How can you handle the large bonsai?

rockm · May 10, 2019

Bonsai Nut said:
I was talking to @maria kapra at the Bonsaiathon, and he was telling me one of these reasons why he enjoys shohin is that they are so easy to work on. The tree he was styling at the Bonsaiathon was a medium-sized tree (in the bonsai world) and he was laughing saying that in the time to wire that one tree he could have wired quite a number of his shohin

I have one tree that I consider "large" and it is really exponentially more difficult to care for on many levels. It isn't only the physical component. Just pruning it requires you to be able to access it from all angles - which is not always easy depending where you have it. Repotting is a major undertaking, and requires a ton of media. The pot costs $100's - even if it isn't a high end pot. I can't take it anywhere to show without finding someone with a van to help me move it. I prefer to stick with trees I can move myself without assistance, which at this point is a pot width of 24" - 18" depending on the tree and depth of pot.

Wimp

I CAN move my 150 lb tree by myself, even hoof it to my truck on the street 40 yards away. I have it up on a monkey pole stand in the backyard, so the initial lift is at waist level...Moving it from there takes a while and involves a lot of cussing though. I can't put the tree down on the ground to rest when I'm in transit to my truck because I can't do the deadlift without breaking branches and/or my back.

I had considered asking Ron Lang to make me a new pot for it. It would've been about $2 grand or a little less...

I've reconsidered and am waiting to win the lottery or at least a $1,000 scratch off.

Repotting it requires about 15 gallons of bonsai soil and three people...

did I say I love big bonsai?

bonhe · May 10, 2019

Many of my large bonsai are in Chinese pots which has affordable prices. Some of them are in old Japanese pots! I have one really big old Japanese pot to which one adult can easily sits in it!

For the large bonsai, I have been using much lighter substances such as pine bark, ground fir, pumice instead of lava cinder or akadama under surface. On the surface, I used lava cinder with akadama to make it look better.

I just bought a big bag of perlite for future usage. The perlite, pumice, pine bark and ground fir are all good not only for their light weight but also for much less cost !
P/s: by the way, one of my friends shows me a place to buy lava cinders with unbelievable price ..
Thụ Thoại

Ali Raza · May 10, 2019

rockm said:
I have a few bonsai friends. We help each other out when we can. However, distances, traffic and especially family duties can short circuit plans.

Maybe you are right family man not have suffice time for these kinds of activities I guess. For me I am Happy and enjoying good bachelor life.

Ali Raza · May 10, 2019

@rockm may be you start hitting the gym

M. Frary · May 11, 2019

Walter Pall said:
I go to the fitness club and lift real heavy weights to be able to handle my large trees without help. No kidding.

I go to work and play with chainsaws and logs and heavy equipment.
I also mow the yard which is about an acre with a push mower.
I'm 55 years old and can spin a guy on my finger like a basketball.
However there are tradeoffs.
I have carpal tunnel syndrome pretty bad ,tennis elbow and my shoulders are going.
The result of playing with chainsaws most of my life.
I love big trees and the ones I collect and look to buy keep getting bigger.
If I reach an age where I can't lift them ,I'll sell them.

rockm · May 11, 2019

Ali Raza said:
@rockm may be you start hitting the gym

Been working out since I was 17. have a weight bench in the basement. I don't do the gym. I'm ghetto like that

just.wing.it · May 11, 2019

rockm said:
Been working out since I was 17. have a weight bench in the basement. I don't do the gym. I'm ghetto like that

"No one ever said ghetto don't work!"....a commonly used phrase from my childhood.

I absolutely despise "working out" .....used to do it.
Stopped when I began the work I been doing for the last 11 years, and will do until I die.....
I get a great exercise on my job daily, which is awesome for me, cuz I wouldn't have enough free time to hit the gym anyway.....and did I mention I hate it?

Bonsai Nut · May 11, 2019

[QUOTE="just.wing.it, post: 648647, member: 19]I get a great exercise on my job daily, which is awesome for me, cuz I wouldn't have enough free time to hit the gym anyway.....and did I mention I hate it?[/QUOTE]

I didn't work out this week... because my wife has me painting the house. I might run and mountain bike... but my leg muscles aren't used to ladder repetitions

Good strength training... but it is pulling electrical wires that gets the heart-rate up there!

Ali Raza · May 12, 2019

M. Frary said:
I go to work and play with chainsaws and logs and heavy equipment.
I also mow the yard which is about an acre with a push mower.
I'm 55 years old and can spin a guy on my finger like a basketball.
However there are tradeoffs.
I have carpal tunnel syndrome pretty bad ,tennis elbow and my shoulders are going.
The result of playing with chainsaws most of my life.
I love big trees and the ones I collect and look to buy keep getting bigger.
If I reach an age where I can't lift them ,I'll sell them.

We all will dissipate energy in the end, it is the matter of time though. Can't fight with the time I guess. But you are surely a fine hard working man.

Ali Raza · May 12, 2019

Bonsai Nut said:
[QUOTE="just.wing.it, post: 648647, member: 19]I get a great exercise on my job daily, which is awesome for me, cuz I wouldn't have enough free time to hit the gym anyway.....and did I mention I hate it?

I didn't work out this week... because my wife has me painting the house. I might run and mountain bike... but my leg muscles aren't used to ladder repetitions

Good strength training... but it is pulling electrical wires that gets the heart-rate up there![/QUOTE]
Kindly mention your age please.

roberthu · Oct 4, 2020

Moving the large bonsai for major work like repotting or styling is one thing because it’s not done very often. However, I am wondering how you are rotating your large trees for full sun exposure. I ask because I will be getting a few trees that are over 10” in trunk and around 5’ tall. With pots and soil it’s going to weigh at least 100 pounds. I am going to get help to get the trees onto the bench but not sure how to rotate them regularly.

bonhe · Oct 6, 2020

roberthu said:
Moving the large bonsai for major work like repotting or styling is one thing because it’s not done very often. However, I am wondering how you are rotating your large trees for full sun exposure. I ask because I will be getting a few trees that are over 10” in trunk and around 5’ tall. With pots and soil it’s going to weigh at least 100 pounds. I am going to get help to get the trees onto the bench but not sure how to rotate them regularly.

I have been using the Hoyer lift to lift up the large bonsai in repotting , moving and rotating .
Thụ Thoại

Shibui · Oct 7, 2020

roberthu said:
Moving the large bonsai for major work like repotting or styling is one thing because it’s not done very often. However, I am wondering how you are rotating your large trees for full sun exposure. I ask because I will be getting a few trees that are over 10” in trunk and around 5’ tall. With pots and soil it’s going to weigh at least 100 pounds. I am going to get help to get the trees onto the bench but not sure how to rotate them regularly.

lazy susan bearings can be used to make a rotating plinth. Most of the larger ones will easily carry 100lb.
https://www.minibearings.com.au/store/item/lsb230/?v=1791
https://www.amazon.com.au/Aluminium...locphy=9072044&hvtargid=pla-364648288000&th=1

Just place the bearing on a flat surface then top with another flat top (I use a couple of 60cm floor tiles with the bearing between but that may not be quite wide enough for your monster) Trees on these rotating stands can be rotated with one finger provided you don't get grit in the bearings. These are relatively cheap and make rotating any trees so easy that I actually do it now.

roberthu · Oct 7, 2020

bonhe said:
I have been using the Hoyer lift to lift up the large bonsai in repotting , moving and rotating .
Thụ Thoại

Thanks. I was hoping there was something that doesn’t require lifting.

roberthu · Oct 7, 2020

Shibui said:
lazy susan bearings can be used to make a rotating plinth. Most of the larger ones will easily carry 100lb.
https://www.minibearings.com.au/store/item/lsb230/?v=1791
https://www.amazon.com.au/Aluminium...locphy=9072044&hvtargid=pla-364648288000&th=1

Just place the bearing on a flat surface then top with another flat top (I use a couple of 60cm floor tiles with the bearing between but that may not be quite wide enough for your monster) Trees on these rotating stands can be rotated with one finger provided you don't get grit in the bearings. These are relatively cheap and make rotating any trees so easy that I actually do it now.

Cool! They don’t rust over time?

Drew · Oct 7, 2020

Shibui said:
lazy susan bearings can be used to make a rotating plinth. Most of the larger ones will easily carry 100lb.
https://www.minibearings.com.au/store/item/lsb230/?v=1791
https://www.amazon.com.au/Aluminium...locphy=9072044&hvtargid=pla-364648288000&th=1

Just place the bearing on a flat surface then top with another flat top (I use a couple of 60cm floor tiles with the bearing between but that may not be quite wide enough for your monster) Trees on these rotating stands can be rotated with one finger provided you don't get grit in the bearings. These are relatively cheap and make rotating any trees so easy that I actually do it now.

How do you attach the mini bearings to the two pieces of floor tiles? I can imagine there is a trick to attaching the second tile?

Clicio · Oct 7, 2020

roberthu said:
Cool! They don’t rust over time?

Yes, they do.

roberthu · Oct 7, 2020

Clicio said:
Yes, they do.

Okay I was worried about that. I am hoping to get something that I can just place under the bonsai pots for a year or two.

bonhe · Oct 7, 2020

Shibui said:
lazy susan bearings can be used to make a rotating plinth. Most of the larger ones will easily carry 100lb.
https://www.minibearings.com.au/store/item/lsb230/?v=1791
https://www.amazon.com.au/Aluminium...locphy=9072044&hvtargid=pla-364648288000&th=1

Just place the bearing on a flat surface then top with another flat top (I use a couple of 60cm floor tiles with the bearing between but that may not be quite wide enough for your monster) Trees on these rotating stands can be rotated with one finger provided you don't get grit in the bearings. These are relatively cheap and make rotating any trees so easy that I actually do it now.

I thought about lazy susan in the past, but because most of my bonsai are still on the ground, so I don't need lazy susan. When I move them up to the bench, I might use it.
Thụ Thoại

bonhe · Oct 7, 2020

Drew said:
How do you attach the mini bearings to the two pieces of floor tiles? I can imagine there is a trick to attaching the second tile?

If I use lazy susan, I just place the flat tile directly on the lazy susan. It should be very stable with the heavy pot on.
Thụ Thoại

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