Removal of a large tree root from the koi fish pond using an engine hoist

Time lapse video showing the removal of a large tree root from my koi fish pond. I needed to use an engine hoist to lift it out of the water.

Time lapse video with removal of tree root ball from the pond

My koi fish pond had a small tree that over the years grew up into a huge tree. It was growing into the neighbours yard, pushing against the roofing structure, and consuming huge amounts of space underwater. The root ball was pulling so much water from the pond that the water valve was almost always on, when normally it puts in just a gallon or two a week. So unfortunately the tree needed to go, but it was so big that it could not be easily dragged out of the water. I also didn't want to damage the lining of the pond by standing in it, which could cause a permanent leak.

My gardener came over and we chopped off the top part of the tree, but then we needed to get the massive root ball out. I purchased an engine hoist from a car parts store, and attached it to the overhead structure. Using this, I was able to lift the root ball, which was quite firmly attached to the pond, although luckily had not punctured through the lining. With the root ball lifted in the air, we could then chop away more of the trunk to reduce the weight. Next step is to use winches to drag the root ball sideways, and get it onto the concrete outside of the pond. The root ball was ridiculously heavy ... it turns out that when the tree was small, it sent roots between a whole bunch of rocks that were nearby. Over the years, the roots wrapped around all the rocks, and so the huge root ball was actually made up of boulders. We had to pull the root ball apart by hand to remove all the boulders before we could chop up and compost the root ball.

Root ball from the tree after being removed from the pond, with some rocks extracted