RC1 pics

RC1

I have a small collection hosted on AOL

http://aol.pixum.co.uk/slide/3364036

Ive been meaning to scan in more of my pre-digital but have yet to get round to it. A lot of the same sort of stuff but worth a look.

Choose the slideshow option and scroll down when viewing the elongated ones.

Cheers

treefeller

Youve got some cool pics their mate

Eric Frei

I see quite a few euc shots, must be from his Aussie visit.

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jim1nz

Great photos mate, big killings

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SPEED ALWAYS FOLLOWS TECHNIQUE

RC1

I was about to post this hours ago when my aol stopped, again!

Today’s Job was with Nick Bailey Tree Services AKA ‘Nick’ on Treeworld. This was the second attempt at this tree, the first, a fortnight ago, we had to postpone because of strong winds. However, everything was in place for today, good weather forecast, everyone primed and ready to go.

Anyway, we arrived to find a car had been parked under the tree, and the owner apparently away for the week-end. To cut a long story short, it took four and a half hours to get the car moved, so by the time we actually started, there was a feeling of pressure in the air. After a somewhat messy start in the tree (small lifts and crown-cleaning to make room) things started to flow and I certainly felt my heart-rate drop back down to normal.

About 3 hours later all the branches had been chipped and all that remained was the timber and the final clean-up. In the end we had to leave the lowest part of the trunk at stood at 8 feet as it was absolutely riddled with nails.

Full credit goes to Nick for his level headedness and diplomatic skills throughout what was a very frustrating morning.

10 pictures in total, should have some good footage to follow in the next week or so. Thanks

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Eric Frei

Dang cars! Tell you what a couple of trolley jacks would have done the trick.

How much did this piece weigh?

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Ace Master

Some great pic RC1
Cranes make it so quick and easy for every one, when used right.
That lift that Ekka's looking at, would it be around 1.8 tons.

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Eric Frei

Maybe Nosak could learn a lesson here.

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RC1

I think this is the one (attached), I should have asked Maurice how much but forgot, it was a messy peice and a messy tree

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RC1

Sweet chestnut - shortening

This is obviously an old tree (sweet chestnut), might have even been a coppice at one time, hence the multi stems. Anyway, last year it had 50 ft blow out of one of the stems and similar about 8 years previous.

The owner wanted to retain the tree but was obviously fearful of the remaining two leaders collapsing like the others. A decision was made that the remaining leaders be shortened to the same height as the most recent blow-out, thus creating a more compact crown which can will no doubt regenerate new growth and with periodic thinning (5 years) will eventually result in a new crown of acceptable appearance.

Call it topping if you want but I could tell from the movement of the tree once up there that the big wood was obviously defective….this was confirmed when my saw whizzed through it like a hot knife through butter, a brown-rot but perhaps just due to its age as there was no other obvious cause.

I get a job like this (heavy reduction) only about once every 2 years and while such practice might seem somewhat severe, I believe that under the circumstances it was the most practical option.

I did get some video of the tree but it’ll take me a while to edit.

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RC1

last few

I try not to smile for photo's but my colleague provoked it in that last shot by shouting obscenities at me duting the final decsent

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Eric Frei

LOL, everyones going to be too shy to comment.

Over mature trees can have large failures, many times the foliage is just on the tips like the New Farm Jacs and figs here leaving little opportunity of viable reduction.

Next thing ya know it's a lop job.

If it does regrow then there's more issues and maintenance.

Could be a long story this, if at any stage you want me to split this off as a new thread etc let me know ... however a debate is likely to occur.

There's other factors at play too, like location, habitat, targets etc

Here's the argument, if topping this tree has made it safer then why not top others to make them just as safe?

If it works here then why not everywhere?

Why not just remove the whole tree and start fresh?

Reg, it would be an opportunity lost or ostrich's heads in the sand to not look closer at this.

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RC1

Since the collapse of the main leader a year ago it has thrown out shoots all over the place so I have little doubt that it will do the same again, probably at a rate of about 3ft a year.

Maintenance wise, like I said, periodic thinning every 5 years until a natural (spaced out) looking crown is established.

I have used this method before, but as a last resort really, when failure seems imminent.

This tree must be around 3oo years old, about 10+ ft across at the base and should go on to out live us all while at the same time provide for an excellent wildlife habitat while alive and dead thereafter.

The tree-owner is 85 years old so certainly doesn't want to spend all the money it would have cost to remove the thing entirely, and what would be the point anyway? He has spent thousand$ on re-plantings and maintenance over the years so his grounds are now a huge mix of new, old and dead. The idea of uniformed landscape offers little in either appeal or biodiversity.

I'm not one for topping trees, but the argument for the removal of this one, all things considered, simply didn't make sense.

treeseer

How rotten was the inner wood where you made the final cuts?

Why not climb higher and prune less with smaller wounds?

Did you consider cabling?

I'm not a sweet chestnut expert but that looks excessive; asking for epicormics and heartrot.

Steve Tipton

From the information supplied, I think it's a fair solution.
the main thing is that the maintenance is kept up, IMO.
Steve

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Heightmaster

OutofMytree

Ekka it seems you can predict the future......

I would really like to hear a well informed debate on pollarding or other controversial pruning techniques.

Let me be the second to stick my neck on the block. In WA many older suburbs have above ground powerlines that run along the verge between the footpath and the road. So of course, various councils have planted trees under the powerlines. These trees must be pollarded annually. There was a tragic story several years ago of a young child who recieved serious burns when a verge tree, in contact with overhead powerlines, earthed through the trunk.

I read the Australian standards you posted recently Ekka and there is a section describing pollarding and the methods recommended under the standards. It was quite an eye opener for me.

I been vocal in condemning this



but I also believe there is a place for pollarding as part of a REGULAR maintainance program. The emphasis being regular repruning not the more common cut and leave for a decade.

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OutofMytree

I could not seem to open all the photo's so perhaps I missed something. What exactly do you mean by pruning less with smaller wounds??

Eric Frei

I have written a bit of a "blurb" on pollarding on my website here. We are all about trees - qualified tree pruning Brisbane

Here in Brisbane most trees are evergreen and most trees wont pollard too well.

In Adelaide, they pollarded London Planes a lot.

However, the so called pollarding of eucs etc in most cases is just topping.

The debate is what is the difference between topping and pollarding?

This is perhaps the easiest and most concise explanation yet.

Source: Afman Consulting - The difference between Topping and Pollarding trees

You dont cut some 2' dia trunk and call it a pollard, pollard's usually start off smaller, a few inches dia is best.

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JohN Dee

When you prune a tree, you are harming it - creating wounds. Less cutting is better for the tree as it retains more leaves which in turn creates more food (sugars) for itself. The smaller the wound, the less sugars that have to be exerted to healing over the wound as well as the wound healing up faster and sealing the tree up again from pathogen threat.

Our net is slow at the moment (bloody over downloading) so I can't view all of the pics tonight, but I will later on to add my two cents worth on the pics/situation.

Basically my view point on topping is not black and white and IMHO should not be for all other Arborists as well. In a similar sense, I was watching the TV series House a few months back where they had to kill a little girl for 30 seconds and then bring her back to life to help her get over some disorder she had. I think along the lines of that being said, topping would have to come down to the individual Arborist doing the work as to whether or not it is acceptable form of practice to get the long term goal achieved.

Anyways I'm out the gf is nagging me to come to bed.

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RC1

The tree was already riddled with heartrot, even thoughout the branches, and we are hopeful of epicormics

Cabling, while great for holding together weak unions, does little to regenerate new growth or hold together decayed wood above the cabling point. Had the original leader still been in tact then a more suitably positioned cable may have been a viable option.

Consider also that since the mainleader blew out (a stark warning if ever there was one), what remained had a 35 degree lean and now totally exposed. We could have attempted a lesser reduction but more than likely this would have only speeded up its decline rather than regenarate a tree of this species and age. Things aren't always so black and white where industry-best-practice automatically provides the most logical answer....every tree and circumstances are different after-all. Thanks

newguy18

You are the crane master.

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old schooler

willem

Since the Netherlands are involved, I also like to make a comment in this thread.
I'll try to explain through pictures.




These trees have been around farms in Holland for hunderds of years. They were used as a living woodsupply for firewood of broomsticks, nowadays maintained as cultural and ecological landscape elements. As you can see in the pictures they will rot and eventualy break a part.

The other kind of trees are shade trees. These trees were planted close to old farmhouses to provide shade on hot summerdays.


With these trees rotting is less but often rot does almost alway occur.

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Oldtimer

Ok, here is my contribution to your Photos collection project. I found this little climbing buddy this weekend while climbing in Atlanta, Georgia at the Annual Tree Climbers International Rendezvous, Hope you guys like it.

http://farm4.static.??????.com/3216/...96224914a8.jpg

Angus

Great pics Reg!

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Angus McMahon
Sherbrooke Tree Service

willem

I already posted this at the video, but since this involves the same tree I also like to post it here.
I think in this case the shortning is part of the natural proces. It's veteran tree. After reaching it's full mature size and staying that way for maybe 100 years or more the tree enters the last stage of it' natural lifespan.
Some events ( perhaps a storm of fungal decay) set in the collapsing of the crown. In the meantime at a lower level new sprouts appear and make up a secondary crown.
You helped this proces to take place in a controlled and save manner.
This tree has more ecological potential that maybe 100 young trees somewhere on a citystreet.
In parks and public forest more trees should be able to undergo the final stages of their live. This could take more than 2 centuries .



I think there already is a thread about these veterantrees. May be Ekka can help??

Good job RC1, in giving this advice and helping to maitain this veteran.

Also great for you when you can return every 5 years to help maitain it.

letigre

check out this madness i saw the other day driving through pymble. unlike reg's situation where the pollarding/topping is responsive and the best option for retention, this looks as tho these two salignas were getting a bit too big for theie owners. absolute crime against nature. imagine how magestic they would have been. notice the grooves for the friction drum. i reckon it was done about 8 to 12 years ago. anyone care to take a guess?

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Garry Brockley

I dont know the growth rates on these trees in that area but i would have said more like 3 to 4 years max, that is on bodge job and a half why cant we castrate people who do this type of work that would stop it.

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newguy18

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old schooler

Eric Frei

Habitat tree. Chance of basal failure low, prune epi's off on regular schedule.

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RC1

A beech - crane - removal today:

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