David Humphries

Ya'll sure do things different on the island.

 

So how is it "monitored?"

Visited Annually and the condition is recorded on Arbortrack. Our Tree Surveying Software.

Call me stupid 'what do you mean by leave as a monolithe and cornet the top and side branch'. Never heard of it before, everyone has there own way of saying things i suppose. Like masterblaster said 'it is a talkdown' isn't it'. If Not it's what i would call a pikey cut lol..Anyway i'm here to observe and learn. alberteinstein:

This is a monitored Monolith with Coronets.

And No MB this one was not a TD !

http://www.hse.gov.uk/research/rrpdf/rr123.pdf

If you have not already, i suggest everybody makes themselves familiar with the above link.

I am not making any generalising comments as to whether or not this should or does effect us all, my suggestion is; read the facts then decide for yourselves.

I will say however that MEWP usage as discussed in this thread, is appearing to be determined too often by profit margins alone rather than Risk Assessment.

Safety should be and surely is the overidding issue, whether it be Multi National, Local Authority or Struggling Small Arb Firm.

Be totaly aware of why you should be using a MEWP in the first place. Make counting the costs your second factor, in deciding whether or not to use.

Wasn't under the impression there was anything on offer to win !

There are always different experiences and approaches to tackling situations.

Prudence dictates that arming yourself with as many tools and techniques as you can, will no doubt put you in the strongest possible position when the crunch comes.

Very slick editing, some background music would be a nice touch.

Like everyone else, really enjoyed it Reg, looking forward to watching together with the rest of my team. Great work all round.

I feel this containes some sweeping generalisations,

 

 

I have been climbing for 14 years+ and never used a MEWP for a take down and never turned a tree down,there is imo always a way.

 

I do not wish to tell anyone how to do there work and don't like anyone to tell me how to do mine.

Skyhuck this is in no way a dig at your undoubted skills and abilities but seriously, how can you opine on Pecontools point when as you state, in your 14 years + of climbing, you have never used a MEWP for a take down.

Surely this doesn't give you the ability to compare.

Pecontools is no doubt talking about experienced and trained users and not generalising IMO.

Very rarely MEWPs are needed for safety reasons and this would be the only time I would consider hiring one in.

That my friend, is the whole point of the thread.

MEWP usage is not about speed, money or getting to play with Big Boys Toys.

The Bottom line is about being at a place where the choice of Tree access is determined by the hazard.

I would like to see Totaly impartial Education and Training structures to give Arborists of all experience, an idea of what might be required to help get them to the level they aspire to.

Be it Career Groundie, Climber, Team Leader, Surveyor, Owner or Consultant etc.......

If i ever end up in the old bailey, it will be for doing the bank of england....

I'll supply the Prosthetics !

My only question is if your trying to promote crown reccesion then why the whole crown? Surley your trying to promote a natural cycle of an Oaks life? Where by its top dies out so it can concetrate more resources into the lower crown.QUOTE]

 

Marc, we have our well meaning and well conected local tree huggers to consider as well as the Tree.

This is a Very Prominant Tree, as well as it being a good looking Fulhamensis it is at the head of an avenue which is located at a main access point to this open space. So i guess aesthetics came into play when shaping.

I have uncomfortable images of what the local press would make of the team overly attempting to replicate retrenchment and true storm damage like the type 87 threw our way.

 

Will try to keep the post updated with pictures of regrowth throughout the year.

Chilled me right out Tockmal,

The old boy must have one strong set of neck muscles Btw !

Reminded me of a lil ole girl i once knew from Rolling Fork, Mississippi

The tree is in a line of at least a dozen trees surely they should all be massacred or all left alone. .

Ive been at this site about 22 years now, and know my tree stock relatively well, its about 27 years till i'm due to retire,

so you never know I may just get around to the other 12 trees at some point.

Especialy as they are also affected by Armilaria.

The point being the Fulham Oak is not the only one that may be massacred over time.

This job was not an agenda driven one off.

am i right in thinking that this is the same tree posted in an earlier thread?

if so i think this was the right thing to do.these methods need to be tried and experimented with.good move in my opinion

It is, thanks for the imput NFC.

You along with some others are helping to redress the balance between the 'Mexicans' and the 'Mexicants'.

Its about 50/50 at the moment.

I think there is still a lot to be understood about the way a tree works imo.

( I am in no way saying that you have butcherd this tree)

I totaly agree Skyhuck and i also appreciate your final words, but healthy debate is what the forum is partly about Hence post number 8 i dont dismiss constructive criticism, but a smidgen of respect from experienced Arborists similar to yourself for attempting to understand and practice what emminent tree people such as Fay, Green, Key, Finch, Cowan, Read et al are passionately attempting to bring to the table, is really all we crave.

I don't have a problem with new method, but I do find it ironic and some what amusing that the people who are now advocating this form of prunning are the very people who have for years poured scorn on the rips and tares the pikeys leave.

I really feel that I shouldn't have to be explaining this here on an ARBORISTS forum, but here it is anyway.

The rips,tears and step cuts left by pikeys are poles apart from what is attempting to be achieved with the Fracture Pruning technique. The vast majority of our local clients, not to mention discerning Arborists certainly can tell the difference.

I won't advocate that the finish on the Fulham Oak is anything other than a career works in progress, but if any of the doubters want to see it for themselves, please feel free to drop in on us if your ever in the neighbourhood.

That means you too MB !

07775703017

I agree that using a mewp would theoretically be easier but im sure that was taken into consideration.

MEWPs are definately the prefered way to accomplish this method in a safer manner by negating the need to use a top handled saw one handed at reach, also gives greater ability towards artistic license, which helps dispell the pikie quips.

Our Denka 28 is away being LOLER checked and repaired at the moment, plus complete access around the canopy was not possible in this case.

Future works will be MEWP considered.

But she was a beauty to climb around in though.

I did Lantra Pro Tree Insp. (level 3)

 

It was done at .... somewhere near reading.

 

I cant remember.

 

I come from a silviculture background with 12 years of arbwork behind me, I've read lots of books and I still found it challenging. I remember Guy Watson of the AA led the course.

Top fella is Guy!

He took my PTI at Merrist Wood last November.

Felt that he had a very good handle on every candidates individual needs.

I found this to be a very useful guide.

http://www.treeworks.co.uk/downloads/13%20-%20Guidance%20Diagramme.pdf

.

Is the UK really that short on unmanaged natural areas that you need to start breaking your trees to provide bug habitat? Why not just set some areas aside and let the trees do there own thing naturally, which would make the bugs and birds happier in the long run anyways?

Sounds daft but we are short of the above, Green Belt works to a degree, but there is such a demand on urban fringes from property developement and pollution, that when you add to this that we are slowly coming out of a long period of intense sanitation of the urban woodland where every little bit of dead wood is/was removed , then there is a real dearth of habitat.

Granted it is not safe to leave monoliths in public open spaces if left unmonitored, but the ecosystem could do with a redress of this balance.

BTW FTR it may sound like it, but i am definately not an eco warrior.

from more that 25mtrs away you wouldnt have known anything had been done to it!

 

i guess its a technique you really have to practise to get it right else it could look a real mess and have some very severe long term impacts, do you have any close up pictures of the finished branches?

The elongated fractures do show up brighter than conventional cuts do to start with.

They obviously fade down with time.

We try to alternate the side that the fractures show,

so that they are not all seen from one vantage point.

The camera i'm using doesn't have a great zoom so there are no particular good shots of close ups. I will have a look to see if there are any useful ones.

has much research been into how much quicker branches die or start to decay? dont get me wrong i think this technique is really interesting, and has a really important place as a tree management technique, but im a newbie and just trying to get my head round the longer term issues,

 

Charlie, although we had some training through Neville Faye's Tree Works Environmental Practice 5 years ago, the reallity is that this is only the second tree that Fracture Pruning has been used on here.

We do however Coronet up to 20% of our Tree work.

Our practices are based on the aforementioned training and the info on the first posts link, plus articles in the trade press and sharing photos/information with other practitioners.

.

 

BUT...it is a bit unusual seeing a tree where all the limbs appear to have snapped of at the same distance from the tree, thus keeping its natural shape!

At the end of the day we can not escape from the fact that man has had a hand in this reduction process. And as such it becomes a balance between what natures shaping could or would have been and what the viewer wants to see in terms of aesthetics.

IMO if we try to mimic real storm damage, it would take incredible skill to replicate. I think someone would have to be practising fracturing continually, to get close.

Is any one else on the Forum doing this type of work?

I haven't seen Nutty arb for a while.

Would be interesting to hear his views.

Quote; originally posted by 18stoner >

Ok then, i understand its probably the way a lot of our job is going, ie unjustified work and appeasing naturists, but why do it if it isnt commercially viable?

We (the Practitioners and Pay Masters) feel that the work in this particular case, Rare tree/Prominant Position/Localy loved Tree etc...was justifiable, also not every thing in life should be purely about financial gain IMO.

Quote; originally posted by RIVERRAT >

I just got wind of this. First I have heard of it. While pruning of this nature may have some type of value. I cannot understand it being promoted as a standard practice.

No one on this thread is promoting the technique to be anything other than an additional way of prunning on top of the standard practice.

Different Trees and their environments require different approaches.

Mr and Mrs Average on Accacia avenue will not facilitate Fracture Prunning on their Tree, But Mr and Mrs Average walking their dog in the local open space subconciously appreciate the way Trees interact with their environment on not only a purely aesthetical plane but also on levels that interact with microbes, bacteria, fungi, bugs, birds and mamals.

TREES ARE A MAJOR PLAYER IN OUR ENVIRONMENT AND ARE NOT JUST A CASH CROP.

I wonder how you would price a fracture prune over that canopy?

i can imagine that it allows more ecological nieches, but what about the long term health of the tree, is it reducing the life expectancy? although we know dead wood is good (in the right situation) is this going to cause more headaches down the line when large limbs are dead and causing a risk to public (as i imagine this technique to be mostly used in parkland and amenity areas)

The health of the tree plays a close second fiddle here as safety is the primary concern.

By sail reducing, all be it small in this case, we are hopefull of reducing the risk of the tree toppling, thus potentialy extending the trees current life expectancy.

In respect to the hazard of dropping dead branches, this is why the dead hedge is in place. The target has been moved away.