This tree split during some high winds we had a couple of weeks ago. I told them it should come out and they wouldn't hear of it. The owners are quite elderly but very spry. They weren't home when the tree split as they were golfing in Palm Springs. The husband is 92 and the wife is a little younger. The targets under the split portion of the tree are a dinky fence and some peach trees and the telephone wires for the house, so not much to be concerned with there. I told them I thought this was the beginning of the end for this tree. I ended up bracing the tree by putting in two bolts of 3/4" allthread which I lengthened to 4 1/2'. I drilled the holes using a 7/8" wood boring bit welded to a 7/16" rod that was 4' long. The homeowners weren't home when we got there and there was no electrical outlet on the outside of the residence so I had to go back to my house and get my generator. It wouldn't start, so I tipped it over get rid of the gas in it and put about a quart of saw gas in it and it started right up. Oh, it's a Modesto Ash, about 60 years old, and the split (if you can't see it) goes to within a foot of the ground.
Can this tree be saved?
- Thread starter stehansen
- Start date
- Replies 54
- Views 7K
MasterBlaster
Administrator Emeritus
Some cables wouldn't hurt.
What he said : )
The 'no targets' thing is a goodness. Maybe have your customer sign some sort of waiver ?
What a beautiful tree !
OTGBOSTON
punk in drublic
I'd also add some extreme weight reduction, to the point of ouch.
treelooker
Treehouser
Cabling is a much better alternative imo. Light reduction maybe, per need.
Nice work, good approach to the problem. The end may be a long ways off thanks to your work. When your client's 92, how many years ya gotta buy?
sotc
Dormant hero!!
definatly add cables where possible. common problem with the modesto ash
F
Frans
Guest
Through bolts should be used in tandem with cables (what they already said)
Do you have any pictures of the finished bolting? I assume you used common round washers, and that you used a come-along to suck the split tight before tightening the nuts...
Do you have any pictures of the finished bolting? I assume you used common round washers, and that you used a come-along to suck the split tight before tightening the nuts...
TheTreeWiseMen
Redneck Limey
Everything I would do has already been said. 
OTGBOSTON
punk in drublic
I don't believe I'll argue this with you on yet another board
Instead I'll just defer to your superior knowledge based on the fact that you have been practicing the fine art/science of Arboriculture longer than I have been alive
NickfromWI
King of Splices
I second the cabling AND thru-bolting. I'd add just a gentle thinning to reduce weight here and there, but I'd focus mostly on the cabling and bolting.
This looks like a classic example where 9/10 tree guys would tell them, "yep, you better cut it down and I'll do it for X dollars." But a true pro can look at it and sell them a bigger canopy for years to come.
love
nick
This looks like a classic example where 9/10 tree guys would tell them, "yep, you better cut it down and I'll do it for X dollars." But a true pro can look at it and sell them a bigger canopy for years to come.
love
nick
treelooker
Treehouser
See, OTG, even this young buck says going easy on the saw is the way to go. Why cut it back if you can hold it up instead?
O and Don't pull that vast deference due to age crap on me, beanie boy. The only vas deferens I know about got cut and cauterized long ago!
(Medical joke for those beyond procreation)
I cannot disagree with this.
There's some fuel for the fire ! Har !!!
Seriously, let's thru-bolt it, cable it, shake chicken bones at it... but for gawd's sake don't do weight reduction ???
I kinda don't get it ?
MasterBlaster
Administrator Emeritus
What don't you get, T? The tree is stressed out enough as it is already, and it needs every single (food factory) leaf to bring it back around again.
For now, rely on rods and cables - later on down the road a bit of lightening can be done.
For now, rely on rods and cables - later on down the road a bit of lightening can be done.
The tree is ready to bust a gut... in fact should probably come down. Owners are 178 yrs. old >>> Doing drastic weight reduction might just let the 'folks' enjoy a few more years of seeing the tree ?
Cabling & bracing might just do it ? I wouldn't be shy about weight reduction izzall.
Cabling & bracing might just do it ? I wouldn't be shy about weight reduction izzall.
squisher
THE CALM ONE!!!!
Lol Butch you read as if Guy has hijacked your account
I'd fell it
I'd fell it
SkwerI
Treehouser
MasterBlaster
Administrator Emeritus
Well was I lying?
rumination
Migratory Hippie Arbolist
I'm with Butch on this one. If the rods and cables will hold it up then why prune?
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #19
Thanks everyone. Frans I used the standard flat washer and I was thinking I should have probably made something bigger. I didn't take any pictures of the finished product as it was getting dark. It is just about a quarter of a mile from me so I can get some pictures soon and I will go see about cabling it. It doesn't show in the pictures but the limb that is cracked is about 3 times bigger than any other limb on the tree and so it doesn't present the classic cabling scenario. In addition the limbs on the opposite side of the tree don't go up as high as this one does and so the cable would be going down fairly steeply or if it went level it would be attached to some pretty small wood on the opposite side. I might cable to a limb that goes straight up in the middle and then run another cable down to a limb on the other side using the cental leader as a fulcrum. It is a pretty good looking tree. It was topped about 30 years ago and still has some damage from that but has been kind of restored the last few prunings. The tree is on the west side of the house and so it gives the homeowners a lot of good shade in the summer.
sotc
Dormant hero!!
if you cant put effective cabls in then you probably should do some weight reduction
OTGBOSTON
punk in drublic
My old boss had a saying; "If you ask 10 arborists how to save a particular tree, you're gonna get 10 different answers".
OTGBOSTON
punk in drublic
See, OTG, even this young buck says going easy on the saw is the way to go. Why cut it back if you can hold it up instead?
O and Don't pull that vast deference due to age crap on me, beanie boy. The only vas deferens I know about got cut and cauterized long ago!
(Medical joke for those beyond procreation)
Alright, you started it
Age has got nothing to do with it, but I do respect my elders and so I'd go along with your reccommendations. Mostly because I have learned a great deal from older arborists and could always stand to learn more.If it were up to me, I'd do the bolt, and the cable, and some weight reduction.
F
Frans
Guest
I stopped cabling about 12 years ago
Too worried about liability in my area
Too worried about liability in my area
MasterBlaster
Administrator Emeritus
I stopped cabling about 12 years ago
Even longer than that, here. People just don't ask for that anymore.
lumberjack
Young man on the go
I cabled a pecan last week
A simple single Cobra (used all the Cobra I had) and a failsafe made from 3/4" stable braid.
A simple single Cobra (used all the Cobra I had) and a failsafe made from 3/4" stable braid.
