How do you spikeless climb big palms?

Oldtimer

Here is your solution to climb palms without using spikes.
This is an arborist company in Italy that uses this system to do the prunnig jobs without harming the ornamental palm trees they care for.

In bicicletta sulle palme

They use something called a Bicycle (bicicletta)
This is a good site with a lot of info for Arborists and training for Recreational Climbers.

MTS247

i recall somthing we learnt at uni, it was a rope tied to your feet, and a pole strap, both set up to "grip" to palm, the foot one was linked to your arm so you can lift the rope up easyer, all you do is work your way up the tree like a caterpiller, i forget the exact details so i will look into it.

Pigdog

I still believe those climbing tree stands would work nicely on a limbless tree! Just because they say they are for hunting doesn't mean one can't carry a chainsaw up instead of a rifle. And heck you can even take a break by sitting down when the notion strikes you!
If I can get up and down in one of those without turning upside down, you fellows should find those a breeze to use without breaking a sweat!

arborjockey

I HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR THOSE CLIMBERS FOREVER.. They use them exclusively at the hotels in hawaii.


But I think you guys are really overthinking this one come on lets bring it back to the basics B.C. era climb

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B rad

The fire lookout trees - Eucalyptus diversicolor (karri) there are three of them in the south west of W.A. that are open for the public to climb. Heights of 51m, 61m, & 68m with platforms along the way.

StrictlyPalms

Baumsteigger?t "Baumvelo", Typ BVS mit Stahlb?ndern




$2500.00 USD or so. very similar to the Italian one.

The only problem I see with them is Palmtrees that haven't had all the old husks removed.

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Strictly Palms, Inc.
Orlando, Florida USA

Eric Frei

$2500 USD is what I thought, no wounds in the palm, where's the satisfaction then.

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quercus

hehe Ekka you should change your log in name to palmslayer!!!

What do you think of the device? Any good?

Eric Frei

How do you get past the head when you have to get the big pods out? Many times you have to climb up into the head.

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StrictlyPalms

I found a few articles about the Baumvelo (tree bicycle) They can be "Parked" at a desired spot and the climber can then ascend via other means, or work their way along a lateral as needed. At $2500.00 US I'm actually thinking about it. I have no bucket truck, renting man lifts gets expensive, and you cant always get them into yards. I think as long as the tree is bare, or the Client wants the husks removed it would be worthwhile.

Here in Florida it's not too difficult to sell H/O's on cleaning the palms. Carpenter ants LOVE setting up shop in the dead husks.


One article:

The Swiss tree bicycle or ?Baumvelo? is a device for climbing tall straight trees which are branch-free to the live crown. It is lighter to transport than sectional ladders but heavier than climbing irons. It does no damage to the tree. It is suitable for use on stems with diameters ranging from 30 ? 80 cm (Yeatman and Nieman 1978). Olesen (1972) found it very useful for climbing pine trees in Mexico. In the UK it was found particularly useful for conifer species with large cones e.g. Pinus, Picea, Pseudotsuga, in which the collector seeds to move from branch to branch to pull off the cones, rather than remaining for long in the same part (Seal et al. 1965). Its use in that country is now, however, restricted mainly to research collections, since the increased area of mature plantations allows bulk seed collections to be made easily from felled trees and ladders are more convenient for seed orchard collections.

4.12
1. Stirrup
2. Foot support
3. Vamp strap
4. Instep strap
5. Strap tightener
6. Support
7. Rubber pad 4.12 Tree bicycle, tree gripper or baumvelo, showing parts. (H. Schneebeli & Co.) 8. Hinge head
9. Hinge pin
10. Coil Spring
11. Leaf Spring
12. Holding Device
13. Locking Lever
14. Steel Band
4.13

4.13 Tree bicycle in use, with safety harness, helmet and ropes. (British Forestry Commission)

The tree bicycle contains two separate units, one for each foot. Each unit consists of an arm (longer in the upper, shorter in the lower unit) to which is fixed a rubber supporting block which rests against the trunk. The lower end of the arm carries a stirrup or pedal with strap and quick release clips, which holds the climber's foot. The upper end is attached to a steel band forming a circle of adjustable diameter around the stem. The tree bicycle is used in conjunction with safety harness or belt, support chain or strap, safety line, safety clips or carabiners and nylon ropes.

Operation of the tree bicycle is well described by Seal et al. (1965) and Yeatman and Nieman (1978). The steel band should not fit too tightly round the stem, which would hinder them sliding upwards. They will grip properly as long as the toe of the climber's boot does not touch the trunk when his full weight is on the stirrup; when that happens it is necessary to unclamp, shorten the loop and reclamp the band on each foot in turn. After securing the bands round the base of the tree, the climber fits his feet into the stirrup, closes the quick-release clips and fastens the straps. He also passes his safety strap or chain round the stem, adjusting its length in accordance with stem taper. The climber ascends, putting his weight alternately on one or the other stirrup and lifting in turn the free foot to raise the loosened band. He pauses to adjust the bands, one at a time, to allow for the taper of the tree. Obstructing branches must be pruned flush with the stem as they are encountered.

The climber continues to ascend until the upper steel band meets the lower living branches of the crown. He then reaches into the crown to fit a nylon safety rope to hold the safety line and proceeds to ?park? the tree bicycle. The essential operation is to tighten the lower band of the bicycle so that it grips the stem tightly even when there is no weight on it; there is then no risk of the bicycle slipping down the stem out of the climber's reach. The climber opens the ankle clips on both stirrups, frees his feet from the straps, unhooks his safety strap and climbs into the crown.

The tree bicycle provides an extremely safe means of climbing straight branchless trees without damaging them and is lighter and more portable than sectional ladders. Some practice is needed but most men become competent and quick in its use within a few days. Its main disadvantages are the cost, the fact that its use is limited to a certain range of diameters and that, unlike ladders and climbing irons, it requires the bole to be pruned of branches all round the circumference up to the living crown (Robbins et al 1981). Where regular climbing of the same trees is foreseen, however, as in seed stands or seed orchards, the cost of thorough initial pruning is fully justified. It is advisable to work always with two tree-bicycles within call of each other, because a man in difficulties on a tree at a height greater than can be reached by a ladder can only be reached on another tree-bicycle (Seal et al. 1965), or by climbing irons.
4.14

4.14 Hand picking Larix cones in Britain. Note use of safety line and anchorman and tree bicycle ?parked? at base of crown. (British Forestry Commission)

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Strictly Palms, Inc.
Orlando, Florida USA

arborjockey

The guy I talked to said $2500 and the parts are exp. as well. he said their high maitnence. For 2500 wonder if that saddle and chain flipline come with it

Arizona Kenn

I have a hard enough time translating Australian, all those links were Greek to me...

justoon

hahah you innovate and build your own climbing devices.we have had our spikeless climbers for about 4 yrs and have just started developing a new style as well.

Not a bad idea though.

newguy18

i'm with you i gaff palms without exception,i'm not hanging from those fronds,altough sometimes i'll install my climb line through the head to come down.I only climb the with a chain saw for removals[i use a folding handsaw and loppers for pruning.

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old schooler

justoon

All in All ekka you still just dont like palms.

newguy18

I don't like them either.

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old schooler

justoon

I swear Im the only one on here who actually likes them.

TreeSpecialist

Palms done well can be very profitable.

Toby Sherrill has a palm gear set he sells - essentially a small line with a pulley you set in the top of the tree and climb on. Works well for palms up to about 50 to 60 feet if you can hit the top with a throw ball.

Above that, use a bucket.

Several folks die here in the US each year pruning palms that haven't been cut in a decade or more. The old fronds have a tendency to drop "en masse" on top of the climber. The result is that with 400 to 600 lbs of fronds pushing down on their head, their head is forced into their chest which causes the trachea to close and they suffocate.

If you don't do palms on a regular basis, let someone else do the work.

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newguy18

on palms like that i use a pole saw[hand powered] to knock as many fronds off as possible,usually after a couple snags the rest come down.

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old schooler

TreeSpecialist

This is how a palm should be pruned.....(in my opinion)

the pictures are a palm we recently pruned here in Central Texas. The petioles should be cut back to the trunk to within about 24" of the top.

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newguy18

Nope this is how palms should be pruned.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/images/1289968800

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old schooler

TreeSpecialist

The trouble with that method is that you only get to do it once.

Palms (if folks can afford it) should be pruned twice a year and fertilized every year.

For the people smart enough to learn how to do it right, there is a constant income stream available in palm trees.

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Eric Frei

I find people get you in when the palms reach chaos levels.

After many many chats I tell them not to let them get berries and depending on the season clean maybe every 6 to 9 months.

But oh no, every 2 years when it's a shit fight they want it done, cheap, and the same price as 2 years ago.

It's the most undercut yet dangerous thing you'll do.

They care not if you spike them usually, they only care how cheap you do it. In some resorts etc you might get better work and do them from a tower etc but for urban yards, you're the janitor but paid worse.

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JohN Dee

That is one good looking palm trim, Pat.

You know, about 2 years ago I was removing a liquidambar in a street, the same day some Arbo was doing a really finesse Pheonix Palm trim. Once we finished the day, drove past and looked at the work and it looked like a piece of art work. Looked absolutely great.

Anyway, we ended up getting quite alot of jobs in the street from people approaching us, when we went back for the next job, the Pheonix palm had been REMOVED!

It was really a crying shame, but the customer probly figured getting one of these done every year for the next 20 years is a hell of alot more then just getting it removed...

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Eric Frei

Might have sold it too!

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Victor Lindsay

Most palms I prune start at 65.00, but the price goes up if not pruned every 9 months. I have many accounts that get pruned every four months. The clients never want to see fruit, but like the fronds at a nine and three configuration. Palms are a money maker, but I make more profit from cleaning out dead and damaged from trees on a yearly schedule.

treesandsurf

Being in Hawaii, I've had more than a few requests to 'trim' coconuts and palms and I always turn them down. It's not my specialty; I've done a few at the arboretum where I work (we own a swiss bicycle, which isn't as efficient as going up SRT, IMO). There's some guys here who can do thirty to forty coconuts in a day.

jp:

davido

Starting at $65 per tree? We have too much competition here, especially in this economy. It seems any idiot who can start a saw thinks they're an arborist! Still, I decided not to drop my prices to compete anymore. I figure the first guy who sues because of an injury will put ninety percent of unlicensed, uninsured tree-workers out of business. I don't want to work for too cheap and I sure don't want to work for a homeowner who's too cheap!

Koorbz

[QUOTE=matshute;20923]I am a Uk arborist about to untertake to canopy access project in West Africa...
So ok, its been a while since ur initial post and I'm assuming you've moved on long ago, but I'm intrigued, how did u end up climbing those palms?]

Therrin

Oh god.... crazy homeowners and their crazy ideas about "selling" their damn palm trees.


It's impossible to make a profit on them out here, too many mexicans running around with spikes. The going rate is about $20 when done yearly.

It looks like I'm going back to Hermosa Beach to trip up those 6 I did about a year and a half ago or so. I'm only doing $50 per palm, but they're taking care of cleanup and removal of the fronds, and they're providing lunch too. *shrugs*