Ash Die Back - when does it become unsafe?

[sime42]

I.e. is this tree ok to climb, or is it a MEWP job? It's defintely succumbing, there's lots of epicormic growth shooting straight up from lower limbs. I feel like a bit of a pussy to be asking the question, I'd normally climb a tree like this without a second thought. However, I have no experience with ADB, no idea of the timescales involved. Does the wood only get weak and brittle once the tree has died, this one is obviously very much still alive. The tree belongs to some friends of mine, they've asked me if I want to do it, and they told me they've had another firm in to look who said it would definitely need a MEWP, and quoted as such.  Thanks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[GarethM]

MEWP, looks like a utter PITA

[peds]

Some of those laterals towards the shed definitely wouldn't take you out as far as you'd like them to before snapping. If you can stay closer to the middle and snip off big chunks it'd be fine, but it doesn't look like that shed and fence could take much punishment.

I'd probably pass.

[Mark Bolam]

I would say it’s climbable, but as peds has said those laterals would be hell without a MEWP over the roof.

 

[Stere]

Least the  roof looks like tin rather than an asbestos one?

[Dan Maynard]

I've been watching an old ash round here dying back gradually, it just fell over in one with white rot in the roots, so I'd say have a careful look for secondary fungal activity too.

[MattyF]

Spring felling ash makes cuts much more liable to barbers chair as the saps rising …. Kind of doubled with chalara making it harder for the sap to rise as it blocks the cells causing excess sap build up in stems in my view making it even more of a possibility. 

[AHPP]

It's a picker tree anyway. 

[sime42]

Nice one cheers all. So a clear consensus is forming, it's a MEWP job. My mates are happy to hire one in and there's a large area of flat concrete to the right of the tree, around the barn, so access should be good.

 

[sime42]

8 hours ago, peds said:

Some of those laterals towards the shed definitely wouldn't take you out as far as you'd like them to before snapping. If you can stay closer to the middle and snip off big chunks it'd be fine, but it doesn't look like that shed and fence could take much punishment.

I'd probably pass.

 

8 hours ago, Mark Bolam said:

I would say it’s climbable, but as peds has said those laterals would be hell without a MEWP over the roof.

 

 

Is that assessment based on the fact that it has Die Back, so that much weaker, or a general feeling on long laterals like that? I'd be pretty confident in it being doable if it were a normal healthy tree, I quite like a challenge. It didn't look that bad from the ground.

 

I'm going to use a MEWP now anyway, but just trying to gather knowledge on the implications of Chalara for my own future reference really.

Last year, fully dressed in it's leaves, that tree didn't look too bad at all, you could barely see anything amiss with it.