| Click to Post a New Message!
Page [ 1 ] |
|
|
|
Pole saws
If there are many branchs to be removed, or if you need to top a lot of trees in the plantation then hydraulic is the way to go.
With two people and that tractor you'll be AMAZED at how fast it goes and how little effort it is.
Best of luck.
|
|
 Add Photo
Bookmarks: |
|
| |
|
Pole saws
No Ken, not that kind of hydraulic.
It is basically a long pole with a heavy steel hook at the end, inside the pole is a small hydraulic cylinder, the cylinder causes a sharp knife blade to swivel out and past the hook. Anything snagged in the hook gets cut off. It is just like the pole pruners that are normally operated by pulling a rope, except the action is hydraulic.
They weigh very little and can easily be operated for many hours with the use of a body harness (like those used for carrying a flag while marching) without too much fatigue. They are certainly a LOT lighter than anything with a gas engine, they are also almost silent in use.
In the orchards they are operated by people standing on a self-propelled manlift that travells up & down the rows. In your case the operator would merely walk along behind the tractor or some other power source. A simple platform could be made to fit in a small trailer if you were working at a constant height, the trailer could then be pulled by the tractor. This is how we trim back the tree branches along many miles of private road we maintain in cottage country.
Best of luck.
|
|
Add Photo
Bookmarks: |
|
| |
|
Pole saws
It is both Ken, you can buy them off the shelf, but they are MUCH cheaper to build, and I have done so. They are expensive because the people who make them, for liability reasons, have to maker them dielectric so that when some idiot touches an electric line they don't get sued into oblivion by his widow.
If you only have to take the leaders off the tops there is an easier and cheaper way to do it. If you need to prune lower limbs the power pruner is the only real option.
Best of luck.
|
|
Add Photo
Bookmarks: |
|
| |
|
Pole saws
You're on the right track Ken. What I was talking about is almost exactly what you're describing.
The one I made had to be ultra light because it had to be 20' long, every ounce out that far is a big deal. I acheived the light weight needed by running a combination of hydaulic and pneumatic. The hydraulics pushed against an air cylinder which in turn fed air to a slave cylinder at the business end of the pruner. This also made it dielectric since it was not steel air line and the pole was fiberglass.
Regular steel for the non-cutting parts is fine, but it won't hold an edge for long. I used a standard replacement cutter from a mechanically operated model.
I also did a full-on version for a Christmas tree farmer near here. It was just the cutting head from an old sickle bar style hay mower. I just mounted it on the side of a quick-tach plate for the FEL of their tractor, it was powered it with a hydraulic motor, although you could use a small gas engine, and it could tilt by means of a small tie-rod cylinder. The operator could adjust height of 'cut' by raising or lowering the FEL and driving up & down the rows topping the trees as he went.
Best of luck.
|
|
Add Photo
Bookmarks: |
|
| |
|
Pole saws
Ooops, CRS setting in I guess.
It should be very simple to convert a standard one to operate from air or hydraulic power.
Best of luck.
|
|
Add Photo
Bookmarks: |
|
| |
|
Pole saws
Ken, if there is a Stanley commercial tool distributor near you have a look at the model CR22 hydraulic circular saw by Stanley. A lot of Utility companies are switching over to this model instead of the Limb Lopper LS2 because it is easier to use.
Also have a look at the Fairmnont line of pruners and saws, the link is shown below.
Best of luck.
Link:
|
|
Add Photo
Bookmarks: |
|
| |
|
Pole saws
Ken, no problem, of course you will want to sit down, preferably on your wallet before you ask the price on any of this stuff.
Pruners or saws run between $1,500 and $2,500 depending on size, etc.
The Stanley site is linked to below. They're not even too far away, they're in Milwaukie Oregon.
Best of luck.
Link:
|
|
Add Photo
Bookmarks: |
|
| |
|
Pole saws
Like I said previously, the best way I have found so far for topping trees in a plantation is still with a sickle-bar mower on the FEL.
This is how we cut the brush back on the cottage roads we maintain. It is VERY fast compared to anything else.
Best of luck.
|
|
Add Photo
Bookmarks: |
|
| |
|
Pole saws
Ken, i got you now, I misunderstood the operation.
Around here the most money, maybe there too, is to cut them every five years, just before Christmas... ;->
Best of luck.
|
|
Add Photo
Bookmarks: |
|
| |
|
Pole saws
BTW, a 30-35 conifer with a nice shape and good foliage sells for $1,000 (you dig) - $5,000 (delivered & planted) around here. At that price you don't cut them down unless they're ugly.
Best of luck.
|
|
Add Photo
Bookmarks: |
|
| |
|
Pole saws
Chief, your logic is good about the cost difference but being a business owner I have to look at things froma very different point of view, one that doesn't exist or matter to most of us here.
I'm sure my friend from New England, the 'other' Ted, will bear me out on this point. It is the END cost that counts, not so much how you get there.
Case in point, a 'regular' tow behind chipper is about $15k. and requires a couple of labourers to 'feed' it, etc. on the other hand, if cleanup time affects the overall schedule then it becomes VERY cost effective to go to a MUCH larger machine, and possibly one that does other things too, like stumps. In my case (see pic. # 4) I can chew through wood faster than 4 or 5 chippers could come close to, stumps included. The end cost is about half what a tow behind chipper would be, and I don't have stumps to deal with. The time saved is a major factor too.
In the case of a homeowner it is different, but still important. As Ken said the plan is to do 6 trees a night. What if he could do 24 trees a night? Then he would be done, and free to do other things, in one quarter the time.
Best of luck.
|
|
Add Photo
Bookmarks: |
|
| |
|
Pole saws
In the process of building out a new golf course we often have to clear MANY acres of trees.
Since the owners of the development cant make any money until people are playing on the course time is critical. We often have situations where the land has been cut by lumber companies to extract the prime timber, then we have to deal with everything else. Anything saleable as firewood is shipped off-site, everything else goes in the compost pile.
We also do land clearing, storm cleanup, and line clearing for the Electric companies to keep the equipment busy as much as possible. I would LOVE to be able to get paid $3,000 an acre, we only average after selling the wood , but also have to deal with the stumps for that.
I think the average person would be pretty hard-pressed to do it themselves for anything less than that.
Best of luck.
|
|
Add Photo
Bookmarks: |
|
| |
|
Page [ 1 ] | Thread 77436 Filter by Poster:
4 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 21 | 12 | 5 | 1 |
|
()
Picture of the Day
DennisCTB
Unanswered Questions
Active Subjects
Hot Topics
Featured Suppliers
|
Gas Generator Weather Protecti
02-25-2004, 08:38 
Digg It 
Del.icio.us