c-17 pp 4-5 August
6/26/02
3:46 PM
Page 2
Clouston’s Tree Shaver
without a breakdown. “We felt like
having a victory celebration right there,”
hen John Clouston sees
he says.
something that’s awkward or
There are several very good reasons
time-consuming, he doesn’t
for pruning evergreens: As old growth
just dismiss it. He starts asking himself
timber becomes more and more scarce,
how it could be improved.
clear lumber does too. It takes a good
Asking that question has resulted in
many years for a tree to grow the limbs,
several patents for his company.
then to shed them, then to grow beyond
Although Clouston Hydraulics is a small
the knots that the limbs have created.
company, it is well known in the plywood
“We felt like having a victory
Anyone with less than 65 or 70 years
industry for a money-saving process
celebration right there”
to spare can’t afford to wait.
called the Hot Press Compression
However, if the tree has its limbs cut
Control System. Described in its
when it’s young, successive growth
simplest terms, this device prevents the
advocate. When Leroy found an
rings will produce knot-free wood.
paper-thin sheets of wood that make
objection, John went to work
Waiting for clear lumber from a tree
up plywood from being squeezed too
overcoming it. Finally, after more than
now becomes possible.
thin during the gluing process. The
10 years, he had a machine that would
As the branches near the bottom of
manufacturer doesn’t have to use extra
climb a tree without hurting the bark,
an evergreen tree die, they become
wood to make up for compression, and
cut limbs smoothly and close to the
tinder-dry. If the trees aren’t pruned, a
John’s invention pays for itself in six to
trunk, then come gently back to earth.
fire can use the dead branches near the
eight weeks.
There were still details to work out.
bottom as a ladder. The tree is instantly
A few years ago, John worked for a
Leroy laughs a little as he remembers
turned into a blazing torch; the wind then
company that tried to make a machine
the first time they trimmed three trees
catches the flames and sends them to
to prune Douglas fir trees. They failed.
the tops of neighboring
John, who doesn’t take ‘No’
trees.
for a final answer, filed the
When trees are pruned,
idea away for future
there is no tinder near the
thought.
ground, and the stand has
Other companies have
a much better chance of
tried to build a mechanical
surviving a fire. The base
tree pruner, with poor
of an evergreen tree can
results. John saw a demwithstand a tremendous
onstration at one timber
amount of heat.
convention, and as he says,
More sunlight reaches
“I felt sorry for the
the
ground in a pruned
demonstrator.” Since the
stand,
thus more grass
engineers hadn’t taken the
grows.
Grass
that grows in
taper of the trunk into
the
open
shade
of a stand
account, when the machine
of
pruned
timber
stays
got near the top of the tree,
green
longer;
this
is
another
it would no longer grip the
fire-suppressing factor.
thinner trunk.
The difference in grass
That wasn’t the only
growth between a pruned
challenge facing the dearea and an unpruned area
signers. Saws were another
is distinct and noticeable.
weak point in the machine.
Deer and elk thrive on the
Since they cut from the
improved grazing, and
bottom side of the limb, all
everyone benefits.
too often the limb simply fell
So, with all these
down and pinched the blade.
advantages, why don’t
Some tried circular saws,
more timber companies
some tried chain saws.
prune their evergreens?
Neither was satisfactory.
Machine sits on stand while back wheels are attached.
By Morley Young
W
4 AUGUST 2002 BLACHLY-LANE
When John had mulled the problem
over long enough, he began to tinker.
Not being an engineer, he skipped the
drawing phase and went straight to
building.
John often bounced ideas off his son,
Leroy, who played the role of devil’s
c-17 pp 4-5 August
6/26/02
3:46 PM
Page 3
bit and pinch it. The air
Simply put, hand pruning a
pressure that gives the tires
tree more than six feet from
just the right amount of
the ground is a backbreaking
traction would probably rank
job.
next in importance. If the bit
Leroy tells of the difmeets heavy resistance
ficulty plantation owners in
from a particularly tough
the South have keeping
limb, the wheels will slip
pruners. They hire Mexican
rather than forcing the bit
immigrants, who are used to
into the branch until it
brutally hard labor, and hope
breaks.
that one out of every 15 they
After all those years of
hire will stay.
going out to trim one or two
It’s an expensive process
trees, then having a part fail
too. Hand pruning a tree can
to do its job, blowing the
take a minimum of 15
occasional tire is about the
minutes and cost about $10
only mechanical problem the
a tree.
machine has these days.
Pruning a similar tree
Asking himself that old
with the Clouston Tree
question, “How can it be
Shaver takes approximately
improved?”, is finally paying
two minutes. Setting the
off for John Clouston and
machine up at the next tree
his Tree Shaver.
takes less than a minute.
Everyone who has seen
Counting work breaks
the Tree Shaver demonand refueling time, one man
strated is enthusiastic about
can easily prune 20 trees an
it. Its value as a producer
hour. That’s 160 trees a day.
of clean lumber from young
At $5 a tree, that’s not a bad
Then it climbs the tree, cutting the limbs as it goes.
trees, plus its fire prevention
day’s wages. Add to this the
every circuit, and any limb that gets in
qualities make it a winner.
fact that it’s a lot more pleasant to stand
the way of the high-speed bit is history.
Potential manufacturers can reach
in the shade, operating a radio controller,
While there is no one feature that
Clouston Hydraulics at 1-800-600-6704.
than it is to saw away at limbs high
makes the machine a success, certainly
Their e-mail is [email protected]. Or,
above your head with a 20-foot pruner
the cutting bit ranks right up near the
if you want to become a tree pruner,
saw, and you have a clear winner.
top
in
importance.
It
attacks
the
limbs
you might even talk John and Leroy into
Your next question probably is, “Why
from
the
sides,
so
they
can’t
fall
on
the
building one for you.
don’t we hear more of this machine?”
The answer to that is, “You will.” Rather
than manufacture each machine by
hand, however, John would prefer to get
a manufacturer.
He has the facilities to make
prototypes, but a low-volume operation
such as he has would make the
machines considerably more expensive
than they would be if they were mass
produced. Both the present weight of
the machine (85 pounds) and the cost
(about $6,000) could be considerably
reduced.
Watching the Tree Shaver at work
is an awesome sight. The air bags that
hold the rubber-tired wheels tight to the
tree inflate, the little two-stroke engine
snarls, and the machine starts screaming
around the tree like a bear cub having a
temper tantrum.
The slight offset of the wheels sends
the machine a few inches higher on
The tough little bit makes clean cuts on limbs up to two inches in diameter.
BLACHLY-LANE AUGUST 2002 5