Small evergreen tree died. How easy is it to remove the root ball?

[JEDI]

a 3ft high ever green on my property died.

if i just cut it down, I'm afraid of a tripping hazard.
overblown fears?

 

[lxskllr]

It'll rot and leave a hole. You should be able to pull it with any car, or maybe a lawn tractor.

 

[JEDI]

It'll rot and leave a hole. You should be able to pull it with any car, or maybe a lawn tractor.

oh.. how long after I cut it down does it take to rot enuf for me to pull it out?

 

[lxskllr]

Don't cut it first. Pull it out whole. I mentioned it rotting and leaving hole if you just cut it and left the stump(Is a stub from a 3' tree considered a stump? :^D )

 

[paperfist]

3' high? You should be able to yank it with your bare hands.

 

[tracerbullet]

3' high? You should be able to yank it with your bare hands.

Agreed, this or minimal digging with a shovel. 3' must be a typo?

 

[JEDI]

Agreed, this or minimal digging with a shovel. 3' must be a typo?

nope.. small, a little above waist height.

so it's that easy to remove it?

 

[DrPizza]

It's not the size... how many years has it been there? If it's 3 feet high and planted within the past 6 months, it's likely a child can pull it out. If it's 3 feet high, but has been growing there for a decade (and is a naturally small sized shrub), it'll take a little effort. Regardless, if you cut it and leave it to rot, it may be a decade or longer before it has rotted away completely, depending on the species. If you have a strong rope, you can tie the rope to your car and around the shrub near the base, and maybe be able to pull it out. But personally, I'd take a shovel to it first. (Well, personally, I'd just use the bucket of the tractor to lift it right out of the ground, but I assume you don't have a large tractor laying around.) While you're digging, see how much you can wiggle the thing. Once it seems fairly loose, you may be able to pull it out by hand. Or, if it's fairly loose and you can't, provided you've dug down a little bit on the side facing where you can back a car near it, you can use a rope to pull it out.

Another question - how big around in circumference is it? A rule of thumb often used for trees is if there is tree above a point, there are roots below the point. I.e., the roots radiate outward as far as the branches. So, the bigger around the bush, the more work it's likely going to take. A tap root being the wild card - those suckers can make it very hard to pull out by hand.

Another strategy - if you can pull with a vehicle in multiple directions, pull one way, disconnect the rope, reconnect and pull in a different direction. Back and forth, "rocking" the bush, and you'll likely be able to yank it out eventually with no effort with a shovel - I recently removed two large weeping cherries that were dying that way - took about 10 minutes each to yank out each tree with most of the main roots, using an F150. (Tractor needed radiator fluid.)

 

[Carson Dyle]

Cut down the tree, take a small ax and chop out any stump to a few inches below ground level, fill in the small hole.

Then don't worry about the root ball unless you want to plant something in the same location, or it actually does cause a problem. With a tree that small, I'm betting it never will.

 

[Red Squirrel]

When I took out some hedges (about 7-8 feet high maybe) I sawed them down by hand and then for the stumps I just dug using a combination of shovel and axe. Was a decent amount of work, but not too bad. If I was to do it again I'd probably rent a mini excavator though, because it would be more fun. Trunks were maybe 10-15cm at their largest.

 

[edro]

If it didn't pull out with my hands, I would probably dig down an inch or two and cut it off.
Done.

 

[JEDI]

If it didn't pull out with my hands, I would probably dig down an inch or two and cut it off.
Done.

how are you cutting it down 2inches below the dirt line?

and my tree's been there for years.
haven't tried to pull it by hand yet. (cant find my gloves)

 

[NoCreativity]

I dug a ton of bushes like these out around my old house. Use a shovel to dig around the bush, maybe about two feet from the trunk. Go all the way around. You're basically chopping all the roots. Then wiggle it back and forth a bit and it should come right out.

 

[Jumpem]

You could probably hire a stump grinder for not very much.

 

[edro]

how are you cutting it down 2inches below the dirt line?

and my tree's been there for years.
haven't tried to pull it by hand yet. (cant find my gloves)

Dig down 3-6" around the trunk, 12" out, then use any number of saws.
If it's 3' tall, the trunk is only 2-3" diameter.

I would use my reciprocating saw, chainsaw, bow saw, pole saw, drywall saw, miter box saw, jap pull saw, axe or even a hack saw.

 

[DrPizza]

Dig down 3-6" around the trunk, 12" out, then use any number of saws.
If it's 3' tall, the trunk is only 2-3" diameter.

I would use my reciprocating saw, chainsaw, bow saw, pole saw, drywall saw, miter box saw, jap pull saw, axe or even a hack saw.

Another way to get rid of larger roots is to burn them out. You know how when something is barely burning, and you blow on it, the embers glow and it continues to burn, though absent much flame as long as you're blowing on it?

Leaf blower. Direct a leaf blower on the roots, start burning with a torch until it has decent ignition. Allow to burn.