I learned something today

[scgargoyle]

I learned something that I'm sure the rest of you already know- different species of trees are attached to the earth differently! I recently acquired a small piece of land that I want to turn into pasture. Right now, it's logged over pine forest that has since grown up a crop of small trees- red oak, white oak, poplar, and sweet gum. I took the old tractor out and tried pulling up some trees. First, I hooked up to a 3" red oak. I put the tractor in 1st, and it came right out at an idle. I hooked to the 4" oak next to it, and got the same results, with a little more effort required. I moved on to a 3" sweet gum, and- nothing! Gave 'er the gas, leaned as hard as I could, and not even a wiggle. Lucky I had the scraper blade on the back to keep me from going over. I guess the devil hisself is holding on to those DanG sweet gums! The good news is that there's only a few hundred of them out there  :D :D :D

[coxy]

there also could be a soil change maybe just a little softer  and the roots went deeper  :-\

[WV Sawmiller]

   How come new lessons tend to be so hard to learn sometimes? I did not know sweetgum were deep rooted but I tried to transplant some persimmon a couple years ago and found they had awful deep roots. I don't have sweetgum up here in the hills so I have not had to learn how deep rooted it is.

   A good indicator around here is to watch what happens after several days of good slow soaking rain followed by an ice storm. On the steep slopes you will find the locust trees are among the first to fall as they are shallow rooted. They will fall and sometimes have a domino effect with 1 tree taking down 2 more which take down the 4 below them all the way down the slope. It can get real ugly. Other trees like poplar and such will have the tops and big limbs snap off but not fall.

   

[Don P]

I did something similar when we moved here and I began clearing with truck and tractor. I had popped out some young pines that were closing the pasture, no problem they were just about J rooted on the mountain. There is a beech grove on one end of our place and I needed to pop some young ones out right by the drive. I chained the rear bumper, and it needed a little more gas. I backed up for a little more jerk and poured the coals to it. That worked, I felt it pop. Looked in the rear view. My bumper was still chained to the tree  :D. I was trying to peel the whole face of the hill. I started paying more attention to that part of jobsite clearing. Roadwork push piles are another good museum.

[WDH]

Trees are like people.  Some are more deep rooted than others.  Some are easy to push over, some are not  .

[Kbeitz]

I lived in Ga. for a few years. My home had no trees in it's yard.
So I went into the woods to dig out a small pine. What a surprise
I got. I put a 2ft ball on the tree and the main root was still as
big as the trunk of the tree and still going strait down under the
ball.

[newoodguy78]

Trees are like people.  Some are more deep rooted than others.  Some are easy to push over, some are not  .

Well said WDH I like the way you put that, I may even use that line sometime if you don't mind.

[WDH]

Go ahead, I am just a pushover  ;D.

[yukon cornelius]

We noticed the same thing. Cedars come right out. Osage orange is there for life.

Another lesson we learned, if God planted it, it can be nearly impossible to get rid of. If I plant it, it is nearly impossible to make it live.  :D

[scgargoyle]

I went out today and did some more. It's definitely the trees. I could yank sweet gums up to about 2", but that's it. The biggest oaks are 4", and they come right out. I'll have to slash and spray the bigger sweet gums for now. They have a nasty habit of resprouting from cut stumps. The whole plot is dotted with old pine stumps, and I have to deal with those, too. After 9 years, some of them are pretty rotten, but others are still solid. I may have to rent an excavator, or pay someone to come and grub it off. I want to able to mow it, at least with a bush hog.

[ozarkgem]

We noticed the same thing. Cedars come right out. Osage orange is there for life.

Another lesson we learned, if God planted it, it can be nearly impossible to get rid of. If I plant it, it is nearly impossible to make it live.  :D

Must be your rocks because Hedge here is the easiest tree to push over. All the root are pretty much just under the top of the ground. Honey locust are a bear. I have pushed them over with my dozer, backed up and they stood right back up.

[Don P]

Trees are like people.  Some are more deep rooted than others.  Some are easy to push over, some are not  .

And if you mess with some, you're messing with da family.