Quote:
Originally Posted by Noah930
I'll see if I can find that table from an old trauma textbook I had. Something about fatality risk for those falling off a ladder. The take home message was that anyone over about the age of 30 should never ever get on a ladder more than about 5 or 6 feet.
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I'm 67 and am semi-retired but still taking care of a handful of properties by myself as well as my Mom's and my own. Part of this work entails palm tree pruning - once a year for these Cabbage Palms. They send out messy flower/fruiting stalks once a year so we time the pruning to coincide with when the stalks come out fully and just before the blooming. Along with the flower/fruiting stalks, we also do a fairly tight frond trim.
One of my accounts I have always hired out because the 7 Cabbage Palms there are just too tall for me. Another one I have always done myself. Over the years the palms have grown, of course, and it's at the point now where I am considering bringing someone in to just do the two tallest ones, one of which is shown in the photos below. For these taller ones, it's a good idea to use a ratchet strap (or two) to secure the ladder to the tree. Once that is done it's just a matter of managing one's fear of heights...lol...
I use a Milwaukee Hackzall so I also have one hand to hold one with while the other hand operates the saw.
These palms have a bunch of old frond bases that helps hold the top of the ladder too, so that's important to get that nice and secure.
