Climbing a big old oak - unedited

[Peter Bomen]

The reason I started filming my climbing and pruning was to be able to watch and learn from it afterwards. Many times when I see myself climbing from my comfortable chair, I notice things that I could have done more efficient, and notice where I am losing time and/or energy... 

Only after a while I started editing little films with music just for fun (I have a background in music production), and throwing this online. After quite some questions from people it made me think about where I am going with this.. 

 

Future ideas aside, I decided to already throw (very boring) unedited climbing online, and maybe it can already be inspirational for some, or maybe I can get commented and learn something from others... Learning from it was the first reason anyway.

 

 

Edited Sunday at 09:16 by Peter Bomen

[Doug Tait]

For me that's not boring at all. I like unedited, it feels natural, real if you like.

Edited videos of lump after lump crashing down are all very well but I enjoy the real time climber perspective a lot more, especially from a better climber than I.

Thanks Peter.

[peds]

Well if we are here to learn things, does the reconsidered cut after deciding against that first step cut have a name, not even a minute in to the video? V cut?

 

Please outline your reasoning behind using it instead of an inboard step cut in this situation specifically, and suggest three positives, negatives, or otherwise differences between the two for usage in general. 

 

Five points available.

Edited Sunday at 09:27 by peds

[Peter Bomen]

19 hours ago, peds said:

Well if we are here to learn things, does the reconsidered cut after deciding against that first step cut have a name, not even a minute in to the video? V cut?

 

Please outline your reasoning behind using it instead of an inboard step cut in this situation specifically, and suggest three positives, negatives, or otherwise differences between the two for usage in general. 

 

Five points available.

This is a poorly executed fracture pruning cut. It didn't really fracture because my cuts were too deep and the branch wasn't heavy enough. The objective is by cutting in that V shape on the upper side, the branch will eventually just break instead of having a clean cut. Maybe this one is better called a coronet cut, which is roughing up a clean cut, so it exposes more wood and looks a bit more like a natural break.

 

The main reason I used this in this situation is because I could do it without damaging the lower or inner crown. With fracture pruning you have no control over the falling branch. Here I just tickled the outside of the epicormic growth on the lower stem (which is very important to leave intact on this tree), which was ok for me. Here I decided to leave a stump of the dead branch, and fracturing just makes it look more natural. 

 

Positives:

- More natural look

- More wood exposed for microhabitat. The cracks and irregularities of the break are very interesting for invertebrates

- In the case of living wood: there is a reasoning that there is more epicormic growth (due to more cambium being exposed) and that the epicormic growth is better attached than on a clean cut.

- And a tree would be able to compartmentalise a stump better in a natural break than a clean cut.

- But to my understanding we can use more research on this last 2 points. Any way trees have been breaking branched for far longer than we have been cutting them

 

Negatives:

- In the case of a small diameter living branch (our textbook allowed cutting diameters), a clean cut outside the branch collar will have better compartmentalisation and overgrowth of the wound. 

- The uncontrolled falling factor might be a risk for tree and climber. For example a bigger branch could fall, bounce back and damage the stem or roots with its butt. A break could peel off more bark than expected and wound the stem. Or a branch could damage other branches when falling. And for the climber fracture pruning a top is especially risky and has to be done very carefully.

 

So when to use it.

- on living wood: I never use it in the upper crown. In the upper crown I want clean cuts that compartmentalise well and will have less reaction growth due to te cut. I prefer to do this on lower bigger branches where I do want more reaction growth, and all the other positives.

- on dead wood: when the assignment is to remove dead wood for safety, I try to leave stumps that I know will not fall out of the tree (very species dependent). Smaller branches I try to break by hand many times, which technically also is fracture pruning

- And then the client is the one paying and sometimes has to say something too...

 

 

[peds]

Very thorough, you get all 5 points. Cheers.