your take on pruning with spurs on

osb_mail

I live in city that many tree companys prune with spurs on . OK just for powerline clearance ? Ok if homeowner cant see spike marks because climbed with a ladder first 20 feet ? OK if the homeowner gets a cheaper price if you use spurs ? OK if it makes the climb safer ? not acceptable in any case ?

mdvaden

I quit subcontracting to one man whom I saw using a ladder to 20' to hide the gouges.

rangitata

No under any circumstances. Blokes have been dismissed for less

Total Unprofessional, Unsightly and unnecessary.
Only time the spurs come out of the bag is when the tree is getting removed.
BUT THEN THERE IS COCOS PALMS

Mike

Jeff Darby

I second That.... Only for takedowns!!


And ofcorse Rescue..then it's a race against time and the only thing that matters is the injured person.

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Eric Frei

I haven't voted yet coz I clean palms with spurs.

So, what's the alternative? Cherry picker, climbing clamps ($2.5K) rope over and dangle etc.

What about of you had to work on a 250' regnans, first branch 100', most would spur.

Hard for me to answer with a 100% no or yes, circumstances and common sense dictate here, what if spiking never pentrated thick bark through to cambium? Pine trees, gum trees such as ironbark, red gum etc, sorry, I know you want an answer from those options but I see too many differering situations ... of course I'd never spur some thin barked ornamental specimen but what if I was a seed collector or wildlife catcher?

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Sunraysia Tree Solutions

Did some wildlife catching work catching koalas (to desex) on Kanagaroo Is SA for govt. The team caught over 1000 koalas not one tree spured.

TreeCo

Only hacks use spikes to prune trees.

Eric Frei

Cool, they reckon those Kangaroo Island Koala's are the wildest (aggressive) is that right?

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rangitata

Ekka if they had any idea what was about to happen to them, I reckon they have every right to be aggrressive

Mike

TREE-SURFER

That is really bad.........

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osb_mail

md vaden the same kind of stuff people do around here .My thoughts are if you really don't think spikes hurt trees than why not spike the whole tree I would guess the bottom 20ft would be less effected than the top part just my guess ???

Eric Frei

Hey, I spike cocos palms that's all. Personally I reckon the spikes should have a hollow centre and be pressurized with round-up so as I go up I give them a good dose.

But I read some stuff on guys spiking other trees and the spikes only gauge the bark, bark is very thick.

Today I had my longest gaffs on and tried to spike up the bottom 2m of this big azzed paperbark ... couldn't get to the wood, was like 4" of flaking papery crap (zero grip) and had to get my line up high and air hump to some branches. But it was a TD.

I'm sure dudes spike those Doug firs all the time.

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treefeller

Only ever spike on takedowns, if limbs are to high i use a throw line. A tree firm on London lost a contract in Kensington a few years back as an arnb officer caught a climber 5' off the ground trying to spike up a London plane..

bigshea13

where i come from we are required to obtain on average 1mile of utility line clearance per 40 hours. i dont know what its like around the rest of the world but in ny, especially northern ny, thats not humanly possible without the use of hooks. sure they may leave the tree suseptable to possible infection and they may become an eyesore if not properly placed..but those are acceptable setbacks to deal with considering the fact that every day we perform large scale surgery over lines withholding up to 115 thousand volts of potential. say what you want fellas but in my book that earns me the right to gaff. consideration is made for every situation especially those that may be in a yard or within public viewing.
another thing to consider before closing the book on hooks is that in a lot of situations the person that may have the problem tree may not be able to afford a reasonable rate for the job .so most of the time they they just dont have that hanger removed over the drive.. hell its ok its 60 feet up,...theyll be careful. next thing you know their kid gets smucked. but if someone would be willing to climb up there for nickles theyll have it done.
thats where the debate begins. do i walk away and leave an inevitable danger or do i use a tool that enables me to perform the work in 1/3 of the time and do it for nickles{removing the danger}

Eric Frei

I hear you, and I still haven't voted.

In this post by Sean is a PDF that talks about bleeding but also mentions how thick bark can be.

Why is it so?? Ironbarks bleeding that is.

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playfordtree

Great thread, very contentious issue.

personally, i have never used them for a prune.

but bigshea13 makes a valid point

the sad thing is that the people who need to hear this message (hacks & homeowners) will probably never see this thread.

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Drouin Tree Service

Only on stringy barks...Just kidding!

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Sunraysia Tree Solutions

I see your point bigshea13 one mile per thirty hours, is a lot, if this is the case the utility company needs to see the light, is there an US standard that they are "asking" you to break by having to prune with spurs to make money ?

TrevMcRev

Only hacks use spikes to prune trees.

I dont buy into speed as an excuse. Its a matter of being efficient with other techniques. If you dont try them and practice till you are efficient then of course the way you know will be quicker for you. If your good at it you can set a throwline and footlock up pretty quick. But it takes practice.

Think back to your first attempt at getting off the ground on spikes. Pretty slow, awkward and inefficient hey. If ya wrote off that tool then just because you couldnt use them well the first time you wouldnt be fast on them now.

We can all make choices. I know i wouldnt work for anyone that did and i wouldnt employ anyone that thought it necessary.

Eric Frei

So, how many people prune palms around here?

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Jeff Darby

Hey,
I've already voted in this thread, Only Hacks, Cowboy's use spurs for a prune, Very well said Trev,Every technique has it's place, Every differant method is strange and awkward at first' To not learn all the techniques is limiting yourself, Like climbimg in blinkers...Pins only for rescue and TD's Please.
JayD

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Jeff Darby

I'm really starting to dislike palms in general, Unless i'm cutting the buggers down,IMO they dont countcall me hipercrictical I don't care,I dont like them dirty messy bloody things they are.
JayD

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Drouin Tree Service

I have a washingtonia to trim on monday,I think ill have to do a qoute that morning!!!

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Eric Frei

Ah ha!

About the only ones I spike are cocos palms, however I'm slowly knocking more back as frankly what you get paid for what you do doesn't match.

And I aint using ladders or buying $3k palm walkers and stuff throwing a line over and prussiking up etc for $50

And that's my reason for not voting coz I do spike palms and frankly, I dont give a hoot for stinking cocos palms, I figure people only clean them coz they cannot afford to remove them.

Slowly palms are more and more out of vogue, even the self cleaning ones grow tall and look ridiculous at the average house.

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Ace Master

we try to use the cherry picker first, if we cannot the power Ascender comes out for the day,spurs should be only uesd for removals. But a HACK wouldn't know many other techniques.Spurring 20 years ago was the thing, but as time has gone on more Arborists and climbing equipment have appeared.

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newguy18

I agree with Ekka it depends on the situation because I spike palms and palmettoes.other than thataround here I rope climb for trim jobs but I gaff my removals.

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old schooler

playfordtree

Hey Trev, never mind my first time in spikes, i am still slow, awkward, and inefficient and i have used them heaps.

For you top climbers, watching me spike a tree must be like watching a hippopotamus trying to mount a giraffe.

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Drouin Tree Service

Taken i wouldnt spike a significant/valued tree but if im out the backblocks and its safer with the spikes on its spiked.Sticks n stones and all that...

DOOMED TO HACKDOM!!!LOL

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Eric Frei

what about for aerial rescue? We were trained to SPIKE.

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shaggs

Spikes for removals, cocos n rescue. But with coco's, I try to at least climb on the side that nobody will see, ie the side not facing the house. Then try and retrace the spike maks down. I do about a day of pure coco's palms a week, and every time I remind the customers what a crappy tree they are and how much better they would look.....at the tip!