Cable bracing

[MattyF]

ive had invasive bracing fail a quite a bit on oak and chesnut,in my experience they just dont respond well to having holes drilled in them.saying that i looked at a large chesnut that we put three metal rods through to hold it together when its two main trunks started coming apart at it has completly callused over and is fine,nice supprise for any one felling it in the future!

have found beach seems to respond really well to invasive as well usually completly callusing over in a short time.

never had cobra fail on trees ive done but then the limbs have not failed either!

 

how did the cobra fail high scale? did it snap or just slip out?

[High Scale]

ive had invasive bracing fail a quite a bit on oak and chesnut,in my experience they just dont respond well to having holes drilled in them.saying that i looked at a large chesnut that we put three metal rods through to hold it together when its two main trunks started coming apart at it has completly callused over and is fine,nice supprise for any one felling it in the future!

have found beach seems to respond really well to invasive as well usually completly callusing over in a short time.

never had cobra fail on trees ive done but then the limbs have not failed either!

 

how did the cobra fail high scale? did it snap or just slip out?

 

 

Sorry Matty, just looked at your post, the Cobra that failed pulled out when the limb it was on broke off, the same thing happened to a large beech on another site that also shed a limb.

[Andy Collins]

How many of you get to inspect previously installed Cobra, and have you found any problems with deterioration? This is something I've often wondered about.

[High Scale]

I spoke to my old boss this morning who told me about the failed cobra bracing, he said he tries to avoid Cobra bracing because, in his words, "It's Crap"

 

He reckons if your going to brace a big tree use steel cable.

[Andy Collins]

But, was it installed correctly, and was it suitable for the amount of load? How long had it been installed and was it regularly inspected? IMO if a tree is at risk of failure, in a big way, then surely installing bracing is not the answer, but removal of either the dangerous limb or the whole tree. By installing any form of bracing, surely you are accepting responsibility for that, and any out come from the installation. Of course, its a good money spinner too!

[High Scale]

I assume it was installed correctly,I helped with the Horse Chesnut (So maybe not) it had been in maybe three years at the most, the Horse Chesnut bracing was recommended by the local AA approved consultant, the Beech bracing was recommended by the area tree officer.

 

Responsibility is something that can be passed over by some finely worded legal jargon, or maybe not.

[Andy Collins]

Hmmm Recommending something is one thing, actually installing, then trying to fight your corner in court is something else. And we all know the way that the little man is the one who gets clobbered, those higher in the food chain find a way of evading the crap.

Anyways this is all hypothetical, cos I cant think of any instances where a cabled branch has failed and killed maimed or destroyed.

[Marc]

Andy i've inspected a few old'ish Cobra systems i'm guessing 5 years old (which is'nt that old in the scheme of things) they look a bit manky but generally in intact and stable.

 

I have been on jobs where the brace has been re-installed due to squirell damage, not yet through deteriotian

 

The oldest system i've seen is a Svensk Tradvard padded brace i'm guessing like the ones Ed worked with in Sweden, this was put in in the mid 90's and still seemed to be doing its job, although the tree was felled as its replacement planted at the time of the brace installation was doing well.

 

I have seen much older steel braces some could of been 50 years old.

 

I do hate it though that installing braces is considered admitting liability. Surley if you reduce a hazardous tree to reduce its sail area or whatever thats admitting liabilty to? In fact you could go as far as saying working on any potential hazardous tree is admitting liability, and it should be felled.

 

Predicting what trees will do is alomst impossible, its all best guess through years of experience with trees and knowledge, all we can do is reduce risks to acceptable levels not remove them entirely. Unless you remove the tree.

[Andy Collins]

.

 

I have been on jobs where the brace has been re-installed due to squirell damage, not yet through deteriotian

 

QUOTE]

 

Aaaah rodent damage, now thats something I hadnt even thought about, and something that the old wire cabling would not suffer from. My problem with cabling is that if the householder/owner of the tree does nothing once it is installed, and there is no follow-up/aftercare from the installer, and a limb was to fail, where would the responsibility lie?

[Canuck]

Hey guys, 1st post over here. I install 1 or 2 a month. I think I'll start pushing more as its a great money maker and I really enjoy doing it.