Ficus=Pine

[Bermy]

Boy O Boy!

I am covered in sticky sap, my saw bar is about twice its thickness with accumulated sap and dust, both my lanyard cords are stuck and won't move, I've wrecked a pair of gloves and my HC is covered in sticky. This is our equivalent of your Pine!

I am subbing for a company to dismantle a really big ficus, ( I want to say HUGE but you guys are big tree men and will laugh at me) numerous leads, prob 50' at least, each16'-20' diameter at the bottom,before they disappear into the mass of vine covered rootball and aerial roots that is 8-10' high. Fence, lights and a condo nearby. It fell over in 1987, and has been growing unhindered since. The other guys cut some of the prop roots three weeks ago and they already have three inches of new rootlets growing down from the cut!

It's tossed me twice, 50' long laterals, they get a bit springy and ficus does not hinge well...I WILL win!

So this evening I've had to take the saw home and clean the goop off it, I forgot the cleaner I had had pumice in it, it got into the bar, which then had to come in the shower with me, along with all the hitch cord and lanyards...they nice and clean again now...until tomorrow...

Half of it is gone, I don't have a camera so you'll just have to take my word for it...
I see new hitch cords, a new wire core and a new lanyard at least when I'm done!

 

[Thor's Hammer]

Know what your talking about Fiona, I did some huge ficus whilst working in Brisbane. 1 was over 100ft wide. I just could not get over the way the sticky sap would POUR out of the wounds, far far worse than any pine I've ever done. Disgusting.

 

[CurSedVoyce]

Sounds huge for a ficus! Would have loved to pictures of that one!

 

[Bermy]

THis has to be one of the last really big ones left, Ficus retusa they are invasive and will sprout in roof gutters and invade water tanks and break walls and are host to 'thrips' which if they get in your eyes are called 'acid bugs' they BURN! Not to mention being attracted to yellow and green clothing in the hundreds. There has been a move to remove them when the opportunity arises ever since the late 80's.
The condo were afraid this one would eventually topple over onto the building, it had gotten way too big for where it is, they cut it back on the front side 10yrs ago to build the new unit, and as an invasive, might as well get rid of it.

 

[Jed]

Fiona: Don't replace all your gear. Regular use in not-so-nasty-trees will restore everything right as rain.

 

[Bermy]

Well the wire core has a ding, and is old, so is the rope lanyard and one of the hitch cords...Ficus sap is sticky and nasty, it doesn't dry up and flake off like I understand pine sap does? And is it not sufficient excuse to buy new gear...

I took the washing out of the machine just now, BOY Oxy Clean liquid is amazing, my shirt and trousers are clean as are the gloves, just put the lanyards and hitch cords in for a quick run through, scrubbing in the tub wasn't enough.

 

[NickfromWI]

I hear ya. I just assume if I'm doing a prune on a ficus that my pants are going straight to the garbage. I add another $20 to account for the pants and the trip to goodwill!

You're right. It's different that pine sap. One of the cousins, ficus elastica: that's where rubber comes from. Sticky stuff!

 

[Paul B]

I thought that too Nick but it aint so, except in small amounts for supplementing artificial rubber.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_rubber

"The commercial source of natural rubber latex is the para rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis), a member of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae. "

 

[thattreeguy]

ive done my share,
i liked in west hollywood when some lady pushed the barricades out of the way, cussed us and went into a salon, only to send us a bill for her pants and shoes,
you know if she'd asked or even acknowledged anyone there we would of cleared her a path....
yeah the pants and shirt are crunchy afterwards and it sticks to everything...but what fun trees to walk around in

 

[MasterBlaster]

The only ficus I've ever seen was in a pot in someone's house.

 

[gf beranek]

There's a big one in Santa Barba that the highway goes around.

 

[woodworkingboy]

I don't know if it is a ficus, but we have a similar tree here. The growth rings are about an inch wide and super sticky. Wearing no sleeves you pay.

 

[Bermy]

One of the groundies got some pictures on his phone today, hopefully he'll send them to me.
Its about just over half done, I only do half a day...I am toast by lunchtime, its so hot and humid to carry on would be asking for trouble. As long as they have plenty on the ground to cut and chip in the PM everyone is happy.
Tomorrow is lots of rigging, the bit over the condo walkway, then three big leads to finish, one of which is my TIP, cutting that one down to a spar will be a wobbly bobbly ride.

 

[stig]

I would love to see pictures of that.
They are a much loved plant for offices and stuff like that here, biggest I ever saw was somewhere around 8 feet tall.

I think I'll have to go to Bermuda sometime, just to look at all the neat stuff you have growing there.

 

[Burnham]

Trying to be a good boy and not visualize the lady arbo in the shower with saw and assorted climbing gear...trying...trying .

Edit: there's supposed to be a big smilie face there.

 

[Bermy]

Haha Burnham, I wondered how long it would take for someone to pick up on that (Smiley face), you win!

There is a species of Ficus here, F. benghalensis, one tree covers an acre of ground, it is almost a religious experience standing under it, completely awesome...

 

[gf beranek]

An acre of ground. Wow!

 

[flushcut]

Wow that is a hellava spread!

 

[Burnham]

208'x208', if it's evenly spread...that is amazing.

 

[CurSedVoyce]

The oak that Stig and I climbed is just under a 1/2 acre under canopy... So dang! That is huge!

 

[stig]

Thanks for coming up with that figure.
I have been trying to tell people just how big that thing was and always ended up having to show them the pictures, to get the point across.

The little red spot to the right of the powerline pole is me

 

[HolmenTree]

When I think of Ficus I think of a tree with its trunk covered with 1 inch long very sharp horns or spikes. I saw this tree along a street in Luxor, Eygpt. I asked a local what this tree is called and in his strong Eygptian accent he said " fee cuss".
Beautiful tree. I have pictures of it in 35mm, so I'll have to scan it and will post it here after work tonight.

 

[Bermy]

Haha 'fee cuss', that's what I do up in the Ficus sometimes! No thorns on any Ficus I know of...could be just a local name.

The acre Ficus is on a property called Southlands, It was almost going to be impacted by a hotel development, but there were huge protests and so far it's been saved!

Not this one! Here are a few photos, groundie's phone cam from the far side of the parking lot.
Stig, that tree is magnificent!

 

[HolmenTree]

Awesome job you did there Fiona and your groundie took some good pictures.
I will dig out that picture of the Eygptian tree and scan it onto here,maybe tomorrow. I'm into the busiest time of the year for my tree service plus also putting my house up for sale and trying to get renovations done.
Have already signed the papers for the little 4 acre spread out in the country I'm moving out to.
Just a little stressed at the moment.

 

[flushcut]

Nice work!