cables and rods

OTGBOSTON

punk in drublic
Joined
Jan 18, 2007
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4,180
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Tha Dirty Bean...Boston Massachusetts
Soooo....you're an arbo whiz kid and you just saved a tree by adding 100 pounds of metal. how do you notify future arborists?

I don't know but I've sure seen some equipment frigged up by unseen cables and rods.
 
I've always thought that it would be a good idea to do a small report, post B&C, which would outline the exact locations for the hardware and why it was put there. Then the owner could have a copy for future reference, and it would also give any arborists working on the tree in the future both a heads up and an idea of the trees condition in the past. For municipal trees I suppose the same principal would apply, one would just have to make some sort of software program that would recognize the tree before a crew was slated to work on it and dull saws or busted chipper knives happened. Imagine, more paperwork! Just what we all want.
 
Rods and cable bolts should stick out far enough to be visible for decades. I can't imagine a tree being cabled and braced in such a way as to make the hardware invisible in less than 20 years.
 
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Rods and cable bolts should stick out far enough to be visible for decades. I can't imagine a tree being cabled and braced in such a way as to make the hardware invisible in less than 20 years.

Well I'm dealing with trees that have been 'cared for' for 200+ years. Cables, rods and friggin' cavity fills that can frig up chippers and tub grinders. And for the record cement cavity fills can fall to different places within inside a deacyed tree.

So. How the F can we make it absolutely known that metal bullshit lies within? Seriously? I think this brain trust should be able to figure out a standard for marking who worked on a tree and when.
 
Well in that case I think it should become mandatory for all future concrete cavity fills to use steel reinforcing bars and make them stick out at least 6" past the bark. This will allow for future growth so they won't be buried unnoticed.
 
You can't fix the past, only try and aid the future.
And I would have no clue where to start with that one. Logistics tells me any marker you use on a tree will eventually be lost..
 
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two things spring to mind. About 50 years ago Tree guys used to hang copper tags off of the trees they worked on (those tags eventually become part of the trees themselves).

In modern times we could use computer chips.
 
I've seen plenty of inventory tags on trees, copper discs inscribed with the tree inventory number which corresponds to the city records. The tags are attached with long nails partially sunk so there is an inch or two slack.

The problem is that the guys in the field running the saws rarely call in to check records on the tree. And even if you know it has concrete in it, what are you going to do? Try to cut above or below it and keep going until you hit concrete. :(
 
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I'm trying to get some solutions here. I must confess, I make a mark in the bark of every tree I climb.

I wonder if we could leave a mark like Paulies avatar that would show the history?
 
This tree had 5 bolts in it for just shy of 10 years. The blue indicates where I expected them to be.
 

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this also comes with weatherproof tags that are fastened to the cable. Since every brace job also should have a cable, this provides a location above the height that the average vandal can reach. i factor in the $10 to all cable jobs and sign em up.

re braces sticking out extra just for ID, this is not ANSI compliant and would not work well on public trees re liability.

as for old concrete, like mb said, body language is about all ya got to go on. plus sounding can detect some. generally speaking the best way to avoid hard objects in trees is to manage those trees without removal. ;)

not always possible i know...
 
Until the chip becomes a reality, I use the NATMP system. It's a good selling point to justify what some homeowner's would consider an exhorbitant cost.
 
Awesome link, Paul. That looks like a time saver for sure. Where/when did that get developed?

Ohhh...nevermind, I just read the site. Developed in Edmonton. I also read that a big nursury in Kelowna just adopted it. OTG, I think you've found your answer.
 
Why doesn't the North American Tree Monitoring Program have a website? Seems to be a huge oversight
 
Dylan, I heard about it via the CNLA last spring, it seems like a good system if lots of people buy in, otherwise it may end up like most systems, too proprietary for their own good.
 
Because I pay for the website that makes me money as opposed to a website that makes others money...
 
this also comes with weatherproof tags that are fastened to the cable. Since every brace job also should have a cable, this provides a location above the height that the average vandal can reach. i factor in the $10 to all cable jobs and sign em up.

re braces sticking out extra just for ID, this is not ANSI compliant and would not work well on public trees re liability.

as for old concrete, like mb said, body language is about all ya got to go on. plus sounding can detect some. generally speaking the best way to avoid hard objects in trees is to manage those trees without removal. ;)

not always possible i know...

Or take 'em down now instead of putting all that junk on/in to begin with. :/:
 
Or take 'em down now instead of putting all that junk on/in to begin with. :/:

No trees, no problems! :|:

Your proactive euthanasia approach has one hitch: People value big old trees.

sotc, who profits most by NATMP? those who sell cabling services.
Never thought of that needing a website--what would you put on it?
 
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