I will and thanks for the good luck wishes I will take pics before and after etc.

Hey Tony ,

I moved a tree that size a few years ago .
It took 3 of us and a 4 wheel cart . I mean heavy duty industrial cart .
We layed plywood on the ground to roll it to the van . Otherwise wheels would have sunk into the ground . Just need 2 sheets 3/4 inch .
I used a spade and cut a 30 inch root ball and we then removed some soil furtther out so we could rock it and get to some of the deeper roots .
The final root ball was about 2 feet deep .
The soil will way a ton so knock off as much as you can . Adriano at the time told me to just cut it to 2 or 3 feet tall . I should have listened , it
would have been easier and better for the shape of the tree in the long run . Make sure you have shovels with a steel shaft or bars to pry with .
If your chainsaw hits the dirt it will be useless .
Don't be surprised if this thing is over 300 lbs . If there are 4-6 inch trunks like mine had its very possible .

Anyway good luck ..... John

I expect a good and potentially funny story out
of this fig adventure.  :-)

Think twice about this project
and if you still didn't come to your senses,
bring some help with you
and the right tools.
Prune it back heavily,
you will never be able to extract enough roots
to support that canopy,
if you don't, you will either kill the tree
or severly stunt the growth.

I will leave tool part for you to figure out,
if I made it too easy for you,
we might not end up with the good story.
:-) ;-)

fig fever fig fever fig fever fig fever fig fever fig fever fig fever fig fever fig fever fig fever fig fever fig fever

LOL HA HA HA  my chain already hit the dirt so ill kill it on the tree and im gonna trim it down for sure hopefully there not huge trunks i have a feeling there not gonna be she cut it to the ground 3 times so this is fairly new growth ?? 

Can we start a pool for this one ?

Pool1 -  How many hours for you dig and load tree

Pool2 - How many total hours from the time you leave/return home

Tony...to answer your question...I know where West New York, N.J. is located, but I do not know the owner of the fig tree...it takes about 1/2 hour to get there from where I live...good luck with that tree...hope you and your father harvest many figs from it.

Good for you Tony.  I'm sure you will tell us how it all turns out.  Sounds like fun to me.

Yikes a pool u guys r betting on me now uh oh ...Harvest fruit I hope I can harvest the tree.

Wish I was close by Tony!  I would've been happy to help you dig it out.  Bend at the knees and save your back!

My back hurts just thinking about digging that tree up. I hope the ground is soft.

I predict a ton of cuttings available soon ;)

Tony,

Lucky you. It's 10-15 mins from me. I emailed the owner yesterday, but never got her response. My message may sit in her spam folder.
If you need help, let me know. BTW, you should tell the owner to prepare lots of salt, so the tree won't come back again.

Let me be the doubting Thomas here...

-The tree is in the backyard, no way to get a vehicle back there (MAYBE one of those mini bobcats could fit through the side yard).
-Half the roots are on other side of fence/someone else's property. 
-Established tree will have spreading root system, no way you can save it all, will be losing a lot of the roots which negates that advantage of getting a mature tree.
-To fit through the side yard you may have to cut it back heavily, negating advantage of getting a large tree
-Then the tree will be in possible shock and growth may be stunted for a few years, negating advantage of mature tree

I posted an ad similar to this guys when I moved in my house. I got rid of all the ornamental landscaping, put "free bushes" on CL and people came, spending hours of hard labor digging out these small bushes with well established root systems. Saved me a lot of work!

Good luck though, I guess if you are determined you will find a way!

I transplated a few trees in the past. What to do is to prune the truck to at least 1/3 of its original height. or 3-4 ft maximum. Have to cut off most of the root, and keep about 2 ft of root ball. The tree will grow slowly in first 1-2 yrs during recovery. For this project, I'll just get a small portion of root with truck. Then destroy the remaning branch/root, and cover it with a lot of salt, then tarp. 

You can "DO" this Tony !! ...any chance of getting a film crew out there...LOL    :)  :)

We want you to do this !  :-)

and with a film crew
all so much more

:-)

Jimmychao your my hero I might take you up on the offer send me a phone number in PM and Ill call you if need be BTW im not doing it this weekend hopefully im doing it during the week next week I dont know if thats any good for you Jimmy.
And guys and gals your cracking me up if all goes well and I get there to do this consider it DONE  I will win the fight I dont care if i end up with a root ball it will grow and yes there's gonna be cuttings regardless if I get there to do it and there will be cuttings available so be prepared your all going to get some for postage this tree will have a good funny story behind it so you will have to have it just for that reason.
Thanks for (rooting) for me LOL.

Go Tony go !!!!!

  ANTHONY  ANTHONY 

Having moved a tree this size for a friend, I ache just thinking about this offer.  She has great garden soil and we only moved it across the yard to another location.  i can't imagine...

lol, hungryjack is not optimistic on the variety you might get.