Bracing beech with included bark

[Loz]

Hi,

 

Considering bracing versus felling of a mature beach with heavily included co-doms. Searching the old threads I can seen a lot about bracing but i have two questions;

 

1. was considering cobra type system, but have come across comments about rods being better for beech - can anyone confirm / expand please?

 

2. if using cobra surely you can save a lot of money by doubling up 2Tonne to make 4Tonne etc.., if they are equalized must be the same strength ?

 

Thanks!

 

Loz

[Jake Andrews]

Pictures are arb talks best friend. Can't really comment without the as too many factors come into play like size and where the occluded bark/crotch is.

 

Jake:thumbup1:

[beechwood]

Speak to Nod at Treeworker

His Gaffer system is far better than Cobra and easier to install

He is going to want photos and measurements to be able to tell you what you need

My advice prune as well as bracing but make sure the tree structure is suitable

ie Is the tree worthy of retention, can you install a brace in the right place to make a difference to the loading of the weak unions

If bracing is not something you have done before/qualified to do get someone in to work with and learn from them whilst doing the job (again speak to Nod at Treeworker )

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

Speak to Nod at Treeworker

His Gaffer system is far better than Cobra and easier to install

He is going to want photos and measurements to be able to tell you what you need

My advice prune as well as bracing but make sure the tree structure is suitable

ie Is the tree worthy of retention, can you install a brace in the right place to make a difference to the loading of the weak unions

If bracing is not something you have done before/qualified to do get someone in to work with and learn from them whilst doing the job (again speak to Nod at Treeworker )

 

agreed on all counts, i get all my cabling from Nod:thumbup1:

[Loz]

Photos attached hopefully........

 

Diameter of stem just above fork approx 70cm. 80ft beech

Tree is quite a feature when going up drive and worthy of retention, however there is a limit to how much the landowner will be prepared to spend in order to retain. Crown reduction not appropriate due to species and habit -lack of suitable growing points ( would need to be very heavy reduction). Crown thinning would be appropriate though.

 

Thanks for the opinions,

 

Loz

[pie eater pete]

Local estate near me did have some lovely beech but their dropping limbs everywhere. No management as far as I know apart from Rhodys being taken out due to Ramorum? What responsibilities do local council have with regards to management?

[detritus21]

Are there any other areas of dysfunction to be concerned about. Codominant included stems are common on Beech and I personnally don't see it as a reason to fell or brace. I would be concerned if there is a heavy lean and codominant or if the crown of the tree was poorly weighted etc. Also beech will tollerate reductions. The only trees I've really struggled to do a proper British Standard type reduction on are previously topped Sycamores.

 

Pete the council are responsible but work on a reactive rather than proactive approach. Some of the trees on the estate are marked for felling but if you go away from the path some of the trees are truely shocking

[Loz]

Co-dom included stems are common on beech. Failure of said defect is also common on beech. There are at least two more nearby which have already failed, and a couple of months ago a larger beech 200 yds up the road split in two right to base, but didn't collapse, it just kept opening and closing by about 3ft in the wind! It was overhanging moderately busy road and someones house, who had to be evacuated for 48hrs util a 30m MEWP could be scoured.

 

As regards reduction from the ground it really does not look feasible in accordance with BS. Its a woodland edge tree with wide canopy on one side, and very long leaders. Prob need to loose at least 40% to next growing point. Either that or spend a whole day nibbling the tips, which IMO would be pointless / costly. Good thinning, whilst retaining all lower branch's for damping effect would be a good call though.

 

cheers, loz

[pie eater pete]

Are there any other areas of dysfunction to be concerned about. Codominant included stems are common on Beech and I personnally don't see it as a reason to fell or brace. I would be concerned if there is a heavy lean and codominant or if the crown of the tree was poorly weighted etc. Also beech will tollerate reductions. The only trees I've really struggled to do a proper British Standard type reduction on are previously topped Sycamores.

 

Pete the council are responsible but work on a reactive rather than proactive approach. Some of the trees on the estate are marked for felling but if you go away from the path some of the trees are truely shocking

 

Ha don't have to go away from the path now Ste! Bloody shocking walking through today..that beech in the pic looks ready to drop!

[detritus21]

I'm one who thinks that tip or minimal reductions make a difference. We removed over a tonne of chippings doing a tip reduction on a large mature beech.

 

given that codom stems are more common in beech there will seem to be a higher number of failures. I also believe that there is usually another underlying defect which contributes to failure. One of which is a severly unbalanced crown.

 

With regards to retention with bracing i would be considering the targets to aid my decision