Big codom oak -- cable or fell?

pantheraba

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I stopped on a cold call a few days ago and struck up a good conversation with a farmer nearby. He asked me to look at the big, beautiful oak in his front yard. He used to do treework with his father years ago and realizes the oak has the miseries. The crack has been slowly opening. At first I wondered about cabling the large downhill lead to the other one...then I considered that if the downhill lead fails and the cable holds it, the held lead could be swung around into the house...realistic?

I am wondering if removal is best before it fails...maybe just take out the tree that leans towards the field? (the right lead as you look towards the house) The left (uphill) lead has a lean away from the house (though it does threaten the driveway and cul de sac where my Saturn is parked.)

Thoughts?

The veggies are what he insisted I take with me...WONDERFUL tomatoes they are!
 

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It depends on the customers risk tolerance. I'd do some weight reduction pruning, cable and keep it, if it was mine. I don't believe that either side of the tree was ever supporting the other side.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #3
Good feedback...he did mention getting some limbs cut back that are over the house from the downhill tree. Any weight removed from that side of the tree would have to be for the good.

Can you steer me towards some reading on "weight reduction pruning"? recommended practices, preferred procedures, etc.? It is not a topic that I have delved into before.
 
Yeah, thought this IS a codom, it's really more like 2 separate trees that happen to be REALLY close to eachother.

From the pics it looks like it isn't right over the house.

I like it. I'd cable it if it were my tree.
 
Concur with Nick and Darin. Really significant tree. I would try and save it as long as she'll stand. Reduction prune and cable. Follow up visits..... yada yada ...
 
Cable the sucker, several times; way high, midway, then lower... or at least twice. I wouldn't bother with bracing.
 
Gary, I would sound the trunk with a mallet, use a probe to get into that opening to feel for soft wood find the depth etc. Also want to pull away some of the soil from the base to see the condition of those buttress roots on the compression side. If I were to rate it based on the risk scale and at first glance from the photos you would be:

Probability of Failure: 4
Size of defective part: 3
Target: 2

so you're at a 9 which would mean you'd be in the high risk category but not too high on the scale (goes to 12 in the process of failing).

Cabling and weight reduction may bring that number down to a 7 or 8 if done correctly, and that's definitely a keeper. Weight reduction is just thinning and reduction cuts in the outer 1/4 of the canopy. Cool tree!

jp:D
 
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  • #8
Lots of good info there, Jon...thanks much.

I wondered about multiple cables, MB...sounds right.
 
Cable for sure. How much of a weight reduction could be done to make a significant impact, without putting the tree in a significant amount of stress?
 
I see Jon has had his TRACE! How'd you do?

My opinon, the first thing to be done is to move that grill out of the target zone, bolt a fire box onto the side of it and spend the day smoking a brisket while you did some pruning and then cabling.

When pruning something like that for weight reduction, you have so much trunk weight in the formula that you need to look for some big cuts where yoiu may be able to remove a few entire limbs, then get out on the ends and do some drop crotch pruning (reduction) where it counts. A pickup load of brush won't make much difference to a heavy tree like that
 
Here, I'd cut down at least the portion that is likely to hit the house.

Here's a similar tree/situation that we took out last August.

<iframe width="420" height="345" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/689dzs_6V_k" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
Good advice so far.

If I read the pictures well, it looks to lean parellel to the front of the house, with some laterals that would hit the roof. Brick house should be pretty solid to take a hit, with lean-side laterals to cushion if it fell.

Looks like its worth keeping to me. I'd have it in my yard.

Butch, I'm wondering why you advice against bracing???

Maybe expand mulch bed to move grass further out. Is it irrigated? Incompatible with the oaks roots?
 
If you cabled it, and if it then failed, the cable could swing the failed tree into the house. If you leave it alone and it failed, it would most likely miss the house. Many times people's first inclination will result in the opposite effect from what is desired.
 
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  • #19
Sean you read it right...some of the laterals would probably hit the house if it failed as it is now. And, like Brian says, it also looks to me when on site that if the left lead held and the right/downhill lead failed that a cable could swing the tree towards the house. Alex and I plan to do a closer study soon to see what he thinks.
 
That depends on the angles of the tree, cables can cause more problems than they solve if installed in the wrong tree or at the wrong angle. Not every tree has the right angle to install a cable effectively
 
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  • #23
That's how it looked to me at first perusal, Willie. The angles don't add up to certainty to properly contain a failed lead. I'm concerned about trying to contain a failure and inadvertently steering the failed lead to the house. A closer look should help understand it better.
 
Just remember, Gary; you touch it, you own it- from a liability standpoint. Unrestrained, I also believe a lead failure would drop it harmlessly away from the house. Restrained... it's a crap shoot.
 
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  • #25
Yep, Erik...thanks. That is exactly what has been playing thru my mind. I like to look at that tree but do not want to "own" it.
 
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