redundant hedge removal?

I need to remove some old privet hedging and would love to know what the best way to do it is.

It has been there around 50 years, not sure why it was put in just screens a small area of the garden for no apparent reason. I've dug a trench round 3 sides of the end one and I still can't even wobble it an inch.


Is there anything I can do to shift it or make it easier to shift? Please

 

Pick axe/ matock or if a lot a mini digger and operator, if poss a 2 ton or bigger machine.

If you go down the digger route and have never driven one then dont try it with this as you need to know the controls/ power with grubbing out or you risk tipping it.

 

Thanks for the quick answer - even if the process isn't going to be quick - will have to tackle it a bit at a time I think.

Think it's going to have to be the pick axe/matock route. There are only about originals but each of them has 3 or 4 main trunks.

There seems to be a mat of very fine roots around and a few bigger ones. How deep do their roots tend to go?

 

wide not deep, max 1' ish

 

Thanks Paul :thumb:

So if I dig a trench a foot deep all around and cut the roots I should be get somewhere. Will have another go for an hour tomorrow if it's dry.

 

Very good advice, my neighbour owns a couple (a two tonner and an eight tonner, used to have a four tonner). I tried driving the four tonner (with him supervising) and it's not easy. the main sticks work in four directions and what is worse, if you rotate the digger on its chassis 180 degrees they work in opposite directions. He traded the four tonner in for the eight tonner as it couldn't cope with pulling out the roots of hawthorn trees. He had two acres of them to remove.

 

Can you get a vehicle near it? I had a similar one, dug about a foot deep, chain around main routes attached to car and dragged it out.

 

We pulled out 5 trees with a monster truck fitted with a v8 that was the easy way lol