Do trees fall over??

[john87]

Hi There!

Was looking at a tree earlier and it seems to have a hell of a lean.. The thing i am concerned about is that behind the tree if you see what i mean, is a rather large bulge in the ground. looks to me like the tree is getting ready to fall.. Cannot see any cracks in the ground, but when you look at the height and weight of the tree the overturning moment must be huge.

 

Here is a picture that does not really show the bulge, but you can clearly see the lean.. What you all think??

 

john,,

[Mick Dempsey]

Yep, I’d be looking to have that out sooner rather than later.

[john87]

49 minutes ago, Mick Dempsey said:

Yep, I’d be looking to have that out sooner rather than later.

Yes, my friend took the phots with her phone and they do not do the thing justice. It is a HUGE tree, scots pine?? and it leans at an alarming angle.. The bulge behind it is not a good sign either!!

 

john..

[Stubby]

4 minutes ago, john87 said:

Yes, my friend took the phots with her phone and they do not do the thing justice. It is a HUGE tree, scots pine?? and it leans at an alarming angle.. The bulge behind it is not a good sign either!!

 

john..

The root plate is lifting a bit . If there is anything that could be a potential target , including people , then maybe its time to go . Having said that there is a huge larch near me that has a 15 degree lean on it and has been like that for as long as I can remember .

[Retired Climber]

It's going to fall over sooner or later. 

 

What's the ground like? If it's prone to waterlogging that's when I reckon it will go over, when the grounds soaked. 

[Patrick goulding]

I agree with everyone.  if it’s worrying you and would like to put your mind at ease have the tree removed.👍 

[Stere]

Quote

Do trees fall over??

 

Yes all of then do eventually.

[Khriss]

Trees naturally lean well, i would be sucking my teeth at that one thou, whats it going to hit if it goes? K

[Dan Maynard]

I usually say that lean in itself is not bad - change in lean is the thing to watch for.

Bulge in the ground could be root plate lifting as Stubby said, look also at the branches and see if you think they point up naturally or are out of balance. From the stems we can see it looks quite an unbalanced tree, has there been one taken down next to it? Another danger sign is sudden change in surroundings.

Saying all that, doesn't look good to me either, definitely sounds like get someone to have a look if you are not sure.

[AA Teccie (Paul)]

Hmmm, previous wind-rock that has (temporarily) stabilized but absolutely of concern if there are 'targets' within the likely failure zone (it looks very 'weighted' in the direction of fall').

 

As a matter of course, I'm very careful in my use of the term "leaning tree". Where the tree in question is, for instance a woodland edge tree that then grows vertical in the upper crown, I describe it as "growing on an angle" (a mouthful but hopefully removes any concern to the tree owner that may be associated with the word "leaning"...still, that said, the Tower of Pisa is still there...or 'was' last I heard )