Tap Roots

[Bspring]

I have noticed that when pines and oaks fall I don't see much of a tap root. Is that because it has snapped off? When I try to dig one out they go 5 to 6 feet down sometimes. Do some trees tend to have long tap roots while others are shallow but branch way out?

 

[Woody Stover]

Don't know a lot about it but I know that different species have different root systems, and differing soil conditions will affect how the roots tend to grow. Most roots are pretty shallow, not more than a few feet down. I think Pin Oaks have shallow roots, maybe no tap root.

 

[billb3]

White pines usually pull up a 30 foot circle coin of lawn when they uproot here. Roots aren't very deep.
Same with some of the spruce that have blown over here.

White oaks and red oaks I've seen have an aggressive tap root and the whites don't like having it cut when transplanting at all.
Oaks must have snapped off.