The 2024 Yamadori/Collecting Thread

I have a dumb question:

When collecting, do you cut the trunk before digging up the roots or after?
 
Someone already collected 9 huge bald cypress potted em and put it water atleast a month ago. Sign reads free help yourself. He had plans hopefully I can live up to them. So technically roadside collected after wild collected.
 

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I have a dumb question:

When collecting, do you cut the trunk before digging up the roots or after?

I cut back anything that's in my face right away, but leave the trunk long while I work on the roots. I use the long trunk as leverage to push the tree over and expose more roots as I'm cutting. Then cut the trunk to an appropriate spot before I have to carry it out.
 
I cut back anything that's in my face right away, but leave the trunk long while I work on the roots. I use the long trunk as leverage to push the tree over and expose more roots as I'm cutting. Then cut the trunk to an appropriate spot before I have to carry it out.
That makes a lot of sense. I've been reading all of your comments regarding collection of coast live oaks. I found one in my front yard with a trunk 2-2.5" thick. It's in my landscaping, so it's gotta go sooner than later. I'm considering collecting it in the coming days.

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I have a dumb question:

When collecting, do you cut the trunk before digging up the roots or after?
I did not have much time so I did it the lazy way. Using a reciprocal saw with a 12 inch bimetal demolition blade, I cut a circle to full depth and 12” away from the trunk. Then I tied a tow rope on the trunk and pulled it slowly with my truck until I see the tree leaned over. That opened the ground so I can see half the bottom. I cut the deep root with the saw. Then I moved the truck to the other side and pulled the tree in the other direction. That popped the root base on the other side. Again I cut whatever is holding the tree. After all that it was an easy pull out of the hole. Using the saw I cut off the top and removed the tow rope. Grabbing the tree I shook the dirt off the root ball and back into the hole. Then I toss the tree, rope, and saw back in the truck. It took less than 15 minutes.
 
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Do you have success digging Live Oaks with this few of roots? I tried digging Willow Oaks of various sizes less than 2-3" caliper. Most had a tap root that had to be cut. My success rate was low except when I was able to get a bunch of native soil and finer roots to stay.
 
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Do you have success digging Live Oaks with this few of roots? I tried digging Willow Oaks of various sizes less than 2-3" caliper. Most had a tap root that had to be cut. My success rate was low except when I was able to get a bunch of native soil and roots finer roots to stay.
I am not sure but I am taking a chance. I would rather it dies now than developing a tree then kill it later while trying to make the root ball shallow.
 
Someone already collected 9 huge bald cypress potted em and put it water atleast a month ago. Sign reads free help yourself. He had plans hopefully I can live up to them. So technically roadside collected after wild collected.

I'm going to pot a nice 18" tree in a nice pot and leave on his door and run. Second biggest tree should do.
 
So I made the mistake of wearing my mud-boots right on top of a neoprene wader.

Duuuude! I spent 10 minutes in vain trying to pull the boots off. The neoprene sealed in tight. Trying to pull the boots off created a vacuum that I could not break.

I wound up putting a water nozzle in between the wader and the boot. The water under pressure filled the void created by my pulling off the boots. Thank goodness they came off.
 
So I made the mistake of wearing my mud-boots right on top of a neoprene wader.

Duuuude! I spent 10 minutes in vain trying to pull the boots off. The neoprene sealed in tight. Trying to pull the boots off created a vacuum that I could not break.

I wound up putting a water nozzle in between the wader and the boot. The water under pressure filled the void created by my pulling off the boots. Thank goodness they came off.
I went through jungle warfare school in Okinawa. We had the same issue in one area we called "peanut butter alley". One guy had the sole of his boot ripped off because the suction was so strong.
 
So I made the mistake of wearing my mud-boots right on top of a neoprene wader.

Duuuude! I spent 10 minutes in vain trying to pull the boots off. The neoprene sealed in tight. Trying to pull the boots off created a vacuum that I could not break.

I wound up putting a water nozzle in between the wader and the boot. The water under pressure filled the void created by my pulling off the boots. Thank goodness they came off.
I wish I could have seen that 😂
 
I wish I could have seen that 😂
If you sling F bombs in the swamp, would they hurt alligators’ feeling?

I sat on the ground, grabbed one boot at a time and pulled with all my might to absolutely no avail. I thought of cutting the damn wader but didn’t because it wasn’t mine. Good thing I thought of using water pressure to ease the vacuum.
 
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I've been collecting small sweetgum (liquidamber) so far, not really yamadori just slightly bigger than saplings. I need a root slayer or to bring out my reciprocating saw to get anything bigger.
 
Collected a Chinese elm that I grew in the yard of my old home. The tree was right on hurricane Laura debris line. The debris bent the trunk and the tree snaked its trunk around to grow out of the debris. I found an old sock among the roots even.
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Collected a Chinese elm that I grew in the yard of my old home. The tree was right on hurricane Laura debris line. The debris bent the trunk and the tree snaked its trunk around to grow out of the debris. I found an old sock among the roots even.
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Turned out it wasn’t a tree I planted. It was from a broken pot blown into the field and wound up in the debris line.
Bottom of old pot shown.
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Trunk chopped where there is a reverse taper.
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Worked on the roots
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Planted deep in a mica pot to allow the split roots to heal.
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