Cigar Palms

wood-cutter

Hi all Im currently working north of Brisbane for a few months, quite a change from running & working for my small arborist company in Nottingham, UK!

So I ve been asked to remove 4x Cigar palm or Royal Cigar palms (not sure of the exact name this is my first bit of research tonight as I only looked at them a few days ago.

So my questions are;
Any tips I should know about large palms?
Is the timber ok for felling as Ive worked on a few queens palm in Carins in 2007 & the heart wood was v soft & I wondered if the hinge will hold?
I take it they are the normal wet through corrosive sap so will normal saw (18" Husq ground saw & Sthil 192T with 200T grade chain /bar do?
Are small gaff spikes ok or do I need long gaffs?
All other information greatly appreciated!

Regards Jimmy

As a though I need to buy some gear, spikes, few bits of rigging etc Ive had a quick look around but it seems pricey compared to the UK, I know I get a bit of discount from regualur suppliers at home but the few places Ive tried dont seem to entertain the words 'trade discount' even with my association with a local company; any recommendations chaps?

Many thanks.

wood-cutter@hotmail.co.uk

-PS Im on working holiday visa with tax number & am here until the end of July, I do like work & travel (:

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Eric Frei

Vertical speed line, a nice trick

LARGE palm (cuban royal) removal

Cuban royal palm removal using undersized 18" bar on MS440 accurately

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Garry Brockley

Ive got some old gaffs you can use on them if you want to buy them, i can give you some tips too if you want, im northen subs brissy.

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Davo The Terrible

If the palms are accessible to machinery, consider contacting a tree transplanting company such as King Landscapes on the Gold Coast - advanced Cuban Royals are often used for landscaping, and they could be worth a bit.

wood-cutter

G'day lads & thanks for your input, I didnt have a clue without you!
I started with the smallest one as I was weary of climbing palms, as Ive only ever done a few Queens Palms in Cairns in 2006 so its been a while.
I had managed to aquired some spikes for the job & climbed up the first two, removed the rear fronds & felled the head with a 338xpt. I then blocked the main stem with step cuts to get a feeling for the structure - once your past the 1-2cm hard outer the heartwood is soft as s*it! The saw went thought like a hot knife through butter.
The last two & largest I spiked up again, felled the heads in the same manner, attached a pulling rope cutting a notch in the stem to keep it in place & felled them.
The go down with a bang & the ends blow apart lengthways into roughly quarters. The head is the heaviest part but I recon the largest at around 24" across was about 80kgs per metre.
I also had to strip the Husq ground saw as the Palm gummed up the nose sprocket in the 18" bar I was using & I took the advice from the forum here & did a full strip down & clean that night before the sap melted any part of the saws away.
Does anyone know if the Palm sap is acid or alakline?

All in all great job with great info, 4hours steady work if a bit tough on the legs!
Jimmy

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Eric Frei

Acidic.

You can get palm wine and palm vinegar.

I read somewhere that tests done on certain palms found the pH drop to as low as 3 over time.

when felling the heads out of cuban palms and if you are cutting in that green bit be careful as it's made up of layers, if not cut through properly or well with wind cuts you can have a streamer hang on and stuff things up real bad.

I like to scarf in the grey trunk bit, no streamers or hangers on.

Yeah, the crust is hard, the insides are juice ..... be very very careful of dead ones .... they're just a tube.

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