After three years of trying with numerous dead ends and false promises, we’ve finally managed to buy a Tree Spade, or should I say found someone who would reply to enquiries, give us a lead time of less than 18 months if we’re lucky, or want more for an ex-hire machine than a brand new one would cost!
Tree relocation or tree moving is something we’ve wanted to add to our list of services for years, and while we’ve moved a few with the airspade and digger, it’s so much easier with a greater success rate if you can bring in the tree spade and move a larger amount of the existing soil microbiome with the tree and sitting in a cab is always preferably to being in a dust mask and face shield while hanging off the airspade and slinging trees around the trunks.
With that in mind
We’ve invested in a Dutchman 380i tree spade. The deal was struck in October 2023 and since then it’s been factory overhauled, resprayed and will be ready for work as soon as it lands in the UK early in 2024. You can see some stock videos of what these machines are capable of on Dutchman’s Youtube channel, and as soon as we’ve got it and been out ours as well. The decision is still being made on what the base unit will be, it will definitely be a tracked skid steer of some variety as the evidence shows they cause less damage to the soil than wheeled machines, but we’re still undecided on the manufacturer.
We’re going to couple all this new kit with our existing diagnostic/tree health kit to ensure any tree we move is healthy enough to be transplanted and is monitored after relocation to ensure it’s taken in it’s new position and will be healthy for years to come and are planning on buying a larger machine next year so we can move even bigger trees and save even more of our historical green infrastructure for future generations.