How to deal with tricky poplars??

[sime42]

My advise.. Sort you insurance out before you tackle any more.

 

My insurance is sorted thanks. Though it probably doesn't cover working abroad .............

 

It was more damage to myself or other that I was concerned about anyway, rather than property.

[sime42]

Now we have the advantage of having a resistograph in the company which is used before climbing to test poplars we suspect to be a risk.

We've had some 30m+ pops in urban gardens with as little as 5cm wall thickness.

Often a chat with the neighbours, the removal of a few metres of fence and the promise of a thorough tidy up/free prune will allow us to fell instead of dismantle.

Ty

 

A resistograph sounds like a good idea. A worthwhile investment I guess if the budget will stretch to it, sadly it would be way above mine though.

 

I would have preferred to fell all the trees. The problem with the last two was that the lean and overhang were too great to overcome with just wedges, and I couldn't get access for a pull line in the right direction due to rough and tree covered ground. It was the opposite situation to normal urban working;- there was nothing around to be avoided, (except the barn), but no clear access. Maybe a re-directed pull line could have worked, thinking about it ...................

[sime42]

5cm might be quite a lot in relation to the trees radius though.

 

The 6in hole in the two foot trunk the OP mentions is insignificant in the t/R formula, particularly when its considered that the 0.3 is thought by many to err too far on the side of caution.

 

What's this t/R formula you mention Gary? it sounds interesting, not heard of it before.

 

I just done a quick calculation and I estimate that the 6in hole was only 6.66% of the total cross sectional area of the tree's 24in diameter. Doesn't look so bad when it's put like that.

[sime42]

you could always drill into the base of the trunk to see how bad they are - if there is only a little sound wood left, I would suggest rigging or topping them out in small sections - Its to reduce the sway of tree that happens when this is being carried out.

 

I've thought about this as well Paul. In this case the cavity was off center though so I might have had to drill holes all around the tree before I found it. Hence weakening the tree further ..........................

 

Small cautious sections was definitely my way forward on that one. There was enough sway from the wind, without adding extra with reaction forces. Actually it was quite a dilema between keeping the sections small and wanting to get it over and done with as quick as possible to remove the wind loading area!

[sime42]

I quoted for that job, now you've pinched my sticks I'm gonna give you a dry slap and mock your Midlands accent:001_tt2:

 

Nah, I have an interest in architecture especially cob buildings such as those in the images.

Ty

 

I'm Devon born and bred so you'll find no Brummie accents here! (I have a great liking and respect for all Midlanders though;- before any of you get offended! I've been here a long time.)

[TIMON]

This one was about 60-70 ft. I was glad to get down after seeing this.

 

[Gary Prentice]

This one was about 60-70 ft. I was glad to get down after seeing this.

 

[ATTACH]187770[/ATTACH]

 

Makes you appreciate the marvellous biomechanics of trees:biggrin:

[Gary Prentice]

What's this t/R formula you mention Gary? it sounds interesting, not heard of it before.

 

I just done a quick calculation and I estimate that the 6in hole was only 6.66% of the total cross sectional area of the tree's 24in diameter. Doesn't look so bad when it's put like that.

 

t/R ratio. In hollow tree stems, the ratio of the thickness of sound wood to the radius. A criterion helpful in evaluating tree risk developed by Mattheck & Breloer

 

safetrees.com/TrainingPDFs/RiskAssessmentMathDec2013.pdf

[TIMON]

Makes you appreciate the marvellous biomechanics of trees:biggrin:

 

 

It does. Stronger than you would think. Like I said I zipped some pretty big chunks off it as well.

[Paul Cleaver]

I heard story about someone who was but roping a hollow poplar once - the butt smashed into the trunk lower down like they do, and it failed at that point - dont know what happened to the climber