Trimming broken limbs

Not even close. The tree service wanted $2000 to cut and haul away. I got the lift for free because the club my wife works for had it all week and we used it off hours. The dumpster was $350

Reply to
gfretwell
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Never heard of them, so googled them. Were they the bushy version or tree version (based on the images I saw on google)?

Reply to
Muggles

Wow. For less than that, maybe I can get a drone to loop a rope over the top of the tree, to pull it in the right direction, and get a laser to cut the tree from ground level.

Then when I'm done, I'll still have a drone and a laser.

Hey, I just made this up but it seems I'm not the first.

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"Tree felling with lasers: a big idea in 1965 03/01/2005

But some ideas, such as tree felling with lasers, never materialized. Although scientists seemed to understand that tree felling was not a practical application for lasers, that didn?t stop the visionaries of the day from telling the world about the ominous potential for laser tree-cutting technology at the 1964/1965 World?s Fair."

Of course this article was written 10 years ago. If they have brighter LEDs now, maybe they have sharper lasers.

"Woodworking, not tree cutting

While it was first reported in the Feb. 15, 1965, issue of Laser Focus that felling trees with lasers was being researched by the University of Michigan and the U. S. Forest Products Laboratory in Madison, WI, a later story in the April 1 issue, ?Woodworking-not tree felling-laser?s forte,? retracted the finding. The article noted that investigation into the report had, however, unearthed an interesting paper resulting from research done two years earlier by the same principals.1 Apparently, Norman C. Franz of the University of Michigan?s Department of Wood Science and Technology confirmed that tree felling was only an idea. ?Equipment is not available at this time to even research such a project,? he said.

Instead, the research subjected wood samples with a range of densities to repeated laser pulses of less than 1-ms duration from a ruby laser with a maximum energy output of 3 J per pulse. Although depth of penetration was less than 1/16 in. per pulse for a 0.03-in.-diameter hole, it was concluded that the laser could be a practical wood-machining tool if a high-power, continuous-beam, more-economical laser system could be developed. "

Next time your wife's club gets one, let me know. Hmmm. I have a friend of a friend with a bucket truck, but this tree is not close enough to the street; I'd probably have to drive on a lot of sidewalk and I'd break a bunch of that.

"Tree-felling idea dies hard

Despite the reduced ambitions of the scientific community in applying lasers to tree cutting, Laser Focus magazine ran a story in the May

15, 1965, issue, ?World?s fair exhibit projects laser tree-clearing machine.? It seems that the technological visionaries for the General Motors Futurama exhibit at the 1964/1965 World?s Fair in New York City were not ready to let the idea die: in their ?ride into tomorrow? exhibit, an insect-like laser tree cutter, designed to saw off trees at their base (see figure) preceded a massive jungle road-builder that was envisioned to make an express highway through densely wooded forests in one continuous operation.

The visionaries cannot be faulted for wanting to apply laser technology to tree cutting; they can only be faulted for not anticipating the high cost associated with high-power lasers. Despite the ability of today?s CO2 lasers to slice through 1/2-in.-thick wood at 85 in. per minute, their multiple-thousand-dollar price tag still cannot compete with a $200 chainsaw.

Cutting more than trees

The ultimate display of the power of today?s lasers is exemplified by the Pentagon?s Airborne Laser weapons system-a bank of chemical oxygen-iodine laser modules boasting multimegawatt power levels (see Laser Focus World, July 2004, p. 15). Back here on Earth, lasers for cutting and machining continue to improve in performance and decrease in price.

The ruby laser used in those early wood-machining experiments is now joined by high-power CO2 lasers with nitrogen and oxygen assist, solid-state lamp- and diode-pumped lasers, Nd:YAG, and excimer lasers, as well as emerging femtosecond Ti:sapphire lasers.

Today, a 4-kW CO2 laser with oxygen assist can cut 12-mm-thick carbon steel at 60 in. per minute.2 With power levels exceeding 5 kW, solid-state lamp- and diode-pumped lasers, along with CO2 lasers, are the primary types of lasers used in industrial machining and materials-processing (see Optoelectronics Report, Jan. 1, 2005, p. 4). However, femtosecond lasers, first reported to have exceeded the 1-pW power threshold by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories (Livermore, CA) in 1996 (see Laser Focus World, July 1996, p. 13), may eventually surpass other laser types for some machining and cutting applications.

While the price of femtosecond lasers is still prohibitive for most industrial uses, solid-state and CO2 lasers with power levels sufficient for cutting wood have significantly decreased in cost. If costs and corresponding market prices continue to fall, perhaps tree felling with lasers will again be a big idea in, say, 2025? ?"

Another problem is that they were cutting at ground level. I want my first cut to be about 30 feet high. Although maybe I cut lift it up there with a drone. They didn't have drones back then.

Doesn't Woodcutter Barbie come complete with its own laser tree cutter and dreamhouse?

Reply to
Micky

There was no real place to drop this except straight down

Reply to
gfretwell

It is a distinction without a difference. The trunks can be 8" in diameter but they tend to lean over and grow into a tangled mess. They will shade out everything below them and take over. Birds eat the berries, carry the seeds in their gut and drop them everywhere in a pile of fertilizer. It is the perfect storm of invasive exotic plants. The only good thing is Garlon kills them easily. (residential version is Ortho "Brush B Gone") You still have to cut them up and haul them away. They aren't even good firewood.

Reply to
gfretwell

Do you know how many amps yours are?

Anything like this 7A model?

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This is the one I bought and assembled before and then returned because it looked like a bad design.

Reply to
Snuffy "Hub Cap" McKinney

Good deal! I had a 40-ft Mexican date palm cut down - mostly one long trunk. Trimmer climbed up and cut it down in 2-ft pieces, which I kept and used to build a make-shift retaining wall / plant stands.

Reply to
Snuffy "Hub Cap" McKinney

Sounds about as useful as kudzu.

Reply to
Muggles

Would that have been Judge Hyram Bryant?

Reply to
clare

I dont have it handy to look at the amps it uses. It's a Remington brand. If you got one from HF, it's good you returned it. It would probably be in the garbage by now. HF electrical stuff is pure trash! (Just my opinion, based on past purchases of the crap).

Reply to
Paintedcow

Very similar. Closer to

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Actually I found mine - it is a homelite like this one --

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Reply to
clare

Also, not to work late in the day when tired. Much more change of mistake at the end of the day.

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

"Snuffy "Hub Cap" McKinney" wrote in message news:vomdndw snipped-for-privacy@earthlink.com... I need to trim off some broken limbs 8-10 inches in diameter that broke off from the wind last week. I can handle the lower ones with my reciprocating saw. What's the best way to attack the ones 8-10 feet off the ground? I want to stay away from pole saws and chain saws.

I'm thinking about fastening my recip saw to a piece of 2x2 aluminum angle aluminum. I'm a metal fab guy, and by I mean bolted and supported properly with metal brackets, not fastened with duct tape.

But I would rather have something specifically made for occasional homeowner use on limbs.

Anyway, any other ideas besides these that you have used for occasional homeowner trimming?

===

Well, I got the trimming done with my old Harbor Freight recipicating saw and a 12-inch blade. Fastened it securely to an 8-ft 2x2, with the cord unplugged I locked the swich "on" and ran the cord down the side. Then I rested the body on the limb I was going to cut, plugged it and then set the blade down on the limb and let its weight do the work with no twisting or trying to rush it. While cutting I always kept the extension cord in one hand so I could unplug it quickly if needed. Just before the limb was cut through, I pulled the extension cord loose and sawed back and forth by hand. No binding, kicking, etc. No close callls.

I'm always way too cautious and if something is not going right, I bail out and start a different way or just stop. I spent a lot of time trimming all around the bigger limbs to be sure they would fall straight down and not bounce toward me or the wrong direction. With one limb I tied it to another tree to be sure it fell away from of some plants which I had been giving specific instructions not to step on.

Even after doing this fine, hiring a tree-trimming is the best way to go. I'm not recommending anyone else do what I did on account of I don't know your skill level. If you are not familiar with tree limbs & power tools I definitely would not do any tree trimming.

Will try to upload a few pictures later.

Reply to
Snuffy "Hub Cap" McKinney

I think they had mirrors though.

Reply to
TimR

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