Speedline for palm fronds? any good ideas?

JesseHuffman

JesseHuffman

Location
Phoenix Arizona
Anyone who has done alot of palm work knows how many hundreds of pounds of crap can be up there.
The setting these overgrown blades of grass are in are usually aroud pools....art...delicate plants....Never can i just cut and drop it seems.
So I sometimes use my throwline as a zipline for each and EVERY frond and seedpod...TAKES FOREVER but is very gratifying and reasonable people will pay for this as they have seen the results of a chainsaw massacre.
Anyone have a good idea of how to set up an efficient system for this?
I will try high strength fishing line this week instead of throwline.
Attatching the fronds is challenging too. The best method I found for Fan palms is to simply fold the frond in half, straddle it on the line and send it down.
This worlks fantastic for date palm clusters too :)


Any input is much appreciated.
Best Fishes
Jesse Huffman
 
what i do if there is a lot of plants under the palm is grab 3 or 4 at a time tie a small sling aroud them put a biner thru the sling and on to the speed line that i tie to the stem of the tree and cut all the palms from the head that are in the sling or cut one at atime and throw them to the clear
 
I've been tossing this idea around my head. I'll see if I can make it clear...

No wait..I'll draw a picture...that'll be way more fun...just give me a few minutes here.

love
nick
 
Okay, here's what I'm talking about. Easy project for someone with the right sewing machine....
grin.gif


I thought of this when doing a removal of a palm near a little cute greenhouse. We spent a few hours roping out every frond, as the boss man didn't wanna risk dropping a frond and having the breeze send the frond toward the greenhouse. The system would be a pain the in the butt, but it'd be smoother than roping things out 1 by 1, and smoother than even doing a speed line where you had keep sending up slings to girth hitch.

The daisy chain would need to be a loop that is maybe 10' taller than any palm you would climb. I think any decent sized rigging block could accommodate the daisy chain. I'm not sure what'd be the best friction device. Maybe a portawrap? Or even one of those rappel devices that are large enough to allow the passing of a knot in climbing rope. The portawrap would allow easy adjustment to accommodate the load.

It's a start...it's not perfect. But it should get things started!

love
nick
 

Attachments

  • 86414-palmdaisy.webp
    86414-palmdaisy.webp
    100.6 KB · Views: 127
I don't know if you already do this, but another nice trick that helps when doing palms is bringing up a bag, like a rope bag and placing all of the loose materials in that, the small husk stuff that flys off you can grab and stuff in the bag rather than making a bigger mess on the ground.

jp
grin.gif
 
On ground i've wrapped a tarp at 6' to ground like a barber's bib and tied off from underneath the tarp to stalk, fold tarp down and anchor in circle around to give ramp out over pretties for dust etc. But, heavier, sharper pods, fronds etc. can punch through.

InTree - A Round Turn around top under head to give 2 legs of line to ground to ramp them away from underneath pretties. Easier to lay fronds and pods down across onto and skitch across than a single leg of line.

Then groundie walks around a few degrees to immediately change angle to catch out of reach fronds. Pretty simple really. The RT unwraps in the direction you are going to as it wraps more from the direction you are coming from. So need slack of circumference at least, feeding from the go away from side(that is best as low side IMLHO).

Can do similar in Cow formation (or choke sling to bent line on krab)on smooth easy to slip around stalks(or other if climber adjusts around); but lose the spread of support on climber end.
 
ok, I have never even seen a real palm in person ( besides at my local mall wich I in no way count as a palm :/ . So why is it that you are not able to just put two half hiches and a running bowline to it. Also why doesnt a chocker work?? By the way I live in the north so I really am woundering.
 
Sumo, that is the EXACT piece I had in mind. I just didn't know the right word to google to find a pic. Thanks!

Fairfield- both those things WILL work. The only problem is that it is really slow. Or put another way- There really is little to no climbing to do on palm, and there can be a hundred fronds that need to be lowered. Typically, a climber in a real tree would cut a branch, lower it, then while the ground crew removes the rope, the climber can get ready for the next cut. In a palm, there is little to no moving that has to happen. It's just the climber up there waiting for the rope to come back.

I think arbor101 is looking for a way to minimize the wasting of time while the climber is up in the air. I've only worked in palms enough to know that i don't like it.

So who wants to buy a super long daisy chain from me?!?! I would love to have a good reason to make one.

love
nick
 
When i have to lower frons from a palm all i do i take a long piece of rope like the black widow rope, that works great on the wash palms , i tie as many as i can and off they go on a small seed line w/a sm pulley and a returned line ... I have some pic's on a job that i did like that.. I'll see if i can find them....

later in SO-CAL
 
ok....with tony hawk webcam in hand...I will try and get some video up of a nasty date palm....I think it will blow alot of minds as to how much crap is up there....
I really appreciate all the input. Tree buzz is the greatest resource ever! Fell like I have found a family of sorts.

Someone in cally wanna give me a nice Euc climbing vacation away from all these palms and thorny mesquites?
Have gear will travel :)
 
[ QUOTE ]
How about a big tarp on the ground to catch debris?

[/ QUOTE ]

That might work alright if there is no wind, but a lot of times the wind will take any loose debris and fly it hundreds of feet away.

jp
grin.gif
 
Quote:

How about a big tarp on the ground to catch debris?



Picture this.....A huge pool with Planter boxes right on the edge of the water....every 20 feet or so....The Planter Boxes have a huge Date palm in each one, Surrounded by smaller plants and lights and irrigation....
So on one side you have pool...the other side is lots of expensive lawn furniture...some LARGE statues....The pool decking cant be impacted or stained....NIGHTMARE

this is a typical backyard in Paradise Valley Arizona or in Scottsdale (snobsdale).

THERE is no drop zone within 20 yards of the tree.
calgon...take me away
 
The daisy chain tails could be made by tieing on as many pieces of cord as you need using a sheetbend. On the end of the tail tie a bowline. Then use a cord with bowlines on each end as a choker. Or...large diameter bowline on one end and a biner tied on the other end with a scaffold hitch.

Whip the biner around the frond, slip it through the bowline, choke, clip to the tail of the daisy chain tail...slide the conveyor ahead and repeat.
 
Don't forget the whole works still has to fit through a pulley and a friction device....

No, I don't have a picture of one. I don't think there is a daisy chain in the world that is as I've described. I could make one on my heavy duty sewing machine with just a little time...

I'm thinking 9/16 webbing would be better. Still strong enough, but thinner to fit through hardware better...

love
nick
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

New threads New posts

Back
Top Bottom