essentialARB was invited to a demonstration of an innovative piece of arboriculture equipment that is revolutionising how one arb company removes trees.
IT has been more than 10 years since ash dieback was first identified in the UK. In that time it has spread to all parts of the country, causing common ash trees throughout parks, gardens, hedgerows and roadside margins to decline and die.
Although the severity of the disease varies by region, it has been predicted that it will eventually kill upwards of 80 per cent of ash trees across the UK, posing a significant risk to the public.
That’s a prediction arb companies are taking seriously, perhaps none more so than the Tivoli Group.
Employing over 1400 employees, Tivoli has been managing parks and green spaces for organisations all across the UK for three decades.
With clients including local authorities and estates up and down the country, the firm is frequently called upon to tackle trees afflicted with ash dieback – and anticipates dealing with a lot more in the months and years ahead.
However, as time goes on and the disease progresses, more and more of the UK’s ash trees will enter advanced decline, becoming dangerously brittle and unsafe to climb, meaning removal by mechanical means is the only option.
For this reason, Tivoli has invested in a new Merlo Roto 50.35 S Plus with grapple saw, which means it can safely dismantle trees from the ground.
Earlier this year, essentialARB was invited – along with a contingent of Tivoli team members, plus existing and prospective clients – to see the new piece of kit in action.
The location was the historic Auchincruive Estate on the outskirts of Ayr, home to River Garden Auchincruive, a charity helping people recover from drug and alcohol addiction.
With the charity planning to expand its facilities, a number of trees had to be cleared and Tivoli was happy to do the job at no cost if it was allowed to bring in an audience.
National arb manager Andrew Marinas said: “It’s a big purchase for the business, so we’re keen to make people aware we have it and what it can do. A lot of machines do the same thing at a different level, but this is the only one that does it with this capacity, reach, versatility and speed.
“Actually seeing it opens eyes. You can tell someone all about it, but until they see it for themselves they can’t really appreciate it. It’s already transformed the way we work.”
A type of telehandler suitable for use across multiple industries, the Merlo Roto 50.35 S Plus comes equipped with four independent outriggers and a 20-degree tilting cab.
Tivoli’s unit is fitted with a Westtech Woodcracker CS750 grapple saw, specially designed for tree--felling safety work, with a powerful grip for safe holding and a cutting capacity of 28 inches.
Combined, the two pieces of machinery offer a reach of 35 m, 360-degree rotation and a 600 kg lifting capability at full reach. As such, it’s presented as the ideal tool for dismantling dead, dying or dangerous trees by the side of the road or other inaccessible areas in a way that minimises risk to the workforce.
“It eliminates any need for working at height with respect to ash dieback or dangerous trees,” said Andrew. “It ticks all the boxes for us, with great capability and maximum reach. It minimises shutdowns and disruption, whether it be powerlines or highway closures. With a chipper and a digger following behind, three men can do what it would otherwise take 10 men to achieve, in 20 per cent of the time.”
On the day, our demonstration began with a remote-control operation from the ground.
After manoeuvring the Merlo into position – a chance for observers to appreciate its compact dimensions and streamlined, modular design – operator Max Milligan stepped down from the cab and used remote control to operate the crane, clearing away some small trees on the nearby bank.
He returned to the cab for the removal of several large ash trees up the top, demonstrating the full reach of the Merlo and the strength and control provided from the CS750 grapple saw.
Once dismantled, the trees were chipped by means of a Sany SY26U with Intermercato grab feeding into a Bandit 255 – all on hire from Field and Forest, which also sourced the Westtech grapple saw.
“We really wanted the CS750 because of cutting capability,” said Andrew. “There are other models, but we wanted one designed for dismantling bigger trees. Our supplier kept us waiting for it a long time, too long in the end, so we spoke to Tom at Field and Forest and he was able to sort us out with one.”
Tivoli has become an increasingly valuable client for arb machinery dealer Field and Forest lately, hiring more and more kit to help tackle a growing range of treecare jobs as its arb division rebrands to Tivoli Trees.
“Tivoli is predominantly a grounds maintenance company, but arb has always been a part of what we do,” said Andrew. “We currently have around 70 arborists and we probably need to make that 150. We’ve just ordered a whole new fleet of Först chippers and we expect to be hiring a lot of machinery from Field and Forest to assist on the highways recently dealing with ash dieback.”
It’s that kind of work which has kept the Merlo most occupied since its arrival. For a few weeks ahead of the demonstration, Max and the machine were deployed along a stretch of 70 mph dual carriageway in East Ayrshire, tackling ash dieback in quite a tight setting.
“It was a single lane closure,” explained Max. “You have to be careful using a machine like this when lorries are going past. You can be sitting on the cone line and, when you turn, the back end swings out, taking up half the carriageway. But one of the benefits of the Merlo is you can actually set the parameters, locking it so you only turn to a certain point. I would lock it to make sure I couldn’t cross that point, which meant I didn’t need to worry about oncoming traffic.”
An experienced arb machine operator and tree surgeon who has used a variety of equipment, Max said: “I have used telehandlers in the past and this generally works the same way, but it has different features that make it something unique.
“The tilting cab and remote control provide different options for different situations. I prefer being in the cab because I can feel what the machine’s doing and I find I’m faster. But if I’m using the remote I can see a lot more and I don’t need a second man to guard against anyone entering the work zone.”
In his experience, he said the machine significantly reduces the time taken to remove trees and reduces disruption.
“As well as the motorway work we’ve been on a couple of dangerous tree jobs,” he said.
“One was a massive beech that would have normally taken a team a full day to do. With the Merlo it was dealt with in an hour and 10 minutes. That was a powerline job where we were given a window where the power went off at 9.30 am and it had to be back on at 1 pm. We were really up against it, but everything was down, chipped, cleared off the road, done by 11.15 am.”
It’s a big investment for any firm, but there’s no question there will be plenty of work available – specifically the felling of dead and dangerous trees – in the years ahead.
By the end of Tivoli’s demo day, all present could agree on the machine’s benefits. It simplifies the whole tree removal process. It’s much more productive than dismantling with climbers or a MEWP and causes zero impact with minimal clean-up. It saves time and manpower by minimising any disruption to infrastructure. Most importantly, it improves safety by limiting human interaction with dead, dying or dangerous trees and eliminating working at height.
Given the risks involved with this kind of work, if there’s a better, safer way to do it, we’ve yet to see it.
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