Do you wonder how they pick up and move something that's as fragile as a watermelon, and weighs as much as 100 pounds per linear foot?
This modified truck is the answer. My Darlin' and I were driving to church last Sunday morning, and this guy was sitting at the light.
There's a story in every photo, and I grabbed my camera and took a few shots as he came through the intersection.
I find it fascinating to think about how many ways there are to make a living in this world!
Here's a better picture to show you how its done.
That steel support that runs parallel to the saguaro rotates on a pivot (located behind the rear wheels, it's the shiny spot just below the truck bed and in front of the tail lights.) In order to pick up the cactus, hydraulics move the support to the vertical. The driver has help getting next to the cactus.
When the steel support is in position, helpers cushion the saguaro by wrapping it with mattress foam and carpet, and then tie it off to the support.
Once that's done, they dig around the root ball (notice in the first photo how little root is necessary to transplant the cactus?) and the driver uses the hydraulics to pivot the cactus out of the ground and on to the truck.
Away they go.
A saguaro this size sells for about $135. per foot.
Each plant is licensed, and Arizona has law officers whose job it is to track down and arrest "cactus rustlers."
And now you know how it's done!
I'm Mike in Tucson, your preferred Tucson, AZ Mortgage lender.
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