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<p><font face="Arial">That photo of the boom-mounted single circular
saw tree trimmer sure brought back memories to me.</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial">In the citrus orchards of Southern California,
various methods were employed by growers to hedge the tall rows
of eucalyptus trees planted as orchard windbreaks. This
prevented their lower branches from growing out into the citrus
trees, which reduced crop yield. <br>
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<font face="Arial"> </font>
<p><font face="Arial">Most small growers like us could only afford
hand methods like chainsawing from ladders or skiploader
buckets. <br>
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<font face="Arial"> </font>
<p><font face="Arial">But a large-acreage grower near us shopbuilt
an ingenious rig from an old ten-wheel truck crane from the
'40's. It was used from the early '50's on up to the '70's on
groves near us. About a 3' diameter circle saw blade </font><font
face="Arial"><font face="Arial">run by a hydraulic motor </font>at
the tip of its boom. The rig would start-and-stop drive along
the windbreak to be pruned, with its operator slowly swinging
the boom up and down during the stops. For miles you could hear
the blade whine while cutting. Unfortunately I have no photos.
<br>
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<p><font face="Arial">However another shop built hedging rig in my
area (see photos) pruned windbreaks and also between citrus tree
rows. It was built on a WWII surplus 4x4 truck, having a tower
mounting roughly two dozen circle saw blades. Power
transmission was by individual V-belts daisy-chaining all the
saw arbors together. A separate GM diesel engine provided the
power. Retired from service many years ago, this rig has been
at the Antique Gas and Steam Engine Museum in Vista, CA for over
30 years. One wonders about the mechanical efficiency of
daisy-chaining that many saw spindles together using a series
drive by V-belts. Also I would not have liked to be the guy who
had to do belt tightening! One slipping belt downstream would
affect power to all blades above it.<br>
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