Firstly make sure your laborer thinks he will be digging them out by hand, with a spade and brute force LOL.
When it comes to taking out old hedge that has got out of hand. There are a few options, the first is with a spade and pure muscle and the sheer will, to see them gone. (The Hard Way) or second the (Easy Way) using a machine. In this case a small 1-ton mini digger and a small bucket with teeth to grip root system. You can also use a stump grinder to remove root systems.
Before you go and hire a machine or hire machine and driver, you will want to make the area safe for the use of the machine. We do this by placing works signs, that are clearly visible to public and passers-by. This will help to steer the public around the danger area of the site, were the digger will be operating. This is not safe for people to be walking by, in any situation, and must be off limits to any one who is not involved in the project.
AFTER YOU HAVE REMOVED THE UPPER PART OF THE HEDGE THE BUSHY BITS, NOW ITS TIME TO GET THOSE ROOTS OUT
Once you have removed the upper part of the hedge, using a chainsaw. You are then ready to remove the roots and this is where a little machine really comes into its own. Now people will often say I would rather dig them out by hand, well if its one hedge and a very small one at that, that would normally be the case. But when its 8ft tall and 72ft long you will be there a week and you will be aching from head to toe and that's presuming you get them out.
Or you can do as we did and hire a mini digger for £80 delivered, and have the roots out in 1 hour. Ready to install a new fence and also see the smile on the laborers face when he releases it's not going to be done by hand.
That's how I like to take out hedge row. This way you will save time and money and your workers will really appreciate it too. Now it might cost you a little extra at the front end of the project, but it will certainly pay off by the end of the project. Your customer will also be very surprised at the speed in which you managed to remove them all from the property.
As you can see compared to the first image in this post, the changes are pretty impressive, and the customer now has their garden back and no more leave's to sweep up. Oh and the new fence we put up looks grand too, not to mention my happy workforce.
Once the job is done clean up all the site and you would never know that there was a 30-year-old ever there. The customer or if you di it yourself will have a lot more space in the garden and no more trimming to do yearly to keep it manageable.
Now people say I can't afford a machine..? compare the cost of the machine and the hour it takes to remove those roots, to the time it would take and you would probably leave the roots in if you had to did them out by hand.
So if you want to save time and your back from hurting really bad, then you need a machine. I have removed many hadges of all sizes and nothing can beat a machine to do the job.
Of course you need to be confident before you hire the machine, that you can use it. The local buyilding merchants will hire you one, but if you damage it or hurt somebody its all on your shoulders, so be carefull to corden off the area and get used to the machine before you start the job, they are not that hard to use. But agai this comes down to your competance levels and confidance.
