Dangerous species

It's weird for me. I had two huge willows in my yard for quite awhile when I was a kid. I climbed in them constantly, I just can't bring myself to dislike a weeper no matter how far gone or abused it's been. pacifics/swamp? I can pass on those willows.

But willow is a huge money tree here. A lot of people keep them as pollards. Or as I called them. The 'Canadian palm tree'.

Weeping willows are to cool to dislike IMO. Despite the brittleness and susceptibility to rot.
 
I like the weepers. We have a lot of black willows here that can be pretty dodgey.
 
Weepers in my area are one of the first trees to blossom, and one of the last to lose their leaves. I always thought that added to their coolness. I don't know why really. :multi:
 
Makes it a PITA to rake up with snow on the ground before all the leaves drop though.

But the endless entertainment that comes to children from weeping willow fronds puts them way up their too on the list of trees IMO.

No child can help but grab a armful if they're in reach and voila! Instant swing. Break a few off for whipping your buddies. Then you can use more fronds to tie them up with once you've subdued them!
 
Around here I am not a fan of Russian olive, acacia, hawthorns, and spruce in general can itch me up. Sycamores when in season can have me hacking until I throw up while chipping. Cottonweeds can have those huge reservoirs of poplar piss in them that's gross. Or the worst. Any tree in someone's yard with dogshit around it/in the work zone.

Don't be too proud to wear a respirator
 
Too proud is not the issue. But when I had my company still, sycamores were so few and far between that having masks readily available never seemed to make it into the kit. Good idea though.
 
No child can help but grab a armful if they're in reach and voila! Instant swing. Break a few off for whipping your buddies. Then you can use more fronds to tie them up with once you've subdued them!

:lol:
 
Alianthus, snappy unreliable bastids.

Poplars, just go up and up, brittle, nice cutting though, chips good.

Who can hate weeping willow?
 
I love a majestic weeping willow. . .

I'll second Easter White Pine. Great spars, but the limbs break like vegetables.
 
Sycamore never bothered me until somebody told me it should. Now if I even get a sniff of it it's like I just tried to OD by snorting big lines of elmers glue off of a pile of metal shavings. Thanks Pat.
 
Crack willow - splits & barbers chairs for fun, when dead it is horrendous & likes to develop horizontal cracks
I also hate climbing larch. Brittle limbs & upper crown. Just never feel comfortable up there.
 
Lombardy Poplar cos I don't trust em, Monkey puzzles cos of the relentless spikiness and London Planes during the summer cos I need a dust mask to cope with the allergic reaction is get.
 
Between the poplars, Lombardini is the most dangerous for me, no hinging at all, 2" limbs snaps with no notice. The other poplars are a little more sturdy, at least whose I met.
Weeping willows are complicated, essentially untrustworthy. Not because they are prone to rot or brittle, with a little care in positioning they hold well, but you can hardly say what the hinge will do in the small limbs (say 3 to 6"). Many time I was owned because either I wanted a swing and I got a snap, or I wanted a quick release for a flat landing and this stupid hinge didn't want to break at all, tearing the base but holding forever. And that, often in the same tree.

Black locusts with a quiet growth aren't so bad, actually you have to look closely to find the thorns. But if they are in trouble, by men, diseases, bugs or bad environment, they show their talent at fabricating thorns. Sadly for us, they don't have often a quiet growth in human areas.

Speaking thorns, it's a small tree, more like a big shrub, but I really hate Pyracantha. Inextricable crown, all in 90° forks and full of 1" thorns.

I love working in the birches and trust them, the limbs are very flexible but the wood is very fibrous and doesn't drop you. I'd say that's a friendly tree. The rotten parts hold nothing, but he isn't alone in that case.
 
Respirators are useful for chipping dead stuff, stump cuts (or use a blower), pollen...

Not bad to have on the truck for $30. Way cheaper than chaps or helmet, things that you only use as back-up. You will inhale particulates. You will not likely get hit on the head or saw to leg. Lasts indefinitely, just change the cartridge as needed (still on my first filters). Paint-filtering cartridges would be useful.
 
This is one of those exotic tree species that grows here you don't want to get anywhere close to, except by being upwind and pruning with a polesaw pruner!

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lagunaria

Innocuous little trees all benign n friendly lookin, but the underside of the leaves shed fiberglass like hairs that'll drive yu crazy itching, hence the name cow itch tree.

I've taken part in some pretty cruel pranks on the job by collectin hairs in a bag and distributin them where wise guy antagonists frequent.

Jomo
 
This is one of those exotic tree species that grows here you don't want to get anywhere close to, except by being upwind and pruning with a polesaw pruner!

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lagunaria

Innocuous little trees all benign n friendly lookin, but the underside of the leaves shed fiberglass like hairs that'll drive yu crazy itching, hence the name cow itch tree.t in some pretty cruel pranks on the job by collectin hairs in a bag and distributin them where wise guy antagonists frequent.

I learnt about them the hard way, Norfolk Island hibiscus is on my "not doing that" list.
 
Respirators are useful for chipping dead stuff, stump cuts (or use a blower), pollen...

Do you use the same ones for sharpening grinder teeth?
I'm going to upgrade to a more industrial type as opposed to hardware store version as I've noticed carbide dust bypassing the system.. getting small amounts deposited around my nostrils..
 
If you're using a green wheel get the best you can, that stuff will kill you.

Protector Alsafe is in Wetherill Park they carry some good stuff. https://www.protectoralsafe.com.au/

Better still get a diamond wheel and chuck the green wheel.



Edit. Looks like Blackwoods have taken them over, been buying stuff from Alsafe since the 80's when they were in Girraween.

Blackwoods have been around a long time and sell everything, but prices are bit more. https://www.blackwoods.com.au/browse/respirators-halffull-face-reusable/202003314 Smithfield last time I went there.
 
Chris, a dual cartridge dust mask with rubber gasket around the mouth and nose. NOT one specifically for a greenwheel.
 
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