Using a crane to trim hedges

[ATH]

...

I worked out of an extendable fir a few years on a college campus. Since I could drive it from the basket it was super capable

That's what I was thinking would be the advantage...able to move around easily without coming down and resetting outriggers each time.

 

[southsoundtree]

Renting a lift is a relatively cheap day-rate compared to a crane rental.

Cranes are hourly, IME. The running clock could encourage rushing.

How much time do you estimate with the lift and with the crane?

I'd have a hard time estimating that job.

Knowing if it's all hedge trimmer-able or not would help.

 

[Stumpsprouts]

If you are bringing in other equipment, instead of a traditional tree lift, how about a lift without outriggers used more in construction...what I'd call a JLG Lift - not sure what the proper name is.

I have used it this once on an extremely tall and long hemlock hedge- the job was dumb but the tool was great for the work at hand. I had the lift maxed out, at least 30’ tall maybe even 40?’ Eek. And then you travel along the road and can stay really well positioned for the work.

I also used this type of lift for a grid of Carpinus that we pruned into large cubes. I listened to Nine Inch Nails very loudly through my sena that day and was off to a better company shortly thereafter.

Because you’ll generally not have foot footholds on the top of a hedge, being on a ball would completely, utterly suck and be a guarantee for future back pain.

 

[Bart_]

A major factor is how wide the hedge is vs your practical trimmer reach. Ive got pre-Kombi FS series which is also a 6' string trimmer. In a normal grip it wears out your arms and shoulders. to get more reach your non-throttle hand has to come in closer until at max your hands are barely separated and the difficulty goes up. You don't win much with a longer unit because it's again starting out heavier. I'd say 10 ft 5 from each side is a comfortable max without jumping through hoops, off a ladder or lift. maybe you can go long and balance the cutter pole off the lift hand rail? as a pivot point. oh and nod to wearing out your back from reaching

 

[flushcut]

My shoulders and back hurt just reading this thread.

 

[Bart_]

I officially tapped out on the basis of grey hair and associated attributes on a bigger than this hedge at my neighbour's house. Last year I had to keep telling myself "you've done this before. It is possible." This year I just tapped. Another tool for stragglers is 14' reach Fiskars pruning stik. Don't leave home without it.

 

[Merle Nelson]

Fiskars Power Stick is not pro grade but yes, extremely useful. I buy them 3 at a time because they can break and pull cordage does wear out. (Bicycle master links are helpful to replace a broken chain.)

For hedges the battery Husqvarna Extendable pole hedger is lighter and more powerful than any others I've tried.

 

[data farm 26]

Fiskars Power Stick

Do you buy those in person or online?

 

[DSMc]

View attachment 95925

With a 16 foot orchard ladder and a good, long reach articulating hedge trimmer, that hedge appears to be eminently doable.

Though a novel thought, I can't imagine going to the additional expense and complexity of trying to use a crane.

 

[Merle Nelson]

Do you buy those in person or online?

Online. My local Home Depot used to but no longer carry them.

 

[climbingmonkey24]

Renting a lift is a relatively cheap day-rate compared to a crane rental.

Cranes are hourly, IME. The running clock could encourage rushing.

How much time do you estimate with the lift and with the crane?

I'd have a hard time estimating that job.

Knowing if it's all hedge trimmer-able or not would help.

Actually because the owner of the crane is a friend of mine the cost would be around the same or slightly less than what it would cost to rent the lift. One of the reasons I was considering it in the first place.

Last time I did the hedges we did everything with the hedge trimmer. We got both the sides and top done in a day. And I can get pretty far up the sides just from the ground. So I estimate a few hours to do the upper part of the hedge.

 

[climbingmonkey24]

I officially tapped out on the basis of grey hair and associated attributes on a bigger than this hedge at my neighbour's house. Last year I had to keep telling myself "you've done this before. It is possible." This year I just tapped. Another tool for stragglers is 14' reach Fiskars pruning stik. Don't leave home without it.

I’ve got two pole pruner / pole saws, both of which are around 25ft long that I usually always have with me. Definitely helpful in a lot of trimming scenarios!

 

[Bart_]

Use of the Stik: you can lay/slide it on the hedge top and angle the cutter as to whether you want to de-sprig below the sight line or flush to the surface/sight line. The Stik is also a pick-up/move-off tool for those mini tree sprigs that are hard to sweep off with the regular trimmer. It's also good for those about 2' fast growth sprigs one and done instead of coaxing them into the regular cutter - cut pick throw.

My usual order of operations is all the vertical faces first, then round or angle the upper edge as required and also to mitigate the amount of horizontal top cutting, then the top and last final inspection and touch up of faces (actually I usually tend to finalize them before moving on) and edges/corners from customer ground viewpoint, cleanup. Sometimes you have to consider customer view from ground and from upper windows.

I find 6' cutter on 6' 8' or 12' ladder less difficult than head on big extendable pole powerhead, physically and also dexterity and line of sight. You can work up through ladder heights too. Cutter swath about 2' once you're reaching vertically, neglecting arc shaped cut when on ground.