To avoid these ads, REGISTER NOW!

I got a tree that needs to be taken out.

drmoonshine

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 17, 2010
Messages
327
Location
Oxnard, California
What is the best, fun or fast way to take out an orange tree out of my back yard? Is it worth just to hire someone so they can just haul it away and not have to worry about it?
 
To avoid these ads, REGISTER NOW!

38Chevy454

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 26, 2006
Messages
4,038
Location
Cincinnati, OH
How big is the first question. Also any structures that could be damaged when removing it? Do you have any way to remove the tree branches once it is down?

If it is much larger than 4 inches trunk diam, you will need to probably grind the stump out if you want it completely gone. You can cut it off at ground level or slightly below, and then deal with suckers popping up and trying to kill the stump for several years if you don't grind it out.
 

csp

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 23, 2010
Messages
5,720
Location
Franktown, CO
Depends on how big it is, what kind of access you have to it, and what kind of obstacles there are that might get damaged.

Can't tell any of those things with the info given.
 

LEVE

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 23, 2008
Messages
1,727
Location
On the Willapa
... are there any California or local environmental laws that would prevent it from being removed?
 
OP
D

drmoonshine

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 17, 2010
Messages
327
Location
Oxnard, California
Maybe 15-20 feet tall. Around ten feet from the closest wall and there are no structures close to it. However there is another orange tree about 15 feet away.
 

hh76

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 9, 2010
Messages
3,455
Location
NE Wisconsin
Not exactly the fast way, but started to work.

My father is retired and due to the extra time available, likes to take the slow road with his projects. One of these projects was the removal of a tree and stump at his cabin in northern Wisconsin. My brother and I urged him to rent a machine to pull it out, but he insisted that the three of us could dig around the root ball and cut it out. After a couple shovels we decided we needed to use nature to help us out.

We took a long bit on a big roto hammer and drilled several holes in the ground in amongst the roots. The next morning we fried a bunch of bacon for breakfast and poured the grease down the holes. He continued to poor grease down every time he was up there, and said that by the end of the summer the bear had dug up a considerable amount of the root ball. Maybe next summer we'll get it out?
 

Pukeballs

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 6, 2008
Messages
289
Location
Rancho Mirage, CA
An orange tree is the last tree I'd want removed. Nothing smells sweeter than orange tree blossoms. Always reminds me of summer.
 

NOVA87Wrangler

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 1, 2010
Messages
94
Location
Northern Virginia
At that size, I'd cut all the braches off and then cut it off about 6-8' high. That was you can use the top of the tree/stump as a lever to work the root ball out.
 

hetkind

Banned
Joined
Sep 28, 2008
Messages
995
Location
Johnson City, Tennessee
anything smaller that 6" or so, I dig out with a mattock, bigger that than, I bring in backhoe.

On the other hand, I have had good luck burning the stumps out after drilling long holes in the stump. Filling the holes with ammonium nitrate fertilizer and letting it sit for a few months also helps.

Howard
 
To avoid these ads, REGISTER NOW!

59 wagon man

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 25, 2010
Messages
1,589
Location
hollywood fla
the county came in and cut all the citrus trees in everyone's yard due to threat of canker. i miss that tree a lot. when i first moved in i built a deck right into the middle of the tree. it was a blast to take the dog out into the yard pull an orange off the tree and share it with my dog. man i miss that tree and my buddy barney. he was a great buddy in the shop just a big ole mutt mostly akita rip buddy
 

Sweet Old Bill

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 20, 2009
Messages
362
Location
N. California
Digging out a root ball is unnecessary hard work. If you cannot get a backhoe in to knock the stump over, then just burn it out. You have plenty of distance from structures. As others have said, let it dry out for several months. Then fire up a charcoal grill, grill some steaks or burgers, then dump the charcoal on the stump. Leave it alone for a few hours, then go out with a leaf blower or the blower part on a shop vac & chase the charcoal around the top of the stump. I burned out a 25 year old fruitless mulberry, about 15" diameter, in 2-3 hours. My neighbor had taken two weeks of very hard labor to dig out two similar trees on his side of the fence. I had told him to burn them out; he said, that doesn't work. He and his wife watched me burn mine out, while we stood there & drank a root beer! She thought it was like a mini volcano, sparks went up about six feet. The air from the blower made the stump look like a small blast furnace.
 

onewaydave

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 28, 2009
Messages
961
Location
Down the road from Dorothy and Toto
Not exactly the fast way, but started to work.

My father is retired and due to the extra time available, likes to take the slow road with his projects. One of these projects was the removal of a tree and stump at his cabin in northern Wisconsin. My brother and I urged him to rent a machine to pull it out, but he insisted that the three of us could dig around the root ball and cut it out. After a couple shovels we decided we needed to use nature to help us out.

We took a long bit on a big roto hammer and drilled several holes in the ground in amongst the roots. The next morning we fried a bunch of bacon for breakfast and poured the grease down the holes. He continued to poor grease down every time he was up there, and said that by the end of the summer the bear had dug up a considerable amount of the root ball. Maybe next summer we'll get it out?


Spew factor, 8.

Dave.
 

c_mccann

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 30, 2010
Messages
919
I removed a bunch of cypress trees and pine trees with my truck. Dig around the base about 18" deep, cut of the top foliage down to a 3' trunk, chain around base and pull with the truck. You'll get tension on the chain and get in there with a sawzall and a long demo blade and cut until its free. On a tree that size, 1 hour maximum.
 

GarageEnvy

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 17, 2009
Messages
1,282
Location
Fresno
Orange trees are easy. It's done all the time around here. Cut it down to a 6' pole and connect it to a truck (plenty of other threads on how to do this) and pull. It will probably come right out. If you can't get a truck near it, dig around it as much as possible and you and a couple of buddies can probably rock it out with a fair amount of effort.
 
To avoid these ads, REGISTER NOW!
Top Bottom