Cracked, large oak.

[southsoundtree]

Yesterday, went back after recommending reduction 6 months ago, to see a neutral-plane fracture 6+' long. I wish I could have done some significant, lighter reduction to prevent the crack than hard reduction to prevent large failure.

This is a friend's daughter's home and preschool site.
I scratched my various plans for the day and started some significant reduction at noon. At 330, my groundworker came for 3 hours.

Friend Gary will be there today to cut firewood and chip brush as possible, with his homeowner chipper.

I turn many people into building a converted-pallet sawbuck. For limb wood.

I haven't consulted the Cable and Brace bmp about hardware sizes (on my desk, waiting for me to look for a smaller, split maple 36"x100+, that I haven't found out if it's going to be preservation or removal).

I'm going rock climbing today, back to the oak, tomorrow.

I reduced long, long horizontals, then started on the biggest trunk coming from an old topping-cut 'hydra's head" that contributes lots of load, particularly toward the house/ school parking area. and many long, long-dead branches. There are also several long-dead upright trunks that many would call trees within themselves (12"x60'+).

If only photos could be posted to the internet in the regular direction.




I talked 70-some y.o. Gary out of cutting hard-leaning, barberchair-prone alders and maples.

They lean the right way!

 

[ghostice]

Beautiful fall colours !

Here's one of my favourites from last week - a mtn ash, not a huge tree but the colours . . . . . .

 

[peoriatreeremovalco]

Good call going light on the reduction. With a neutral-plane fracture that long, aggressive cuts would only push the tree harder, and on a tree hanging over a preschool the real question is whether reduction buys enough margin of safety. Those fractures don't close on their own; best case the tree compartmentalizes around it. Photograph the crack with a tape for scale now, then re-check it in a few months. If it's extending or the canopy above it starts thinning, the tree is making the removal-vs-preservation decision for you.

Also worth flagging to the owner in writing: with kids as the target, reduction lowers the risk but doesn't remove it, and that should be stated plainly so nobody treats the tree as "fixed." For anyone reading along facing the same call, our quick homeowner guide covers this decision in plain language: https://treeremovalpeoriail.com/tree-removal-peoria-il/

Stay safe on the return trip — barberchair-prone leaners around a fractured oak are no place to rush.

— The tree-care team at Peoria Tree Removal Co., Peoria, IL

 

[ATH]

...Photograph the crack with a tape for scale now, then re-check it in a few months. If it's extending or the canopy above it starts thinning, the tree is making the removal-vs-preservation decision for you.

...

Would you put a small paint mark at either end of the split so it could be easily monitored from the ground?

 

[Reach]

Good call going light on the reduction. With a neutral-plane fracture that long, aggressive cuts would only push the tree harder, and on a tree hanging over a preschool the real question is whether reduction buys enough margin of safety. Those fractures don't close on their own; best case the tree compartmentalizes around it. Photograph the crack with a tape for scale now, then re-check it in a few months. If it's extending or the canopy above it starts thinning, the tree is making the removal-vs-preservation decision for you.

Also worth flagging to the owner in writing: with kids as the target, reduction lowers the risk but doesn't remove it, and that should be stated plainly so nobody treats the tree as "fixed." For anyone reading along facing the same call, our quick homeowner guide covers this decision in plain language: https://treeremovalpeoriail.com/tree-removal-peoria-il/

Stay safe on the return trip — barberchair-prone leaners around a fractured oak are no place to rush.

— The tree-care team at Peoria Tree Removal Co., Peoria, IL

I appreciate the tips, but is it really necessary to drop a link to your website in every single post? I own a business too, so I understand wanting backlinks to boost your web presence, but I'm not sure TreeBuzz is really the place for that.

 

[ATH]

I appreciate the tips, but is it really necessary to drop a link to your website in every single post? I own a business too, so I understand wanting backlinks to boost your web presence, but I'm not sure TreeBuzz is really the place for that.

I was about 2 posts away from saying the same thing. @peoriatreeremovalco I appreciate you joining in the conversation (and am willing to guess everyone else is too). But I was actually trying to figure out a polite way to ask "are you real?". Not as in "for real...like are you a joke?" But: are you an individual arborist looking to participate in discussion or is the purpose of being here to market a business? With AI and so many marketing schemes it's hard to know. Your posts have seemed thoughtful and helpful, but it could just as easily be AI pulling from your website too.

Hoping you are real and stick around!

 

[chiselbit]

I’m going with ai.

 

[southsoundtree]

Sus

 

[southsoundtree]

A crack-o-meter would help. They have something for monitoring building cracks.


The crack is smaller after removing a lot of weight.



My friend will process firewood for his daughter/ grandson. The young grandson was splitting dry wood from their shed and hauling into the house today.

He's 72 and active!

More to come.




I've got a split bigleaf maple with 5 trucker straps installed, to handle tomorrow with help. Very machine- accessible and room to rig.

Maybe preservation maybe removal.

 

[Reach]

I was about 2 posts away from saying the same thing. @peoriatreeremovalco I appreciate you joining in the conversation (and am willing to guess everyone else is too). But I was actually trying to figure out a polite way to ask "are you real?". Not as in "for real...like are you a joke?" But: are you an individual arborist looking to participate in discussion or is the purpose of being here to market a business? With AI and so many marketing schemes it's hard to know. Your posts have seemed thoughtful and helpful, but it could just as easily be AI pulling from your website too.

Hoping you are real and stick around!

I did some digging around that website, and it is a lead generation site, not a real tree service. I'm guessing it's AI generated, probably owned by Angi since they own most of the lead generation websites on the internet. @Tom Dunlap may want to ban the member since it's probably a bot, or at least remove the spammy backlinks.

 

[ATH]

On marketing links, I intentionally avoid clicking to not give another visit...but glad you went looking. Certainly had the vibes - I try to give the benefit of doubt but someone digging up several old posts in a week seemed sketchy for sure.

 

[Reach]

On marketing links, I intentionally avoid clicking to not give another visit...but glad you went looking. Certainly had the vibes - I try to give the benefit of doubt but someone digging up several old posts in a week seemed sketchy for sure.

I intentionally avoid clicking as well, for the same reason, but there is a point at which I figure it is worth one click to do a little research. The site is made up entirely of stock photos, some of which have trucks with other company names on them, and one might be an AI generated photo on the homepage. The whole site looks AI generated to me.

 

[Bart_]

Do you guys remember the thread where it was suggested that we try out using AI agents doing stuff for us? In hindsight the poster was probably also an agent. The Peoria site might be agent generated.

 

[TreeCo]

I did some digging around that website, and it is a lead generation site, not a real tree service. I'm guessing it's AI generated, probably owned by Angi since they own most of the lead generation websites on the internet. @Tom Dunlap may want to ban the member since it's probably a bot, or at least remove the spammy backlinks.

Placed on 'ignore'.

I hope that's the right move.

 

[Bart_]

Back to the tree, if the situation is rot free bolting it up might be viable as oak is as tough as it gets structurally. If there's rot and voids, well.... Time for the drill-o-meter.

edit - reconsider the drilling (at the main lowest trunk), do non-destructive assessment for rot or hollows. on 2nd look, it looks pretty good via photo

 

[southsoundtree]

I've got a handful of 3/4" x 6' rods.

Idk that they are big enough.

My bmp got wet and pages are stuck together... haven't referenced the chart, nor measured.


I got the removal decision from some regulars with a large, split bigleaf maple near a building. Maybe from the same wind storm. No-one spotted either split, until I was looking.

The wood and at least some of the chips will go to the new wood bank. I made a drop tonight to a friend. Tomorrow's wood will go to a nearly volunteer's house for processing and storage.

 

[Bart_]

If you want to trailblaze some researchy stuff, take this opportunity to combine gluing with bolting. Works for boats and furniture, right? If you keep it away from the cambium, what can it hurt? Epoxy is the best waterproof option I'm aware of, but an expert might know better. Resorcinol (sp?) was amazing but carcinogenic/banned in Canada. Used for boats. Worked on natural oily wood. Technique: big syringe with needle to apply glue to center of crack, then bolt it tight. Probably have to figure out glue viscosity to pass reasonably through the needle. Also needle tube/tip to fit crack in tree. I used the glue/needle/screws technique to refurbish the stairs in my brother in law's house (no disassembly/reconstruction). You might become famous


edit - resorcinol is based on cellulosic fibers! who'da thunk!

Cascophen | Aircraft Spruce Canada

Cascophen A Resorcinol Formaldehyde Adhesive capable of curing at room temperature and providing strong, durable, waterproof bonds. Comes in two parts, a liquid resin (part A) and a powered catalyst (part B). the liquid resin is an alcohol-

www.aircraftspruce.ca

 

[southsoundtree]

That's a wild idea!

 

[ATH]

That is an interesting idea. For a small crack like that I think the right glue could make that work. Somebody needs to grow 100 trees cause them to split, glue and bolt 25, just bolt 25, just glue 25, and leave 25 for control. Report back in 50 years to put a load test on them and let us know how it works!

Titebond III is waterproof in stronger than wood... If you make a good clean joint parallel to the grain and glue it, and then break the piece after it dries, it will break at the grain not at the glue joint. I have no idea how it would behave in green wood since it is used in dried wood with woodworking.

 

[southsoundtree]

Maybe bridge grafting across the crack in the future.