bracing tight fork in pinus radiata

[shillo]

I Know some people love it and some people hate it but ive been asked to brace a real tight co dominant pinus radiata, but i cant install as per instructions as it says you need at least 30cm inserted then a loop then another 15cm plus a bit for growth of the stem. with that on both stems means you need at about 100cm between stems (with no allowance for shock absorber) with my tree ive only got about 50cm in total between the 2 stems. are there any other ways of installing?

 

the tree has a good wind break value for the rest of the garden which is why its being retained.

 

cheers

[sloth]

I'm no expert on bracing, especially without pics, but is rod bracing another option to look at?

[shillo]

yes i think your right, but ive bought all this flippin boa stuff now! guess i should have looked in to it in a bit more depth before buying it.

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

yes i think your right, but ive bought all this flippin boa stuff now! guess i should have looked in to it in a bit more depth before buying it.

 

i think so too!

 

I do prefer the rod system on close union stuff, its a permanent fix too unlike cables which need looking at every ten years minimum.

[Arborist]

If you look in the istructions it says not to use the shock absorber when bracing co dominant stems.

[scottythepinetree]

If you look in the istructions it says not to use the shock absorber when bracing co dominant stems.

 

When do you use the shock absorber then? Have a couple of trees I may suggest an old employer revisits.

[Arborist]

Co dominent stems need to sway together as 1 unit, a heavy side latural branch can be blown up down, side to side ect and rope can then become untensioned then tensioned which will snatch on the load bearing part of the tree that the brace is attached to this is where the shock obsorber needs to be used.

[scottythepinetree]

Aah, makes sense! Cheers arborist.

[shillo]

ok so then rodding? where do i get a drill bit that long!? both stems are getting on for 60cm in diameter. do you drill each stem independantly and hope that the holes line up and the rod goes through?

[Arborist]

You will need an atom drill bit. The spec for the bar and washers in in the old bs3998 not sure if its in the new will have to look.

 

I braced an Oak last month and had the bars made up.