TRIMMING TREES WITH POWER

INTRODUCTION:

Attention getter: Since the beginning of human existence, trees have played a vital role in our lives.

Supplying us with oxygen and food, trees are very necessary. Over time, we have engineered trees to create shelter, supplies, and other gratifying needs. Trees are extremely abundant and can be seen throughout the United States. You probably can’t pass through a town without seeing at least one tree, especially in Indiana. Well, that can be a very good thing, but can also cause some discomfort. Towns still need to find a way stay on top of town maintenance, such as picking up leaves and trimming these precious trees. Towns need to trim trees because they can’t get their trucks up and down the street. Certain towns in Indiana don’t have quite as much money as other towns or cities do, so they are having trouble affording the proper equipment to trim trees. Let me explain. The reassessments of property tax have left some town struggling with their finances. Some towns have no money right now because of this. According to a letter that was sent to the United States Congress and written by The Board of Commissioners of Lake County, “Over the years, the eleven townships in Lake County [Indiana] were assessed in such an inconsistent manner that the discrepancies in assessing were so obvious that everyone knew of the tremendous differences.” What this means is that since property taxes were so inconsistent, that a reassessment process is being conducted. There are now towns that are loosing money over this because property owners do not know how much they own in property taxes; so they simply aren’t paying. Because of this, the government is getting their money late due to the reassessments. Until this financial problem can be solved, the proposed process to trim this county’s trees is to call in the National Guard. You ask, why National Guard? Well towns will need to use their technology; more specifically, their helicopters.

Preview: I will be discussing this new technique by sharing two concepts. First, I will discuss the efficiency of using such machines to trim trees. Second, I will discuss this methods effectiveness.

BODY:

Transition: The disadvantages of using older methods for trimming towns trees include the time it takes to complete this task, especially if needs to be done throughout an entire street.

I. The advantages of using of a new process will reduce the time it takes to do such a tedious such as trimming trees. Let’s take a look at why this is the case.
A. The time to setup and breakdown times at each cutting location would be eliminated.
1. The time need to set up the ‘tool’ would only be as long as it takes to get the helicopter to the desired location.
2. A specially designed net would need to be laid down under the area in where the cutting is taking place.
3. This net would later be folded up and attached to the helicopter to transport the wood back to the shop.
4. The air pressure from the helicopter blades would blow away any tiny woodchips that remained in the road.
B. The operating time would be reduced.
1. The time needed to make a cut would only take the time needed for the helicopter to fly through the ‘cut zone’.
2. Overall, there would be shorter cutting process because the cutting area would increase to the length of the helicopter blades; instead of one branch at a time.
3. So now the cuts can reach a length of 39 feet.
4. You think that is too wide an area? Farhan Gandhi, a Professor of Aerospace Engineering at Pennsylvania State University has engineered a Length-Morphing Rotor to allow helicopter blades to expand and retract at different rpm’s.

Transition: Now that we’ve covered the efficiency, let’s touch base on this methods effectiveness.

II. The new proposed process for trimming trees allows for more effective work for the worker and project.
A. The power of a helicopter adds more power to allow for an easier cut.
1. According to the United States Coast Guard, this aircraft harnesses the power of two engines to rotate the four blades.
2. This is done through Lycoming LTS-101-750B-2 Gas Turbines.
B. Laborers will no longer have to worry about injury on the job while trimming trees.
1. There is no need to bend your body at difficult angels while holding a heavy chainsaw.


CONCLUSION:
Review Statement: So, in this speech, I have told you about how the reassessments on property tax are causing confusion on how much property owners need to pay. This has misled some owners enough to withhold payments because they are not sure how much they owe. This is leaving towns in a sticky, financial situation. Now towns are struggling with not being able to fully keep up good town maintenance. Solving this problem by using the US Coast Guards helicopters is both efficient and effective.


Memorable closing: Just think how much happier town employees and citizens will be one this is implemented.


SOURCES:

United States. The Boards of Commissioners of the County of Lake: To the United States Congress. Statement of the President of the Board of Commissioners of the County of Lake. 1 Feb. 2002. 1 Dec. 2007 http://www.lakecountyin.com/news/index.html.

SavaTree. “Why are Trees Important?” savatree.com 2007. 1 Dec. 2007. http://www.savatree.com/whytrees.html.

United States Coast Guard. “Aircraft and Cutters: HH-65C "Dolphin" Short Range Recovery Helicopter.” uscg.mil 1 Oct. 2007. 1 Dec. 2007. http://www.uscg.mil/datasheet/hh-65.asp.

Wikipedia. “Gas turbine.” Wikipedia.org 1 Dec. 2007. 1 Dec. 2007. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_turbine.

Wikipedia. “HH-65 Dolphin.” Wikipedia.org 21 Nov. 2007. 1 Dec. 2007. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HH-65_Dolphin.

Ward, Logan. “Length-Morphing Rotor Ready to Provide Helicopter Versatility.” PopularMechanics.com Nov. 2007. 1 Dec. 2007. http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/industry/4224761.html.