Opinions Matter

c/arborists

30

grace_white•14d ago

My go-to climbing line snapped on a removal yesterday

I was up in a big oak in Austin around 3pm doing a takedown. Got about 30 feet up and my main climbing line just broke right at the splice. I had my lanyard on so I didn't fall but it scared the crap out of me. The rope was only about 8 months old and I inspected it before the climb. Anyone else had a brand new rope fail like that for no obvious reason?

4

ross.felix•15d ago

Saw something weird at an old cemetery in Savannah last weekend

I was visiting Bonaventure Cemetery with my wife, just walking around looking at the old trees. There's this huge live oak there, must be 300 years old, and someone bolted a sign right into the trunk. Like six lag bolts holding up a metal plaque. I get that they want to label the tree for tourists, but do they not know that kills the cambium layer? That tree is probably fine for now but in 20 years that's gonna be a rot pocket. Have any of you dealt with cities doing stuff like this to historic trees?

20

sarah531•15d ago

I used to skip cleaning saw dust off my climbing harness

Always figured it was harmless, but after reading a post from a guy who wrecked his ascender from grit buildup, I started wiping mine down after every climb. A quick brush takes 2 minutes and my gear's smoother now. Anyone else found hidden damage from neglecting harness care?

20

grantadams•16d ago

Was last Thursday a freak day or just how it goes sometimes?

I had a day last week where everything went wrong. Started with my climbing spikes slipping on a wet oak in Portland, then my chipper jammed on a branch I've fed through a hundred times before. By noon, I'd snapped my good hand saw blade clean in half on a knot. But then Friday was the smoothest day I've had in months, not a single hiccup. Anyone else get days that are just cursed or blessed with no middle ground?

7

patricia317•16d ago

That old silky saw I found in my dad's garage cuts circles around my new one

Cleaned it up, sharpened the teeth with a file I'd almost forgotten how to use, and it made quick work of a 12-inch oak branch last weekend. Has anyone else had an older hand tool outperform a brand new one on a job?

19

margaret_kim13•17d ago

Stop using your climbing spikes on every tree removal

I used to throw on my spikes for any job that required going up, even removals in tight backyards. Then I worked with a guy in Portland last spring who showed me how much unnecessary damage spikes do to the cambium layer on live trees we're trying to preserve. Now I only use them when the tree is coming down completely, and I switched to a friction saver for pruning jobs. Has anyone else switched up their climbing gear after seeing what spikes can do?

2

margaretm23•19d ago

Vent: Hidden wire root took 5 hours to find

I was removing this big maple stump and kept hitting something solid. Thought it was a rock but nope, someone buried old telephone wire right through the root system years ago. Took me from 8am to 1pm just to cut through it all and clear the stump. Has anyone else run into random buried cables messing up a job like that?

15

eric_murray26•19d ago

Almost lost a 30 year old oak because of a hidden root rot

I was out on a job last week in Blue Springs and noticed this huge oak looking a little thin on one side. The homeowner said it was fine. I poked around the base and found a soft spot about the size of a dinner plate. Turns out it was Armillaria root rot from a broken sprinkler line soaking the base for like 5 years. I found out from a forestry extension article that this fungus can spread 10 feet underground before you ever see a mushroom. By the time the canopy shows signs the root system is already 50 percent gone. Has anyone else caught something like this early and saved the tree?

1

miles946•21d ago

The day a rotted stump in Portland nearly took my truck out

Back in 2012 I was grinding a big oak stump in a tight backyard near Hawthorne. I had the machine angled wrong and the stump was way more rotten than I thought. Whole thing gave way and the truck nearly slid into a 4 foot hole. I spent the next 3 hours hauling gravel to fill it in before the homeowner got back. Has anyone else had a stump just cave in like that on them?

8

the_thomas•21d ago

Took me 3 hours to figure out a bad wedge cut

Was dropping a big oak yesterday and my saw kept pinching no matter what I did. Turns out I was cutting my wedge too shallow, only about a third of the way through instead of halfway. Has anyone else wasted a ton of time on something this basic?

13

eric_murray26•23d ago

Just realized climbing spikes are way overused on removals I see posted here

I walked a job last week where a guy used spikes on a live oak removal that had zero deadwood, and the bark damage was significant. After 15 years in the trade I've seen more trees scarred by unnecessary spike use than from proper climbing technique on removals. Why do so many guys insist on using spikes for every single removal when a good flip line and footlock work just fine for most take downs?

12

murray.spencer•23d ago

Found a study saying pruning in fall weakens trees more than winter cuts - where's the truth?

I was reading through some forestry extension articles last night, the kind from a university website, and stumbled on a stat that threw me. They claimed pruning oaks in September led to 40 percent more decay pockets compared to March cuts. But then I found another old arborist handbook saying fall pruning is fine as long as it's dry. Seems like every pro I've talked to has a different rule. Some swear by late winter, others do it whenever. What's the real deal based on actual science or long-term field experience?

1

victor_adams•25d ago

Old school climbing spikes vs modern ones... not even close

I started out using those heavy steel spikes back in the late 90s in Portland, the kind that weigh a ton and chew up bark like a beaver. Last week I finally tried a pair of aluminum ones with replaceable gaffs on a big red oak removal in Salem. After the first climb I could feel a huge difference in my legs the next morning, way less sore. Anyone else made the switch and noticed how much easier it is on your knees over a 10 hour day?

16

dakota_nelson43•25d ago

Realized after 3 years I was topping my Norway maples wrong

I was up on a big Norway maple in Green Bay last Tuesday, doing a reduction cut on a heavy limb, and my ground guy just stopped and stared at me. He said "you know you're leaving too much stub right?" I looked down and yeah, I was leaving like 4-5 inches every time because I was scared of cutting into the branch collar. Been doing it that way since I started, never had anyone call me out. Any of you guys have a moment where a simple thing you did forever turned out to be the wrong move?

5

taylor_young•26d ago

Hit my 200th stump grinding job this week without a dent

I've been running a little Vermeer for two years, and last Tuesday I pulled up to a nasty oak stump in Austin that had me nervous. Finished it clean with no damage to the machine or the client's lawn, and that made 200 jobs without a single accident. Anyone else keep a quiet tally of small milestones like this?

26

margaret_kelly55•27d ago

Took me 4 hours to remove a single stubborn stump in my own front yard

I had this old maple stump that looked small enough to yank out in 30 minutes. Ended up spending half a Saturday with a digging bar, an axe, and a borrowed stump grinder that kept clogging on rocks. The roots wrapped around a buried water line from the 70s that I had to carefully cut away. Has anyone else found random utility lines buried way closer to the surface than expected?

0

the_thomas•28d ago

Client told me my pruning cuts looked like a beaver had been at them

An old landscaper showed me how to make cleaner collar cuts after I left jagged stubs on a maple tree, and now I always carry a sharp folding saw to avoid that messing up the bark, has anyone else had to fix their cutting habits after some blunt feedback?

23

kelly_nelson95•29d ago

That fall at the county park in Arlington made me stop trusting 3-point hitch lifts for big stumps.

My skid steer tipped forward on a 48 inch oak stump because the hitch slipped, and now I always do a secondary chain wrap before lifting anything over 30 inches, has anyone else had a hitch fail like that while hauling out big wood?

30

olivia_rivera88•1mo ago

Tried a rope wrench for the first time on a big oak in Lincoln

I've been using a traditional split-tail setup for years (since I started climbing, actually) and figured it was fine. Last week I borrowed a buddy's Rope Wrench and gave it a shot on a 60-foot red oak removal. Man, the smoothness on ascent was a total surprise - way less fighting with my lanyard. Has anyone else switched from a traditional system and found it worth the learning curve?

28

the_paul•1mo ago

Spent $150 on a cheap pruning saw that barely cut green wood

I picked up a no-name pruning saw off Amazon last month thinking I was saving money compared to the Silky brand. The teeth dulled after three cuts on a live oak branch and it kept binding up in the wood. Anyone else had luck with budget saws, or should I just stick with a known brand from now on?

2

felixfisher•1mo ago

Had a day last week where every single cut went perfectly

I was trimming a big red oak in Brookline, Massachusetts, and everything just lined up. The rope slides were clean, my notch cuts landed exactly where I wanted them, and the hinge wood held right to the last second. Three big limbs down in under an hour, no wrestling or second tries. Has anyone else had a day like that where the tree just seems to cooperate?

19

theasmith•1mo ago

PSA: That $300 battery-powered chainsaw I bought last spring was a complete waste of money.

It bogged down on a single 12-inch oak branch and now won't hold a charge for more than 20 minutes of cutting, has anyone else had luck with the cheaper corded models instead?

10

grantadams•1mo ago

My old climbing saw started up after I left it in the sun for an hour

I was cleaning out my truck in Phoenix last summer and left my Husqvarna T540i on the tailgate. It had been dead for a week, wouldn't even click. After sitting in the 105 degree heat, I tried it on a whim and it fired right up. I'm torn between thinking it was just a lucky fluke with the battery connection or if the heat actually helped. Has anyone else had a tool come back to life from something weird like that?

5

umamartin•1mo ago

PSA: My old boss told me to never top a live oak, and a job in Savannah last month proved him right.

The homeowner insisted on a 'round over' and now half the canopy is covered in epicormic sprouts... it looks awful. Anyone dealt with a client pushing for topping and how did you handle it?

25

jenny_coleman•1mo ago

Reading an old forestry report and found a surprising detail about oak wilt

I was looking through a 1990s report from the Michigan DNR and saw that a single infected red oak can produce over 100,000 fungal mats in a season. I had no idea the scale was that massive for spore production. Has anyone else come across stats that changed how you view a common tree disease?