Fantastic work Steve, Thanks! Might have to borrow 1 or 2 of those...
We take so much care, not to rip cuts; not to form tattered fiber with all of it's exposed surface areas and cavern of catches. For, a tattered cut never seals or heals like a clean cut, nor in near the same amount of time.
The spike wounds are tattered cuts, with high exposed surface area for their size, and many nooks and crannies to catch and allow protected growth to pathogens. But, instead of them being in 1 bad cut that you'd get blasted for; the spike wounds litter all around the tree causing many years of of extra special materials by the trees, as well as imposing extra risks; and many times facing up to catch even more crud than most cuts.
i've seen these things as Steve and others; and have even shown were the obvious damage by the spike wounds outlasts the obvious damage of the correct cuts of moderate size by very much!!
Palm trees, while not having all these risks to their monocot systems; on the other side of the arguement, pretty much don't even try to seal these wounds; so incurr them longer.
If we are there to care for the trees, and spikeless strategies are workable and safe; what buisness would i have spiking them?