My New 23GT and trailer

[DTW902]

All the palms there are new plantings

Wesley is there a greater chance of the newly planted palms falling over with you climbing them? How long does it take for them to become stable!

 

[Koa Man]

Dave,
The palms should be safe for climbing. They are putting out flowers and nuts so I would think they have taken. None of the remaining 11 are leaners, all straight and none over 25 ft. They were put in the ground a little over a year ago.

And BTW, I got an email from MLE. The tracks are adjustable like the 23GT and they claim the basket speed is close to 50% faster than the 23GT. The hydraulic motors are powered by a hp limited pump and not a gear pump like Teupen so the pump cannot overpower the engine. They invited me to come up for a demo. They will be at the TCIA Expo in Baltimore. I won't be going, but if you do go, ask them for a demo after the show. It might be worth the extra day in Baltimore. 96 ft. wh would be real sweet.

 

[DTW902]

I will have to see, I have no plans at the moment for Baltimore. But you never know. Yes 96ft would be real sweat, especially if they would change the bucket to a end or corner mount. I'll see how the summer and fall go. I might have to e-mail them and get some info, and talk to some folks who have them in the field working.

 

[treesandsurf]

Wesley, I've done coconuts with SRT right over the crown and it works pretty smooth. You've got to make a strap setup to stand in when you get to the top though. If you need a climber I might know one!

jp

 

[sotc]

Oh yeah, the girl you brought to Leggett?

 

[treesandsurf]

jp

 

[Burnham]

jp

Braggart.

 

[rumination]

Sooooo...Macaela is back then? Did she go up a redwood?

 

[Burnham]

I don't think so...but I saw her toss a throwbag backwards over her head in classic fassion.

 

[rumination]

I still do that occasionally. Just for old time's sake, of course.

 

[Burnham]

Yeah, me too Leon. If you'd made it to the WCGTG you could have seen the dent in the hood of my truck. Though I will swear 'til the end that it was caused by a ricochet.

 

[treesandsurf]

Sooooo...Macaela is back then? Did she go up a redwood?

She came down from Portland as I haven't seen her in a few years. She had a blast and wanted me to say hi to the cool 'tree guys' she met at the GTG.

jp

 

[lumberjack]

I heard she really liked climbing trees that had a significant understory in the way of the canopy.

 

[treesandsurf]

She's starting a new trend in tree climbing, pretty cool .

jp

 

[Koa Man]

OK, I climbed the new planted palms at the Grand Waikikian today, using a combination of 28 ft. ext. ladder, then loop runners and once at the top, I screwed in 2 tree steps. It worked quite well. One palm had me a bit nervous looking at the cracks on the ground right around the base. I talked to the palm before going up...told it, "You better not go over on me."

Here some pictures. It was about 30 ft. tall.
Was I foolish to climb it? Just in case you are wondering what the bag is for, I use it to put the palm fiber or "paper" in it. That saves a lot of time picking it up all over the ground.

 

[sotc]

Lotta work to try doing it right, good job. Did you leave the 2 pegs for next time?

 

[Koa Man]

I take out the tree steps when I am done and descent with my climbing line. Good thing only 11 of the 41 palms in the pool area have to be done this way. The others are accessible by my 15GT. All would have been accessible if the designer of the area did not make a tight turn next to a high rock wall. It would make the turn but the wall prevents it from clearing the overhang of the boom.

I do have permission to spike those 11 trees, but I don't want to be the one to start marking up an unblemished trunk. Next time I will take my 36 ft. extension ladder. I would have brought it this time but the rope that you pull on to extend it is no good. I need to pick up a replacement rope.

 

[woodworkingboy]

You have to screw in those steps? The ones available here strap around the trunk. Quick on and off.

 

[rumination]

Wesley, when I was working at the Arboretum we would rent out our swiss tree climbers for $50 a day. If you're interested call up and ask to speak to Ray Baker about it. They might make that sort of work way easier, as long as there aren't any lights/signs mounted on the palms.

 

[Koa Man]

You have to screw in those steps? The ones available here strap around the trunk. Quick on and off.

OK, I'll take 20 of them. When did you say you were coming to Hawaii?

Seriously though, I have seen the strap on ones and I will be looking for other means to access the palms.

Leon,
4 of the 11 have lights on them. With 5 of the 11 I can be right at the top with my 28 ft. extension ladder. There are only 4 that I would use a tree bicycle on and for that amount it is not worthwhile for me to drive up to the Arboretum to pick it up and return it and the rental. I need to practice the Samoan free climb way to the top. You know the one where they tie their feet together.

 

[Mr. Sir]

Like this?

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[stehansen]

Damm.

 

[Koa Man]

Well, the controls on my 23GT stopped working just before the last coco got trimmed on Thursday afternoon. Ended up climbing it. Called Lenny and tried to troubleshoot the problem over the phone with Dieter (Teupen factory head from Germany) who just happened to be an a restaurant with Lenny in MA when I called. He told me he will send a tech right away. Tech arrives in Hawaii tomorrow afternoon at 4PM and will be working on my machine Tuesday morning. How is that for customer service?

Funny thing is the same thing happened to my 15GT when I first got it. Tech came from the factory in Hungary and ever since he repaired it in May 2007, I haven't had a single problem with it.

I did get the 23GT loaded on the trailer using the emergency controls, which by passes the computer and electrical safety switches.

 

[stehansen]

That's the way it is with complex machinery. It's good they have a back-up system.

 

[MasterBlaster]

How long will they keep coming for free?