Winchman
Carpal tunnel level member
- Location
- Southwest Georgia
This started out as the removal of an unwanted low limb from an oak but then I spotted a dead limb on the pine. 
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- Thread starter Leroy
- Start date
Mick Dempsey!
Participating member
Ever vigilant @Winchman!
Treezybreez
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- Lancaster, SC
Threading the needle.
Treezybreez
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- Lancaster, SC
Winchman
Carpal tunnel level member
- Location
- Southwest Georgia
Got a pine here leaning over a tangle of small oak branches I had to climb through...
to cut all this dead stuff. (That pic above was taken after the climb.)
I decided to reward myself with a new helmet and visor at a nice discount.
to cut all this dead stuff. (That pic above was taken after the climb.)
I decided to reward myself with a new helmet and visor at a nice discount.
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ClimbingTN
Branched out member
- Location
- Columbia
Man…you love those pines. What type are they in your area?
Winchman
Carpal tunnel level member
- Location
- Southwest Georgia
We've got quite a variety with longleaf, loblolly, short leaf, and I'm sure some others. Lots are more than 100 feet tall, but my highest climbs have been around ninety feet. Some of the tallest trees are over three feet at the base while a few are less than a foot. We've got lots of oak here, too. The tremendous variability makes for interesting climbing.
Winchman
Carpal tunnel level member
- Location
- Southwest Georgia
Lots of dead wood in this longleaf pine...
and I got all of it.
and I got all of it.
Winchman
Carpal tunnel level member
- Location
- Southwest Georgia
I rigged, cut, and lowered this largish broken limb.
It landed clear of the plantings and cutting it up was easy.
The pile in the foreground is stuff that fell in the neighboring yard on the way down.
It landed clear of the plantings and cutting it up was easy.
The pile in the foreground is stuff that fell in the neighboring yard on the way down.
I love seeing the sapling Beech trees in the woods during the winter down here. One of my favorite trees. Hope we don't get BLD down here.
Stumpsprouts
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- Asheville
Deadwooded a 44” White oak today that got real fat around 10’ up, put the tape on it and it was 71” diameter! Thing had very little pruning cuts evident (the one in the lower photo was the only one I could see anywhere) and very little deadwood, just some low key interior limbs and a few aborted tips on low lateral branches…
Stumpsprouts
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- Asheville
I’ve been dealing with a lot of biggens lately. We lost a lot of huge trees too in the storm. Trees over 36” DBH were 6% of the failures I surveyed and only make up 1.5% of the general population of trees. So there’s been a lot of talk about how we can retain these important trees, or what might contribute to some of them surviving.
The ones with lower centers of gravity are definitely less susceptible to wind throw. So I’m encouraging practices to increase taper (thinning competition early on) and leaving low limbs. This tree was a great example of what it can look like. Tip weight reduction can help in lowering COG but if it can get that structure on its own in the establishment phase it’s better.
When we have an old, large tree in a wooded area around here, we call them “wolf trees” because their crowns eat up lots of surrounding canopy.
Many were former shade trees in pastures. Once the pastures are let go and turn into 1st or 2nd generation re-qrowth and surround the wolf trees, they let go of their lower branches. Most of these wolf trees are Oak, so not very shade tolerant and that’s why they alter form so drastically.
The tip reduction you talk about can play a big role in stability. To call it “hedging” can sound a bit rough, but the practice can improve wind seeing the crown as a solid and flow around it rather than permeable and tearing through it.
Best to you in your efforts to preserve these old majesties. Maybe you can get a group together to collect seed and get some young ones going out of the old stock? We’re trying to get that going up here.
Many were former shade trees in pastures. Once the pastures are let go and turn into 1st or 2nd generation re-qrowth and surround the wolf trees, they let go of their lower branches. Most of these wolf trees are Oak, so not very shade tolerant and that’s why they alter form so drastically.
The tip reduction you talk about can play a big role in stability. To call it “hedging” can sound a bit rough, but the practice can improve wind seeing the crown as a solid and flow around it rather than permeable and tearing through it.
Best to you in your efforts to preserve these old majesties. Maybe you can get a group together to collect seed and get some young ones going out of the old stock? We’re trying to get that going up here.
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Gorman
Branched out member
- Location
- Rhode Island
every branch is a tree of it's own
Stumpsprouts
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- Asheville
Even in the areas with large blowdown, there’s still a lot of surviving trees, which will hopefully take over the canopy in short order. I just went to a talk with a USDA Forest Service employee who laid out the situation we’re facing. The real work we need to do is remove all the fuel that’s in the forest now. Unfortunately we’re not talking about public land so there’s no way we can somehow finagle the most recent executive order to deal with the problem we actually have here.
Tomorrow I’ll be participating in a tree giveaway... I bought hundreds of little bbs from the North Carolina Forest Service, and other folks from the mutual organization bought some bare root stuff online. My three-year-old and I also cut a lot of Willow and elderberry cuttings from our land for people to do live staking. The places where we need the most aggressive push for planting are the stream banks which are completely nude now. But we need all kinds of planting all over the place. The oaks ability to regenerate themselves is really low in my concern, tbh, there’s a lot of other native trees that I’d like to see more of, just for the sake of diversity.
In regard to the fuel load…I totally hear you. Some Beech stands are getting so bad like that with fuel load but folks are taking carbon capture payments to leave it all as is. Well, what’s going to be captured when it lights up??? Never mind other stand types not being managed. Can get scary if you really look at it, so I feel for you threre.
I love that you have your young child involved. That will really bear fruit much later in life.
In regard to protecting waterways, I do understand the importance of maintaining buffer strips, but I heard recently that some forest programs are trying to alter the species makeup to evergreens along waterways, which apparently has a number of benefits for water quality.
Perhaps the disaster you’re facing is an opportunity to steer things in a better way for the future?
Winchman
Carpal tunnel level member
- Location
- Southwest Georgia
I couldn't believe all this stuff...
was hiding in this tree. The higher I climbed the more I found.
was hiding in this tree. The higher I climbed the more I found.
Treezybreez
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- Lancaster, SC
Taking down a 95 year old Red Oak
