As with any piece of equipment, knowing the monetary investment of purchasing tree spades for their landscaping businesses, contractors are wise to handle their new equipment with care.
“Tree spades are time consuming to learn how to use,” cautioned George Dege, owner, Dege Garden Center, St. Paul, Minn. Dege does a significant amount of tree transplanting for clients who choose from the Colorado Spruce available at his garden center.
“Proper use means checking all electrical and hydraulic fittings,” he advised. “You also have to wash the machine when you’re finished, especially when you’re working with clay soils.” Manufacturers agree that for spades to work well, keeping their blades clean and sharp are high priorities.
“We have some first-time buyers in the landscape industry who will start operating their tree spades in the early spring, and they’re very happy,” noted Larry Coon, sales representative, Bobcat, Minneapolis, Minn. “They dig lots of trees and make lots of money, but when they start again in the fall, they call and say, ‘The spade just isn’t working very well.’ The first thing I always ask them is if they sharpened the blades.”
Coon advised contractors to check blades thoroughly and often to ensure they remain sharp. “You want to cut the root – you don’t want to tear the root,” he said. “If you keep your blades sharp, the tree roots and the tree itself will manage much better.”
Dege explained that dullness can occur as a result of excessive use, and rocks in the soil can chip and damage blades. Weakened or chipped blades should be filed down to smooth out any potentially root-ripping rough spots.
Additionally, ensuring that all fittings on tree spades are tight and lubricated keeps hydraulic machines running smoothly. “Everything on a tree spade is adjustable, so you have to keep your eyes on it,” advised Steven Choate, sales and service representative, Big John Tree Transplanting, Heber Springs, Ark. “You’ve got to keep it lubricated and make sure the bolts aren’t loose and the wires are hooked up properly.”
Manufacturers who produce spades that are made of a single sheet of molded steel noted that such products are more hands-off when it comes to maintenance. “Non-hydraulic attachments are fairly simple units,” commented Rob Peters, products specialist CE Attachments, Cederburg, Wis. “They go on the quick-attach of your skid steer and they don’t have any grease points on them, which make them easier to maintain.”
But regardless of whether a contractor chooses a hydraulic or non-hydraulic tree spade, manufacturers unanimously agreed that the most important proper-use tips are using the proper size spade for the tree, and for the skid steer if the spade is an attachment.
“If you have a 1300-pound skid steer, you don’t want to put a 48-inch tree spade on it because the amount of dire and the weight of the tree will overload the machine,” Peters explained. “You want to make sure you have a tree spade sized proportionate to the size of the skid steer. If you’re going to be moving bigger trees, you’re going to want a bigger skid steer to accommodate the bigger spade.”
Paul Anderson, attachment sales and marketing manager, Bobcat, West Fargo, N.D., detailed the way to determine what size spade is right for a given tree-transplanting job. “It’s a 10- to 1-inch ratio,” he stated. “Multiply the measurement of the trunk diameter by 10 inches, and that gives you the correct size tree spade needed. That’s especially important if you’re going to store the trees for any length of time because if you don’t have a big enough tree ball, the tree won’t survive.”
For skid steer-mounted models, Peters and Anderson also recommended equipping the skid steer with either traction controlling devices on the wheels or rear stabilizers. “With over-tire tracks, you get a little better traction so you can push forward a little while you’re digging into the ground,” Peters remarked.
Anderson added, “What you’re doing with a spade on a skid-steer is trying to force the blade on the front of the machine into the ground. What tends to happen is that if the ground is hard, the skid-steer wants to pivot around the back tire of the machine and it will lift you up as you dig.” He explained that stabilizing bars on the back of a skid-steer keeps the machine grounded and allow better pressure to be directed to the spade itself.
As a final word of advice, Choate stressed, “Before you dig you want to make sure you have all your utilities checked so you don’t dig up something you shouldn’t.”
Taking these tips and tricks into account when considering a tree spade purchase will help contractors find the right spade for the job. Likewise, properly using and caring for tree spades allows the machines to handle thousands of hours of digging and transplanting work – while also assuring trees will live long, happy lives in their new landscapes.
The author is Assistant Editor of Lawn & Landscape magazine and can be reached at lspiers@lawnandlandscape.com.
