Originally Posted by Ekka

LOL, no more pics coz it was starting to get dark, the groundy was leaving, I had stumps to grind, load to dump and pick the kids up from after school care before 6 (it's dark here at 5pm these days you know)

However, here's the deal.

The hinge was nice and parallel, maybe 3/4" hingewood, text book stuff. (had to be due to potential insurance claim)

The entire cambium (sapwood) was compromised, like honeycomb ... however the heartwood was 100% good.

So, it wasn't like the typical scene of termite but rather some borer infestation feeding on the cambium.

Stump grinding, roots were good, I'd say 100% in tact.

So from a VTA point of view it was really UGLY

From a structural engineers point of view, OK

Moral of the story ... well there's two.

1/ Better to be safe than sorry.

2/ Never assume more than you can see, a drill test would have confirmed integrity. Just think if this were some significant tree and you felled it, no hollow, no decay, no termites..... Ooops, egg on your face.

I have mentioned this a lot before but I will say in a consulting capacity I'm starting to drill them all where there's any VTA that tells me possible decay.