reference is made to the attached drawings only for the purpose of demonstrating preferred embodiments and not for the purpose of limiting the same . fig1 illustrates generally a tree excavating and transplanting machine 10 consisting of an annular ring assembly 18 supported by a front moveable base 12 , a right rear moveable base 38 , and a left rear moveable base 40 . fig2 illustrates in further detail a left rear gate section 22 and a right rear gate section 24 , each pivotally attached to an annular ring assembly rigid section 20 , as well as a pair of hydraulic gate cylinders 56 each attached to the annular ring assembly rigid section 20 and a respective rear gate section 22 and 24 for moving the rear gate sections 22 and 24 between an open position and a closed position . fig3 illustrates generally the annular ring assembly rigid section 20 and right rear gate section 24 depicted in fig2 as well as a securing pin 58 for securing the right rear gate section 24 to the annular ring assembly rigid section 20 , a hydraulic securing cylinder 62 for moving the securing pin 58 between a secured position and an unsecured position , a locking pin 48 for locking the right rear gate section 24 to the left rear gate section 22 , and a hydraulic locking cylinder 60 for moving the locking pin 48 between a locked position and an unlocked position . fig4 illustrates generally the relative locations of the front moveable base 12 , the rear moveable bases 38 and 40 , the annular ring assembly 18 , and a plurality of ground piercing blades 26 , as well as the attachment points of an over - center neck mechanism 34 attached to the annular ring assembly rigid section 20 and the front moveable base 12 , and a front elevating cylinder 36 attached to the annular ring assembly rigid section 20 and the over - center neck mechanism 34 , while the annular ring assembly 18 is in a lowered position . fig5 illustrates generally the relative locations of the front moveable base 12 , the rear moveable bases 38 and 40 , the annular ring assembly 18 , the plurality of blades 26 , the over - center neck mechanism 34 , and the hydraulic elevating cylinder 36 while the annular ring assembly 18 is in a raised position . fig6 and fig7 illustrate generally the engagement of a plurality of guides 30 with the plurality of blades 26 in relation to the annular ring assembly rigid section 20 , as well as the adjustment members 64 for radially adjusting the plurality of guides 30 . in a preferred embodiment , an annular ring assembly 18 is comprised of two rear gate sections 22 and 24 pivotally attached to a rigid section 20 . the rigid section 20 is comprised of a plurality of flanged sections 21 , with each flanged section 21 preferably being secured to the adjacent flanged section 21 by a plurality of peripheral flange bolts ( not shown ). an over - center neck mechanism 34 is pivotally attached at one end to the annular ring assembly rigid section 20 and at an opposing end to a front moveable base 12 having a centerline generally aligned with a prime mover 70 for moving the apparatus 10 . a pair of hydraulic elevating cylinders 36 are positioned on opposite sides of the front base centerline 35 , each of the pair of elevating cylinders 36 having one end attached to the over - center neck mechanism 34 and an opposing end attached to the annular ring assembly rigid section 20 . in a preferred embodiment , the annular ring assembly 18 is further supported by a right rear moveable base 38 and a left rear moveable base 40 on respective sides of the annular ring assembly 18 , the moveable bases 38 and 40 each being connected to the annular ring assembly 18 by a hydraulic elevating cylinder 44 and 42 each having one end attached to the respective base 38 and 40 and an opposing end attached to a ring assembly standoff 82 ( see fig4 ). in a preferred embodiment , the front moveable base 12 includes a left side roller 16 and a right side roller 14 each spaced laterally from the base 12 centerline outward of the over - center neck mechanism 34 . in a preferred embodiment , a tow - bar 72 is attached to the front moveable base 12 for interconnecting the front moveable base 12 with the prime mover 70 . the moveable bases 38 and 40 each have a left - side and right - side roller spaced laterally outward from its respective elevating cylinder . in a preferred embodiment , a plurality of ground piercing blades 26 are arranged about the annular ring assembly 18 , each blade 26 having a radius of curvature along its longitudinal axis and tapered laterally toward a lower blade apex 28 ( see fig4 ) such that the plurality of blades 26 may move into substantially circumferential engagement under a tree to sever a root ball of the tree from the ground and thereafter support the tree and root ball as the annular ring assembly 18 and the plurality of blades 26 are raised with respect to the front base 12 to lift the tree and root ball from the ground . those skilled in the art will appreciate that the apex 28 may be spaced slightly from the lower end of a blade which is slightly rounded . in a preferred embodiment , each of the plurality of blades 26 includes an inner keel 52 and an outer keel 50 from which the blade 26 extends circumferentially outward , each outer keel 50 including a plurality of apertures 54 spaced along a length of the outer keel 50 . the plurality of blades 26 are each supported on the annular ring assembly 18 by a respective one of a plurality of guides 30 circumferentially spaced around and attached to the annular ring assembly 18 . in a preferred embodiment , each of the plurality of guides 30 are moveably attached to a respective one of a plurality of adjustment members 64 , such that the location of each of the plurality of guides 30 may be adjusted radially inward and outward to increase or decrease the engagement of each of the guides 30 to a respective one of the plurality of blades 26 , the engagement between each of the guides 30 and a respective one of the plurality of blades 26 serving to accurately guide the movement of the blade 26 with respect to the annular ring assembly 18 along a path defined by the radius of curvature of a respective blade 26 , and to limit the radial and lateral movement of the blades 26 during excavation . in a preferred embodiment , each of the plurality of blades 26 is moved through the guides 30 and into the ground by a respective one of a plurality of hydraulic blade cylinders 32 , each blade cylinder 32 having one end attached to a respective one of the plurality of blades 26 and an opposing end attached to the annular ring assembly 18 . the inner keel 52 and the outer keel 50 may be a single component , with each blade 26 comprised of two halves each welded to a side of the keel . in a preferred embodiment , each of the two rear gate sections 22 and 24 include a plurality of vertically spaced securing sleeves 46 for securing each of the rear gate sections 22 and 24 to the annular ring assembly rigid structure 20 . each end of the annular ring assembly rigid section 20 also includes a plurality of vertically spaced securing sleeves 74 secured radially inward to an end of the rigid section 20 . each of the plurality of annular ring assembly rigid section securing sleeves 74 is axially aligned with a respective plurality of rear gate section securing sleeves 46 secured radially inward on each of the rear gate sections 22 and 24 when the rear gate sections 22 and 24 are in a closed position , such that a vertically moveable securing pin 58 may be inserted through both a plurality of annular ring assembly rigid section securing sleeves 74 and a respective plurality of rear gate section securing sleeves 46 to secured the respective rear gate section 22 or 24 in the closed position . in a preferred embodiment , a hydraulic securing cylinder 62 is attached at one end to a respective one of the securing pins 58 and at an opposing end to the annular ring assembly 18 , such that the securing cylinder 62 may move the securing pin 58 between a secured position and an unsecured position . in a preferred embodiment , each of the two rear gate sections 22 and 24 include a plurality of vertically spaced locking sleeves 76 secured radially outward to the free end of the rear gate sections 22 and 24 , each plurality of locking sleeves 76 aligning axially with the plurality of locking sleeves 76 secured to the other rear gate section 22 or 24 , such that a vertically moveable locking pin 48 may be inserted simultaneously through the plurality of locking sleeves 76 on both rear gate sections 22 and 24 to lock the rear gate sections 22 and 24 to one another . in a preferred embodiment , a hydraulic locking cylinder 60 is attached at one end to the locking pin 48 and at an opposing end to the annular ring assembly 18 , such that the locking cylinder 60 may move the locking pin 48 between a locking position and an unlocking position . in a preferred embodiment , each of the hydraulic cylinders 32 , 36 , 42 , 44 , 56 , 60 , 62 are actuated by hydraulic power supplied by a hydraulic power unit 80 consisting of a motor 84 , a fluid pump 86 and a fluid reservoir 88 . the hydraulic power unit 80 is preferably rigidly secured to one side of the annular ring assembly rigid section 20 . suitable controls ( not shown ) are provided for operator control of the cylinders from the unit 80 . accordingly , hydraulic power from the prime mover 70 is not required to operate the machine 10 . in a preferred embodiment , each of the plurality of guides 30 is composed of ultra - high molecular weight polyethylene , although another selected plastic material may be used in other embodiments . other embodiments may also use alternative means for moving each of the plurality of blades 26 into the ground , such as a toothed rack on the outer keel 50 on each of the plurality of blades 26 and mounting a plurality of hydraulic torque motors to the annular ring assembly 18 . each of the plurality of torque motors may be secured to a respective pinion gear engaging a toothed rack on the outer keel 50 of a respective one of the plurality of blades 26 , such that by causing the torque motor to drive the respective pinion gear , the blade 26 is forced into the ground . the invention includes a preferred process for excavating and transplanting a tree . by providing a moveable front base 12 having a centerline generally aligned with a prime mover 70 for moving the tree , supporting an annular ring assembly 18 on the moveable base 12 , the annular ring assembly 18 including a pair of rear gate sections 22 and 24 and a rigid section 20 comprised of a plurality of flanged sections 21 secured to one another , pivotally attaching one end of an over - center neck mechanism 34 to the annular ring assembly rigid section 20 and an opposing end to the moveable base 12 , positioning a pair of hydraulic elevating cylinders 36 on opposite sides of the over - center neck mechanism 34 and attaching one end of each of the pair of hydraulic elevating cylinders 36 to the over - center neck mechanism 34 and an opposing end to the annular ring assembly rigid section 20 , a plurality of ground piercing blades 26 may be moveably supported circumferentially around the annular ring assembly 18 . this apparatus 10 may then be positioned around a tree to be excavated by opening the rear gate sections 22 and 24 , thereafter using the prime mover 70 to position the apparatus 10 around the tree , thereafter closing the rear gate sections 22 and 24 , thereafter securing the rear gate sections 22 and 24 to the annular ring assembly rigid section 20 by actuating a pair of hydraulic securing cylinders 62 to each move a respective one of a pair of securing pins 58 into a secured position engaging both a plurality of rear gate section securing sleeves 46 which are secured to a radially inward surface on each of the rear gate sections 22 and 24 and a plurality of annular ring assembly rigid section securing sleeves 74 which are secured to a radially inward surface of both ends of the annular ring assembly rigid section 20 , and thereafter locking the rear gate sections 22 and 24 to one another by actuating a locking cylinder 60 to move a locking pin 48 to a locked position engaging a plurality of rear gate section locking sleeves 76 secured to a radially outward surface of both rear gate sections 22 and 24 . by further mounting a plurality of hydraulic blade cylinders 32 each on one end to the annular ring assembly 18 and an opposing end to a respective one of the plurality of blades 26 , and mounting a plurality of guides 30 to the annular ring assembly 18 , each of the plurality of blades 26 may be driven into the ground and underneath the tree to be excavated . the annular ring assembly 18 and the plurality of blades 26 may then be raised relative to the front base 12 , thereby excavating the tree and a root ball for subsequent transplantation . while preferred embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated in detail , it is apparent that modifications and adaptations of the preferred embodiments will occur to those skilled in the art . however , it is to be expressly understood that such modifications and adaptations are within the spirit and scope of the present invention as set forth in the following claims .
this invention relates generally to an apparatus and a method for excavating and transplanting a live tree . the invention relates more specifically to equipment which utilizes curved ground piercing blades moveably supported on a ring assembly positioned around a tree to be transplanted , the blades being forced and guided down into the ground to completely encompass a tree root ball which can thereafter be lifted out of the ground and transported for subsequent transplantation . both the apparatus and the method facilitate the excavation and transplantation of trees with low limbs and crooked trunks to and / or from uneven or sloping terrain , and may be utilized with any of the prime movers of adequate towing capacity available at an excavation site .