Tried air spading a root plate for the first time, surprised how fast it went

Got called out to a big red oak in Maplewood with surface roots cracking the sidewalk. Rented an AirSpade for the day instead of hand digging, figured it would take 6 hours. Finished the whole root crown exposure in under 2 hours, and the homeowner even tipped me 40 bucks. Anyone else switch to air excavation for these jobs and find it pays for itself?

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charlesanderson1mo ago

Heard a podcast with a municipal arborist who swore by air spades after they saved an old elm downtown that everyone thought was a goner. The root work that used to take his crew a full day they now knock out before lunch, and the tree recovered way better with less root damage. Once you factor in the time saved on just a few jobs, that rental cost practically pays for itself.