Any arborists or anyone who knows about trees??

[LowBuckX]

As soon as the loan goes through I will take possesion of a great home. In the back yard there is a Huge healthy Beautiful Maple tree. It is scary huge and close to the house. Like I said it is a very healthy Old growth tree. It is about 48" Diameter at its base and about 8 feet up it shoots off into 3 16-18 inch diameter offshoots. They get sort of wide before it gets to the beauiful leaves.
Like I said it is sorta close to the house. I would never think of removing it. I was just wondering if I could ancher the 3 off shoots together with some hefty cable and eyelets. Of course I would use some tube to isolate the cable from the tree.

This tree is a perfect specimen of a Maple and its staying. Id just love to see it supported for safety just in case.

Just an Idea of what Im talking about
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

[TonyL]

Looks good but use something like 2x4 instead of cable and tube. the cable and innertube will eventually cut into the swelling branches and actually ensure a weak point. so the thicker the reenforcement the better.

[Jim Nilsen]

It is not uncommon to drill through a tree that has split and put a threaded rod in it and bolt it back together. You never want to go around it as it will do as Tony said and eventually weaken the tree. You could drill through each branch, try to avoid the exact center so you don't hit the pith( exact center) of the tree which is detrimental to it's growth. Once you have the rods bolted through each one you can put an eye hook on and attach the cables to the hooks and use turnbuckles to put the right tension on them and adjust as the tree grows. The tree will actually grow over the rods if it lives that long and the hooks too and eventually hide them and look like the cable was drilled through the tree. In one of our parks they hung a cable on the trees to stop people from driving onto the grass areas and now 20yrs later they are part of the tree. You can use stainless rod to make sure you don't cause any problems with infections and diseases.

All in all if it is a healthy tree you don't need to do anything :twothumbs

[NOT A TA]

Most towns and citys have a "Tree Warden" and you might have your local one come look at the tree to give you peace of mind that it isn't a liability. Probably no charge.The warden (usually a certified arborist) might recommend pruning of the crown to reduce stress on the supporting limbs. Cableing trees is usually only done on trees deemed to need additional support due to damage or disease and desired because of their historic value, placement or aestetic quality.

I would not recommend using the cable method you described as this would cause damage to the cells under the bark which carry nutrients up the tree as the tree grows and pressure increases on the cables. That type of cable wrapped with tube support temporary and is usually for new trees and anchored to the ground with stakes to be removed once the tree has stabilized after transplanting or righting from storm damage. Cableing would likely cause more damage than good to your tree and as Jim said you probably don't need to do anything if its healthy other than perhaps pruning by a trained specialist.

If you can find a copy "Tree Maintneance" by P.P. Pirone will give you a good backround on support installation and maintenance. The book is old and some of the theories about diseases and pathogens have changed but the fundamentals of support are still in practice. It was still widely used when I graduated from an agricultural college majoring in Arboriculture and Park Maintenance Management.

John

[LowBuckX]

I like Jims Idea. I will see if I can get some one to look at it for free. After putting down payment on the house Im strapped.

[Damn True]

Further, some cities have regulations for any tree within "X" feet of a street or what they call "legacy" trees that are over a certain age. Definitely check with the city before you screw with the thing.

[novanutcase]

Further, some cities have regulations for any tree within "X" feet of a street or what they call "legacy" trees that are over a certain age. Definitely check with the city before you screw with the thing.

Great Advice! A friend of mine decided to take out a Ficus tree that was tearing up the sidewalk in front of his house because he kept seeing his neighbor, who is scooter-bound, having to drive her scooter into the street to get around the broken sidewalk and the street is very busy so he didn't want to see her get hurt!
The city made him replant a mature tree at his cost($2,500) in the same location since he hadn't gotten approval from them first to remove it!

John