HD, I have the MacKissic 12PT9, which was the predecessor to the 12PT10. I think it's the same machine, but has a 9hp Briggs & Stratton engine instead of the 10hp engine that comes on the present model. I've been using my 12PT9 for about four years, and I really like it. A 1-inch hammermill screen comes standard on the MacKissic 12PT series, and it probably would clog if you fed a lot of green palm fronds, banana leaves, and giant bird of paradise leaves to it. One simple solution is to simply remove the screen. You can do that in a couple of minutes without any tools. That way the green slop gets ejected from a single pass through the hammers and there is no screen present to clog. I processed some green plant material using the no-screen technique. If the material is not quite that juicy, there are a couple of available optional screens designed for wet materials. They have very large openings that are resistant to clogging. I have one of them, a "bar" screen with big oblong holes. It's quite resistant to clogging. There is another simple solution for shredding green materials that I now frequently use. Lay the green stuff out for a few days to dry out some. Once it dries out, it will pass through a screen, even one with small holes, without clogging, and that gives you a better product for composting or mulching. I have several optional screens that I use a lot to make fine material to add to my compost piles: ¼", ½", and ¾". The ¼" screen is my favorite because it makes a very fine, fluffy product out of whatever you put through it that is ideal for rapid composting. I process a lot of dead leaves, brush piles, and tree trimmings through it. But I don't try to put wet stuff through it, because that would clog it. If I do accidentally feed some greenish stuff that starts to clog the screen, I just toss in a small piece of scrap wood that bounces around in there. I keep a few pieces of old wood handy for that purpose. As the wood is demolished by the hammers (a rather noisy but harmless process), it cleans the screen and saves me the trouble of stopping the machine, dropping the screen, and scraping off the clog. The pulverized wood just becomes part of my product. Incidentally, I notice you just joined The Garden Web. Welcome to the discussions. MM

Hey theseventhlegend, I think you may have some kind of fungus or even bud rot. This can happen in the winter, especially with cool damp weather. You should try applying a copper fungicide or try Consan Triple Action 20 fungicide. I have just started using this on some of my sick coconut palms and a sick silver queen that I have. It was recommended by a palm nursery in the south Houston area. So far, I have only lost one sick coconut palm, but I am afraid it was already to far gone by the time I started the fungicide applications. Since then, I have not lost a palm, and I appear to have 5 other palms, 4 coconuts, and the one silver queen that all have similar symptoms. Whatever you do, I have found that you really need to taper off on watering when the weather is cool. Palms, especially the more tropical ones, really need to dry out between watering. I used to water mine twice a week in the winter. Now I am tapering off my watering to every 7-10 days. Anyway follow the directions on the fungicide and good luck. John

It looks like some type of fungal infection. Give the spear a little tug just to make sure it's still firm. It looks okay in the 1st pic, but definitely in trouble in the second pic. I hope it pulls through for you, it's a beautiful palm and a great size too! I would mark a line on the spear with a marker and see if the spear is growing at all (they are slow growers so even if it is alive and well it still would probably take a good week before any noticable growth is seen) Good luck! -Alex

Its not only drought that can cause this problem. Usually it's caused by winter cold damage (maybe a combination of cold winter weather with wet weather). Pindos take a VERY long time to show winter damage. My unprotected pindo (it was a mild winter) started losing fronds around May from winter damage, but the middle fronds stayed green so it is alive. My protected one is growing (and had no damage) so that's how you know for sure that it survived the winter. Give the center frond a nice tug and it will pull out. Then treat with some peroxide and water well. If the fronds continue to die from the middle, then cut the trunk down about an inch or so. This is a last resort as trunk cutting in just the right spot sometimes will be enough to get some new fronds to grow, but it will take about 2 summers for it to look full again, but it will look nice before that. Good luck! Hope it makes it! -Alex