jomoco

So the never healing oval wound created by the cable itself exiting the drilled hole, created during wind side loading events, even in the spring/summer height of beetle flight and infestation season, are not negative factors in your professional opinion Guy? I mean considering that the exact abrasive damage caused by through cabling without using throughbolts, is in truth isolated between the thimble and circle of a throughbolt using traditional static steel cabling systems? So your professional opinion is to push an inferior cabling system that can wound a tree during beetle flight season, over the traditional method that does not wound a tree regardless of which direction the wind blows from? And that's just one example of Rigguy's many drawbacks. At least Buckingham's version does not totally distort the cable's natural lay, thereby failing to get the cable mfr's endorsement or approval. Jomoco

I'm gonna scurry out on a limb here Jules, and agree with Treeseer on this matter, with the proviso that all live wood has the ability to form reaction wood. It's further my belief that localized motion, including vertical splitting are what trigger buttressing wood and burl formation on the trunks of very old and mature hollow trunked Pepper and Box elder trees, to name a few. The vertical cracks found in the outermost bark of so many euc species as part of their natural girth expansion process lends a fair degree of support to my opinion also. Those vertical cracks rarely extend any deeper into the trunk than the cambium layer. After reading your preliminary draft on reaction wood definitions and descriptions? I was left thinking about it only applying in the weightlessness of space where gravity can't trigger reaction wood to form without some artificial rpm! Hence my opinion that all live wood subjected to gravity is in fact reaction wood, or has the innate ability to form reaction wood when disturbed by a variety gravity related factors. Reminds of that great 70's sci-fi flick about forest pods in deep space, Silent Running. Starring Bruce Dern as the dedicated caretaker of the last of earth's forests in transit. Jomoco

Thanks David. I envy your arboricultural knowledge and writing skills mate. If these new dynamic systems used galvanized steel hardware with inline compression springs to achieve a limited movement throw, so common to the line pole utility industry, and traditional attachment methods? The crux of this matter will be decided in a court of law IMO. It will involve an insurance company plaintiff against the synthetic cable mfr and the company that installed it. All the plaintiff needs to prove is that a traditional galvanized steel cabling system could have withstood the temps of the bldg fire that melted the synthetic system causing the damages prompting the lawsuit. Just my opinion of course. Jomoco

Stronger lateral branches and runoff water are the symbiotic benefits for the Tipu tree of course. Jomoco

Note that I'm attempting to do the exact opposite of what a dynamic cabling system does. My system is designed to cyclically burden the branches with a water burden that slowly dissipates. The exact opposite of proving branch support. Jomoco

Another pic of the system.

Cabling and Bracing trees has been a hobby of mine since the mid 80's. But I'm so old school about when cabling&bracing is warranted? That many of my colleagues in this biz have labeled me as a fanatic on the subject, trolling the websites, lookin for trouble by using terms like snake oil, charlatans, crooks etc to describe those in this industry who back, promote, advertise and write regulatory guidelines for use and installation of noninvasive dynamic cabling systems. I still firmly believe that cabling&bracing is only warranted once an identifiable structural defect is found in the tree, period. Secondly that pruning is preferable to cabling when terminal end weighting of branches and leaders are perceived as threats to structural integrity. Why such a conservative view of artificial tree support systems? Simply that artificial support of any healthy structurally unflawed tree/branch has been scientifically proven to weaken it over time by limiting the natural ranges of motion that stimulate reaction wood formation. Much like the atrophied muscles of a casted arm in humans. So if we accept that artificially limiting the full range of natural motion weakens trees and branches over time? Then one artificial system not limiting the range of motion as much as it's predecessor? Still weakens the tree/branch, albeit less than the old system did. Which brings us to the questions of these artificial support systems durability over time? Their ability to withstand the forces natural in their environment? Abrasion, UV degradation, temperature extremes, animals and insects etc? Attachment methods best suited to long term viability of both system and tree? The only examples of trees that girdle the entire circumference of their trunks as a means of branch attachment I know of are not truly trees at all but monocots! Palm trees! All of us have seen the conifer branch attachment blowup illustrations in Harris' and Shigo's books. If you were somehow able to extract that branch fully intact? You'd have a nice round hole left in the trunk, rather like the holes I drill in them to install throughbolts! Now any old school journeyman tree cabler readily admits that cabling any tree/branch will weaken it in due time. Therefore it becomes of paramount importance to install a system durable enough to last as long as possible. What's my real beef with synthetic dynamic cabling systems? Both it's durability compared to drop forged galvanized steel systems, and it's attachment method's girdling characteristics. Now trees shedding branches in storms is quite common, and can be considered a natural part of the environment our cabling systems are exposed to over time. So let's say a locust tree branch or other rough barked species happens to fall across our cable? Gets hung up in a manner it plays across the cable like a violin string? Which cable will withstand that wind powered abrasion longest? Can fire be considered a natural aspect of a cabling system's environment? What type of cabling withstands fire longest? Are girdling connections even suited to withstand the cable's tension ratings without fatally girdling soft barked tree species like Alnus and Betula once that much pressure is exerted? Trying to replace traditional steel hardware cabling systems with an inferior system unable to withstand the same forces traditional systems have successfully withstood for over a century? Now what the heck has all this cabling rant got to do with this thread's title? Well, it's like this. In the same sense that snow/water/fruit loading of trees and branches trigger reaction wood growth sufficient to bear that weight? I started an experiment to artificially mimic the branch loading that triggers reaction wood formation in the lateral branches of a friend/client's Tipu tree. First I pruned the entire tree bout a year ago. Then attached 3 hose spools around the base using a tension spring inside a plastic conduit that expands to accommodate new trunk girth. Each spool has 4 watering lines plumbed to it, with inner stainless steel wire cables to support the hanging potted plants I hung from each lateral branch. A total of 12 plants, 4 on each spool. Each plant supported by wire, and automatically watered by the outer hose, set to a timer. So each time the plants are watered the branches are burdened with a weight of water that slowly dissipates. A mimicry of the naturally occurring branch burdening loads that stimulate reaction wood growth.

These Haulzall powered hand trucks are on my bucket list. Uber Hand Truck Motorized Ball Cart UHT60 Powered Tree Dollies Jomoco

How is this damage not purely cosmetic? It's not like your two bar studs are affected. Once the cover's on who would even know it'd been damaged? Why not clean the affected surfaces and slather on a nice thick layer of Marine Tex epoxy which is oil resistant and commonly used to repair gas tanks? Jomoco

Buttressing wood formation falls into the reaction wood category IMO. Very old Cal peppers(Schinus molle) and Box elder(Acer negundo) are examples in my neck of the woods. http://aob.oxfordjournals.org/content/85/1/1.full.pdf Go for it Jules. That wiki definition is lame. Jomoco

Yes, so very many gullible customers, with open wallets... That the ISA now aids them gettin screwed over by charlatans in this biz? Get your Cobra Snake Oil here folks! Only 350 quid a bottle! I hope Cobra and the arborists that promote and install their cabling systems get sued out of business in a court of law. Jomoco

Now me Mum's homestead, built in the 50's, has an original Navel orange tree in its backyard, that was part of the original orchard sold and developed as WW2 vet track homes. This 65 year old orange tree became infested with citrus wood borers and began dying back many years ago. But since my return to my childhood home to see Mum through her final years of life? I've began to wrap the surviving structural stem wood with the butts of my hand rolled tobacco cigarettes like a poultice, to kill the larvae inside the wood. A little more than a year into the experiment, and we have a lush new growth of leaves, and thick juicy oranges, peeled in one continuous piece! Little buggers can't handle the nicotine!

What cheeses me off? Blokes professing they understand reaction wood formation, or thigmomorphogenesis in trees, yet remain mum when their industry leaders in the ISA embrace such "snake oil" new products in our industry like Cobra Dynamic Cabling Systems, so popular now in Europe and the USA! When you actually understand what Telewski's proved beyond the shadow of a doubt? Perhaps then you'll have something worth really gettin cheesed about mate! Pruning before cabling, as Telewski shows trees do naturally exposed to hard prevailing winds. And cabling only in the case of an identified structural defect, with the intention of maintaining that artificial support for as long as possible. That the ISA even considered Cobra's BS sets my teeth to grinding! Just my opinion of course... Jomoco

I think 14 years on the original top end, as a takedown go to saw speaks for itself.

Any nation that subjects their most humble laborers to competition with foreign slave labor wages? Has some hard lessons to learn about human nature. Taking advantage of the humble's about as bad as it gets in my book. What happened to the idea of trading with only countries that have equal or better standards both labor and environmental wise? It's like a citizen of a country despising the thought of paying his fellow citizen a decent living wage so vehemently he runs off to some god forsaken hell hole for his labor needs, where he's worshipped like the god he aspires to be seen as. Be it a king, president or prime minister, that leader's job/duty is to protect the greatest number of their constituents as humanly possible. Protecting them, not trading their livelihoods away on the global slave markets of the world. Lead by a sustainable example that other nations willingly follow.

If Telewski can't help yu after spending his life studying and publishing on the subject? http://treephys.oxfordjournals.org/content/20/8/535.full.pdf Best regards mate. Jomoco

Telewski makes more sense than Shigo on this subject IMO. He provides a history of thigmomorphogenesis in trees in far more detail than others. https://ag.purdue.edu/fnr/associations/IAA/Documents/BiomechanicsOfTreesTelewski.pdf Jomoco

You need to change the pics for tree maintenance and tree removal, or swap them mate. Jomoco

Tipu trees bleed blood red sap too. Aussies call euc sap keno. Wesco boot polish in my opinion.... Jomoco

This study on thigmomorphogenesis may be helpful, or not. Thigmomorphogenesis: a complex plant response to mechano-stimulation Jomoco

Buri-nawa climbing techniques are an ancient Japanese arboricultural tree ascension method that's pretty interesting. Jomoco

Wonderful article Nod. Thanks for posting the link to it. Jomoco

The interesting aspect of that sort of grafting, is the concept of utilizing it in place of cabling. And here I thought it was my idea! Gonna do it on a Chorissia speciosa, or wife beater tree in my back yard. But my intention is forced grafting with plastic hardware rather than steel rodding. Cross overs are only a bad thing in our opinion, not the tree's. Jomoco

A compression test seems in order. Then a vacuum test to determine if overheating melted your crank seal on the clutch side. I suspect that low compression's the culprit. A 372xp is worth the repair cost at a reputable shop IMO. Jomoco

Seems like a more sensitive inertia chain brake could be developed that would lessen kickback injuries IMO. That combined with a throttle trigger that must be pressed beyond its idling point to release the chain brake would be very conducive to safer chainsaw use by both pros and home owners etc. Jomoco