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Home → Publications → Tree Planters' Notes → Tree Planters' Notes Issue 65 (1964) → Improvements to Grading Tables and Root Pruners

Improvements to Grading Tables and Root Pruners

The grading and root-pruning of nursery stock at the time of shipment are almost universal practices. Several methods have been used. An increasingly prevalent procedure is to grade the seedlings and place them on a conveyor belt, usually in bunches containing a determined number of trees. The seedlings are carried by the belt past a root pruner which prunes the roots at the desired length. A single belt conveyor, 18 to 24 inches wide, is usually used. The conveyor is of various lengths but is usually about 30 feet long. At the lower end of the belt, a root pruner is mounted, and as the seedlings are carried past the pruner, the roots are cut off. This system is highly suitable for seedlings that have taproots or stiff perpendicular roots. However, for seedlings with a more fiberous root system, such as on red pine, white pine, jack pine, and the spruces, this type of belt does not work as well. The roots to be pruned extend beyond the belt and tend to drag; consequently the roots are not pruned at all or are cut at various lengths.


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Author(s): Edward D. Clifford

Publication: Tree Planters' Notes - Issue 65 (1964)