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Posted

Of our 5 acres, we bought the most recent one in June 2001. Exactly 7 years ago. At that time we had a big D-9 bulldozer clear it out, making room for lots of palms. We left a dozen or so Ohi'a trees. Unfortunately, the D-9 must have damaged the roots, because gradually most of these Ohi'a trees died. We finally decided to bite the bullet and spend the money to have Tree Works Inc. cut them down. We have used this company in the past, and they are VERY professional but also very expensive. Last time they were here (years ago) I was amazed that they were able to take down big trees and small palms within a radius of 2-3 ft from the tree were completely untouched. (And for the record, we have also used other companies that are less expensive. These other companies typically have a guy climb up the tree and cut off piece by piece, which generally means a LOT of debris is raining down on anything below. NOT good!).

Anyway, today was the day, and they showed up just after 8 a.m. with FOUR trucks. Two trucks pulling heavy duty chippers, and two trucks with cranes.

First a view of the dead Ohi'a trees. I took this photo minutes before they arrived. ALL of these trees would be gone by the end of the day.

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Leilani Estates, 25 mls/40 km south of Hilo, Big Island of Hawai'i. Elevation 880 ft/270 m. Average rainfall 140 inches/3550 mm

 

Posted

Here's the Tree Works team before they realized how challenging the day was going to be!

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Leilani Estates, 25 mls/40 km south of Hilo, Big Island of Hawai'i. Elevation 880 ft/270 m. Average rainfall 140 inches/3550 mm

 

Posted

The team split up - two trucks (one with a chipper and one crane) did it the easy way - they stayed out in the street and cut off branches from the Ficus benjamina that was growing on one of the big Ohi'a trees (visible in the previous photo), while the the rest of the team and the other two trucks headed in on our property. This was the tight spot that they had to get past. First the truck with the chipper. And this was the easy one! Kris is driving, and he's just about to avoid hitting one of my Dypsis sp. Orange crush! :)

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Leilani Estates, 25 mls/40 km south of Hilo, Big Island of Hawai'i. Elevation 880 ft/270 m. Average rainfall 140 inches/3550 mm

 

Posted

Next was the real challenge - the truck with the crane. And he had a REAL hard time getting past the same Orange crush. But no damage to the palm. Not even a single frond was bent out of shape.

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Leilani Estates, 25 mls/40 km south of Hilo, Big Island of Hawai'i. Elevation 880 ft/270 m. Average rainfall 140 inches/3550 mm

 

Posted

Bravo! Many hands make light work... I'm glad to hear a demolition tale with a happy outcome

I get by with a little help from my fronds

Posted

Hey, don't mess with my Dypsis decipiens! :lol:

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Leilani Estates, 25 mls/40 km south of Hilo, Big Island of Hawai'i. Elevation 880 ft/270 m. Average rainfall 140 inches/3550 mm

 

Posted

Meanwhile, they guys out in the street are having a cakewalk...!

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Leilani Estates, 25 mls/40 km south of Hilo, Big Island of Hawai'i. Elevation 880 ft/270 m. Average rainfall 140 inches/3550 mm

 

Posted

Back inside the property...watching these guys work is almost like going to the circus (but the circus would be MUCH cheaper! :lol: ). This guy is the star, and here he is with all his equipment, including chainsaw, getting ready to perform. And in the second photo, he's being winched up to his workplace.

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Leilani Estates, 25 mls/40 km south of Hilo, Big Island of Hawai'i. Elevation 880 ft/270 m. Average rainfall 140 inches/3550 mm

 

Posted

money well-spent from the looks of it

incidentally, that Dypsis lutescens hedge is phenomenal

I get by with a little help from my fronds

Posted

Up up and away....after he's winched up to near the top of the tree, he'll attach a chain to the tree, and then the guy operating the crane will lower him down, and he will cut off the tree, and then (second photo) the crane will simply lift up the tree and lower it into the chipper.

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Leilani Estates, 25 mls/40 km south of Hilo, Big Island of Hawai'i. Elevation 880 ft/270 m. Average rainfall 140 inches/3550 mm

 

Posted

And here, that same tree is magically transformed into mulch in a matter of seconds!

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Leilani Estates, 25 mls/40 km south of Hilo, Big Island of Hawai'i. Elevation 880 ft/270 m. Average rainfall 140 inches/3550 mm

 

Posted

Cutting off another tree, and again, the same tree going into the chipper. These guys made a REAL mess. But they cleaned up! :)

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Leilani Estates, 25 mls/40 km south of Hilo, Big Island of Hawai'i. Elevation 880 ft/270 m. Average rainfall 140 inches/3550 mm

 

Posted

Traffic in the garden!

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Leilani Estates, 25 mls/40 km south of Hilo, Big Island of Hawai'i. Elevation 880 ft/270 m. Average rainfall 140 inches/3550 mm

 

Posted

And this is all that remains of the largest of the trees. My shoe is an Adidas size 13. (And I buy them from the Runners' Store in San Diego - free shipping to Hawaii! :) )

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Leilani Estates, 25 mls/40 km south of Hilo, Big Island of Hawai'i. Elevation 880 ft/270 m. Average rainfall 140 inches/3550 mm

 

Posted

And before, during and after shots. The first photo was taken just before Tree Works arrived, the second one obviously when they're in the process of cutting down the same trees, and the same area at the end of day. And, unfortunately, I didn't take the first photo in "landscape"....

And Palmazon - yes money well spent (at least that's what I'm telling myself! :mrlooney: ). Except for some damage to our blacktop, and some VERY deep tiretracks (visible in the last photo), you wouldn't know they were here!

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Leilani Estates, 25 mls/40 km south of Hilo, Big Island of Hawai'i. Elevation 880 ft/270 m. Average rainfall 140 inches/3550 mm

 

Posted

WOW!

tree trimmers are pretty amazing at work, aren't they? I watched the guys take out my 70 foot + pine in the front yard....took him all of about three hours to get it all out of there!

Posted

Very nice work.

Did you get to keep the wood chips? Must be great for mulching or even composting.

Gene

Manila, Philippines

53 feet above sea level - inland

Hot and dry in summer, humid and sticky monsoon season, perfect weather Christmas time

http://freakofnaturezzz.blogspot.com/

Posted

Gene,

Yes, keeping the wood chips is part of the deal! And I have a pretty impressive pile now, which will come to use good use. I'll take a photo tomorrow.

Bo-Göran

Leilani Estates, 25 mls/40 km south of Hilo, Big Island of Hawai'i. Elevation 880 ft/270 m. Average rainfall 140 inches/3550 mm

 

Posted

Nice job! Have been looking the picture's with pleasure! ;) I have must chain saw for school also really high tree's but is alway's good too seen how other people that do ;)

Robbin

Southwest

Posted

Awesome Bo! I need one of those chippers, mine jams up on little twigs.

Jack Sayers

East Los Angeles

growing cold tolerant palms halfway between the equator and the arctic circle...

Posted

Bo, that was quite an opperation. I would have been a nervous wreck! I use a very professional tree trimmer about every three years. He's expensive but is a palm lover and very carefull about where things fall.

Dick

Richard Douglas

Posted

I'm with Dick, I'd have been a little frantic with big trucks and cranes on my property. But I also admire the efficiency of the chipper (even if it reminds me of the movie 'Fargo'). About the stumps, do they rot quickly with all the rain, or do you intend to grind them?

Note to self: allow for large trucks when planning access roads!

Kim Cyr

Between the beach and the bays, Point Loma, San Diego, California USA
and on a 300 year-old lava flow, Pahoa, Hawaii, 1/4 mile from the 2018 flow
All characters  in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Posted
  bgl said:
Gene,

Yes, keeping the wood chips is part of the deal! And I have a pretty impressive pile now, which will come to use good use. I'll take a photo tomorrow.

Bo-Göran

I bet they liked the fact you took the chips...usually they have to haul them away and pay to dump them!

Zone 10a at best after 2007 AND 2013, on SW facing hill, 1 1/2 miles from coast in Oceanside, CA. 30-98 degrees, and 45-80deg. about 95% of the time.

"The great workman of nature is time."   ,  "Genius is nothing but a great aptitude for patience."

-George-Louis Leclerc de Buffon-

I do some experiments and learning in my garden with palms so you don't have to experience the pain! Look at my old threads to find various observations and tips!

Posted

Bo, thanks for the pics....they bring back some memories when i was in arborculture (for 30+ years)......I started out as a climber, and back then it was ropes, saddle and saws (yes, we even had chain saws back then :lol: )........we did it the old fashioned way, and never smashed a plant.

Things have changed somewhat, but then, as now, it was a cool way to earn a living.

Rusty

Rusty Bell

Pine Island - the Ex-Pat part of Lee County, Fl , USA

Zone 10b, life in the subs!...except when it isn't....

Posted

Nice Bo!! What a great job they did! Very impressive & it's nice to see that they were able to minimize the damage.

Dave Hughson

Carlsbad, Ca

1 mile from ocean

Zone 10b

Palm freaks are good peeps!!!!!

Posted

Thanks for the comments, everybody! And Kim, the stumps will stay right where they are! :) We'll plant orchids, bromeliads etc. on them. Very heavy wood, so it'll be a VERY very long time before they rot away. "Before" and "after" pictures are usually taken years apart, but that's typically when you grow something. When you have something removed, you can take before & after pictures in a very short period of time. So, decided to take a few. These photos were taken exactly 24 hours apart. Yesterday morning and this morning. And obviously taken from the exact same spot.

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Leilani Estates, 25 mls/40 km south of Hilo, Big Island of Hawai'i. Elevation 880 ft/270 m. Average rainfall 140 inches/3550 mm

 

Posted

Slightly different vantage point

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Leilani Estates, 25 mls/40 km south of Hilo, Big Island of Hawai'i. Elevation 880 ft/270 m. Average rainfall 140 inches/3550 mm

 

Posted

Abd my pile of wood chips, which will come to good use over the next several months. For reference, the catchment tank is exactly six ft tall.

post-22-1212888440_thumb.jpg

Leilani Estates, 25 mls/40 km south of Hilo, Big Island of Hawai'i. Elevation 880 ft/270 m. Average rainfall 140 inches/3550 mm

 

Posted

That was a fun post to follow. When I was in College I cut trees down for a side job. It would have been nice to have a shredder like the one they used on your trees, but we did it the old fashion way from the top down like you described early in the post. With a garden as elaborate as yours with all the rare specimens, it was definitely worth any extra to do it the way you chose to.

Gary

Rock Ridge Ranch

South Escondido

5 miles ENE Rancho Bernardo

33.06N 117W, Elevation 971 Feet

Posted

Nice Bo! your garden is awesome, a real inspiration!

regarding the Ohi'a - Metrosideros polymorpha

Is this tree a good canidate for growing in south florida? Handle hurricane winds and non rich sandy soil?

Luke

Tallahassee, FL - USDA zone 8b/9a

63" rain annually

January avg 65/40 - July avg 92/73

North Florida Palm Society - http://palmsociety.blogspot.com/

Posted

Wow, I guess theres a little difference in that and the way we do it around here :-) Just cut the bottom and hope it doesnt kill everything

I guess if I had a place with as many fabulous palms as you have, id have it doen right too.

Great series of pics by the way!

Allen

Galveston Island Tx

9a/9b

8' Elevation

Sandy Soil

Jan Avgs 50/62

Jul Avgs 80/89

Average Annual Rainfall 43.5"

Posted

Nice documentary! :) I need to go see your garden someday, hopefully sooner than later... it will have to be after the palm-moving ordeal! I think tomorrow will be our last load... yay!

********Angela**********

Kailua_Kona.gif

Kailua_Kona.gif

Check out Palmpedia

Posted

Dear Bo Goran :)

nice step by step visuals of that operation... :greenthumb: And if you could remember i was asking for details of a nice quality powered Chainsaw...i could not find here any of the brands you & don.k has recomanded me.and i have been a fan of german & japanese products.But here stores used to sell only products made in china,korea,tiwan..

now recently i saw hitachi has launced its product rage,which is made in japan and all the spares & accessories are avaliable for it rightaway ! so i bought it for 182 dollors...and one year garantee against manufacture defects of anykind ! And this has been purschased to clear some dicot trees & their branches..so that i get some space to squeeze in some more palms around.. :rolleyes:

here are the visuals !

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Thanks & love,

Kris :)

love conquers all..

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.

Posted

Again, thanks everybody for your comments!

Luke, I have no idea how Metrosideros polymorpha would grow in SoFL. Based on how it grows here in HI I know it can handle many different conditions. And the species name "polymorpha" roughly means "many shapes" or "many forms", which implies it is a very adaptable species. Only one way to find out - try it: it has pretty red (or yellow) flowers.

Angela, well, now that you're used to making multiple weekly trips to Hilo I'm expecting you over here soon...! :)

And Kris, I have no personal experience with Hitachi chainsaws. I'm using a couple of Stihl chainsaws, and the Tree Works team was exclusively using Husqvarna.

Bo-Göran

Leilani Estates, 25 mls/40 km south of Hilo, Big Island of Hawai'i. Elevation 880 ft/270 m. Average rainfall 140 inches/3550 mm

 

Posted
  bgl said:
Again, thanks everybody for your comments!

Kris, I have no personal experience with Hitachi chainsaws. I'm using a couple of Stihl chainsaws, and the Tree Works team was exclusively using Husqvarna.

Bo-Göran

Dear Bo Goran :)

i could not find those brands you mentioned,so i had to buy this Hitachi,since bosch chainsaw is avaliable but its made in china product..as i thought it was a german make !

love,

Kris :)

love conquers all..

43278.gif

.

Posted

Bosch is indeed a German company (and I know the company well, because my Dad worked for Bosch in Malmö, Sweden, for close to 25 years!), but today many companies have branches and factories in other countries. I'm driving a Toyota that was built here in the USA for instance!

Leilani Estates, 25 mls/40 km south of Hilo, Big Island of Hawai'i. Elevation 880 ft/270 m. Average rainfall 140 inches/3550 mm

 

Posted

Dear Bo Goran :)

Thanks for your time and explaination,but iam bit fussy about buying products made in China...I will keep you all informed on my hitachi chainsaw's durability...! Who know's in few years time even the brands you have pointed out in the above posts might be avaliable here.i will certainly buy them,then.

thanks & love,

Kris :)

by the way the bosch product colour is dark orange and little bit on the heavier side...both this criteria were not up to my taste..since blue & green color always pleases my eyes ! :)

love conquers all..

43278.gif

.

Posted

As far as chainsaw's are concerned, I have used nothing but ECHO's my whole life and they are awesome. I have been using my current ECHO 16 inch practically every weekend for 10 years and never even needed a tune-up.

Gary

Rock Ridge Ranch

South Escondido

5 miles ENE Rancho Bernardo

33.06N 117W, Elevation 971 Feet

Posted

Bo,

Great work, and as I am, I bet you were there for it all. Nothing is more crucial than to protect the little guys below! Of course, although they may be 'palm people' or 'tree people', more often than not, the guys climbing the trees will never appreciate your collection like yourself.

It is difficult to find palm tree climbers here in South Florida to trim up tall palms. My tall coconuts and washingotonias for example need to be trimmed up, just prior to hurricane season. Palms can not (and should not) be spiked, but many still want to spike them. A bucket truck is out of the question in most residential back yards, so ladders and harnesses it is. Few guys want to climb this high with only a ladder.

When I carve my tikis from old sabal palmetto trunks, I use a carving Stihl chain saw. I love it. I have a regular 16" Stihl chainsaw for cutting the tree down, then use the carving for the detail. I really have no reason to use a regular chain saw in my own garden (thankfully!).

Rick Leitner

Fort Lauderdale, Florida

26.07N/80.15W

Zone 10B

Average Annual Low 67 F

Average Annual High 84 F

Average Annual Rainfall 62"

 

Riverfront exposure, 1 mile from Atlantic Ocean

Part time in the western mountains of North Carolina

Gratefully, the best of both worlds!

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