Tough tree!

Pigdog

Anybody ever climb one of these?

pomme

Yeh done a few not fun

bigshea13

yep. tried everything possible to get a bucket to the 15 nor so we did. ended up using a 30 foot extention ladder and a extending power trimmer. i saved a few of the longest thorns as momentos. i got one in the end of my knuckle. it swelled and stayed that way for several days. be careful with your ropes around them. they snag em and rip em up. afew taller ones we had to pole saws the clumps of thorns off so we could get up in them. they turned out fine.

JohN Dee

I've quoted a few but never did do the job.

My advice to you if you are going to climb it is: On your way up take a very cautious slow climb taking off all the spikes/thorns from the trunk. Getting them all off the trunk is important incase you slip when your limb walking and impale yourself.

Oh yeah one more tip, quote double the price of what you normally would for a tree that height in that situation. As Trev told me, with great risk there must be great reward.

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treevet

I agree with taking off thorns on way up or prior as much as poss with pole saw. I ve removed and pruned many honey locusts (native). They tend to have clumps as in the picture and they usually do not cover the tree from top to bottom and side to side thank God. I ve cut a number of them down as they were giving HO flat tires. Thorns season and seem to petrify. They also seem to have some irritating substance as youmentioned. They re not quite as scary as the picture might suggest I don t think as you are real careful. I remember a guy having one go clear through the palm of his hand and out the other side though.

Pigdog

I remember growing up in Indiana and seeing those trees quite often. Once I stepped on some of those thorns and one pierced my ankle and remember not being able to walk for a couple of weeks. Very painful!
I believe if I was working as part of the ground crew on one of those trees, I'd call in sick!

Eric Frei

What an evil tree, screw that!

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treevet

You know what Ekka, it is really not, again, quite as bad as it appears. It is also a very pretty tree and that why it has been engineered into a thornless cultival. It has small leaflets that give diffuse sunlight through the tree and isn t clogging. It has huge pods that give interest in the off season. As for the native thorned version, they scrape of quite easily with a handsaw or polesaw. The pain usually comes with a reach around and contacting one that you missed. LBut you usually reach around carefully. There isn t any on the branch ends. Clean up is very slow to say the least.

jim1nz

Yea, but in NZ the spikes are not as intence...usually

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Therrin

Looks like a candidate for my 'welding leathers arbor garb'..... I'm telling ya, its hot and heavy but ya don't get poked over and over.

Pigdog

I don't know it leather gloves would offer much protection from those thorns. They sink in about half inch when you just think about grabbing one! Those thorns are pretty tough! Extremely sharp too!

newguy18

are they worse than hawethornes?yes it looks evil but are they as evil as palms ekka?

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old schooler

JohN Dee

They don't.

Welders gloves FTW. When we remove bouganvillea's I pack on 3 long sleeved shirts under my work shirt and pad up with welders gloves. Not one scratch at the end of the day

__________________
We are what we repeatedly do... Excellence then, is not an act, but HABIT...

Red : Green : Blue

ronnyb

Not only do they have the big thorns on the trunk, there are smaller ones throughout the crown of the tree. Even the thornless cultivar will sometimes start to revert back, and you'll find some thorns in them as well.

arbdog

worked on a few here but never wiyh thorns that intense. You do get scratched and cut! We cut out 6.5 miles of Hawthorn hedge that wasnt much fun either.

arborjockey

black locust. Robinia pseudoacacia no problem. Just did one (jan 17th) Dont get stuck ! the thorns are toxic to some people.

newguy18

what do you mean some people like if your allergic?if you wanna see me wear long sleeves gloves and all the crap including a face mask it'll be while cutting white oliender.

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old schooler

arbdog

They say the dust off of London Plane (Platinus x hispanica) can make you sleepy but ive took down a few and have always felt fine! I know Laurel and Yew are toxic but i wouldnt eat them myself!

JohN Dee

The dust of the london plane get on the back of your throat and it makes you cough your lungs out... Best way to prevent that is by constantly chewing on chewing gum all day.

After you chip laurel all day your throat is dry as! But it's good if ya got a clogged up nose...

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arbdog

London Plane was used a lot in medicenes as most trees were as it has anerstetic uses. I know who the person is who killed 7 cows dropping a few yews and leaving them in a field. ( hes a landscaper from this town.).

Recon Freak

Haven't had to climb one but I do put my deer stands in them to make others think twice about using them or stealing them!!!

azrael

This may be of interest to some.

Hypersensitivity Pneumonitis

Decaying wood can support a plethora of opportunistic micro-oragnisms, including pathogenic fungi..... which can easily become airborne with disturbance.

A young healthy individual would have less concern at contracting disease than an immuno-compromised individual....or very aged person.

...and for the deeper science intellect...heres a case study
Allergic broncho-pulmonary aspergillosis with aspergilloma developing in a cane sugar mill worker

ronnyb

Has anyone else suffered from allergies because of this job. The first couple of years I was fine. Then I started to notice symptoms which made me feel like I had a cold while the trees were pollinating. I started taking allergy medicine, and now I'm at the point where I'm on the medication from the beginning of April until the end of November. If I don't take it I feel like I have the flu. It's called acclimization, the longer you are in contact with an allergent, the more allergic you become. In spring, my skin burns from the pollen. Possibly time to get another job.