Climbing Palms - tall palm pruning/maintenance?

[conrad]

Hi all,

So how many guys on here are actually arborists and do tree work??

First time I've ever looked into this section of the forum - but have had a couple of customers recently ask about pruning and tidying up tall palm trees, higher than my 7m pole saw will reach. I already do a lot of regular work for these customers, so I figure it might be a good option to offer this service as well? Do people still use spike boots (I thought they damaged the tree too much)? How much would you charge for something like this?

My wife is not keen on the idea of me being that high up, and I know it would mean additional insurance$ so I'm not sure if its worth it, but gotta ask the question.

What do you guys think?

Cheers

[ian]

The way I see it is the main advantage of climbing 7m up a palm tree to prune is that if you fall you're unlikely to have anymore worries
When my kids were in primary school one of the fathers was an arborist and after a 4m fall he had his own parking spot wide enough so he could get his wheelchair out of the car
Seriously unless you know what you're doing don't even think about it

[djkgrounds]

Cherry picker all the way, and add the cost in the quote. Safest way of doing the job at that height.

[Crankitup]

Platform ladder + pole saw. Allows me to reach most dead fronds and fruiting bodies. If I was doing that sort of work and tree work in general more regularly, I'd invest in a trailer mounted cherry picker.

[conrad]

Cheers guys, cherry picker it would have to be! Not an option for some places though (back yards, no driveway access etc.) but I guess you can't do anything but leave it to the guys who still climb. Both of the customers who asked me about it said they have had guys climb the palms in the past, but they have been pains to deal with and I get the feeling they don't want to pay their high cost anymore.

I actually have an arborist friend, asked him if he would do palms etc. and nope he won't touch 'em. Must have seen some bad stuff in his time... makes you think twice when even seasoned arborists won't touch certain jobs!

[kakegc]

Cheers guys, cherry picker it would have to be! Not an option for some places though (back yards, no driveway access etc.) but I guess you can't do anything but leave it to the guys who still climb. Both of the customers who asked me about it said they have had guys climb the palms in the past, but they have been pains to deal with and I get the feeling they don't want to pay their high cost anymore.

I actually have an arborist friend, asked him if he would do palms etc. and nope he won't touch 'em. Must have seen some bad stuff in his time... makes you think twice when even seasoned arborists won't touch certain jobs!

I do trees, or hedges most days & I speak regularly with other guys that do the same. Nobody I know likes doing palms. Me included. They are a PITA. Took a single branch off a tree on Friday for a customer & charged $100. Same amount of work on a palm would have cost them $450.

Apart from the fact that palms are difficult to work on, everything takes longer & you can't use the logs as firewood, they stuff your chainsaws up & you have to cover the cost of replacing the saw much quicker than you would if you were cutting a tree.

Had a beautiful MS461 that was eaten out by palm acid inside 2 years. My DCS7901 before that was stuffed up even quicker, and I'm very fussy about cleaning my gear after I do a palm.

There goes almost $4,000

[Woodchip]

Cocos are the worst to prune, particularly the large and very heavy seed pods (before the pods open up), the pods are solid and can cause damage and injuries, novices best to leave the higher ones to the experienced operator. You can't use spikes to prune.
You usually have large Huntsman spiders running all over you, and the cocos can be full of cockroaches.