What do you do with a palm?

S

s82jones

Location
Gainesville, FL
I just moved to Florida from the Midwest and am trying to figure out tree climbing in the Southeast. It's very different! Anyway, can anyone give me any info on how to get up a Washingtonia Palmetto without getting torn to shreds or attacked by insects, rats, or snakes (if a bucket truck and climbers are not options)? Now I'm sure you're chuckling to yourself but try to keep your horror stories and snyde remarks to a minimum please. What is your tool of choice for removing the fronds? Also, what's up with the Spanish Moss and Ferns? What are the hazards I need to be worried about there?
 
Can't tell you a good way to avoid getting torn up when trimming Washies. Just go slow and carefully hold and toss the fronds above you. As for rats, squirrels, snakes and ants- make sure you are tied in well so you do not fall out of the tree when a rat jumps on your arm (That actually happened to me today!). Believe it or not, the best method I've used for accessing tall palms was thought of by a guy who has only been climbing 6 months. Set a line through the head, near the crown. Tie one end off to the base of the tree, or prefferably another tree nearby. Now you can tie in SRT on the other end of the rope. With that and your lanyard you can get up beside the head instead of underneath it.
A ladder is the fastest and easiest on shorter palms.

As to spanish moss, it will clog your chainsaw. Easier to knock it out of the way with your handsaw- my Silky works great for de-mossing.
Most fern growing on trees is harmless unless it's wet, then it can be slippery.

Where in FL? I'm in Orlando.
 
Setting the climbing line

The technique of anchoring a single climbing line that Brian is speaking of is a LOVEly trick. It's been around for a while. I tried it and then found it a few months later in the Tree Climbers Companion. If you wanna see it, check page 44 of the second edition. It is part 2B. For an added bonus, you can hook it to the base of the tree with a lowering device (Fig.8) then a (competent) person can lower you in emergency.....or if you get lazy!

love
nick
 
Thanks for the info. However, don't the spines on the ridges of the frond pull the strands of your rope apart when you run it through the crown (ie - puffs)? Also, once you've cut the fronds free, do you simply pull the bases of them off or do you use a knife to cut them off. We want to leave the trunk clean. Unless, that is not a common practice.
I'm in Gainesville at UF.
 
Re: Setting the climbing line

Nick,
Thanks for your info also. The use of the figure eight will be especially helpful since I won't have another experienced climber working with me.
 
Re: Setting the climbing line

That is a great point that Nick makes. Having the ability to lower a climber from the ground can be a crucial factor in some emergency response success. Though, I prefer a gri gri with a stopper, just in case they let go! There are some potential hazards to think about when using this technique though. For example, the line that you are tied to can be severed or maybe hooked by a machine/vehicle if not placed wisely. Other issues too, but it is pretty unique.
 
Re: Setting the climbing line

Try floating false crotch with either lockjack or frenchprusux on a double pulley anchor line settup.
In california I use it all the time in all our palms and just ascend on the double pulley up the out of the palm frons...........dawggonnit
 
Re: Setting the climbing line

for the part about prunning the palms, i think the best tool for the job comes down to preference. when i lived in sc and prunned palms regularly i liked my hand saw, but careful chainsaw use on some "bushy" ones could be useful sometimes. i saw guys use pole snips and loppers as well, but i never liked that much, so just experiment with it. just watch out for the palm "heart"(don't know the official term, only ever heard this one used). i literally watched palms die within hours of the heart being broken... their fronds begin to droop down and hang there limp on the trunk, kinda a sad sight to see.
 
I'm not an expert in palms, but learned this from a guy who used to work for a Nevada casino:
use a carpet knife to cut the attachment points of the dead fronds, from the bottom up. That's if you really want to--some people prefer the look of them shaggy, and it also helps bring water into the trunk (maybe that's good, maybe bad, depending on where the tree is). Once you get withing a foot or so of the crown, the frond stubs will be green at the base--stop there. This will leave a few whorls of stubs below the green fronds. Most of the fronds that hang straight down will be gone, but don't go overboard--according to my friend, you've gone too far when a few fronds point straight up out of the heart and the rest have all been removed. Good luck (and don't hesitate to get a second opinion--I don't see a lot of palms in Austin, and have only worked on a few).

keith
 
Jones,
The most common thorned palm to climb would be a Washingtonian. The thorns typically start about 3" from the base of the fronds. You can snag a rope on the thorns but the rope most likely will not be running directly on any thorns. Do the next guy a favor and cut the fronds behind the last thorn when trimming. Otherwise you will leave thorned boots that will tear up the next guy to trim the palm.
When tying into cabbage palms, you can take a chunk of a boot or a cut chunk of a seed pod stem and lay it sideways in the head where your rope will run. This will help keep the rope from wedging down too tight in between the fronds so you can get your rope out easier.
 
Re: Setting the climbing line

Not trying to be a wise guy, but when you are trimming 30-40 palms in a day and are allotted about 10 minutes per palm you don't have the 20 minutes per tree to set up double pulleys, floating false crotches (which will get wedged in the head and you will NOT get it out), multiple ropes, etc. Palm trimming is unlike any tree trimming any Northern person has ever done. It's dirty, nasty production where you use exactly what you need to work safely without introducing lots of fancy gadgets to get gummed up or destroyed for a bunch of $25 palm trims. You have 10 minutes to set up, trim the palm and remove your gear to go on to the next palm.
When I'm lucky, there will be multiple palms of varying heights clumped together. I will tie into the tallest central palm and trim as many as I can reach in one climb. By the end of the day you will be dreading that last ascent so you try to eliminate unneccessary climbs where you can. The most palms I ever trimmed in one day was 70. That included about 30 that I climbed and another 40 I got from a ladder. A LONG 12 hour day.
 
Re: Setting the climbing line

Palms sound like a real pain in the arse to trim!!
makes me glad we dont have any. and at 25 bucks a piece?
do you trim them annually? At least you probably get alot of repeat work.
 
Re: Setting the climbing line

I saw a guy with a blake's split-tail and a wrapped FC pruning palms outside the Mirage in Vegas yesterday. I thought that looks right but nice spikes dick!!

That can't be good for them. He has on a Washie sinking in those spikes. The washingtonias exude a bit of sap when spiked.

It seems like arborists are getting good about not spiking trees when pruning, why to they take a different approach to palms?
 
Re: Setting the climbing line

Are there coconut palms in Florida that tend to drop on peoples heads? There was a big issue with this in the resort town of Port Douglas, Queensland...they ended up taking out a few of these trees for the insurance purposes.
 
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