Northern Tree Specialists

Sean Freeman · 15th June 2007, 05:48 AM

Believe it or not its the older part of town, where the original settlers lived in the 1890's....not in those buildings though

TrevMcRev · 22nd June 2007, 05:25 AM

Nearly makes it worth getting bitten by those crazy ants up there!

JohN Dee · 23rd June 2007, 05:34 AM

Mate, that is a great view!

One of the best reasons why I love tree work so much is for the view you get when you get to the top.

Sean Freeman · 4th July 2007, 04:23 AM

It was a big week last week and looks like this week is going to even bigger with the amount of trees to be processed after todays little effort. Four trees craned out of awkward spots, we were climbing, rigging and cutting most of the day 7hrs and with the help from our good mates at Allstate cranes had a lot of fun along the way....we only had time for pics of two of the trees but here they are.

Cutting the base using a step cut 90:10 after carefully thinking through the placement of the chains and the resulting movement in the tree as it is being lifted. Any adverse movement is being controlled by Stephen and the rigging line through a portawrap.

Lifting over the sheds

Placed gently on the other side

This second tree had even less room even more important to control the stem as we lifted her up also real concern over the tree inverting due to excess canopy weight. Again Stephen on the portawrap.

Not much room for error!

Nice work guys, now someone else process it ok?

Ekka · 4th July 2007, 01:33 PM

Was the 1st tree Albizia Lebeck and the 2nd Ficus Benjamina?

Sean Freeman · 4th July 2007, 01:51 PM

1.....Albizia lebeck
2.....Ficus microcarpa

JayD · 4th July 2007, 02:38 PM

Nice work Boa,..we expect no less from you blokes up there, Your first picy on the truck looks like the tree is actually growing out of the back of the truck!..Great pictures.

JohN Dee · 6th July 2007, 01:47 AM

Great work Boa, you guys get all the fun jobs

.

Sean Freeman · 6th July 2007, 02:22 AM

Thanks John, you know as I've said before I love working with cranes, especially when you get operators who are interested in your techniques and solutions to problems. We had so little room on the second pick of the Fig, I had to cut the base with no real escape route so securing the tree using the portawrap was the only solution, short of removing the tree piece by piece.
The dogman form All State Cranes Mike was perfectly happy once he saw the rigging line (7ton breaking strain) and the loopie for the porta wrap (12ton), Stephen Tim and myself always go out of our way to clearly define what we're going to do in a toolbox before anything happens, we document our risk assessments and always always get a majority agreement on the method we're going to use....doing this we have been able to do tricky jobs quicker, smarter and safer......now I just need to find a crane company that will let me rig myself off the ball........

Sean Freeman · 1st August 2007, 02:09 AM

Bit of an odd day today, real mixed bag, but variety is good.....thought I'd post these pics of Tim doing hat is probably the only retrenchment pruning to be done in NQ ever! (Well deliberately with both intention and understanding anyway)

These are mangos in the soon to be sold Defence grounds Jezzine Barracks Townsville, suspect they are around 100yrs old...we're doing an cyclic program of tree works for Defence and mitigating the risk from dead and decaying parts of these two trees (along with others) is part of that.

So some shots of the before during and after with Tim doing all the cutting, well the camera is heavy you know!

But its what was around the stem that caught my eye, now remember I think the tree is around 100yrs old, I also think I know what is going on here I've seen it before in a number of trees in different places....No its not the old big branch injury that hasn't closed though that has resulted in an interesting hollow that extends right up through the tree, its the loss of tissue functionality around almost 60% of the stem..look at the adventitious roots growing out of the bark tissues.

Now obviously its damage, but from what impact of line trimmers? well a possibility but unlikely to create what I can see in the bark tissues, a long spiral like wound travelling almost all the way round the stem circumference...I'll play with MS paint and show you what I see.

Sean Freeman · 1st August 2007, 04:26 AM

So here's some lines to highlight what is unclear from the photos alone
Under the adventitious roots and the woundwood is a patch of bark concealing the old wound, some of the roots have managed to bridge the wound and graft into the live stem tissues below.

Around the other side is the same story in fact it is even more obvious, the bark that has gradually grown over the wound can be easily lifted off but I didnt want to damage any more of the trees tissues

Now I think this type of injury is caused by water cutting into the bark again and again over many years, then the being stopped...either the watering system is altered, removed or discontinued...my quess for a system of the right era would be an early Travelling sprinkler like the Trailco T50 perhaps. Though the age indicated by the size of growth in the adventitious roots might arguably show that it occured much more recently, in which case popups of impact sprinklers would be the culprits.

Here's a recent water blasted Alstonia actinophylla

That photo was taken a year ago and the tree has unfortunately not survived (well half of it anyway) I'll try to get a shot of the dead half and the injury site, if council haven't already removed the tree.

Ekka · 1st August 2007, 07:22 AM

Well, got no worries of that here in Brisbane!

Good one though Boa, very interesting, the water eventually cuts through the bark or the pressure just compresses the fibres to the point they die.

Houthakker · 6th August 2007, 04:58 AM

PHP Code:

  So seeing as I'm a consulting Arborist thats what I do consult...write a four page polite but direct report to the Hospital admin about what I have seen who I am what I do and have done in this town and what my recommendations are. Now I will point out that I have recieved some flak from elsewhere about writing reports for free..devaluing our profession etc but thats ok I'll wear that I'm afraid people can hold that opinion.

Free consultation for several reasons, the person, company, municipality involved does not know enough about us arborists. SAVE TREES! Here in Sweden trees fall in big numbers just because people bought and installed a satelitedish! Municipality's I've worked for appreciate that you say no, I do not take a 100 year old maple down for a dish. I'm busy with my ordinary work but cannot pass by such malpractices without saying anything. Keep up the work and save trees, stop being bothered about pennies when a trees value is at stake. A trees value that could have been up to tens of thousands of dollars but got wasted because of mismanagement. Makes me very angry.

Sean Freeman · 30th August 2007, 10:01 PM

Here's some pics of the work we recently did on two Ficus benjamina out at Charters Towers for the Shire Council. The two were part of a planting of three figs along the road edge probably around 100-120yrs old, road renovations/resurfacing and minor landscaping planned by the council raised concerns that these trees needed work. Can't really remember now whether the feeling was they should be removed and hence the council wanted to pass the parcel...or whether residents wanted them protected (suspect now it was the former!! but thats ok as you'll see)

One of the three was very badly lopped and affected by fungal decay through the stem entirely...could push a stick right through from one side to the other..this tree is being removed by council.

The other two had large stubs from years of abuse (lopping) some problematic elongated epicormic regrowth, sunscald, some confliction low branches and impoverished soils.

DSCF8407.JPG

So we drove out there and removed all large significant deadwood with targets, lifted the lower branches where over driveways and footpath, reduced the elongation on the worst areas of the canopy where either confliction or the epicormic nature of the regrowth caused concern.

Total amount of live canopy removed 10%

.

Before DSCF0317rs.JPG

After DSCF0316rs.JPG

Some shots of Stephen working hard

on the pole saw reducing the length of a limb with major confliction where his feet are.

DSCF0298rs.JPG
DSCF0299rs.JPG

Then based on a comprehensive soil test undertaken when the original Arboricultural report was written, we drenched the soil of the vegetation strip with water containing raw molasses, concntrated fish emulsion, dried seaweed extract, and N-Fix. (I have no photos of us doing that sorry)

The best thing about the works we undertook out at the Towers was the minimal impact on the trees, these are figs yes, and have all the genetic advantages over many other species that Ficus have...but one of the three has already fallen to the combination of neglect and malpractice, esential with trees this age in conditions like these to measure your dose very carefully....equally important to ensure the client understands that they are not going to see mounds of cut branches and many wounds to show how hard we've been working!

The soil works carried out on these two trees is the key to their long term improvement in health and vigour..our intention is to revisit the two on our way back from treating my special friend out at Hughenden in the next month, I'll take much better pics and more of them on that trip watch this space since as some of you know Veteran trees are my main love and we have so few left in Qld...I'm referring to the Explorers' Tree Hughenden BTW.

15th June 2007, 05:48 AM	#26 (permalink)
Sean Freeman PDF King & Arborist Extrodinaire Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Townsville Nth Queensland & Gold Coast Sth Queensland Posts: 1,521	Believe it or not its the older part of town, where the original settlers lived in the 1890's....not in those buildings though __________________ Sean Trees are poems that earth writes upon the sky, We fell them down and turn them into paper, That we may record our emptiness. - Kahlil Gibran

22nd June 2007, 05:25 AM	#27 (permalink)
TrevMcRev Astronaut Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Posts: 670	Nearly makes it worth getting bitten by those crazy ants up there! __________________ Melbourne Arborist, Total Tree Care, Pruning, Tree and Stump Removal

23rd June 2007, 05:34 AM	#28 (permalink)
JohN Dee Astronaut Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Sydney, Australia Posts: 679	Mate, that is a great view! One of the best reasons why I love tree work so much is for the view you get when you get to the top. __________________ Climber with slow climbing speed, must make up with mighty chainsaw roar. Free Tree and Green Industry Link Directory Red : Green : Blue

4th July 2007, 01:33 PM	#30 (permalink)
Ekka Eric Frei Administrator - Brisbane L5 (Dip) Hort Cert III Arb + some Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Brisbane Posts: 5,659	Was the 1st tree Albizia Lebeck and the 2nd Ficus Benjamina? __________________ Remember to use the "search" function, if you have answers/questions post them so everyone can benefit. Free Tree and Green Industry Link Directory Qualified Brisbane Tree Lopping Brisbane Tree Care, Consultations and Arborist Reports Forum Sponsors

4th July 2007, 01:51 PM	#31 (permalink)
Sean Freeman PDF King & Arborist Extrodinaire Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Townsville Nth Queensland & Gold Coast Sth Queensland Posts: 1,521	1.....Albizia lebeck 2.....Ficus microcarpa __________________ Sean Trees are poems that earth writes upon the sky, We fell them down and turn them into paper, That we may record our emptiness. - Kahlil Gibran

4th July 2007, 02:38 PM	#32 (permalink)
JayD Astronaut Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Sydney Posts: 821	Nice work Boa,..we expect no less from you blokes up there, Your first picy on the truck looks like the tree is actually growing out of the back of the truck!..Great pictures. __________________ Free Tree and Green Industry Link Directory

6th July 2007, 01:47 AM	#33 (permalink)
JohN Dee Astronaut Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Sydney, Australia Posts: 679	Great work Boa, you guys get all the fun jobs . __________________ Climber with slow climbing speed, must make up with mighty chainsaw roar. Free Tree and Green Industry Link Directory Red : Green : Blue

6th July 2007, 02:22 AM	#34 (permalink)
Sean Freeman PDF King & Arborist Extrodinaire Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Townsville Nth Queensland & Gold Coast Sth Queensland Posts: 1,521	Thanks John, you know as I've said before I love working with cranes, especially when you get operators who are interested in your techniques and solutions to problems. We had so little room on the second pick of the Fig, I had to cut the base with no real escape route so securing the tree using the portawrap was the only solution, short of removing the tree piece by piece. The dogman form All State Cranes Mike was perfectly happy once he saw the rigging line (7ton breaking strain) and the loopie for the porta wrap (12ton), Stephen Tim and myself always go out of our way to clearly define what we're going to do in a toolbox before anything happens, we document our risk assessments and always always get a majority agreement on the method we're going to use....doing this we have been able to do tricky jobs quicker, smarter and safer......now I just need to find a crane company that will let me rig myself off the ball........ __________________ Sean Trees are poems that earth writes upon the sky, We fell them down and turn them into paper, That we may record our emptiness. - Kahlil Gibran

1st August 2007, 07:22 AM	#37 (permalink)
Ekka Eric Frei Administrator - Brisbane L5 (Dip) Hort Cert III Arb + some Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Brisbane Posts: 5,659	Well, got no worries of that here in Brisbane! Good one though Boa, very interesting, the water eventually cuts through the bark or the pressure just compresses the fibres to the point they die. __________________ Remember to use the "search" function, if you have answers/questions post them so everyone can benefit. Free Tree and Green Industry Link Directory Qualified Brisbane Tree Lopping Brisbane Tree Care, Consultations and Arborist Reports Forum Sponsors

6th August 2007, 04:58 AM	#38 (permalink)
Houthakker Gettin' motoring Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Sweden Posts: 34	'free consultation' PHP Code: So seeing as I'm a consulting Arborist thats what I do consult...write a four page polite but direct report to the Hospital admin about what I have seen who I am what I do and have done in this town and what my recommendations are. Now I will point out that I have recieved some flak from elsewhere about writing reports for free..devaluing our profession etc but thats ok I'll wear that I'm afraid people can hold that opinion. Free consultation for several reasons, the person, company, municipality involved does not know enough about us arborists. SAVE TREES! Here in Sweden trees fall in big numbers just because people bought and installed a satelitedish! Municipality's I've worked for appreciate that you say no, I do not take a 100 year old maple down for a dish. I'm busy with my ordinary work but cannot pass by such malpractices without saying anything. Keep up the work and save trees, stop being bothered about pennies when a trees value is at stake. A trees value that could have been up to tens of thousands of dollars but got wasted because of mismanagement. Makes me very angry.

20th September 2007, 07:04 PM	#40 (permalink)
Sean Freeman PDF King & Arborist Extrodinaire Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Townsville Nth Queensland & Gold Coast Sth Queensland Posts: 1,521