Topping out leylandii's

[Patchwork]

hahahah, sapwood cuts, just like taking the ears out but deeeper and more angles right? i decided to drop as smaller top as i can, using vduben's tactic of peg climbing. looked at it better today, pretty small drop zone and im getting slightly worried about it falling into lower branches and rolling into precious things that will reduce my pay. tight gob is standard proceider for stuff like that ain it? make it jump off the stem when the hinge goes...

[Rich Rule]

like most things when they are new - take your time...!

 

get as high and anchor as possible and reduce to the height required whilst you have the high TIP. you would be surpised how much you can move around to level the top off. Use secateurs when cutting the smaller diameter stuff as the chainsaw and hedge trimmers tend to tear quite a bit. I always try to taper or bevel the top at the sides slightly to reduce the 'bog roll' look (unless the customer wants it this way). Once you are happy with the finish, then climb and reduce the TIP. down to the same level as required.

 

couple of tips are if it is windy take smaller bits as that stuff can be heavy and always try to land the cut stuff in a safe place away from targets. plus if you can get the buts pointing in the same direction (preferably towards the exit/ chipper or truck) will make it a lot easier to clear for you and your groundie. Also try to use a cambium saver or a pulley as it will help to keep the sap from gunking your rope too much. wearing gloves is a bonus if you have them aswell

 

remember what my granny used to say ' you can only polish a turd so much!' good luck. :wave::wave:

[MattyF]

bread and butter...its a hedge evan though they will never regenerate from a cut stem its a very safe to say nearly all of us do them...so cuts and heights aint really an isssue as opposed to reducing a broad leaf tree or any other arb works as they are regarded as a hedge or a pest!

[Patchwork]

yeah was taking some weight out, deadwooding and dismanteling some pretty large hung up storm damaged limbs today in a cedar. combined with the wet and all the moss and lichen on the tree i decided i needed a cambium saver. cedars seem really hard to take a pretty ragged one with alot of deadwood and make somthing beutiful looking. especially as this one has almost no growth on half of it.

[Tom11]

Having recently helped on topping a large Leylandii hedge my recommedation would be don't do it, solely because its horrible work!!

[Mesterh]

My advice would be that if you aint sure on what you are doing then definitely dont just gob it out in one.Just section it down, taking 3m off it in hand held bits would probably take all of 5 minutes and dont think that a jump cut will (jump) it will probably be too heavy and strip a good few side branches, land on its tip and then drop wherever it wants.

 

Take your time and dont rush.

[vduben]

combined with the wet and all the moss and lichen on the tree i decided i needed a cambium saver.

 

you want to use them every time, mine stays on my rope 100% of the time dude, saves alot of wear on your rope and makes it easier on your arms!!

[Patchwork]

yeah set mine up today on that cedar when i finished it off. used a throwbag, top anchor point after about 3 attempts, then installed the cambium saver via the throwbag, no mess no grimy ropes and an easy climb. also looked pretty good.

[bill]

since when has topping conifers been bad practice? nothing wrong with lowering conifers imo. there is nothing wrong with using spikes either as long as you can get the ladders to the same height as you intend to lower it to. then stand on ladders at the end, still stopped it of course.

[arborcuro]

Finishing off a leylandii hedge tomorrow, owner wants it reduced to 7ft (by almost half) as they want more light in their garden. All I did was explained the consequences and explained it wouldn't look perfect - especially not from the upstairs windows. Just leaving a lot of side foliage where possible to hide the ugly interior of the hedge. A lot more light in their garden now.