Planters Tree Planter

[Rch]

Here are the pictures of the tree planter. The first one shows the planter empty. You can see the coulter to cut the slit and the front of the splitter. The second shows the planter from behind with the seat and splitter and packing wheels. The 3d shows the planter loaded with trees. The 4th shows Cy placing a green ash tree in the split. The 5th picture shows my boom on the FEL to mark 9' rows and the 6th picture is a close-up of using Vise Grips to attach the boom. The last picture, # 7, shows trees loaded in the FEL with the boom on it.

RCH<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by Rch on 05/05/01 01:48 PM (server time).</FONT></P>

 

[RobS]

That's a pretty slick setup RCH. Is that a commercially available attachment or something you made? Do you cut the slit continuously or only lower it to plant a tree? I sure could have used that last week /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[richh]

Man is that a slick looking peace of equ.!!! Where do you find one? My back is telling me this is a must-have item!
Rich

 

[Rch]

RobS, I brought the tree planter from Detco, Plainfield WI. That is sand country for truck farming, potatoes and I had to extensively modify the tree planter for my clay based area ( I extender the planting slit 15", the whole rear 'wishbone' is longer, bigger more adjustible seat, more storage area and drain holes for those front bins). It takes about 8' feet to get it in the ground so I'm making a continous slit. An important consideration is that the slit comes together symetrically so air space doesn't occur and contribute to drought strees later in the summer. For that reason you've got to plant in a straight line or very gentle curve. Another brand of tree planter is the Forester from Utility Tool and Body Co., Inc Clintonville WI 54929 phone(715) 823-3167. On this one you straddle the slit and plant between your legs. It's less herky and probably cheaper( I've got $3000 into the Detco with the modifications) I used a Forester for 8 or 9 years and it served me well ( I brought it used $450 ~ 1991)
http://www.bluelinemfg.com/frames.htm (look at the bottom of the left-sided menu) in Moxee WA has a tree planter that reportedly has hydrauliic capability to go into the ground for short runs. It's a rigid unit where mine is hinged behind the splitter (where the operater sits and the packing wheels are). For sure any unit should be tested in your type of soil.
The Forester fit on my 21 horse Iseki/Bolens; the Detco's coulter needed more room. They are not hard to pull, you're just making a slit and I pull at 1/2 the max RPMs. You need the weight to seal the slit. Any unit has to be built absolutely symmetrically so that one edge of the slit doesn't curl up and leave an air space- another reason to test any unit before you buy

RCH<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by Rch on 05/06/01 12:55 PM (server time).</FONT></P>

 

[jdkid]

Hi ya's
great looking planter ,about 11 years ago i helped a guy build one on a farm i worked on did not have the disc on the frount though and you sat with your back to the tractor which was not too bad till ya hit a hiden rock we draged a light chain behind to work out spaces IE when the chain got to the last tree ya planted ya planted another one a few things we found out and i find no-till drilling is spray early .a few months or more and come back and spray again a week before planting any grass or weeds don't help your young trees the other thing is don't plant to wet as you can glaze the sides we all know tree root will go though pipes but young trees have a hard job going though glazed slots abit dryer the sides will push back together better too
catch ya
JD Kid

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Mechanical transplanter has been making tree transplanters for 20 years. They have their own site at www.mechanicaltransplanter.com or www.easternfarmmachinery.com

 

[Anonymous Poster]

I just planted over 60 trees (bare root 4 year transplants from Musser Forests) with a shovel. It took me a whole day. Your rig looks like a much better way to plant trees! By the way, do you soak your seedlings in water? The instructions from Musser Forests say to never do that because it will wash off bacteria beneficial to their growth and actually drown it by depriving it of oxygen. They say to just keep them from drying out by spraying them with water and not exposing the roots to the sun. I did what they said, but don't know yet if they trees will live, since I just planted them 3 days ago.

 

[Rch]

Danny Y, the state nursery sells "generic gel" which is a polyacrylamide that looks like coarse granular suger. It holds 600 times it weight in water and 1 to 2 oz in 5 gal makes a blobby jello that clings to the roots for drought resistance. It also lubricates the roots during separation to reduce trauma. The theory re beneficial microbes is interesting and I'd be obliged if there is any reference.

RCH

 

[Anonymous Poster]

All I know is what it said on the planting instructions that came with the trees, which is also on the Musser Forest website:

http://www.musserforests.com/plantinst.htm

I got confused when it said to recover them with the packing material after separating them all out, since there wasn't enough packing material (which looked like chopped up newspaper) to cover them once I spread them out. So, I just spread them out in the back of my truck, sprayed them with water, and covered them with plastic and kept truck in the garage the whole time, so the roots never got exposed to the sun or wind. They had to sit like that overnight, since I didn't have time to plant them that evening. The next morning they were all still very moist and seemed ok and I planted them all, but it took me all day. I watered them as I planted, and then again the next morning. They already had a couple of inches of new growth on them and were dark green. That was 3 days ago. This morning, they all still looked pretty good except one, which is starting to turn brown. I hope I didn't waste $175 and a whole day of work!

 

[fishman]

Some state conservation departments have (maybe used to have, don't know) tree planting impliments for loan to citizens. Missouri did at one time. I'm not sure of the specifics, but it might be worth a phone call. It doesn't look like something a rental yard would likely have, and most of us would only need it infrequently. Just a thought.