I have a trachycarpus fortuneii I need to cut down. Windmill Palm. Damn if it don’t look stringy. Anyone ever put a chainsaw on one of these things? Any palm?
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Replies
I believe i saw on Dirty jobs that mike rowe cut down a palm tree, it may have not been a palm
I'm just sayin'
cut it down like you would any tree...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
No palm trees up here, so I don't know for sure. But you'll know real quick if the fibres are gonna pack up the teeth in the chain. Like in about 2 or 3 seconds....
Dinosaur
How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not brought
low by this? For thine evil pales before that which
foolish men call Justice....
Having used both axe & c/s, I heartily endorse the chainsaw.
Using a nice sharp chain from the beginning really helps. If a person had a "beater" chain to take down and sharpen ahead of time, that would be good, too.
Lots o' fibers in the palms. They grow as concentric rings of long fibres--this gives them tremendous strength. Those fibers are not nice. they take the edge off metal cutting tools. This is under-fun with an axe. The fibers want to come loose with a c/s too.
You want to be a bit more conservative with wedge cuts, too, unless you like the feel of a tree start moving "early" on you.
Is it true that palm trees are not native to California?
Is it true that palm trees are not native to California?
Don't know. Shoot, there's more kinds of palms than I can remember (other than there are different kinds).Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
I hear there are about 18 varieties of palm trees.
Looks like there are about 2600 species of palm trees...and thanks to the warm water of the gulf stream they can grow as far north as Ireland.Who knew?http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arecaceae
Thats a lot of palm trees. Some bear fruit and nuts and some don't.
Well on your way to granola.
Really. Out there by Bantree, there's a tropical garden on an island. They even had some Angel Trumpets growing there besides all sorts of palms.
But, just about all over Ireland, there are various types of palms growing. Not the same kind as S. Cal, but some pretty close.
about 18 varieties of palm trees
Does not surprise me, really.
Botanical identity was not as crucial as the obstruction's location in my few felling experiences.Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
They are weeds. Cut em down!
Actually, they are grasses, not trees.
Jeff
Thats interesting. They do resemble corn and other grasses.
Yes. They are monocots, not dicots. They aren't "woody."
They are weeds. Cut em down
Like weeds, make my arms ache just thinking about it <g> . . . Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
I gotta lawn tractor and I still don't like yard work. I just let the weeds take over my lawn. They grow better than grass anyhow.
They are not native to California and are the most worthless thing you could plant. A maintenance night mare depending upon which one you have. If it grows more than your height they are worthless in my book. If not kept trimmed properly they will attract rats etc in huge numbers. As you can tell I have a distinct opinion of them. But then there are plenty of folks who spend big money on them and think they are the greatest.
http://www.plantapalm.com/vpe/photos/Species/washingtonia_filifera.htm
I couldn't get your website to come up, but I assume you were referring to something like this:Washingtonia filifera (filifera - Latin "thread-bearing"), common names Desert Fan Palm, American Cotton palm, Arizona Fan Palm, or California Fan Palm) is a palm native to the desert oases of Central, southern and southwestern Arizona, southern Nevada, extreme northwest Mexico and the inland deserts of Southern California.This palm grows up to 23 m (exceptionally 30 m) in good growing conditions. It is the only palm native to the contiguous United States west of San Antonio, Texas.From Wikipedia
I stand corrected but they are still a nuisance.
i used to have a winter home in Florida and decided to trim the 75 palm trees on it ( mostly sable palms ) i did the trimming using a chain saw
dresses in t shirt shorts and flip flops after first day i started turning purple on all exposed skin , second day i started swelling up big time like a body found in the sun
ran for the hospital & found i was having a allergic reaction 7 was given a shot of Benadryl which worked great ($ 150 )
seeing as i was a cdn i had bought health coverage & they told the hospital i was 100 % covered , which sure brought a smile to the doctors face
a week later they reversed themselves and said it was a pre existing condition
very interesting as you cant find one palm tree in all of canada unless its plastic
never cut another palm tree and gave the chain saw away !!! LOL
Don't go eatin no coconuts then!http://www.etherhuffer.typepad.com
Palms, Pines, and some grasses are related in some way, from an allergists POV, or so I was told by the one who tested me.Got any pines in Canadia?
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
never heard that before and i have hundreds on my property 7 transplanted a couple of hundred without a reaction , interesting ?
While living in florida i learned a lot of things that i found odd
like how ants so small you can hardly see them can bite like hell
anoles eat bugs non stop
dont kill black snakes they are a good snake as the eat bugs (still trying to convince the wife of this )
rats go in fruit trees and eat the fruit , their eyes glow in the dark when you shine a flash light on them
their are more bugs in the state of Fla than all of Canada i think
dogs get fleas there no mater what you do ( takes 3 months to get rid of them when you get back home )
palmento bugs live in palm trees ( learned the hard way )
you never seem to meet anyone born there
and i think half the people in ontario go there in the winter & hide
Why would you call the American cockroach a Palmetto Bug and then say rattus rattus was a rat? They are Palmetto Squirrels!
because the squirrel was eating in one of my orange trees a little bit of each orange , while a armandillo was making funnel shaped holes all over the lawn
the pigmy rattlers warent bothered by any of this ( i thought they were just small snakes )
living a block from the main street in a small town with the fire dept at one end and the police dept at the other end made sleeping fun ! LOL
And most people don't bother to keep theirs trimmed either.
I thought they were kind of neat until I found out how much it cost to trim them out in Ca.
I just tossed the old chain and did a tune up for the job. Its about a foot in diameter at the base. It is only about 12 feet tall, so I am going to take a top section first and then move down. Anyone know the root structure on these?http://www.etherhuffer.typepad.com
just a large ball...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
My buddy just removed a palm that was encroaching on his driveway on one side and his water main on the other side.
It cut up effortlessly compared to something like eucalyptus. The real challenge was getting the trunk below grade. With the water supply to the house running under the tree (supply side of the meter so no shut off) a stump grinder was too risky.
He ended up getting a 24" trunk 6 or more inches below grade with a pick mattock in an hour or two. The fibers were pretty easy to tear out in chunks with the momentum/weight of the mattock.
When I took two palms out I used a stump grinder and they were the easiest stumps I ever ground.
The work is loading up the sections of "wood" for disposal. Far heavier than I ever imagined
karl
Maybe I can burn it in my fireplace. That and some sand and I could be in Hawaii right here!
Ever heard of the tire rim stump removal method? Get a cutting torch and cut out the center of a huge truck steel rim. Dig around stump, put rim around stump. Mound up charcoal around the stump and pile it high. Light, get marshmallows, and wait. Usually can get pretty deep. Attracts the fire dept though.http://www.etherhuffer.typepad.com
I took down a palm a few years ago. Since I had plenty of room I dug around the root ball first. Found the perimeter of the ball and started straight down with a sharp square nosed shovel. Cut all those stringy roots, just like root pruning a tree before you plan a transplant. You can't cut through the ball so you have to be outside the perimeter.
Basically had a deep trench around the ball and then undermined the ball, too.
Fastened a chain high on the trunk and to the hitch on the van.
Pulled that sucka right over.
Cut it up into manageable chunks. No need to grind out the remains.
The digging is time consuming but good exercise.
The fibers and what appears to be embedded sand will dull the chainsaw, requiring several sharpenings during the job.
Have some fun and pinch rope it.
Take a wire rope about 1/4" aircraft cable type and loop the trunk. Fasten one end to the local car, truck ( not a motorcycle, I'll tell ya later why) and tie off the other end.
Seat belt ON, hit the gas.
PING! tree severed from it's base..hit the brakes before ya run outta cable, really..be sure. "Face breaks before windshield."
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations
They kill Prophets, for Profits.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dj_oEx4-Mc4
"PING! tree severed from it's base..hit the brakes before ya run outta cable, really..be sure. "Face breaks before windshield."
"PING" .... bumper lying in front yard, cable flies through neighbor's window ...
If you do it that way, make sure you get video for YouTube ;o)Jeff
It came down just dandy, but lordy, they are made of water! It was literally wet inside! And indeed, very fibrous. I now have sunshine in my kitchen!http://www.etherhuffer.typepad.com
RE: 'Ping'!Here's a related shot of a guy who was trying to haul a load off of a barge using a rope from a vehicle, through a pulley, to the barge. The rope failed and flew back, impaling this guy's knee...Loaded ropes and cables should be used VERY carefully...
I'm guessing that wasn't a 'ping' sound either.
Jeff
Once, lot bigger than what you have.
Like cutting up a mattress. Those fibers end up packed tight in the saw.
Slow project, but a 1' tree should be easy.
Can't imagine it as firewood, they're like wet mush.
Joe H
Use a multimaster. Let me know how that works.