From Newsgroup: uk.rec.gardening

We have a number of small trees in large pots, some of which need re-
potting.

We re-potted an olive a couple of years back and it was touch and go with getting the tree out of the old pot and into the new pot.

My initial search on line gives me engine hoists but I'm not sure that the narrow(ish) angle of the legs and the small wheels (obviously designed to
slip under a car on a solid floor) will be suitable.

Then again, a straight lift by the trunk so the pot drops off, and the new larger pot can be slid underneath, might do the trick with suitable wood underneath.

Has anyone had the need to do this and come up with a solution?

Cheers



Dave R
--
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From Newsgroup: uk.rec.gardening

On Wed, 11 Mar 2026 15:45:49 +0000, David wrote:

We have a number of small trees in large pots, some of which need re- potting.

We re-potted an olive a couple of years back and it was touch and go
with getting the tree out of the old pot and into the new pot.

My initial search on line gives me engine hoists but I'm not sure that
the narrow(ish) angle of the legs and the small wheels (obviously
designed to slip under a car on a solid floor) will be suitable.

Then again, a straight lift by the trunk so the pot drops off, and the
new larger pot can be slid underneath, might do the trick with suitable
wood underneath.

Has anyone had the need to do this and come up with a solution?

<snip>

<https://www.amazon.co.uk/FoxHunter-Quality-Folding-Engine-Crane/dp/ B004DDWPEO/?th=1>

At around -u150 this is roughly equivalent to two days hire, so seems a possible option.

I already have an electric hoist, so a tripod for this might be another option.

Cheers



Dave R
--
AMD FX-6300 in GA-990X-Gaming SLI-CF running Windows 10 x64

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From Newsgroup: uk.rec.gardening

On 11/03/2026 16:09, David wrote:

On Wed, 11 Mar 2026 15:45:49 +0000, David wrote:

We have a number of small trees in large pots, some of which need re-
potting.

We re-potted an olive a couple of years back and it was touch and go
with getting the tree out of the old pot and into the new pot.

My initial search on line gives me engine hoists but I'm not sure that
the narrow(ish) angle of the legs and the small wheels (obviously
designed to slip under a car on a solid floor) will be suitable.

Then again, a straight lift by the trunk so the pot drops off, and the
new larger pot can be slid underneath, might do the trick with suitable
wood underneath.

Has anyone had the need to do this and come up with a solution?

<snip>

<https://www.amazon.co.uk/FoxHunter-Quality-Folding-Engine-Crane/dp/ B004DDWPEO/?th=1>

At around -u150 this is roughly equivalent to two days hire, so seems a possible option.

I already have an electric hoist, so a tripod for this might be another option.

Cheers

Dave R

You might do worse than rigging a 2 x 4 across two step ladders and
getting a 'come along' to lift the trees...
--
Those who want slavery should have the grace to name it by its proper
name. They must face the full meaning of that which they are advocating
or condoning; the full, exact, specific meaning of collectivism, of its logical implications, of the principles upon which it is based, and of
the ultimate consequences to which these principles will lead. They must
face it, then decide whether this is what they want or not.

Ayn Rand.

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From Newsgroup: uk.rec.gardening

On 11 Mar 2026 15:45:49 GMT
David <wibble@btinternet.com> wrote:

We have a number of small trees in large pots, some of which need re- potting.

We re-potted an olive a couple of years back and it was touch and go
with getting the tree out of the old pot and into the new pot.

My initial search on line gives me engine hoists but I'm not sure
that the narrow(ish) angle of the legs and the small wheels
(obviously designed to slip under a car on a solid floor) will be
suitable.

No, there doesn't seem to be a ready-made solution until you're a
professional, lifting and moving large trees.

Then again, a straight lift by the trunk so the pot drops off, and
the new larger pot can be slid underneath, might do the trick with
suitable wood underneath.

Has anyone had the need to do this and come up with a solution?

The pot 'drops off'? We have a number of medium-sized shrubs, and
sometimes the pot is extremely difficult to remove, even though it has
sloping sides. The roots grip the sides surprisingly well if the plant
is root-bound, which is usually why repotting is needed.

If there's a few to do, you might end up constructing something with a
pulley hoist and maybe a few bits of wood pergola posts. You might even
get away with a large stepladder, a crosspiece and hoist. We do
actually have a pergola, which would work for small trees up to about
2m, as long as they don't weigh more than I do. Someone on the net was
using a tripod of scaffold poles supporting the hoist.

With shrubs, you can usually lay it down on its side, and work the pot
off, but that's obviously not going to work with a tree with a sizeable
spread.
--
Joe

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From Newsgroup: uk.rec.gardening

On 11/03/2026 15:45, David wrote:

My initial search on line gives me engine hoists but I'm not sure that the narrow(ish) angle of the legs and the small wheels (obviously designed to slip under a car on a solid floor) will be suitable.

Tripod of 3x2's, a bit longer than the height of your tree, lash and
bolt one end of the three together - that will give you a high mounting
point for either a pulley, or a winch.

Alternatively, if you have a two story home, and can get the tree close
to a wall - A length of timber across a part open window up high, then
suspend your pulley/winch from that.
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From Newsgroup: uk.rec.gardening

David <wibble@btinternet.com> wrote:

We have a number of small trees in large pots, some of which need re- potting.

We re-potted an olive a couple of years back and it was touch and go with getting the tree out of the old pot and into the new pot.

Is the old pot valuable? A sledgehammer might be the cheapest solution.
--
~ Liz Tuddenham ~
(Remove the ".invalid"s and add ".co.uk" to reply)
www.poppyrecords.co.uk
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From Newsgroup: uk.rec.gardening

On 11/03/2026 16:50, Harry Bloomfield Esq wrote:

On 11/03/2026 15:45, David wrote:

My initial search on line gives me engine hoists but I'm not sure that
the
narrow(ish) angle of the legs and the small wheels (obviously designed to
slip under a car on a solid floor) will be suitable.

Tripod of 3x2's, a bit longer than the height of your tree, lash and
bolt one end of the three together - that will give you a high mounting point for either a pulley, or a winch.

Alternatively, if you have a two story home, and can get the tree close
to a wall - A length of timber across a part open window up high, then suspend your pulley/winch from that.

That sounds like a massive strain on a poor unsuspecting window.
--
Sam Plusnet
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From Newsgroup: uk.rec.gardening

On 11/03/2026 19:17, Sam Plusnet wrote:

On 11/03/2026 16:50, Harry Bloomfield Esq wrote:

On 11/03/2026 15:45, David wrote:

My initial search on line gives me engine hoists but I'm not sure
that the
narrow(ish) angle of the legs and the small wheels (obviously
designed to
slip under a car on a solid floor) will be suitable.

Tripod of 3x2's, a bit longer than the height of your tree, lash and
bolt one end of the three together - that will give you a high
mounting point for either a pulley, or a winch.

Alternatively, if you have a two story home, and can get the tree
close to a wall - A length of timber across a part open window up
high, then suspend your pulley/winch from that.

That sounds like a massive strain on a poor unsuspecting window.

It's the walls either side of the windows that take the weight. A piece
of wood over the window sill, perhaps with a pillow beneath it, will
spread the load. Pillows against the wall either side of the windows can
also prevent cosmetic damage to wallpaper/paint.

I've done similar to secure a ladder horizontally over a bit of first
floor roofing to allow safer access for maintenance.

Note: a few weeks ago I tried to get a 3 foot tall shrub out of the
large plastic pot it had been in for the past 10 years. I could not
knock the pot off. Even when destroying the pot on one side I still had
great difficulty removing the rest of the pot. The shrub was completely
root bound. Before attempting to remove the shrub I had given it a
drastic prune back. It is now planted in my back garden flower bed.
--
mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk
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From Newsgroup: uk.rec.gardening

David <wibble@btinternet.com> wrote:

We have a number of small trees in large pots, some of which need re- potting.

We re-potted an olive a couple of years back and it was touch and go with getting the tree out of the old pot and into the new pot.

My initial search on line gives me engine hoists but I'm not sure that the narrow(ish) angle of the legs and the small wheels (obviously designed to slip under a car on a solid floor) will be suitable.

Then again, a straight lift by the trunk so the pot drops off, and the new larger pot can be slid underneath, might do the trick with suitable wood underneath.

Has anyone had the need to do this and come up with a solution?

Another suggestion - though not quite what you asked. Is the tree small
enough to be laid on its side? If so, the pot could be dislodged by
banging it sideways with a heavy lump of wood (or something else heavy
with some protection against cracking the pot). Even a rope tied to the
tow hitch of a car could be used.

A new pot could be slid in position and the whole thing pulled upright
again, with a rope and/or help from the neighbours.
--
~ Liz Tuddenham ~
(Remove the ".invalid"s and add ".co.uk" to reply)
www.poppyrecords.co.uk
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From Newsgroup: uk.rec.gardening

On 11/03/2026 15:45, David wrote:

We have a number of small trees in large pots, some of which need re- potting.

We re-potted an olive a couple of years back and it was touch and go with getting the tree out of the old pot and into the new pot.

My initial search on line gives me engine hoists but I'm not sure that the narrow(ish) angle of the legs and the small wheels (obviously designed to slip under a car on a solid floor) will be suitable.

Then again, a straight lift by the trunk so the pot drops off, and the new larger pot can be slid underneath, might do the trick with suitable wood underneath.

Has anyone had the need to do this and come up with a solution?

It helps to run an old, long-bladed breadknife around the inside of the
pot to cut through as many roots as possible. I keep one in the shed
just for that purpose, as I felt that The Management might have objected
to me using the kitchen one. ;-)
--
Jeff
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From Newsgroup: uk.rec.gardening

On Wed, 11 Mar 2026 16:16:51 +0000, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

On 11/03/2026 16:09, David wrote:

On Wed, 11 Mar 2026 15:45:49 +0000, David wrote:

We have a number of small trees in large pots, some of which need re-
potting.

We re-potted an olive a couple of years back and it was touch and go
with getting the tree out of the old pot and into the new pot.

My initial search on line gives me engine hoists but I'm not sure that
the narrow(ish) angle of the legs and the small wheels (obviously
designed to slip under a car on a solid floor) will be suitable.

Then again, a straight lift by the trunk so the pot drops off, and the
new larger pot can be slid underneath, might do the trick with
suitable wood underneath.

Has anyone had the need to do this and come up with a solution?

<snip>

<https://www.amazon.co.uk/FoxHunter-Quality-Folding-Engine-Crane/dp/
B004DDWPEO/?th=1>

At around -u150 this is roughly equivalent to two days hire, so seems a
possible option.

I already have an electric hoist, so a tripod for this might be another
option.

Cheers



Dave R

You might do worse than rigging a 2 x 4 across two step ladders and
getting a 'come along' to lift the trees...

Interesting.
What is a "come along", though?

Cheers


Dave R
--
AMD FX-6300 in GA-990X-Gaming SLI-CF running Windows 10 x64

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From Newsgroup: uk.rec.gardening

On Wed, 11 Mar 2026 21:22:17 +0000, Liz Tuddenham wrote:

David <wibble@btinternet.com> wrote:

We have a number of small trees in large pots, some of which need re-
potting.

We re-potted an olive a couple of years back and it was touch and go
with getting the tree out of the old pot and into the new pot.

My initial search on line gives me engine hoists but I'm not sure that
the narrow(ish) angle of the legs and the small wheels (obviously
designed to slip under a car on a solid floor) will be suitable.

Then again, a straight lift by the trunk so the pot drops off, and the
new larger pot can be slid underneath, might do the trick with suitable
wood underneath.

Has anyone had the need to do this and come up with a solution?

Another suggestion - though not quite what you asked. Is the tree small enough to be laid on its side? If so, the pot could be dislodged by
banging it sideways with a heavy lump of wood (or something else heavy
with some protection against cracking the pot). Even a rope tied to the
tow hitch of a car could be used.

A new pot could be slid in position and the whole thing pulled upright
again, with a rope and/or help from the neighbours.

Last time we tried this:
Lifted pot onto a stack of full compost bags and similar laid on its side. Nearly killed us.
Eased the small tree out of the pot.
Lifted small tree from resting place into new larger pot next to the stack
of bags, already partially filled with compost.
Nearly killed us.

From this I concluded that next time we tried this, mechanical assistance should be an option.

Cheers


Dave R
--
AMD FX-6300 in GA-990X-Gaming SLI-CF running Windows 10 x64

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From Newsgroup: uk.rec.gardening

David wrote:

The Natural Philosopher wrote:

You might do worse than rigging a 2 x 4 across two step ladders and
getting a 'come along' to lift the trees...

Interesting.
What is a "come along", though?

Hand operated ratchet winch, e.g.

<https://toolstation.com/streetwize-pull-winch/p98107>
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From Newsgroup: uk.rec.gardening

On Wed, 11 Mar 2026 16:50:16 +0000, Harry Bloomfield Esq wrote:

On 11/03/2026 15:45, David wrote:

My initial search on line gives me engine hoists but I'm not sure that
the narrow(ish) angle of the legs and the small wheels (obviously
designed to slip under a car on a solid floor) will be suitable.

Tripod of 3x2's, a bit longer than the height of your tree, lash and
bolt one end of the three together - that will give you a high mounting
point for either a pulley, or a winch.

Alternatively, if you have a two story home, and can get the tree close
to a wall - A length of timber across a part open window up high, then suspend your pulley/winch from that.

No second floor windows available at the back or side.

Using the front might be a bit fiddly as it is a bay window.

I was really looking for a ready made solution, though this is a DIY forum.

Cheers



Dave R
--
AMD FX-6300 in GA-990X-Gaming SLI-CF running Windows 10 x64

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