Anyone know about this tree?

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Ill try and snap some high quality pics today or tomorrow if my travels allow the time.

[/ QUOTE ]Great, thanks. Also if you could record your thoughts on where new cables could go higher and/or what pruning might be done to lessen the strain on the other limbs and reduce risk of failure that would be great. The tree looks remarkably free of spanish moss.

Like Assessor #2 told me yesterday, the more qualified eyes on it, the better. Got a videocamera on your smaht phone?
 
That's about the worst preservation work I've ever seen. Whoever did that should be held accountable. Plumbers, electricians, framers, iron workers, and so on all have their work inspected or at least are supposed to. It drives me nuts that someone could do that to a tree with little to no accountability.
 
Great pics, thanks. Looks like that throughbolt put a crack through the heart of the tree. Yet the tree looks to be have great vitality. No doubt the failure was caused by the substandard installation. If damage or injury had happened, it would be interesting to hear the defense from the metalworker.
 
That iron should have stayed in the Mesabi Range in Minnesota. What a waste of resources!

I'm not real familiar with live oak but the end of the broken limb looks odd. In most breaks that I've seen in LO the ends are more jagged and irregular. To get 'clean' breaks like that it leads me to believe that there was decay present. That big honkin' bolt sure took a lot of fiber away.
 
I agree with all the previous comments...following those great pictures (thanks BB)

I am at a complete loss to understand what rationale was being applied to the cabling and bracing. Its a shame because it certainly seems to have been a major factor in the limb failure, which in turn has raised fears amongst those responsible for managing the tree.
 
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I'm not real familiar with live oak but the end of the broken limb looks odd. In most breaks that I've seen in LO the ends are more jagged and irregular. To get 'clean' breaks like that it leads me to believe that there was decay present.

[/ QUOTE ]From Assessor #2's description, and the view of the fibers in BB's great pic, and the calm conditions, it sounds more like Sudden Limb Drop, rare in live oak.

Aggravated/caused of course by the crazy hardware installation. It seems like they were out to see how many standards they could be out of compliance with.
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And the BMP's only cost $8 at that time, and the state's ISA chapter does a good job of promoting those materials.

Screwy situation indeed.
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This tree has actually been falling apart for several years. There was a failure prior to the Mega cable brace install.And then the branch that was shown to be removed and painted in BB's photo was not only cabled with a static system, but also supported with a "crutch" made of steel pipe. This branch was being supported because about six feet out from its origin it had a fracture that started on the top and ran down at a 60 degree angle,70% through the total diameter. Oddly enough the support installer decided to build a four sided bench around the base of the steel pipe for folks to sit on. It failed on a Sunday early in the morning, Thank God. I have some photos of the tree just after the install of the Mega System, and then some after a failure around a year later.I'll try and dig them up. I know the arborist that did the install well. He is quite well known not only locally but nationally. Even has an entry in the Guiness Book of World Records. He is recognized for over building such systems. His claim to fame I suppose. I would guess that the tree is failing partly due to the hardware as has been stated before in this thread. It is my opinion that any time you introduce hardware into the equation, you create an unnatural system. The tree, which has engineered and re-engineered its self every day of its existence, has suddenly been altered in dramatic fashion and can no longer move in a natural way. Another well known tree failure that comes to mind would be the Wye Oak with two and a half miles of steel cable in its crown.
 
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This tree has actually been falling apart for several years. There was a failure prior to the Mega cable brace install.And then the branch that was shown to be removed and painted in BB's photo was not only cabled with a static system, but also supported with a "crutch" made of steel pipe. This branch was being supported because about six feet out from its origin it had a fracture that started on the top and ran down at a 60 degree angle,70% through the total diameter. Oddly enough the support installer decided to build a four sided bench around the base of the steel pipe for folks to sit on. It failed on a Sunday early in the morning, Thank God. I have some photos of the tree just after the install of the Mega System, and then some after a failure around a year later.I'll try and dig them up. I know the arborist that did the install well. He is quite well known not only locally but nationally. Even has an entry in the Guiness Book of World Records. He is recognized for over building such systems. His claim to fame I suppose. I would guess that the tree is failing partly due to the hardware as has been stated before in this thread. It is my opinion that any time you introduce hardware into the equation, you create an unnatural system. The tree, which has engineered and re-engineered its self every day of its existence, has suddenly been altered in dramatic fashion and can no longer move in a natural way. Another well known tree failure that comes to mind would be the Wye Oak with two and a half miles of steel cable in its crown.

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I would love to hear the reason he ran cable straight up and down to a turnbuckle on the trunk?
Or why that awful cut was made? Or why there are through bolts on one of the nicest co dom unions I have seen on a tree this size?

Just curious?
 
Yes the limb that was stubbed did seem to be heavily decayed at the top (worst) side.

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...any time you introduce hardware into the equation, you create an unnatural system. The tree, which has engineered and re-engineered its self every day of its existence, has suddenly been altered in dramatic fashion and can no longer move in a natural way.

[/ QUOTE ]True, but trees' natural, final movements are always uncontrolled and groundward
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so there is a time and a place for static support. But overbuilding to the point of cracking and weakening the tree seems to defeat the purpose. Maybe there were no through-fasteners at that time, but why not follow standard BMP-size hardware and higher placement?[ QUOTE ]
Another well known tree failure that comes to mind would be the Wye Oak with two and a half miles of steel cable in its crown.

[/ QUOTE ]Maybe another overengineered support system in an underpruned tree, but the Wye had a stem failure. How hollow is the Courthouse Oak? Is the only reasonable mitigation for it removal?

BB did you see any decay in the other forks?
 
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BB did you see any decay in the other forks?

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Not in any forks, old wound over the street where a limb ripped out looks to be a few years old.
 

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