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Electric pole trimmer recommendations


BlufftonSC

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Now that one of my filibustas has a 16' trunk, I'm having a hard time sawing off the dead fronds. I found an 8' Poulan electric chain saw pruner at Lowe's. Do these work well for trimming heavy duty fan palm fronds?

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Keep the skirt on...if only for modesty reasons! :)

John Case

Brentwood CA

Owner and curator of Hana Keu Garden

USDA Zone 9b more or less, Sunset Zone 14 in winter 9 in summer

"Its always exciting the first time you save the world. Its a real thrill!"

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Now that one of my filibustas has a 16' trunk, I'm having a hard time sawing off the dead fronds. I found an 8' Poulan electric chain saw pruner at Lowe's. Do these work well for trimming heavy duty fan palm fronds?

Cutting off dead palm fronds, seed stalks, hard, dead spathe, etc., from tall palms is a big problem for me now, mainly on my tall queen palms. I also have a hybrid livistona that now is getting borderline tall to cut the lower most fronds easily. Further, I have lots of regular trees that require trimming of dead branches, low branches, etc.

I have a battery operated Black & Decker pole chain saw (8" bar) that I use to cut accessible fronds, etc. The overall length of the saw is 9 feet and comprises three sections. It can be used with just two sections by removing the 3 feet long intermediate pole.

I can reach up to about 15' - 16' in height with my pole saw, but that's not near high enough to access most fronds. I also use an 8 feet step ladder to get another 4 feet of extra height, but even that isn't enough for some palms (and it's far more dangerous). Hence, I have a palm tree trimmer come in once a year with his bucket truck to trim all palms I can't safely and easily access.

Because most of my tall palms are well away from a permanent electric source, I like the 18V battery operated pole saw. Otherwise, I would have to cart a portable generator around to power an electrical operated saw. I also like not having the inconvenience of a cord that can get in the way, tangled, trip over, etc.

One day I got the idea of maybe buying another intermediate pole section so that I could make my saw's overall length 3 feet longer. However, it wouldn't work. I borrowed a family member's intermediate pole section (they had an identical B&D pole saw) and it won't fit the attachment sockets. B&G purposely did this so buyers of their saw could lengthen them, I guess for safety reasons, plus additional wiring length that would draw more current from the battery.

I used to use (and still do on ocassion) the regular two-piece fiberglass pole saw (I have two of them). I think mine are about 14'-15' feet in overall length. Once this pole wasn't long enough to reach higher fronds I took a section from my other pole saw and used duct tape to make the bottom pole section about 4 feet longer. This helped for about a year or two, but my palms kept growing higher. But one trade off to taping an extension pole to the other was greater flexing of the poles (loss of firm control), plus the addtional leverage factor multiplied by the extra length. These issues just compounded and exacerbated the riciprocal arms-power sawing motion. Sometimes the saw blade would get pinched in the petiole of the frond and I'd have a devil of a time getting it unstuck. I'm not a weak person, but after a while all this hand sawing would wear me down. I have way too many palms but for only ocassional sawing off a frond, seed stalk, here and there.

Finally, my direct answer to your question is that the Polan saw you are considering should work great as long as it has enough length to reach the fronds. My saw cuts through W. robusta fronds like soft butter. After that you will need extra height, like a step ladder, scaffold, etc. (I once put a wooden table in the back of my pickup truck and cut fronds from there, but it's not so safe.)

Hope my reply helps in making your decision.

Mad about palms

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Thanks for the input. You said the magic words for me... "Cuts through... like soft butter." Once the filibusta gets to high to reach, I'm actually thinking of letting it "skirt." I'm an artist and I used to love drawing palms with skirts when I was young.

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Not electric and not cheap but a silky pole say has been one of my best garden tools. http://www.silkysaws.com/Silky_Saws/Telescoping_2/Pole-Saw-1019 The blade is extremely effective on fronds, seeds stacks and tree branches. this is SOOOOOOO much better then the crappy ones at HD or Lowe's, not even in the same league.

Jupiter FL

in the Zone formally known as 10A

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The silky pole saw looks pretty amazing, but it's about $150 more than I wanted to spend. We ordered a Remington 15' electric pole saw today. Prior to this, I've been leaning a 12' aluminum ladder against the trunk and using a handsaw. ANYTHING has to be better.

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I've been using a Silky to trim palms and other tall plants at Heathcote Botanical Garden. The saw, with its sharp blade at the tip, is a very serious piece of equipment. The blade can usually cut through Sabal palmetto inflorescences and often Phoenix reclinata leaves, with just a firm pull.

Fla. climate center: 100-119 days>85 F
USDA 1990 hardiness zone 9B
Current USDA hardiness zone 10a
4 km inland from Indian River; 27º N (equivalent to Brisbane)

Central Orlando's urban heat island may be warmer than us

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I use a pole saw bought from one of the Big Box stores, but I also use a $600 gas powered extension pole saw. The pros for this(latter of two)one is it's much,much more quicker. The cons, it's much more expensive and tends to get heavy. But, I love using my 18' curved hand saw from HD, and climb up into trees to do light trimming. Usually less than 20' up.

Searle Brothers Nursery Inc.

and The Rainforest Collection.

Southwest Ranches,Fl.

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I use a pole saw bought from one of the Big Box stores, but I also use a $600 gas powered extension pole saw. The pros for this(latter of two)one is it's much,much more quicker. The cons, it's much more expensive and tends to get heavy. But, I love using my 18' curved hand saw from HD, and climb up into trees to do light trimming. Usually less than 20' up.

Be careful climbing and on ladders Jeff. 3 yrs ago my very close friend was killed doing tree work. I also did tree work for a lady who was paralyzed because she feel from a 6' ladder trying to trim her trees. Knew another guy who broke ribs from a fall trying to do his trees. Tree work is very dangerous! Be safe people and hire a pro to do the dirty work!
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I use a pole saw bought from one of the Big Box stores, but I also use a $600 gas powered extension pole saw. The pros for this(latter of two)one is it's much,much more quicker. The cons, it's much more expensive and tends to get heavy. But, I love using my 18' curved hand saw from HD, and climb up into trees to do light trimming. Usually less than 20' up.

Be careful climbing and on ladders Jeff. 3 yrs ago my very close friend was killed doing tree work. I also did tree work for a lady who was paralyzed because she feel from a 6' ladder trying to trim her trees. Knew another guy who broke ribs from a fall trying to do his trees. Tree work is very dangerous! Be safe people and hire a pro to do the dirty work!

I remember you telling me that story back when it happened. I absolutely agree, it can get real scary up in a tree holding on w/ one hand while sawing w/ another.

Searle Brothers Nursery Inc.

and The Rainforest Collection.

Southwest Ranches,Fl.

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I have a 10"-bar Remington pole saw that I've certainly gotten my money's worth out of, no two ways about it. A Home Depot special, say what you will.

It cuts right through heavy palm leaves, like the Caryota gigas as effortlessly as you wish. Ziip!

And, if you take it off the pole, it also will cut through a lot of heavy branches and trunks, if you're artistic in using it. I've burned out larger electric saws, but not this one. I took down and cut up a 40 foot tall pecan tree with mine. Ziip!

BUT.

BE CAREFUL.

OUT THERE. DOWN HERE. EVERYWHERE.

DEAR [diety].

Watch for wires (BZZT! including the saw's power cord . . . ) and inadvertently lowering a running saw onto someone's head. The latter is easier than you think. That little thing on the end of the long pole gets HEAVY after a while. That's probably one reason why they don't have 18" bar pole saws.

Still, as long as you use the filler between your ears, for $99 it's a very very useful tool. Maybe pros don't use them, but I'm not a pro.

But, when you get tired, take a rest. Be careful not to drop things on your own head. And don't inadvertently grab a running saw by the blade like one sap did . . . . :bemused:

I concur with avoiding ladders in general. Recall that one of our dearly beloved PalmTalkers got hurt very badly in a fall from a ladder recently, and recovered. I still get the willies even thinking about balancing that thing while trying to balance my own fat carcass on a ladder.

Let's keep our forum fun and friendly.

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Some (5?) years ago I had a catalog (can't recall the company now) that sold those manually operated (strong arm) extra long pole saws. I didn't buy one because the two I already had were still getting the job done, since I had jerry rigged an extension on one of my poles. I think that got me up to about 20 feet or more. But like I said in an earlier post, once the pole get too long they are harder to handle. That being said, they're good enough to use ocassionally. But no way is the manual pole sawing route the way to go with the number of palms I have that must be trimmed at least once a year. With so much to be cut and trimmed on each palm it's just to laborious. Further, many times one can't get the right cutting angle/position to get at what you want to cut. But a guy in a bucket truck with mini-chain saw, etc., can easily get access to the entire crown.

I have all my tall palms professionally trimmed each spring, having all the dead inflorescences removed as well as dead spathes, emerging spathes, dead fronds, and all fronds hanging lower than 9 - 3 o'clock positions. Having that amount of fronds removed generally holds my palms until the following year. However, during the course of the year I do ocassionally have to trim some of them here and there. That's where the problem lies for me now. I can still reach some of my taller palms standing on the ground using my manual pole saw with an extension on it. All but one of the remainder of the palms I can reach off an 8-feet step ladder using my battery powered pole saw. I can also use my two-section (with additional extension) manual pole saw to get higher. But it's getting harder and riskier each year. My wife is now starting to demand I stop working off a step ladder.

Just the other day I was cutting off a hard, dead queen palm spathe (on a step ladder using my battery operated pole saw) when the spathe dropped down on me, scraping the top of my left hand pretty good. It was my own fault for not having gloves on and for cutting more directly beneath the spathe, but I had to do it in order to reach it as I was at my height limit. I did have safety goggles on, though. But there will be no more of that now. If I can't reach what I want to cut from a safe angle away from it, so as to allow for it to fall clear of me, then it will stay until my yearly trimming.

2749027340042496162S600x600Q85.jpg

Above photo: Steve's Tree Service of Lake Placid, Florida, trimming slash pine branches above some of my Bismarkia palms,which palm crowns were starting to grow into the slash pine branches. Note: Aft of the lower boom section you can see a dying (ganoderma) queen palm. I had Steve's tree service remove four gandoderma butt rot infected queen palms this past March. I still have one more, but I will cut that one down myself using a chain saw.

2671673670042496162S600x600Q85.jpg

Above Photo: Steve's Tree Service trimming one of my Sabal palmettos. The sabal is surrounded by large Philodendron selloums, where placing a ladder is difficult.

Mad about palms

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Although I'd like to keep the trees near the house a bit neater, the rest of mine will probably have to wait for the next strong wind for removing old fronds. I don't think anyone can safely access my "wild areas" above what a basic pole can reach. So I'll be content with the jungle look. I think we'll stay busy maintaining the walking paths and removing vines when we move. Your warnings have impressed me!

Cindy Adair

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