I know I posted before so let me apologize to those who find it redundant. Last week I started with my smaller 3gal trees saving the larger ones for yesterday. Well my bow saw wasn't cutting it so the bright lite or not so bright went off and I broke out the chain saw. I cut about 4inches from bottom and 3 side cuts about 2-3 inches. I also cut into the root ball and removed 2 trunks with some roots pictured. I know it's to late now but any input good or bad appreciated. I know I can answer my own question because time will tell If it worked. Can't wait for bud break and leaf forming.
The tree on the pot is what I finished with 
Hope you enjoy
Sal

















The blue pot with the label and small leafed out plant in front is finished product
Martin if you see this I will remove those 2 side trunks next season and that should give me a nice one trunk tree if all goes well
Next project clean up garden, till, and replant as everything got hit by mild freeze not much time left as March is my cut off to everything in ground.
Sal

I'm thinking that a bareroot tree that you buy has a whole lot less roots, so should be fine.

Hi Sal.
how did the chainsaw work did it make clean cuts im not real familar useing one. I really like your pictures of plants and the pool. Sal if you want you can cut them now those 2 side branches your talking about if you dont have to uproot the plant and what i do is spit on finger put on cut and smear some soil on the cut and cover it back up , hey that just me what can i say im unconventional  ; ) or just wait till next season . Im curious will all the plants around pool go inground or will you leave some in pots around that beautiful pool for a nice backround.
Speaking off pool and you being in Florida (short story)
Years back kids were younger and we went to Florida to disney and had stayed in a resort type of place with a pool and they had a bar there well im not a drinker but being in that setting on a beautiful afternoon i had a few mixed drinks but not high i know my limit 2 to 3 thats it. Well i was showing the kids and the misses - look at daddy he can swim under water the length of the pool which was small , kids at a young age will believe anything is amazing like pulling a quarter out of there ear when young. So i took running start and dove into pool only to bang my puss into the cement bottom and chip one of the 2 wabbit teeth i have, came up bloody lip and all and seeing stars in the afternoon, freaked out the kids and wife beacause the water on face made it look worse i suppose but i calmed them all down and we had a good time. Dang that hurt though and still have the chipped tooth. So when i see a pool now i get that memory .
Anyways your setting is very nice and thanks for sharing the pictures especially when we have some snow on the ground here not a lot but just enough to make me wish spring come a little sooner.

I would be doing  root pruning hopefully by end March, although preferably by early April. The weather have been unusually warm, affected by el Nino. I will need to watch for bud movement to time the root pruning. Fig plants are resilent and can take much abuse in dormant state. In no time they can filled those buckets with fresh roots.

Thanks Jon and Martin and Paul for your vote of confidence
Martin to answer your questions Yes the chain saw cut through very cleanly and was effortless compared to the bow saw which was shredding the roots more then cutting and really worked me hard I should have went and bought a new blade and seen if that helped but it still would be a very physical and time consuming compared to the chain saw especially on larger ones like yours and the 2 I had in 12-15 gal pots.
I plan on leaving them in pots where they are I like the hedge and privacy effect they create plus I can talk and sing to them from my patio without shouting. With the exception for 1 or 2 doubles in 3gal pots pictured which I might put in ground. I not sure how well you can see it but in pics 6-8 shows my drip irrigation which I have set on a timer, it is off at this time and I prefer to water by hand but it works well if I'm away or lazy. A few of the 3gal pots are being given away and the Blk Madeira is pictured in that small plastic Green House which I air out a couple hours a day
Sorry to hear about your puss, but I do enjoy your stories I myself am not a good swimmer or diver for that matter and have won 2 belly flop contests on cruises to prove that. Man that hurts and I no longer enter them even though my wife eggs me on. She on the other hand is a fish and dives extremely well.
Sal
 PS: Post Pictures of your new chain saw lol

Sal,looks like that chainsaw did the trick. That's some massive roots on those separated---they should do fine. Keep that chainsaw blade sharp---they tend to dull very quickly in the dirt. Always enjoy your pictures, too!

Sal,
not sure if you saw these pictures from last year. 
Now you got me thinking of all the huffing and puffing i did last winter root pruning my larger trees . Notice the saw i used it worked me made me tire easy and get sore the following day. So perhaps i will get a small chainsaw just for this purpose i will give it thought. Two of the large ones are now gone i destroyed the Martin italian unknown last late summer ( long story) Jon has it on his website and gave away the martin unknown to a member here in illinois. I did save a sucker of the italian 1 its in the house but it might be dead, yes im a sucker for all i put up with that doggone tree even getting bloodied by it another long story.
Anyways here are some pictures.

As far as chainsaws go, get an inexpensive Echo saw, 14". If and when it wears out, through it away, and get a new one. I am sure Perlite and stuff in the potting mix will wear out the blade faster than sawing wood. Just keep a couple of spares around. They are no that expensive. In the end, you will spend more on new chains than you did on the saw. As the saw gets longer (16:, 20", 24" etc) it gets more expensive, and so do the chains. You are root pruning, not logging in the redwood forests.

Man Martin, every time I see a pic of the unknown you gave away I am amazed. That tree is just so perfect looking. I think I would have kept it just for the look of the tree even if I didn't get many figs from it, but I guess that is easier to do down here in FL where you don't have to lug the pots around.

Martin I did see your pics on root pruning and must of looked at it and read 100 times over before I tackled this project I can't remember if it was Lou who had posted some extreme root pruning pics I referred back to also