Transplanting Maple trees

[PerryFamily]

looking for some advice on transplanting maple trees.

I have a client that I care take for that would like to plant sugar maples along the field roads up to their orchard / pond area. The idea is that later in life ( many many years ) these trees will be a hedge row of large mature maples lining the road. We have 30 acres of sugarbush that was just thinned this summer and I will continue to thin and clean this winter.

What type of success would I have transplanting with an excavator say 3-4" dbh sugar maples from the forest to the field edge?
Anyone else do this?
What precautions would anyone have or soil amending / sampling recommendations ?

Thanks in advance

[maple maniac65]

Sun scald comes to mind, then shock, but then if one does not make it dig up another. I have been doing this for ten years. Only with a pick and shovel though. Lost half of what I transplanted over the years but they were going to be thinned out anyhow.

[madmapler]

I've relocated a few things with a backhoe. The largest was a huge lilac (15' tall x 12' across) that never skipped a beat. I just did my best to move the soil along with it and placed it in an adequate hole. I only watered it a few times after transplanting. It went from full sun to full sun though.

[jimsudz]

The only problem that i have found transplanting this size of tree is that they are usually whips if coming from the woods.Tall with small crown, hard to keep up right and keep watered. I prefer a 3/4-1" tree,still a whip put easier to dig' stake and keep alive. I just trim crown a bit and the will usually flurish. I Know you think that bigger is better,but I think the smaller will take off quicker and eventually catch up. Just what I have found.

[PerryFamily]

The only problem that i have found transplanting this size of tree is that they are usually whips if coming from the woods.Tall with small crown, hard to keep up right and keep watered. I prefer a 3/4-1" tree,still a whip put easier to dig' stake and keep alive. I just trim crown a bit and the will usually flurish. I Know you think that bigger is better,but I think the smaller will take off quicker and eventually catch up. Just what I have found.

I understand what your saying and makes total sense. My only thinking with this is to save money versus buying from a nursery. These would also be purely for esthetics, not to be tapped

[PerryFamily]

I've relocated a few things with a backhoe. The largest was a huge lilac (15' tall x 12' across) that never skipped a beat. I just did my best to move the soil along with it and placed it in an adequate hole. I only watered it a few times after transplanting. It went from full sun to full sun though.

Good point. These would be coming from a just thinned forest but before the thinning there was a large amount of hemlock providing plenty of shade.

[bmbmkr]

Jimsudz, how deep/big is the rootball on a 3/4" to 1" diameter tree? I have hundreds, and want to transplant some to an orchard in a grid in some land on my place that has several junk trees, there are 4 giant 30"-40" trees, already growing there, and a few dozen 20"-24" trees that the previous landowner nailed fence to and they are all dead!
Anyway, I have also been contemplating transplants, I appreciate any advice.

[CharlieVT]

We've had success transplanting trees of the size you describe using a backhoe. (Woods 9000 backhoe, 16" wide bucket I'm guessing)

First dig the recepient site. (We were moving trees to create shade trees for a new house). The trees went from the shade into full afternoon sun. The trees were probably smaller than 4" DBH when we moved them, but we wanted to transplant the largest we thought would survice since we were looking for them to become shade trees as soon as possible.

Then I'd dig out around the sides and front of the root bulb trying to keep a root ball the size of the bucket. Trying to minimize damage to the main root bulb. Then pick out the root ball from behind with the side of the dipperstick of the backhoe up against the tree stem.

Drive to the recipient site with the tree in the bucket and drop it in. A second pair of hands to try an keep the stem from tipping with respect to the root bulb trying to prevent further damage to the root system.

Stabilize the tree with stakes and lines.

Lastly, keep 'em watered.

HTH

[jimsudz]

hey bmbmkr, the trees that i have transplanted were dug by a hickory backhoe.The root ball is only two ft in dia and 12-18" deep. dig around and pop out with shovel. Prune back the top a little and plant.Try to keep as much of dirt on tree as possible. Keep it watered. I transplant in fall. My biggest problem is deer nipping the buds,when i transplant smaller trees,so i'll usually put some orange flagging tape on them to spook them.I' ve tried bigger maples with excavator but seem to lose to many.

[bmbmkr]

thanks for the extra info guys

[Big_Eddy]

I've done a number of trees with a small backhoe. Dig the new hole first!
Then I dig a 3'-4' deep "moat" all the way around the tree.
I have a 20' piece of high tension wire which I drop in the bottom of the moat around the far side of the tree, then pull it through the soil under the root ball like a giant cheese slicer.
I drop an old sheet of plywood into the moat on the near side, then I use a tire chain, also on the far side of the root ball, to support the root ball and I drag it onto the plywood sheet.
Once on the plywood sheet I can drag the sheet of plywood with tree root ball laying on it anywhere I want. Watch out for power lines!!
At the new home, I lift up the edge of the plywood sheet and "slide" the tree into the hole. A little nudging and pushing to get it vertical, then backfill and water.

I've successfully (they survived) moved several 20'-30' (4-6" dbh) maples this way, and numerous spruces and cedars. However, I tried 4 or 5 6" Black Walnuts and they all died. Even at 4' down, the tap root was 3" in diameter and had to be cut.