Heritage apple tree prop

[evo]

I thought I’d share this project with you all. There is a very old 100+ year Apple tree that is in a community gathering place. The tree was propped about 15 years ago with a pretty cool log with a union to crutch it. This has rotted significantly and needed to be redone.
After quite a bit of thought this is the system I came up. Custom fabbed steel collar with a “water pitcher spout” to cradle a limb. This cradle should hold most of the compression forces, while the tree grows around the threaded rod. The entire stem is a stove pipe, so I didnt want to drill hardware into the trunk. The threaded rod is snugged down onto the sapwood, but a bark plug was removed.
Originally I wanted three legs, spaced a little further apart, but it was too crowded on the collar, as well as a lower limb in the way.
I’ll be sure to take final photos in a few days when the cross bracing is removed.

 

[Reach]

Wow, I like that! Some great creativity, and a somewhat artistic flair in the engineering. I love saving heritage trees; unfortunately as a removal specialist I don’t get to work on them much, but I a great fan of those who do!

 

[Tom Dunlap]

Looks good

Are you doing any weight reduction?

 

[evo]

Looks good

Are you doing any weight reduction?

I have slowly over the past two years.

 

[evo]

Any constructive criticism is very welcome. There are quite a few reasons why I designed this the way it is, but also a few details I’d change if I had to do it over.
One of the most significant is a flange facing inward to the crown, where a cable could be installed in the future.

 

[colb]

Looks very sensible and aesthetically pleasing.

 

[Daniel]

I like using props to support such trees. I think the ring will work well. However, the props themselves look a little messy. Going higher with a cable that was back-guyed to a ground anchor and then just one prop on either side for side stabilization might have been more aesthetically appealing, but it's always hard to tell from pics. Either way, good on you for taking the time to save this grandmother.

 

[evo]

Here is a picture of most of the tree after the temporary bracing has been removed

 

[Reach]

Will the old brace/post be removed? Either way though, I like it. Nice clean setup that does not take away from the natural beauty and structure of the tree.

 

[evo]

Will the old brace/post be removed? Either way though, I like it. Nice clean setup that does not take away from the natural beauty and structure of the tree.

I’m not sure on that one to be honest. It’s fairly rotten, and I thought about just replacing it with another crotch.
I like the history and the message by leaving it. I also think as it weakens in time mine will take more of a role.
Basically I don’t see a point of needing to remove the old prop, and doing so will leave the concrete pad.

 

[Roger_Barnett]

Clever and functional design, J !!

 

[evo]

Clever and functional design, J !!

Take a peek at it next time you’re on the island. It’s at Bayview Cash Store. I asked management to find the oldest dated photo that shows the tree. I’m guessing it’s well over 100

 

[Tom Dunlap]

Copied from Facebook

 

[evo]

Copied from Facebook

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Love it! I actually thought of doing the posts out of steel, made to look like crutches from a Dali painting.
Then also thought of making them out of 4” hammered and textured steel pipe.

 

[ConeCollector]

I thought I’d share this project with you all. There is a very old 100+ year Apple tree that is in a community gathering place. The tree was propped about 15 years ago with a pretty cool log with a union to crutch it. This has rotted significantly and needed to be redone.
After quite a bit of thought this is the system I came up. Custom fabbed steel collar with a “water pitcher spout” to cradle a limb. This cradle should hold most of the compression forces, while the tree grows around the threaded rod. The entire stem is a stove pipe, so I didnt want to drill hardware into the trunk. The threaded rod is snugged down onto the sapwood, but a bark plug was removed.
Originally I wanted three legs, spaced a little further apart, but it was too crowded on the collar, as well as a lower limb in the way.
I’ll be sure to take final photos in a few days when the cross bracing is removed.
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That’s super cool! Was there a reason to go with wood prop legs instead of steel? I’m designing one for a fig tree right now.

 

[evo]

That’s super cool! Was there a reason to go with wood prop legs instead of steel? I’m designing one for a fig tree right now.

Cost, design and fab time. It was easier to make the wood fit onsite than cutting and drilling steel. I certainly like the idea of steel and it was my first though as I could get away with smaller cross section and likely more strength

 

[colb]

Wood is somewhat ephemeral and suggests that the installation will change over a 3-15 year time span, as the tree does. Supports support both the tree and the human psyche. Metal conveys a sensation as much as it provides support. While metal support can be engineered to change, it usually is not. I have a new client who opted for both metal and wood support. The metal "cups" "supporting" live oak limbs are being grown over due to both their hard edges and the increasing diameter of the limbs not matching the fixed diameter of the cups. This is a unique and preventable/solvable circumstance. The wood support is just a large block keeping a large limb off the ground - fairly harmless, supportive of the tree owner, perhaps supportive of avoiding decay, and clearly unsupportive of rooting the branch. Each installation has benefits and drawbacks, both for the tree and for the tree owner. It is important to understand what/who is being supported, to what extent (proactive, reactive), and if the balance is clearly positive.

 

[colb]

And just to refer this back to the OP, I really like @evo's installation. It has metal that is engineered to accept a reasonable projected ultimate diameter. If the trunk exceeds that, the ring can just be cut off. One could even weld threaded rod extensions onto the existing if that were necessary (which I believe it will not be). The wood can be replaced or the support angles changed in response to his future observations of the tree. I like it very much.

 

[Tom Dunlap]

When I worked in Austin I found my favorite tree in the world. A live oak with very interesting structure. One winter we got an overnight ice storm. Not too thick a layer but many limbs on trees were weighted down. As soon as I got to work I measured the distance under one drooping limb. All I wanted was a prop to hold the limb from flexing too far. I cut a chunk of live oak trunk and buried it about 4". In normal conditions there would be about a 4-5" gap.


I found the snake skeleton nearby and put it on the prop LOL

The tree was near an employee entrance. One day I was working on the tree and someone asked me how 'that tree'...the prop... grew there. I had to struggle to keep a straight face and told them that it was just a chunk of trunk wood I set as a prop.

 

[colb]

When I worked in Austin I found my favorite tree in the world. A live oak with very interesting structure. One winter we got an overnight ice storm. Not too thick a layer but many limbs on trees were weighted down. As soon as I got to work I measured the distance under one drooping limb. All I wanted was a prop to hold the limb from flexing too far. I cut a chunk of live oak trunk and buried it about 4". In normal conditions there would be about a 4-5" gap.


I found the snake skeleton nearby and put it on the prop LOL

The tree was near an employee entrance. One day I was working on the tree and someone asked me how 'that tree'...the prop... grew there. I had to struggle to keep a straight face and told them that it was just a chunk of trunk wood I set as a prop.





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That tree epitomizes what southern live oaks are capable of, and everything that is right in the world, lol. Do you think that log was for the tree, the human/s, or both? It feels so right that it is there. In theory, a tree might transfer back to supporting itself as the log decayed...