How to: Spade safety

Before the development of tree spades in the late 1960s, transplanting large trees was extremely labor intensive. A team of two people working together and digging by hand could spend a full day to dig, transport and replant two 3- to 4-inch caliper trees.

The tree spade revolutionized this process by making it much easier and more cost effective to dig and move trees. Those same two trees that would have taken two people all day to transplant in the ‘60s can now be moved in a matter of minutes with a tree spade and a competent operator.

But nurseries must remember that the power to do all that comes in a very heavy package – the kind that can do some serious damage if not handled with skill and care.

With that in mind, doing the job safely is priority no. 1. Here are some tips every new tree spade operator should know.
 

Be aware

The blades of a tree spade can wreak havoc on anything they come in contact with while digging.

Stephen Choate, owner of Big John Manufacturing, says it comes down to awareness.

“The main thing is just being alert,” Choate says. “Stay attuned to your conditions, who’s around you, what’s around you, overhead power lines, underground utilities, other employees who are working on the project when you’re running the blades.”

For nurserymen digging trees from rows in their field, power or gas lines may not be common, but irrigation lines can be a concern.
 

Find your fit

Not every spade can move every tree. Tree spade manufacturers typically sell several different models that are capable of digging and moving different size trees.

Do not exceed the manufacturer’s recommendation for the tree size your particular tree spade can handle. Doing so would jeopardize the life of the tree.

Tree spade manufacturers rate the capacity of their machines differently, but a good rule of thumb is that the spade diameter should be 10 times the trunk caliper. For instance, a 30-inch tree spade would be able to dig a maximum of a 3-inch caliper tree.
 

Be practical

Each nursery will have its own safety policy. While the manufacturers provide safety tips and instructions in their machines’ manuals, they may conflict with a nursery’s intended usage. When this occurs, the operators must fall back on the nursery’s own safety policy and their knowledge of the equipment.

For example, Big John instructs users to keep a 10 foot minimum distance from the blade when digging. But many nurseries use tree spades for the ball-and-burlap process, which would make that a hard rule to follow.

“When you’re B&Bing trees, the guy sitting in the skid loader is going to dig the tree, pick it straight up, spin it around and there are going to be two guys holding the basket as they stick it in the basket,” Choate says. “You’re not going to be able to do the 10-foot distance for applications like that.

“Where you want the 10-foot distance would be if you get into the big wheel loader stuff, the real big stuff, because it’s just bigger equipment. You have a bit of safety difference there.”

In those situations, nurseries must implement a plan to be able to put those trees in baskets as safely as possible. As each tree is dug, operators must rely on teamwork, caution, awareness and a strategic plan to keep everyone on the same page.