The Fiddler Hotel, Rouse Hill

Hunter Mason engaged Dixons Tree Transplanting to relocate a mature Queensland Bottle Tree (Brachychiton rupestris) during development works at The Fiddler Hotel in Rouse Hill. The tree stood directly within the footprint of a new cool room extension. Removal was the simple option. Hunter Mason wanted the tree kept, so the brief was to lift it out and re-establish it roughly 50 metres away in a new landscaped area within the property.

The scale made it a specialist job. The tree measured 10.5 metres high with a 2.2 metre trunk diameter and weighed close to 20 tonnes. Moving it meant a staged crane operation using a 300 tonne mobile crane and two 40 tonne Franna cranes, specialist tree transplanting equipment, and an AQF Level 5 Project Arborist at each critical stage.

This was one of the more demanding transplants we have undertaken, and the site added constraints at every stage:

• Size and weight – A 20 tonne tree with a 2.2 metre trunk diameter required lifting capacity, rigging and staging well beyond standard transplanting work.
• Underground services – Nine underground services were encountered within the root zone, restricting excavation and forcing the crew to adapt the dig as work progressed.
• Restricted excavation – The tree sat immediately beside the existing hotel building, limiting the working area around the root plate.
• Root plate retention – Maximising viable root mass was critical to the tree’s chance of establishing, which had to be balanced against the services below it.
• Operational commercial site – Crane setup, slewing and travel all took place within a working hotel and car park.
• Travel distance – The tree had to be carried approximately 50 metres across the site, with the trunk and canopy protected the entire way.

Dixons Tree Transplanting delivered the relocation through a staged plan built around one principle: keep the time between extraction and replanting as short as possible.

• Receptor hole prepared first – The new planting location was excavated and ready before the tree was lifted, so the root plate spent minimal time exposed.
• Site preparation and access – Hard surfaces were removed around the existing tree to open up excavation and crane positioning.
• Specialist excavation – A 13 tonne excavator fitted with a purpose-built tree spade cut the root plate, supported by a 5 tonne excavator with buckets and rippers. Planning dimensions were approximately 3.5m x 3.5m x 1m.
• Working around the unknown – As underground services were exposed, the crew worked around them where it was safe to do so and protected the exposed root structure through the resulting delays, rather than halting the project.
• Staged crane operation – The 300 tonne mobile crane lifted the tree and slewed it into the adjacent car park. Two 40 tonne Franna cranes then picked and carried it approximately 50 metres to the new location, where the main crane was repositioned to take the load and lower the tree into the receptor hole.
• Installation and stabilisation – The tree was backfilled, watered in and braced with 1.8 metre ground stakes and four heavy-duty ratchet straps.
• Arboricultural oversight – An AQF Level 5 Project Arborist assessed the tree at key stages and completed post-relocation reporting, with follow-up assessments scheduled after completion.

The Bottle Tree was successfully extracted, transported and re-established in its new landscaped position, and the development footprint was released for Hunter Mason to continue construction. Key outcomes included:

• A 20 tonne mature Bottle Tree relocated 50 metres within a live commercial site.
• Substantial viable root mass retained despite nine underground services through the root zone.
• No significant mechanical damage to the trunk or canopy during extraction, transport or installation.
• Tree installed, watered in and braced, upright and stable in its new location.
• Construction area cleared on the agreed scope so the cool room extension could proceed.
• AQF Level 5 post-relocation assessment and reporting completed, with ongoing monitoring scheduled.