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Large entry wounds points.


redmoosefaction
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I know it's bad for the tree, and probably spells the death nell for the tree... but, hypothetically, if you had to take a large limb of at a critical point of the tree, eg. main trunk, the rot will start setting in before the wound wood can do it's stuff... what is the reckoning of painting the heartwood with arbtex(? or what ever it was, before my time) up to around 15 years worth of growth rings, short of the edges?

 

The idea is to protect the heartwood, but not go to the edges with the protective paint, thus allowing the pathogens to move freely, so the wound wood would meet the arbtex in a shorter time thu saving the heartwood form rotting.

 

If I haven't explained this well, I could maybe draw a picture

 

Thoughts please... pro's and con's

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Suppuse it depends if Arbtex is designed to stop pathogens/fungi getting in to the wood or whether it soaks into the wood to preserve it.

 

Sounds stupid but I wonder if a type of creosote/wood preserver would do any damage to the tree. It would surely help with preserving the wood.

 

IIRC I think someone told me that years ago over in Germany they used to treat damaged tree trunks(car damage etc) with some type of creosote and/or varnish.

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Firstly, I am sure that as the cut is made and a vacum is created in the vessels, air bourne pathogens are "sucked in" so paint just seals them in creating a nice moist environment!

 

A stub, or even better a fracture prune would leave thinner wood and be more prone to the less harmful deadwood saprobes making invasion by larger wound parasites much harder. for example, being colonised by Stereum hirsutum rather than laetiporus.

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Whilst the post is regarding 'wounds' the other important factor to be aware of here is the affects those actions would have on the tree as a structure, i.e. the 'axiom of uniform stress' and potentially raising the lever arm effect on the main stem. If the tree's relatively young with bundles of energy it may rapidly lay down reaction wood and all will be okay, but usually young(er) trees don't have big branches to be removed.

 

Forget the 'Arborex' approach too, not least coz it don't work and it's 'G*d damned awful stuff' n wrecks your gear (said from past experience, and better to keep it there...IN THE PAST!)

 

Paul

 

PS The draft' 3998 talks about, ideally, not creating wounds greater than 400mm dia. (presumably on a mature specimen) and if necessary considering Rupe's approach.

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Whilst the post is regarding 'wounds' the other important factor to be aware of here is the affects those actions would have on the tree as a structure, i.e. the 'axiom of uniform stress' and potentially raising the lever arm effect on the main stem. If the tree's relatively young with bundles of energy it may rapidly lay down reaction wood and all will be okay, but usually young(er) trees don't have big branches to be removed.

 

Forget the 'Arborex' approach too, not least coz it don't work and it's 'G*d damned awful stuff' n wrecks your gear (said from past experience, and better to keep it there...IN THE PAST!)

 

Paul

 

PS The draft' 3998 talks about, ideally, not creating wounds greater than 400mm dia. (presumably on a mature specimen) and if necessary considering Rupe's approach.

 

The problem here is that "managers" will say that leaving stubs or a fractured stub is NOT working to BS 3998, yet we all know that on large wounds a stub is a vastly superior approach.

 

It would after all be an "internodal cut"

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i think the painting of pruning wounds creates a sort of micro climate between the wood and the paint, which promotes the spread of fungal pathogens.

 

so painting wounds may actually increase the chance of decay rather than decrease it

 

I'm talking about just painting the hardwood and not going to the edges? Isn't hardwood 'dead' so to speak.

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