DIY removing large conifer trees

We are moving into a new house soon. The back garden has a "hedge" of overgrown conifer leylandi which are over 30' high.

One of our first jobs will be to cut them all back to 6-7 feet to make them manageable ( we don't care what they look like) then in the summer remove them completely.

I don't want to pay a company to do this because, naturally, money is a bit tight when moving house and also I like to have a stab at things myself.

Commercial companies will grind the roots away and dispose of the trees which is nice but I am wondering whether that is necessary as a removed conifer will not re sprout and, hopefully, using the method below, will not leave a large root in the soil to get in the way of gardening.

My idea is to lop them as above, and then, when their time comes, to dig/cut vertically through the radial roots as deep as possible and using a tow-rope with a slip knot around the trunk of the tree to use the car pull them out of the ground.

Has anyone tried this? Or should I bite the bullet and get a firm in?

Also, any suggestions for the disposal of the trees apart from repeated trips to the dump as conifers do not, even when shredded, seem to be the best ingredient for rotting down naturally. As much as we love bonfires, we don't really want a big one (actually we do!) until we have met our new neighbours and got to know them.

Thanks for ideas/experiences...

Steve

Reply to
Steve
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Mm. I had some, and the stumps proved surprisingly easy to remove. Actually all I did with one was bow saw it flus with the ground, and leave it there. After a year I built a fire on it.

Then I gravelled over it.

Oh. Shame. They burn like anything.

Cut em into logs and sell them for firewood..stack for a year or so..otherwise they are a tad violent.

The brush stiff - hire a chipper.

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

An experience, not an idea I'm afraid. When removing such a screen of trees, you may find a sudden increase in traffic noise if near a road. And this may be worse than not having the towering triffids in your garden. If you're in the country side then you are very fortunate ! Simon.

Reply to
sm_jamieson

Moderate numbers of people are killed every year by snapping cable. Stay in the car, adn don't have anyone else within range.

Quite large numbers of people are also killed by falling trees...

Reply to
Ian Stirling

Yes, thanks. That is one option but we want rid of trees and their roots and the missus wants to garden over the hole ASAP.

Ah, good idea. Maybe I can persuade her that a multi-fuel fire is needed...all that energy sitting in the garden for free...

I know about chippers, but I don't know what to with the chippings apart from throwing them into the inferno or making paths from them.

I bet that they will burn like hell when they (eventually) dry out :-)

Steve

Reply to
Steve

Good point Ian and, no, there will not be anyone within the dangerous range, just me in car, in reverse, watching for any danger or snag and my wife will be well out of the way (for once).

They will be already have been reduced in height, as I mentioned, to about 2m so I think that this will not be a problem.

Thanks for bringing the potential safety aspects up though. Possibly us DIYers don't always think through our plans fully with regard to the safety implications either to us or our helpers.

Steve

Reply to
Steve

It's worth noting that it's actually easier to remove taller trees, since you get more leverage. Friend just just shifted a moderate size conifer - plot was to dig around, hack the longer roots, then pull it down. The tree wasn't big enough to kill people though - I'd expect most of the horrid cypresses to be recent enough for this not to be a problem.

cheers, clive

Reply to
Clive George

Thanks Clive What height was the tree when he pulled it down?

I think that appx. 2m still leaves quite a lot of leverage available. Maybe I will not need to drag them out out with the car after all!

Pure muscle power alone might do it and impress the missus to boot ;-)

Steve

Reply to
Steve

I saw a program of "down on the farm" and they got some contraption which was a big pulley/lever device which using a tractor extracted the tree (stumps) from the ground. I would imagine your method would work although maybe a bloack and tackle from one tree to another might be less hard on the car. I saw a neighbour trying it with a puny plant in his front yard and the wheels kept on spinning and the clutch smoking.

Reply to
adder1969

5-7m or so I think.

Sounds good :-) He did have a couple of mates to help - made for a fun morning.

cheers, clive

Reply to
Clive George

I tried to pull out some 2m apple tree "stumps" with a Range Rover & failed miserably. Had to borrow a JCB in the end and dig them out.

Reply to
Huge

Clutch smoking is not something I wanted to hear about although the car is within its warranty... methinks that after the tree extractions, we will have go and to complain about the slipping smelly/burnt out clutch after only a few thousand miles ;-)

Maybe there is a better (DIY) way...

Steve

Reply to
Steve

In message , Ian Stirling writes

Show me the stats and an official, reputable source for fatalities caused by the whipping action of a snapped cable. While you're at it, do you have a source for official figures on the number of arms broken by adult swans?

Reply to
Clint Sharp

In message , Steve writes

Jungle/Desert jack, I know there are at least another two names for these but they escape me at the moment, here's a link though;

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be capable of pulling conifers out by the stump if you get a decent chain on it.

Reply to
Clint Sharp

Yep forget towing the tree idea, unless you want to fork out for a new clutch and tyres.

If you have one, use a tractor, or borrow one with a farmer as driver, and let him keep the firewood. Or just pay him £50 to tow everything away.

Even with a winch watch out for the cable snapping. Do not use a block and tackle as they are to cumbersome, use a hand rachet winch.

Reply to
ukagent

I've taken out a row of Leylandii using a Land Rover. It's relatively easy, but you really need a chain, slip ring and a length of plaited rope. You also need to be damned careful. If the rope comes loose, there's a lot of energy in it.

Leylandii and privet are both best pulled out using a 4x4 IMO. It's not

*that* hard and it clears the roots far better than stump grinding.
Reply to
Steve Firth

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Reply to
Steve Firth

I think stumps of 30' Leyllandii would be asking rather a lot of one.

I seem to recall bending the shear pin on ours with a stump much smaller than that.

H
Reply to
HLAH

Shallow roots, so they're not that difficult to pull up. The problem, as for Archimedes, is finding somewhere to stand.

Reply to
Steve Firth

Chop them down to 4 feet instead.

Whoever does it, there will be roots left over.

I've done it with privets and it worked a treat, conifers are a whole different kettle of fish, their roots, especially on trees this size will be as thick as your arm, except there's not only two of them, there are 7 or 8 per tree, coming off these are finer roots, only about an inch and half thick, but tough as ermm...wood!

Chop the buggers down to 4 feet high and leave them for 2 years - all this instant gardening malarkey went out with the ark - after 2 years you can rock them back and forth and lift them out, this way you can avoid destroying drains, water and gas mains, electric cables, sewers, you get my drift...in the meantime you can plant a nice new slow growing, non lleylandii hedge, the stumps will provide support until their time arrives.

if you do decide to go for the 'instant garden' thing, get a professional firm in and make sure they are insured - I know of one bloke who cut down similar eyesores last summer to build his extension and spent his borrowed

30K on replacing sewers instead.
Reply to
Phil L

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