Tools for root crown excavation

Tom Dunlap

Tom Dunlap

Here from the beginning
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Retired in Minneapolis
Next week I'll start root crown excavating using my air tools.

Here's a list of tools that I know I'll need, are there any missing?

Shovels, trowels and rakes
Loppers and hand pruners
Cordless reciprocating saw with 6" and long wood cutting blades

More???
 
Air chisel! Works incredible for stuff you can't get a saw in to. The narrow chisel bits work better as they get stuck less in the wood. I like them for trenching anyways, or spots you have to work roots out of tight spots.
 
I have a few masonry chisels in my box for stubborn rocks, couple of sets of cheap wood chisels and at least two sizes of sledge (mostly I make small cuts in hard-to-reach places and the lighter hammer keeps me from wearing out my arm so fast, but the big hammer is nice for when I want to pound through some thick wood). I tried to edit that last bit so it would not be such a perfect setup for "that's what she said" but finally just gave up and went with it. Size does matter.

I like the idea of the air chisel, though I don't normally have the compressor handy for that (I assume the massive air spading compressor would blow the tool apart).

I also have some gallon-sized jugs that have been cut into scoops for getting out loose gravel and the like. Used to always insist on a hay hook for defining edges of roots, but the air spade has made that almost obsolete. An old phillips screwdriver will do in a pinch.

A standard leaf blower is handy, too. The air spade blows so strong that, as one area gets cleaned up, all the loose soil piles up on the part you thought you'd already done. Blower makes it easy to dust off the surface of the excavation so you can see better what's going on.

Oh, and don't forget the 20-yr-old helper to do all the back-breaking labor.
 
I also like to have a hatchet and axe handy. Most times the SGRs come out quicker when chopped and then I do the Finish work with a chisel.

Besides, axes and chisels stay sharper longer than sawblades.

It has gotten to the point with the SGRs we deal with that there is no room to saw so I don't even bring one to the tree anymore.

An air chisel though, that is something I'll look to when I get a compressor. It sounds like a great idea.
 
Since it hasn't been mentioned, a digging bar is always good to have around, especially if there are rocks. Some small bits of lumber and old carpet to protect roots from pry points.

+1 on the 20 year old ...
 
Hey all you root crown excavators...have you got any pictures to share of these tools in action? i.e., what your RCX looks like when you're done?

It would be helpful to a 'noob like me...
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I like to use a full face shield when doing this type of work in addition to safety glasses. Extra tarps can be helpful if you are working around any hardscapes. I also have extra clips to safety the air hoses together.

As far as tools, a good sharp chisel works well, old hand saw blades cut roots just fine.
 
pulaski axe is my favorite for aggressive digs then a my pry bar is pretty much all I need unless it gets tight then i resort to different size flat screw drivers. Thanks for the tip with the air chisel!
 

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reciprocating saw? air chisel? they sound like trouble. I do the ends with loppers first then plunge cuts with chainsaw and finish with manual chisels. good advice re cushioning pry points.

attached pic is of a cherry at your arboretum; a random act of arboriculture last weekend. 1.2 hours got 3 layers of sgrs out and most of the flare clear.
 

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Hoe/mattocks.

http://www.amateurgeologist.com/rockhound-tool-kenyon-hoe/cultivator-mattock.html

What is a SGR? Girdling Root...S for Suspected, Suspicious, Slimy? I don't know, I had to ask what RCX was as well. I'm working the boreal forest, trees are a dime a dozen in people's mind. It would blow my mind if I got paid to do a RCX. I just poke around preclimb rarely.
We did a RCX in school and got right under the stem and found decay that we wouldn't of known about any other way short of drilling (didn't sound it though). Just picked the tree by fluke, good education.
 
I'm pretty reluctant to do plunge cuts with a chainsaw. Recip has worked better so far. I can stick the blades into dirt and they still last. Easier to change a recip blade than sharpen a chainsaw.

EDIT---> After re-reading and stopping to think, GM is right, for trunk wrapped girdlers. Plunge cutting is dangerous but the risks can be mitigated with proper procedures. My head was on track for the roots that are crossing not the ones embedded around the trunk.
 
Good Morning Guy!

Is that article free for distribution in toto to my customers?

Had hoped to get down your way this month to once again ply the oceans of your knowledge but alas I'm only going to make it as far as Fredericksburg VT this time around.

Am still hoping to go to Carolina Crane for some training this year and would love to swing by and do a climb with you. Will stay in touch!
 
[ QUOTE ]
Is that article free for distribution in toto to my customers?

[/ QUOTE ]Rick I dunno why you'd feed it to Dorothy's little dog. Poor thing must be starving since it had to escape those flying monkeys...anyway, that's one chapter in a book that's chock full of cool stuff from that conference, and I would encourage folks to buy and enjoy the whole thing: http://secure.isa-arbor.com/webstore/Landscape-Below-Ground-III-P403.aspx

re usage, as long as you don't sell it i think it's cool with the publisher. I'll ask.
 
Respirator for RCX?

What respirators are you Spaders wearing?

Half masks with replaceable cartridges? What model and cartridge number?

Disposable?

I don't want to go home at the end of the day with a nose full of dirt. If my nose is full of dust then my lungs are full or worse dust.

This article is a good overview:

Respirator article
 
Re: Respirator for RCX?

Actually your lungs may not take as bad a "hit" (haha) as your nose since your nose hairs act as a light duty filter but your point remains. Protect your lungs from dusts, dirts, exhaust, and uh...fallout.
 
Re: Respirator for RCX?

When I do use a dust mask, I will use a basic paper filter mask you get at Home Depot. One way to cut down on the dust is if you can water around the trees a couple days before hand. Good soil moisture really cuts down on the dust.
 
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