit: One additional comment. Do not remove the wire cage/burlap when planting! I saw that done once on a tractor time with tim video. I couldn't believe that he did that. Trees live "inside the ball" for at least a year before the start pushing roots. The burlap will break down in approx 2 years, the wire basket will last for several years. The only thing to beware of is the type if "string" that they use to tie top of the basket around the trunk/root crown. If they use the coated baling twine, you should cut it loose after a year or two. If its regular bailing twine, you can just let it rot.