Coconut Palm pruning in Maui, Hawaii

[TreeSurfer]

i trimmed 10 coconut palms today and had a blast! the first 9 palms were mainly just taking seed pods off, fronds hanging lower then 10:00 and 2:00 positions and slicing all loose paper out.
the game changed when i reached the last palm of the day. it had over 800 pounds of coconuts in it with about 10 fronds that needed to come off weighing in at 30 pounds each frond. i had to SRT up the palm because of the risk of the dead and low hanging palm fronds collapsing on me.
when i got to the crown, i took off a dozen seed pods, old boots from previously cut fronds and the racks of coconuts. each rack had 6-8 20 pound coconuts with about 5 racks on the tree. i just did the math combining all the palm frond, seed pod and coconut weights. its over 1,200lbs for one tree. thats alot for one coconut palm.

here's some pics and a great example of how a coconut palm should look after its been pruned.

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heres one of the coconuts off the bunch. here it is being measured with a one foot ruler to compare size too.

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[rmh3481]

Id for sure keep looking up with them things hanging over me. Jeez, I like coconut but sure dont want to get knocked flat by a pod falling from what 60 feet or so? Maui sure looks like paradise, just be careful out there.

 

[ducaticorse]

Love that I have no idea as to what anything you just said means. Looking forward to learning about it. Thanks for the post!

 

[jefflovstrom]

What do you mean,SRT, you are wearing spikes. Is the proper there? Doubt it.
Jeff

 

[TreeSurfer]

jeff, unless you have been trimming palms on a daily basis you have no idea how hard it gets doing it spikless. palms are different then trees bro. they are not treated like trees nor should be. yes spiking is bad but its more of an aesthetics thing then it is health issue for the palm.

i srt''d up the last palm with a sit stand system to the top while wearing spikes. you dont want to be lanyard in when the whole skirt of dead fronds come sliding down the trunk. do some research into palm trimming deaths each year due to dead skirts trapping the climber.

yeah it may be a little less harsh for the palm to do spikless, but think about how many hundreds of coconut palms we have to trim each month and then imagine doing it spikless. unless you have a platform there is no way you can do 20-50 palms in one 8 hour day. spiking is faster. but again it has been done for decades with not a whole lot of ill effects other than the trunk looking like it has alot of holes in it which THEY ALL DO. there are no coconut palms here without holes in them.

 

[beowulf343]

Love that I have no idea as to what anything you just said means. Looking forward to learning about it. Thanks for the post!

+1
I've never even touched a palm tree, am always keen to read posts about them.

Another spike, spikeless argument?opcorn:

 

[jefflovstrom]

jeff, unless you have been trimming palms on a daily basis you have no idea how hard it gets doing it spikless. palms are different then trees bro. they are not treated like trees nor should be. yes spiking is bad but its more of an aesthetics thing then it is health issue for the palm.

i srt''d up the last palm with a sit stand system to the top while wearing spikes. you dont want to be lanyard in when the whole skirt of dead fronds come sliding down the trunk. do some research into palm trimming deaths each year due to dead skirts trapping the climber.

yeah it may be a little less harsh for the palm to do spikless, but think about how many hundreds of coconut palms we have to trim each month and then imagine doing it spikless. unless you have a platform there is no way you can do 20-50 palms in one 8 hour day. spiking is faster. but again it has been done for decades with not a whole lot of ill effects other than the trunk looking like it has alot of holes in it which THEY ALL DO. there are no coconut palms here without holes in them.

First of all, We do thousands of palms a year. I have been in this biz for almost 34 years. And I see you posted the same stuff on TW and TB. I am not as forgiving as Eric.
Jeff

 

[tree MDS]

The company I worked for down in south florida never spiked a single palm.. and that was back around 1992, or so.. maybe they were a bit ahead of their time, but still!

 

[TreeSurfer]

we dont own a bucket truck so, i have no way to trim coconut palms spikeless and i dont want to use a platform that was not deigned for palm trimming and climbing. give me a good reason for not spiking climbing a "coconut palm" other than crown rot disease which can be treated by disinfecting your spikes and saw. i wanna hear your spikeless argument.

 

[jefflovstrom]

we dont own a bucket truck so, i have no way to trim coconut palms spikeless and i dont want to use a platform that was not deigned for palm trimming and climbing. give me a good reason for not spiking climbing a "coconut palm" other than crown rot disease which can be treated by disinfecting your spikes and saw. i wanna hear your spikeless argument.

Oh really? Are you sure? You claim climbing SRT and you are on spikes? You really want to drag this out and be informed.
Jeff, I'm game!

 

[jefflovstrom]

You said you climbed SRT so the fronds wont crush you, My question is , how did you get the rope in the tree? You complain no bucket access and yet you are able to SRT. How did you set your line for SRT and then why are you on spikes if you are on a line? You are full of @@@@
Jeff

 

[TreeSurfer]

i either hand throw or use a big shot to set my lines but only on coconut palms that have not been pruned for years. i still wear spikes to get a good foot hold once up top after the dangerous fronds have been cut off. i only SRT'd that last palm of the day cause it was dangerous and had the potential for fronds collapsing.

setting an SRT line, rolling back up your throw line, then climbing up and trimming, comming back down, pulling your line out moving to the next tree takes allot longer then spike climbing. if you were here id race you 3 palms. you on SRT me on the spikes and we will see who wins. ill be drinking some cold beverages and have my gear stowed and crew cleaning up by the time you repel out of the last one.

:yoyo:

 

[jefflovstrom]

i either hand throw or use a big shot to set my lines but only on coconut palms that have not been pruned for years. i still wear spikes to get a good foot hold once up top after the dangerous fronds have been cut off. i only SRT'd that last palm of the day cause it was dangerous and had the potential for fronds collapsing.

setting an SRT line, rolling back up your throw line, then climbing up and trimming, comming back down, pulling your line out moving to the next tree takes allot longer then spike climbing. if you were here id race you 3 palms. you on SRT me on the spikes and we will see who wins. ill be drinking some cold beverages and have my gear stowed and crew cleaning up by the time you repel out of the last one.

:yoyo:

See, there is a good post that could of kept me from looking like a jerk. Just not sure why you need spikes if you are tied in, unless it is a production thing.
Jeff

 

[TreeSurfer]

its a production thing jeff. im not trying to be rude to you brah so please dont think im flaming you. i just dont like being attacked for spike climbing palms. i wish i had the money to buy those baumvelo rings but they are like $3,000. if the customers wants it done spikless then i do it but if its a production job with a condo then its done with spikes.

 

[jefflovstrom]

its a production thing jeff. im not trying to be rude to you brah so please dont think im flaming you. i just dont like being attacked for spike climbing palms. i wish i had the money to buy those baumvelo rings but they are like $3,000. if the customers wants it done spikless then i do it but if its a production job with a condo then its done with spikes.

It's all good. And you are not rude, you seem like a cool guy.
Jeff

 

[MacLaren]

Man, I sure would like to go back to Maui again sometime. I really never have liked going to the coast in the US, Atlantic or Pacific, but I loved Maui. But who wouldnt right?

 

[TreeSurfer]

come on down brah. we got some 100+ foot eucalyptus trees to climb and hang out in. BYOTB bring your own tree boat.

 

[Blakesmaster]

I know nothing about palms or palm climbing but it looks like these guys have have a real sweet setup and they're in Maui.

Pure Life Palm Trimmers : Spikeless Coconut Climbing on Maui Hawaii - YouTube

 

[Bermie]

I will spike climb coconuts if there is no access for a bucket. My concession is to put an adjustable friction saver in once at the top and rappell down to save at least one set of spike holes each time. Plus its quicker to get down.
If the palms are close enough I climb the tallest one then swing over to the lower ones on the way down.
I have cut down some coconut palms for various reasons, usually ones leaning over roofs, drop one nut and it will do serious damage to the roof...I like to make cuts through obvious spike scars to see whats happening inside and with coconuts all I've ever seen is a discolouration around the hole, no deeper than the hole itself.
Yes, multiple spike marks look a bit ugly, but its not the same as spiking a tree. Somewhat weak argument maybe, but that's life when it comes to coconuts. Yet I suppose I could take up half a dozen loop runners for footholds once at the top...save another set of holes...

 

[arborpros]

Pretty neat. Being in STL, I have never encountered a large palm of any kind but it looks like a lot of fun. You could really get a lot of them done in one day. Doing tree work in paradise, can't get much better than that. What is the going rate for a single cocnut palm trimming like the video above?