Tree Spade for Kioti?

[contdevelop]

Hello fellas, my wife and i have a small "hobby tree farm." We are about a year from having to harvest the trees to sell but are starting to think about how we are going to get all those trees out of the ground without breaking the root ball apart. I am wondering if they make anything like a tree spade for the 3 point, or something I can use on the loader? I am open for suggestions and comments or your experiences.

Thanks

 

[contdevelop]

Oh yea, one more thing, we have a newer ck30 with the new style loader.


Thanks

 

[radman1]

How big is the diameter of your trees? In general, 1" of tree trunk diamter requires 10-12" of spade. 3" tree requies a 30-36" spade. There are some quite small spades available. For example check out this site:

Iowa Farm Equipment -- Bradco Tree Spades

 

[IslandTractor]

There are quite a few companies that make tree spades. They are not cheap as they are hydraulically powered and relatively complex pieces of equipment. I have seen some "manual" versions where the design is similar but the force to dig the three spears into the ground is sledge hammer (as I recall) rather than hydraulic rams. For a tree farmer it would probably make sense to invest in a hydraulic version.

For my own use I have a "quickspade" which is a simple large shovel head that attaches to a set of forks. It allows me to dig carefully around the root ball then lift it out but it is not nearly as efficient as a tree spade.

 

[jimmyj]

Do you have a pic of the Quickspade we could see Island?

 

[IslandTractor]

QuickSpade photos.

Note that you need a set of stout forks for this particular model but there is a model that attaches directly to the cutting edge of a standard bucket. I don't know if that version would be as useful for digging out root balls unless the root ball was less than 24-36 inches or so in diameter as that version can only dig about 18 inches deep.

I don't think it would be difficult to weld up something like this but they only cost about $150 or so as I recall so it is not an expensive device. The bucket version costs about 270.

 

[jimmyj]

Thanks.

 

[contdevelop]

Thanks for the input. Has anyone ever seen one that mounts to the 3 point? do they even make one? I would think since they make everything else for the 3 point, someone would have designed/manufactured/sold one. I have been searching other threads on TBN and saw some simple designs that I can probably fabricate on the loader bucket or mount in place of the bucket, but I wonder how do I keep the root ball intact without the roots breaking and the tree dying? I have noticed that oak trees when small, are very delicate and like to die. I guess my end goal would be to able to dig the tree out of the ground and wrap the root ball in burlap then sell it.

 

[Mark_G]

Put "3 pt tree spade" in google and you will find several.

 

[laurencen]

I have a truck mounted spade and yes 10 inches for every 1 inch of trunk minimum, I also ball many trees in baskets for transplant, I would see a issue using a spade on a 3pt is the lack of vertical travel to lift the tree out, there are several manufacturers that make spades for bobcats, these work well and I would assume for most uses one could put it in place of the bucket, I would recomend using wire baskets rather than just a burlap sack, it is more foregiving when transporting the tree

 

[Tim M]

I've got one of these:

Dirtworks Tree Shovel (Spade Nose): Bobcat Skid Steer Attachment or Tractor Attachment

It works great for shrubs and such that are not too tall. The challenge with a taller tree(>12 or so feet) is balance. Even tied off to the FEL arms they sometimes get away from you.

I use this on a CK30 with Woods LC102 FEL w Q/A.

Here are some action photos:

http://superxtune.com/images/ALTA2.JPG
http://superxtune.com/images/ALTA3.JPG
http://superxtune.com/images/ALTA6.JPG
http://superxtune.com/images/ALTA7.JPG