Remove A. Myolensis

[Matt in OC]

Any suggestions on doing this myself? I have an electric pole saw but am worried about the crown. The leaves are HEAVY and being that it’s right between me and the neighbor, this tree had become a pain. 

[Tracy]

7 minutes ago, Matt in OC said:

Any suggestions on doing this myself? I have an electric pole saw but am worried about the crown.

I won't offer an opinion either way on whether you should or shouldn't take it down, as it appears that decision has already been made.  I removed a Caryota urens myself a couple of years ago that had flowered.  I started by removing the leaves with a pole saw.  Once it was down to just a pencil, I removed small sections at a time to reduce the weight coming down and smashing things.  Part of the question is do you have to worry about 1' chunks damaging anything below?  If there is a lot to be damaged, I recall seeing photos of one of Dave's Caryota's being removed and they lowered the sections they cut off on ropes to avoid the bombs away effect.  Maybe Dave can weigh in on what he saw, but that does require someone climbing the palm.  I'm not so sure how easy it is to climb Archontophoenix, as they aren't quite as thick as the Washingtonia's we see people climb all the time to trim here in California.  Good luck and it will be interesting to see what others suggest.

[Looking Glass]

I wouldn’t want the liability if something happened to the neighbors house or worse.  I’d personally hire it out to the pros.   
 

Have it done the Florida royal palm way….

 

[richnorm]

Cut off leaves then staple a rope to one side of the trunk and cut chunks from the top. The rope will control the fall by creating a chain but be careful not to cut through it!  Small bits of timber can be used to stop this...

[sonoranfans]

that is a tight space for controlled fall.  I would hire an arborist, will probably be cheaper than roof repair from possible damage.  Be glad its not a roystonea, the leaves and trunks are 5-10x heavier and would have already done the roof damage.  I wouldn't want that tree there either.

[TomJ]

On 11/9/2021 at 4:36 PM, Tracy said:

I won't offer an opinion either way on whether you should or shouldn't take it down, as it appears that decision has already been made.  I removed a Caryota urens myself a couple of years ago that had flowered.  I started by removing the leaves with a pole saw.  Once it was down to just a pencil, I removed small sections at a time to reduce the weight coming down and smashing things.  Part of the question is do you have to worry about 1' chunks damaging anything below?  If there is a lot to be damaged, I recall seeing photos of one of Dave's Caryota's being removed and they lowered the sections they cut off on ropes to avoid the bombs away effect.  Maybe Dave can weigh in on what he saw, but that does require someone climbing the palm.  I'm not so sure how easy it is to climb Archontophoenix, as they aren't quite as thick as the Washingtonia's we see people climb all the time to trim here in California.  Good luck and it will be interesting to see what others suggest.

I have done this exact technique before.

I use a "sawzall" with an aggressive blade.

At first cut small maybe 1 foot pieces so landing damage and location are easier to manage.

As you get lower cut bigger segments.

Also I can't see how much room there is at the base, but you can rent scaffolding really cheap.

[miamicuse]

On 11/9/2021 at 7:44 PM, Looking Glass said:

I wouldn’t want the liability if something happened to the neighbors house or worse.  I’d personally hire it out to the pros.   
Have it done the Florida royal palm way….

That's the same company I used to remove my Ganoderma infected royal sixteen months ago.

I had a similar challenge, may be worse.  The royal is over 50 feet tall, and have obstructions on all sides.

10 feet to it's north west is my roof. 

24 inches to it's east is a steel fence.  Non-replacement fence since the building code has changed, if it ever needs replacement or major repairs, the new fence has to be moved back three feet from the property line.

12 feet to it's south west is a fish pond with delicate masonry boulders and a wood bridge over the pond.

There is no good place to fell the palm.  I called the robotic tree removal company and they pointed out an added problem, which is a power line about three feet away from the royal, at about 30' high in the air, which means they cannot use an robotic arm because the arm will not clear the power line.

The day of the removal they climbed up the royal with spiked shoes, first cut off all the fronds and dropped them one at a time to a safe spot below.  Once the fronds were cut they are down to about 40' up.

Next was the hardest part.  They basically had to hand cut from 40' to 30' a slice at a time.  So basically they are running a chainsaw horizontally across, and cut a slice about 10" or so in height, and cut all the way around.  Then they lift that slice off the palm and pushed it towards the street, over the fence, into the swale area outside.

They did this for the next few hours once slice at a time until they are below the power line.

Then the grapple truck came, it's arm went below the power line, above my fence, and clamped onto the trunk.  They made the cut at the base, the arm moved the entire trunk outside.

That was three days before hurricane Dorian heading to Florida.

[Matt in OC]

Great suggestions. Thanks everyone. I’m going to get up on my tallest ladder tomorrow and see what I’m up against. 

[Looking Glass]

1 hour ago, miamicuse said:

That's the same company I used to remove my Ganoderma infected royal sixteen months ago.

I had a similar challenge, may be worse.  The royal is over 50 feet tall, and have obstructions on all sides.

That was three days before hurricane Dorian heading to Florida.

Holy schnikes!  That’s crazy, and I bet not too cheap either.  I see some of the stuff planted in back yards here, and I can just see things 10-15 years out into the future…..   some of the people around me will be doing the same thing.   It sucks, but for someone it was totally predictable and inevitable.  
 

…..Well, at least I know who I’ll be calling now if I need something like that done.  Looks like they do good work.  

Edited November 11, 2021 by Looking Glass

[Palm Tree Jim]

On 11/9/2021 at 6:36 PM, Tracy said:

I won't offer an opinion either way on whether you should or shouldn't take it down, as it appears that decision has already been made.  I removed a Caryota urens myself a couple of years ago that had flowered.  I started by removing the leaves with a pole saw.  Once it was down to just a pencil, I removed small sections at a time to reduce the weight coming down and smashing things.  Part of the question is do you have to worry about 1' chunks damaging anything below?  If there is a lot to be damaged, I recall seeing photos of one of Dave's Caryota's being removed and they lowered the sections they cut off on ropes to avoid the bombs away effect.  Maybe Dave can weigh in on what he saw, but that does require someone climbing the palm.  I'm not so sure how easy it is to climb Archontophoenix, as they aren't quite as thick as the Washingtonia's we see people climb all the time to trim here in California.  Good luck and it will be interesting to see what others suggest.

Like Tracy, I have removed 2 gigas from my old property. The crew I hired used the technique Tracy describes above. They removed the seed pod, then the branches/leaves and then they cut small sections of the trunk which they lowered down with a rope system.

Your tree looks rather large to tackle by yourself. I can recommend the company I used if you like. Dave has used them as well.

[DoomsDave]

@Matt in OC welcome to the world of palm editing.

I've removed and paid to remove many palms on my place, and Edison has "Edissized" some, too, including a 40 foot tall Roystonea oleracea () about a week or two ago.

Hmm. Your palm is still small enough that you'll stand a chance to do it yourself. I've done it, a number of times. While it won't substitute for as amusement for, say, a night of dancing or at a comedy club, it's very doable if you're reasonably careful.

BUT, discretion is the better part of valor and it's between two houses. So if you want to hire someone @Palm Tree Jim and I have someone to recommend we've both used.

If you're going to do it yourself:

A pole saw won't be enough for a complete removal. I'd also get a nice 18" chain saw.

While it's nowhere near as heavy as a Royal or Caryota, those trunks are basically airborne wooden water melons, and if they land on something fragile, ouch. Cutting into sections helps a lot. The crownshaft is very heavy, too, even once the leaves have been hacked off (pole saw is good for that).

If you dry it out, palm wood will burn in your fireplace or fire pit (Pyro Dave knows well).

Hope this helps, and if you have further questions, ask.

[KDubU]

I agree you could do that one yourself as it’s not too tall but cutting trees close to anything can spell trouble. The problem with palms for me is getting up high, a ladder is not great on a smooth rounded trunk 20-40ft up. I have cut a lot of trees albeit not palms so much much heavier but palms have their own unique challenges. Do you have a stable platform to cut from with a chainsaw? If yes, then I say you can do it, if not then unless you are very familiar with using a chainsaw tied to you, it’s not worth it. Using a chainsaw alone, you must have chaps, helmet and mesh mask, safety glasses and ideally a chainsaw jacket. I never used my chainsaw without these but I used to cut like 10-15 face cords a season for firewood up north. I know some may think this is overkill but go to timber country and listen to the stories who have met up with a chainsaw, not pretty.

I guess you could use a good handsaw but again you need to be stable up high. Falling sucks.

[Matt in OC]

Thanks, guys. If @DoomsDave or @Palm Tree Jim want to post or dm me the company you used that’d be great.  

[DoomsDave]

Matt, look for my PM.

[miamicuse]

Not to hijack the topic but I noticed some mentioned roping sections down as you cut.

I have seen trees being cut with a rope tied to it, so when it's cut through the section will hang, and they will then loosen and lower it slowly.  This is usually done by someone climbing higher and loop the rope to a higher crouch or branch of that same tree and sometimes with a second or third person holding the rope on the other end to not let go when the cut is through.

With a palm once you cut the fronds off the top there isn't anything higher to tie to, so how do you rope sections down?  You can tie a rope around the section you are about to cut, but where do you tie the other end of that rope to?  Not yourself I hope...or do you tie it to a lower section, so that when it does fall, it will drop say a short distance but not to the ground?

I remember I had my ficus trimmed this summer.  This ficus is really interconnected to all kinds of branches and aerial roots.  They tied it up top to a higher branch, then they made the cuts.  They cut once here, once there, and after five cuts they didn't understand why it won't come down, turned out there is another two branches connected to it from the back side and they went to cut it.  Once the cut was made, the whole thing came down, two guys holding two ropes from different sides, couldn't hold it steady and it came down about 10 feet, then the massive branch stopped (by the ropes), jerked to one side, swung at least ten feet across the space and hit an extension ladder I had set out to get up to the roof to see them doing the cutting, the ladder's aluminum got badly deformed, fell to one side.  If it were not the ladder I think it would have hit the soffit of the roof.

It's really hard to be up high, with a rope tied around your back,  strapped to a palm 20" in diameter, running a chainsaw horizontally, and you having to adjust your position to go around that palm as you cut.  The sawdust is crazy and it covers your entire body.  Yours may be smaller and more manageable.

[DoomsDave]

2 hours ago, miamicuse said:

Not to hijack the topic but I noticed some mentioned roping sections down as you cut.

I have seen trees being cut with a rope tied to it, so when it's cut through the section will hang, and they will then loosen and lower it slowly.  This is usually done by someone climbing higher and loop the rope to a higher crouch or branch of that same tree and sometimes with a second or third person holding the rope on the other end to not let go when the cut is through.

With a palm once you cut the fronds off the top there isn't anything higher to tie to, so how do you rope sections down?  You can tie a rope around the section you are about to cut, but where do you tie the other end of that rope to?  Not yourself I hope...or do you tie it to a lower section, so that when it does fall, it will drop say a short distance but not to the ground?

I remember I had my ficus trimmed this summer.  This ficus is really interconnected to all kinds of branches and aerial roots.  They tied it up top to a higher branch, then they made the cuts.  They cut once here, once there, and after five cuts they didn't understand why it won't come down, turned out there is another two branches connected to it from the back side and they went to cut it.  Once the cut was made, the whole thing came down, two guys holding two ropes from different sides, couldn't hold it steady and it came down about 10 feet, then the massive branch stopped (by the ropes), jerked to one side, swung at least ten feet across the space and hit an extension ladder I had set out to get up to the roof to see them doing the cutting, the ladder's aluminum got badly deformed, fell to one side.  If it were not the ladder I think it would have hit the soffit of the roof.

It's really hard to be up high, with a rope tied around your back,  strapped to a palm 20" in diameter, running a chainsaw horizontally, and you having to adjust your position to go around that palm as you cut.  The sawdust is crazy and it covers your entire body.  Yours may be smaller and more manageable.

What the guys who cut down my palm did was to cut off a piece then toss it to the ground in a place (they hoped) wouldn't cause any damage. I can see in some cases using a receptacle to do that instead, if it's in a place full, say, of statues that might break.

I have learned to be VERY VERY CAREFUL when cutting down large plants. It's something you can learn, but don't be ashamed to hire someone. Tree trimmers are cheaper than orthopedists, physical therapists and (eek!) court judgments.

[Darold Petty]

I had two Rhopalostylis removed by a tree service.  The palms had about 20 feet of wood trunk.  The tree guys built a plywood chute around the trunks and dropped the sections straight down into this chute.  My friends were aghast that I had removed such large palms.  Actually, I felt a sense of relief and liberation not to have the problem of falling fronds. 

[DoomsDave]

26 minutes ago, Darold Petty said:

I had two Rhopalostylis removed by a tree service.  The palms had about 20 feet of wood trunk.  The tree guys built a plywood chute around the trunks and dropped the sections straight down into this chute.  My friends were aghast that I had removed such large palms.  Actually, I felt a sense of relief and liberation not to have the problem of falling fronds. 

Yeah, reminds me of Louis and Carol Hoopers' big Royal.

Here's a song in tribute . . .

Foreigner - Headknocker - YouTube

[Matt in OC]

All gone. 

[Josue Diaz]

13 minutes ago, Matt in OC said:

All gone. 

LOL are you going to plant the red Philo in the stump?

[DoomsDave]

1 hour ago, Matt in OC said:

All gone. 

Did you get Affordable tree service?

[Matt in OC]

40 minutes ago, DoomsDave said:

Did you get Affordable tree service?

I tried but didn't get a call back from them. This was Premier Tree Experts. One guy climbed and chainsawed leaves and passed them down. They were done in under an hour.