How much could one tree possibly weigh?

I mean, come on, how much could a 10 foot crepe myrtle possibly weigh? It can't be that big right? Three or four guys and gravity should be able to get it off the truck, right? Enter Mr. Reality....

We've been planning some more landscaping and it just worked out to be a Mother's Day project. The logistics of coordinating the purchasing, pickup, delivery, tiller, and lots of manual labor proved to be a challenge. But all of that was simple compared to unloading this one tree. We ordered about 30 plants, including the crepe myrtle pictured here and a couple of cherry trees of comparable size and a red maple that was even larger. Thankfully, it was too late in the season to dig the cherry and maple trees, so the largest we actually received was this crepe myrtle. And it was a beast.

When we arrived at the nursery, the workers expertly packed the small pickup truck's bed with everything but the crepe myrtle, wrapped it in a huge sheet of burlap and pinned it together with a score of tire puncturing devices (nails). "What about the crepe myrtle?", we asked.

"Oh no. Big tree. Take whole truck. We load with machine" we were told.

"How big? It will fit in the truck, though, right? How much does it weigh?"

"Yes, it will fit. Maybe 600, 800." with a smile.

"Pounds?!?! How many guys will it take to unload it?" we ask.

"I dunno. We use machines."

Great. Thanks. So we deliver and unload the first truck load of plants the largest of which was a 20 gallon dogwood. Then we head back for the crepe myrtle. Not having seen the tree at this point, we begin to rationalize that he must have been using some other unit of measure or he'd never actually weighed one. The tree couldn't be that heavy. It was only 10 feet tall and the root ball couldn't be bigger than a couple of full grown men. Right?

So this guy gets in a Bobcat and chains the tree to it, hoists it up in the air and slowly lowers it into the sinking pickup. As they secure the tree, we ask them "So how much do you think this tree weighs?"

"Probably 800 pounds."

Uh oh. That's two votes for 800, now. "How many guys usually unload it?"

"I don't know. We use that," he says, gesturing to the industrial strength Bobcat with the hydraulic arm. After wrapping and tying it down, he suggests, "I'd remove that tailgate. The tree might bend it."

Huh. That hadn't even entered my mind. A tree too heavy for the steel tailgate of a pickup truck. What have I gotten us into? We drive off, *slowly*, as I begin to worry about snapping an axle in a pothole on the way home in my friend's nephew's truck. And then we begin to over-engineer the situation. And call for help.

After many ideas and after removing the tailgate, we decided to put two 2x4's under it and slide it to the back of the truck. Then we slid it off and let gravity do its part. The idea was that the 2x4's would drop down and make a ramp for the root ball to slide down. In reality, the rootball snapped one of the boards and came down faster than desired. But it was unloaded and intact.

After much preparation work on Saturday, four guys came on Sunday and planted the tree in under half an hour. Before lunchtime, they had planted everything else as well. It looks great and Melissa will be able to enjoy this Mother's Day present (some of the plants were "Mother's Day" azaleas) for a long time.

Now I've got to order a load of mulch...

Labels: family

Posted by Chris on 5/09/2005 10:24:00 AM :: Permalink   
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