Palm Corrosion on MS440

[Ekka]

I've mentioned in past that we cut a lot of palms to which I dedicate a MS440, we go thru one about every 9 to 12 months.

This is a pic of what the sap does ... it's like acid and eats thru the saw.

We replace oil pumps every 2 to 3 months, the chain brake becomes dysfunctional at around 6 months as all the housing and lugs have been eaten away, the oil reservoir starts to leak and we grind it down and bog it up... eventually the corrosion gets thru to the engine.

Oh, we do clean saws thoroughly and regularly.

 

[TimberMcPherson]

You doing those ???? pheonix palms? They are the pits!

 

[vharrison2]

Ekka, that is a big saw for palms. What species are you trimming. Our guys use the 200t with a 14" bar. They would use the ms 440 to take one down but not to trim. We trim mostly coco nucifera. We price the dreaded Phoenix Dactylifera so high (won't touch one for under $ 250.00) that when we get them it is worth our time.

 

[Ekka]

I don't clean too many I mainly remove them.

The most common is the Queen Palm (syagrus romanziffianium) or we call them Cocos palms, yesterday we would have done 20. Our record at one house is 72! They're flamin weeds over here, and big.

 

[vharrison2]

72 take down's at one house? wow! You have probably noted this in another thread, but what type of chipper do you use? Have you seen KOA man's gravely? Man those palm chips are sweet.

 

[TheTreeSpyder]

Palms do have a specific acid that Stihl knows is hard on the saws.

 

[Ekka]

Funny things is I use an Echo 350T on palms too.

The oil pump assy on the Echo is made of alloy/aluminium and is fully exposed to the palm crap. I don't clean this saw as much and there is no corrosion of that alloy!

Funny isn't it, perhaps the magnesium content in the alloy of the Stihl is what is the weak link for palms.

I've tried everything to prevent the corrosion but it's hopeless and you need the power and torque like a 044 to get through the heads and bigger trunks.

I have a mini loader and we just dump the palms, they're hell on chippers and it's way faster cut them big and drop them into a bin.

 

[vharrison2]

Interesting comparison between the Echo and the Stihl.....we have pretty much completed the switch to Stihl. Still have a few Echo trim saws but they are using the Stihls.

How are your dumping fees over there

 

[SWE#Kipp]

Magnesium is sensitive to saltwater, can it bee something that has a hi grade of salt in the palm tree ???

/K

 

[Ekka]

vharrison2, I would only be sticking the Echo's in the palms if I were you. I have an 020 and I never stick that in a palm either.

SWE#Kipp, they say that palms are highly acidic, don't mulch your garden with it, I've read that the PH on palm sap continues to go down (more acidic) as time passes and levels around 3.0

They make vinegar out of some palms' sap.

And because they're nice and wet when you cut them the crap gets in every nook and cranny.

 

[vharrison2]

They are working great for us in the coconut palms. So far so good.

 

[Thor's Hammer]

Funny things is I use an Echo 350T on palms too.

The oil pump assy on the Echo is made of alloy/aluminium and is fully exposed to the palm crap. I don't clean this saw as much and there is no corrosion of that alloy!

Funny isn't it, perhaps the magnesium content in the alloy of the Stihl is what is the weak link for palms.

I've tried everything to prevent the corrosion but it's hopeless and you need the power and torque like a 044 to get through the heads and bigger trunks.

I have a mini loader and we just dump the palms, they're hell on chippers and it's way faster cut them big and drop them into a bin.

Ekka, ever come accross A1 arbor operations in brissie? they had a huge 24" capacity austchip, one day they dropped they drpped a couple of big palm trunks into it. BAD idea, even with 300hp it went uuuuuurrrghhhh... and died. it took the fitters about 6 hours to unblock it.... like chipping rolls of carpet.

 

[NORMZILLA44]

Wow that sucks, glad we dont have much palms around here. Is that all palms that will do that or just certain ones?

 

[Stumper]

Ekka, Another of the many reasons to use a Husqvarna saw.

 

[Koa Man]

Ahhh, palms. I love them.
Palms in general have to be about the worse trees to climb, trim or remove.
Sad fact of life in Hawaii is, if you are going to be in the tree business, a lot
of your work will be palms.

I noticed the same type of corrosion on my bigger Stihls, but the 020s are
OK. I use the 020 on coconut palm removals up to the point where the trunk gets wider than the bar. Then I which to a Husky 346XP with a 20 in. bar. That is usually enough to take it either all the way down, or on the fatter trunks down to the point where you can safely drop it from the ground with a bigger saw.

My Woodsman handles coconut, Royal, Manila, areca, MacArthur, dates with no problem as far as the ability to chip the the whole tree goes, it is just that the fronds come out looking like someone just took a machete and chopped it up.

edited for spelling.

 

[pmuscato]

Palms suck.

 

[vharrison2]

That is probably what one of our crews is thinking today. trimmed 31 today.

 

[Ekka]

Hey Koa

Coconut palms are way softer than those cocos palms. Do you know the ones I mean. I've put pics in. You need more grunt than a 346 to get thru these heads. I had a Stihl ms360 and it was no good, went to 044.

I also had a 372xp which was buggered after 3 months, like putting an aspirin in a jar of water .... hopeless, I've also tried shindaiwa 757 and large echo 6500 I think .... all sucked. The Stihl by far is the best.

 

[vharrison2]

Right a Queen palm; look alot like coco nucifera but no coconuts, just seeds like in the pics.

 

[techdave]

Hi EKKA, when I used to work in the mower shop at sears, we had a bunch of Samoan and Tonganese who did wildcat treework. They were wearing out the housing on their poulans under the clutch cover, all the way thru into the oiltank and crankcase. I somehow got the inspiration to use whirlpools ceramic epoxy for chips on washer baskets. WORKED GREAT. I hope it will work for you. The porcelain is very hard and resists the abrasion of the fronds and hulls, and the glass is also very resistant to chemicals. Good luck, Dave.