Would cable bracing save Oak tree?

[oakum]

Another help might be to provide some propping. Once again though without seeing whole tree in its setting it is hard to fully appreciate the problem.

[MattyF]

I've seen trees that I rodded thirty years ago, like the picture, that have successfully formed complete annual rings to join the stems. And trees that were braced and rodded that either snapped near to ground level or uprooted during the great Storm at the end of the eighties. The bracing worked to ssfully stan extent that the whole tree failed.

 

There's a fair chance, in oak, that rodding could stabilise the split (along with a cable) and lead to occlusion over time. In the absence of high value targets, I'd definitely consider it as a long term solution

 

 

Agree I've seen trees recover from from such wounds with rod bracing, like you said I would consider galvanised so it does not react with the tannin as I have seen non galve steel screw cable bracing pull on oak as it would appear the reaction sometimes prevents compartmentalisation on more mature trees when wound response is slower.

Some sympathetic weight reduction rod Brace and a cable and that's going no where !!

[tree-fancier123]

there's 20mm stainless steel threaded bar on ebay, but that fork looks pretty far gone,

 

this is what I would call proper tree surgery, as anyone like me can guess, but only like the ones above who've seen loads of cabled trees after storms, can you begin to know how much different hardware can stand up to. Good point also about the wounds occluding.

 

If the wind was naturally going to destroy the tree, maybe the tree is done, no need add a human element and prolong it, grow another tree, doesn't have to be a big tree to be a good one.

I can see why people want to interfere and prolong the life of a nice veteran tree, but the big oaks in fields that are still growing with stems snapped and ragged seem to me just right

Edited March 29, 2015 by tree-fancier123

[MattyF]

Points but I've seen totally split trunks heal when rod braced if it was my try I would be willing to give it ago.

[tree-fancier123]

Points but I've seen totally split trunks heal when rod braced if it was my try I would be willing to give it ago.

 

fair play, I guess it's the same with teeth, 'naturally' most of my teeth would be quite decayed by now, but the dentists have filled them and made them last longer

[Gary Prentice]

fair play, I guess it's the same with teeth, 'naturally' most of my teeth would be quite decayed by now, but the dentists have filled them and made them last longer

 

they just removed most of mine and never replanted:biggrin:

[agg221]

From a materials engineer's perspective. Tannic acid plus steel is fine in the presence of water, but not with oxygen too. Zinc (galvanising) is sacrificial so it will last longer but not be truly permanent. I would expect either to eventually fail through waisting at the contact point with the tree, reducing the section until it ultimately falls below that required to sustain the cyclic load, ie fatigue rather than fast fracture. I would use stainless - either 304 (A2) or 316 (A4) would be fine. I have the tensile specs for it so if you went that way, I could give you the cross-section multiplier for it over a specified grade of carbon steel.

 

What is happening above the split is interesting to me here. From an amateur perspective, Burnham Beeches spring to mind. Lapsed pollards, sometimes with entirely absent central sections of trunk, seem to stand fine and some of David Humphries' work on them to reduce sail and gradually get them back to a more 'pollard like' form following retrenchment may be pertinent here? Basically, my question would be, can it be reduced fairly heavily to get internal canopy regeneration, then reduced further and eventually managed as something more like a pollard form? Probably not cost-effective for a client, but if you can do your own work and do it for love rather than money it makes a lot of things possible.

 

Alec

[Nick Connell]

Here's the whole tree. Luckily the split stem is on the back only overhanging my field.

 

Do you think a solid bar just above the split then a cable brace much higher with a bit of a reduction all round?

[MattyF]

So it's the limb on the left? I would keep the reduction localised to it .. Also bear in mind it might not possibly survive as the split could of stopped the tree from being able to support and function the whole of the leaf area of that limb.

Saying that it does not look like removing the limb entirely would look that bad either.

[MattyF]

If you do go the rod brace route I would suggest two braces.

Don't drill them out at the same time though.After winching it up I have always found with rod bracing the worse bit was getting the holes lined up with the rod and they do dramatically close the gap when they are finally tightened.