Fat Collected Elm

[mholt]

I didn't find much time to do a whole lot of collecting this year but did get a chance to collect this elm from my property this year over the weekend. Still on the fence what kind of elms I keep pulling from the ground, slippery or American. 1/2 liter bottle for size ref. I'm excited to see what comes of this ugly stump and hopefully I'll find a tree in there once things recover.

 

[raydomz]

I'm sure you'll have no problem finding the tree. You'll have plenty of options

 

[davetree]

You must have a strong back to pull stumps like that. How much does it weigh ? Nice one, looks like a strong tree in there somewhere.

 

[mholt]

600 lbs. deadlifts in the gym helps me. Honestly, I try working methodically, trenching around the tree while gradually undercutting the rootball. I use a dedicated shovel with a keen straight sharp edge to slice and then once I can wiggle the tree, I come back with the sawsall to get at the giant taproot and other large roots. It was probably a couple hundred pounds or so but all the weight was in the rootball which I then reduced considerably after it was out of the ground. Since it was on my property, I was able to do the work just a few feet from it's hole...run extension cords for saws, and pot it up with a couple bags of turface and carry it to the bench with no mountain sides to lug it down or forests to navigate through.

 

[gergwebber]

looks like youl have a lot of carving to do! is there nebari down there?

I found a good way to get heavy stuff out of holes when digging out a concrete fence post: once it is cut free but too heavy to lift, I lean the tree over and set a rock in the gap, roll back onto the rock and put in another rock opposite, and repeat untill the rootball is at ground level! them at least you are lifting from ground level!

 

[mholt]

Project tree for sure. Nebari is OK...unfortunately there are multiple levels at which good-looking roots come out. Thanks for the tips on removal!