I thought this was pretty neat.

But then I'm in the excavating business.

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=BFTj0hM3DHM

3 backhoes and 2 bulldozers to move it... that is an impressive display of power. Thanks for the share!

Nothing broke, tree not damaged, nobody got hurt. Looks like an ad for Caterpillar, and that is not a bad thing. Some very bright people laid that project out. Wonder what the bill was?

cwh wrote: Nothing broke, tree not damaged, nobody got hurt. Looks like an ad for Caterpillar, and that is not a bad thing. Some very bright people laid that project out. Wonder what the bill was?

PR?

i don't get the big deal about a tree? we just cut a bigger oak tree down to make room for a garage... the guy that came to haul the main part of the trunk away to be sliced up into boards at an old timey threshing show stopped counting when he got to 180 rings and he was about 2/3 of the way thru..

of course, maybe i'm a bit jaded about oak trees since there are about 200 of them out in the cow pasture..

In reply to novaderrik:

ND, is there anything you're NOT jaded about?

Just kidding, kinda.

Loved the video aside from the lack of engine noises, you know that had to sound pretty amazing.

It's a neat video, but that was a lot of effort, and undoubtedly money. I'm not saying it wasn't well-spent, because I'll hug a tree as soon as the next enviro-nut, but I can't help but feel that the next big windstorm is gonna take that sucker over. That, or the truncated root system will cause it to die in the next drought.

I bet those guys enjoyed a cold beer after work that day.

That would be impressive on the engineers resume......

Cool project, but not a real big tree.

This is a big live oak.

It's also 1400 years old.

The next image is one of ten in my parents yard, probably in the 300 year old range.

Live oaks are common as dirt around here.

There was a Far Side comic where 2 guys were counting the rings of a tree they just chopped down......arguing about the age? I can't find it so I will let you enjoy this one.

I,m surprised it didn't have a tap root. Or if they cut it off, not good.

oldsaw wrote: In reply to novaderrik: ND, is there anything you're NOT jaded about? Just kidding, kinda.

it's true, i'm pretty jaded about pretty much everything. i'm kinda like Randall in the big emotional jail cell scene in Clerks 2- "i hate everyone and think everything is stupid"..

will it be a big news event in 5 years when they figure out that this tree that they spent so much time and effort to move is dead? i'm not a tree expert, but i'm pretty sure that tree needs a root system that is much bigger than the little box they dug out of the ground to survive and stay upright. personally, i think it would have been more honorable to the tree and it's place in that area's history to make something useful out of the lumber now instead of wasting the time and effort to move it to where it will likely just wind up dying within a few years, anyways.

In reply to bearmtnmartin: Pretty cool. I am surprised the excavators were used to pull, seems a job more suited for a dozer. Those excavator tracks must be pretty strong as well. Also surprised they tied the pull cables to the corners off the dozer blade rather than the chassis. Still, it worked, so obviously my concerns are Moot.

I do wonder why they were spraying the path in front of the sled, as well as how it rolled. I was expecting logs under it, but it appears to have some kind of integral roller.

OHSCrifle wrote: In reply to bearmtnmartin: Pretty cool. I am surprised the excavators were used to pull, seems a job more suited for a dozer. Those excavator tracks must be pretty strong as well. Also surprised they tied the pull cables to the corners off the dozer blade rather than the chassis. Still, it worked, so obviously my concerns are Moot. I do wonder why they were spraying the path in front of the sled, as well as how it rolled. I was expecting logs under it, but it appears to have some kind of integral roller.

It was all pretty well thought out.They have it harnessed the way they did to to be able to lift against the load and transfer downforce to the tracks. And an excavator has massive breakout force through the boom and stick so grabbing at the ground ahead and pulling themselves along provided more tractive force than a dozer with tracks alone. They can also make easier direction changes than a cat by turning the house a bit and pulling in a slightly different angle.

The water being sprayed on the path is to provide some lubrication.

novaderrik wrote:

oldsaw wrote: In reply to novaderrik: ND, is there anything you're NOT jaded about? Just kidding, kinda.

it's true, i'm pretty jaded about pretty much everything. i'm kinda like Randall in the big emotional jail cell scene in Clerks 2- "i hate everyone and think everything is stupid".. will it be a big news event in 5 years when they figure out that this tree that they spent so much time and effort to move is dead? i'm not a tree expert, but i'm pretty sure that tree needs a root system that is much bigger than the little box they dug out of the ground to survive and stay upright. personally, i think it would have been more honorable to the tree and it's place in that area's history to make something useful out of the lumber now instead of wasting the time and effort to move it to where it will likely just wind up dying within a few years, anyways.

Trees usually have a major root system that is roughly the circumference of the canopy, so I think they have most of the roots in their wooden box.

And I rarely see a big tap root going straight down on a tree. Don't know about Oaks though. We don't get too many of them.

bearmtnmartin wrote: It was all pretty well thought out.They have it harnessed the way they did to to be able to lift against the load and transfer downforce to the tracks. And an excavator has massive breakout force through the boom and stick so grabbing at the ground ahead and pulling themselves along provided more tractive force than a dozer with tracks alone. They can also make easier direction changes than a cat by turning the house a bit and pulling in a slightly different angle. The water being sprayed on the path is to provide some lubrication.

That all makes a ton of sense! Thanks

Kinda cool but what would they have done if it was a big tree?