Saguaro Cacti removal (Any Clues)

[flwiii]

This is a photo of the Saguaro currently. Before I can remove it I must consult the Arizona Department of Agriculture since this is a protected plant. They will issue me a permit to remove it. A rope thrown araound it in an attempt to pull it over would not work well as any one of the arms could break off and tear holes is the roof of the house. I guess each arm to weigh between 1500 and 2000 pounds. I am seriously leaning toward the large bucket cherry picker and a pole chain saw and take it down sections at a time.

 

[BobReeves]

Now I understand why you don't want to push it over with your FEL. Misunderstood your post and was thinking it was only 15 ft tall, the loader on my 3000 will go almost that high so I was looking at the problem from the wrong prespective.

Wow thats a bigun...

 

[MikeD74T]

Why can't it be notched like a tree to fall into the parking lot?

 

[have_blue]

I've seen dried out cacti that were as light as cork.
What happens if you kill it and let it dry out? Because of hydrostatic pressure, it should dry out up high first. Because the lowest parts of the trunk and arms are stronger than the tips, it should hold together. Awww well...

I don't think it's as bad as you think.

The simplest way is to rope it up high on the main upright... don't pull on an arm. Put the cactus in a slight bind, notch it, and cut it down. Because saguaro naturally balance themselves, you don't have to worry about a bias. It will fall in the direction the rope is pulled every time.

 

[flwiii]

It is difficult to notch it like a tree because the saguaro has a skeleton of sorts. Each ridge around the catus is a single piece of something like wood. Think of it like 15 or 20 pieces of 1 to 2 inch thick timbers aranged in a circle and skined over with a soft, mostly water skin.

The second issue is your safety. The saguaro is a very delicately balanced plant. When it grows an arm the location is determined by its balance. Each arm is part of that balancing mechanism. Without them they can't stand as tall as they do. Sometimes one of these giants will fall over if one of the large arms were to break off. Trying to notch it could cause a balance shift and the result could be a half ton arm dropping on you. These things also have 2 inch long needles that protrude from the shell.

 

[flwiii]

I have not seen one of these die from the top down. They are very slow growing things. This particular catus is probably 250 years old. They generally die very slowly from the bottom up. In fact, there are several in the neighborhood, in empty lots, that the bottom 2 feet of them are dead and the skin has fallen off revealing the skeleton and the rest of it is still living.

 

[aardvark]

Is it possible to drill alot of small holes through to the center, vertically along the height of the arms and trunk, and let all or most of the water drain out of it?

 

[flwiii]

I really don't know about draining it, or if it is possible. I will have to take all these suggestion from everyone and check into information from Dept. of AG and see what will work best. Maybe a rope would work as long as it didn't damage the outer skin to the point of dropping an arm or two. My fear is that it would become unstable and fall on the house rather than the driveway. I believe I stated before that it is within 3 to 5 feet of the house. All the arms on the back side hang over the roof. Please feel free to leave more suggestions, maybe a combination of several will work.

 

[Soundguy]

Large net.. than drag it down.. away from the house?

Soundguy

 

[Paddy]

I think it would be a shame to cut it down untill it is dead and or dangerous. This is a very cool addition to your setting.

What's the hurry? If damage to your house is the issue, do you have insurance?

If it is sick, call your local extension agency to see what you can do to HELP it.

Patrick