Modified 346XP's

[Bill G]

Koa,

What the heck is there to cut in your neck of the ocean that requires a 084. I would thiny those soft palms would cut like butter. Just slap a 36" on a 026 and let the trees fall.

Just my random thoughts (not always serious)

Bill

 

[FSburt]

Hey all about using smaller saws. I have spent the last 14 yrs as a Precommercial Tree thinner and have used Homelite 360's, Husky 268's and recently 372's. The last 2 monthes I have tried out a OLD Husky 262 with the muffler opened up a bit and my daily production has increased especially late in the day when the arms and shoulders start to slow down. I switched to a 20" bar in instead of the 24 I have been using all those years. Less chance for thrown chains and faster chain touchups in the field. I wish I had this opportunity sooner. We just aquired 6 Husky 254, 257 and 262's in various states of repair so I will have some spares to keep my saw going for awhile even though my other saw mates tease me about using a whimpy small saw. Interesting that at the end of the day I always end up out in front and still am cutting strong when they are running low on power. Don't get me wrong I enjoyed the 372 and 268 but for thinning I think they are a bit big. Now the Homelite I was glad to see those get retired. Smaller and faster is better even though she would not agree on that statement. Take care all.

 

[Koa Man]

Originally posted by Bill G
Koa,

What the heck is there to cut in your neck of the ocean that requires a 084. Bill

Is this big enough? This was an albizzia removal I did with only 2 groundmen. It took 4.5 days to complete. No crane and could not even wheelbarrow the logs out because of the stairs going down to the street. Also had to park across the street because parking was prohibited on the tree side. The groundman in the picture for size comparison is 6' 2 and 230 lbs. Can you see me in the top of the tree in the first pix?

Edited to remove attachment. Same pix faster loading on glens post.

 

[Koa Man]

Originally posted by rbtree
koaman,

Hey, you better find us a big iron wood butt.... I'm coming over with my only stock saw, a dual port muffler 066, to see how much you beat me by....

How about a big albizzia butt? I did not have a 084 at the time of this removal and had to borrow my friend's 084 w/60 inch bar to piece it out. Stump was about 10 ft. in diameter.

Edited to remove slow loading attachment. Same pix, faster loading on later post.

 

[rbtree]

I knew you had monster trees in the 50th state, koaman!

How did you remove the huge butt, by ripping small pieces as I've done a few times?....on the little 4-6 foot butts we have around here.

Largest I've cut was a 9 foot sequoia, but we craned 'er out...and into a trash truck. It got stuck while off loading and took over an hour to get out. Last I saw of it two years later, a 24 foot piece weighing some 13 tons, it was still in the wood carver's driveway..not quite where he wanted it.

 

[Bill G]

Koa,

First if you could not tell I was joking. Second I would love to see your pic but I cannot. There are still some of us out in BFE that have slow dial up connections. Unless you resize pics to lower K I cannot see them. After waiting about 10 min I have given up looking at the pic.

Bill

 

[Koa Man]

Bill G,
I knew you was joking. I can email you the pictures resized if that would help.

 

[Bill G]

At the bottom is a pic at roughly 130,000 bytes. Your pic was at roughly 14,000,000 bytes. I believe my calculations are right. Do not get me wrong high quality pis are great but slow for us heathens.

Bill

 

[rbtree]

The most money i ever got for the least work:

$1000 to remove 15 feet of dead and rotten snag top of this old growth fir, still 125 feet tall after we finished, and 5.5 feet dbh. I climbed the snag, while belayed from below, set two slings, ran lifeline through them. In the event of a fall or partial tree failure, Dave would hopefully have arrested the fall. (Same technique as lead rock climbing). As there was a landscape and wrought iron fence below, I had to rip each chunk into half, thirds or quarters to able able to toss them clear, and into the ravine below. Last cut was about 25 inches, and I had only brought a 20 inch 346. Aaargh.

 

[Bill G]

And here is my pic again at 52,000 bytes

 

[Koa Man]

Here is the pictures resized. These were not taken with a digital camera, so I had to scan them into the computer. I have a digital camera now, a Nikon Coolpix 990. I think that gives me more leeway as far as number of bytes.

 

[Koa Man]

Here is the pix of the stump resized.

 

[rbtree]

Another view.
With the amount of decay in the top of this patriarch of Mercer Island, My customer and I are glad the tree lists slightly away from their awesome new home. That's no small maple next to it either, eh?

I'm not referring to the sideways lean in the pic. If you notice, the house tilts too....some photog I am, eh?

 

[glens]

Here, Bill and KOA.

 

[glens]

And here...

 

[glens]

<b>Koa Man:</b>&nbsp; How long's it take for a weed like that to grow that tall there?

<b>Roger:</b>&nbsp; How long before the rest of that fir tree needs to be taken?

Glen

 

[rbtree]

glens,


I'd guess a few years. But it could last for years. However, there is some decaying and cankered wood down several feet on one side, and certainly core rot extending way down. Tree vigor is below average. Plus the new landscape and home construction are detrimental.

If and when it dies, I don't think there would be any safe way to piece it down. We'd have to fell it into the ravine...maybe dismantle the wrought iron fence first. I don't think crane access is possible. If it were, we'd need a 200 tonner.

I do hope it never fails. If it did, the uprooting action would cause the maple to fall on the house, I think.

 

[Koa Man]

glens,
Thanks for helping me with the pix. I need to learn how to do that kind of stuff. The Lyon Arboretum did a study and found albizzia will grow from a 18 in. seedling to 40 ft. with a DBH of 6 inches in 2 years. From there it starts to get fat and tall. Life span is not much over 50 years. It will attain a height of about 150 ft. when full grown at about 20 years.

For all the experienced Husky users,
Between the 346XP and 357XP, considering power to weight ratio and I will run a 20 inch bar, which one would you recommend I get?

 

[rbtree]

koaman,

Get the 346. I love it with a 16 bar, the 20 is OK tho. I am mounting an 18" as soon as my 100 feet of full comp comes in.

But it and the 357 are built on the same chassis. So the 357 is a very compact saw. But the lowest online price is $473, while a 346 can be had for 350, and a 372 for 525 or so. I dont yet own a 357, but have run a modded one. It is very nice, but will lag a modded 372 by a lot (especially in torque) due to the small displacement. Try getsaws.com but ask Dan for his prices too.

Wow, and I thought cottonwood and poplar grew fast!! Of course we are more temperate here, with less rain. I have cut some poplar and cottonwood under 35 yrs old and up to 130 feet tall and 4 foot dbh. Fastest growing tee I had heard of is paulownia, which can grow 25 feet the first year, in a semi tropical climate. but they top out at under 100 feet and 4 foot dbh, I'd guess.

Do you work on many banyan or ficus?

 

[Koa Man]

I work on banyans every now and then, maybe 10 a year. I don't like to work on them because of the sticky sap that bleeds out of cuts. There have been times I had to throw away the clothes I was wearing because it was impossible to wash out the sap. I now know to wear the most worn out clothes I have when I work on those trees.