Summer Limb Drop

[klimbinfool]

Do you have summer limb drop in your area?

I took some major deadwood out of a 90' Black oak a while back with about a 48"dbh. and did some weight reduction on one large latteral. My eval. to the home owner was this tree is in decline do to the root problems and pockets of decay throughout the tree. He ask if it should be removed I said it could go either way but it will need weight reduction all the way around soon.

I got a call a month later and the 20"dia limb that I did weight reduction on fell off the tree. Ok , I felt bad enough about that and schedualed the tree to be removed this up comming Tues. I get a call Fri. night at 10:pm and another 20" limb fell off the tree. I tell the owner if I wait till Tues. I shouldn't have to climb the damn tree it will be on the ground.Needless to say, with my buggerd up rib, I had to climb today and take off the remaining 20"dia limb over the neighbors house.

You ever have a tree peel aprt like that?

 

[stehansen]

We have it. I haven't done any huge limbs yet this summer. Just a 6" euc limb on Monday and a 4" liquid amber limb yesterday.

 

[klimbinfool]

Ahh ! the famous Sweet gum forever dropping limbs. Highly dangerous tree to have in a target zone.

 

[CurSedVoyce]

Had a white oak lose a couple, but no threat. Made the call and the HO was a bit impressed. Since no threat he wants it to run its course... Bet I have a 12 foot spar by next summer He also has a black oak over his driveway that is running the same course. Dead and dying everywhere. I have seen several just split apart this summer in better condition. Don't know what else to do besides removal except coppice/pollarding the tree and see what we get after. Black oaks come back from about nothing left. Construction damage and compaction has killed about half the tree... No tops left.

 

[klimbinfool]

Yes but full of epicormic sprouts and poor attachments when topped or pollarded. It would eventually rot back and of course you know the end result.

 

[CurSedVoyce]

Yup.. His words were prolong the death.. But not in the same words. LOL He actually used the term "deadwooding" so that will leave about 4 6-7 foot leaders above a 15 foot stem.... He wants the tree to stay there a while longer.. Poor thing..

 

[klimbinfool]

makes you wonder what the homeowner is thinking, or not.

 

[sotc]

We mostly get it on Cotton wood, siberian elm and willow

 

[CurSedVoyce]

Or listening Greg... LOL

 

[NickfromWI]

In LA we get it on the Liquidambar (sweet gums). Occasionally on a euc here or there, too.

love
nick

 

[brendonv]

IIRC I've seen it on some Red Oaks around here. Pretty wild.

 

[rumination]

What exactly is the mechanism behind summer limb drop? I've heard a couple different explanations.

 

[brendonv]

I've heard the rapid loss of water in the cells makes them collapse and fail.....?

 

[sotc]

I've always thought it was the added load of a hot day without wind making transpiration the only cooling option. In effect pumping the tree full of water and failing through sheer weight. Strictly assumption

 

[thattreeguy]

saw a big old oak today co dom at 20 ft 3 stems 2 failed, took out dist lines, 2.5 ft dia each landed on the grape vineyard

2 weeks ago it was a monterey cypress simmilar sized limbs

 

[stehansen]

I was under the impression that they didn't quite have it figured out yet, but that it was probably what Willie said. I think some grad student is working on it.

 

[stig]

We see it on oaks here, sometimes.

Some years ago I was called in to mediate between some neighbours .
One guy had a beautiful 250 year old oak, maybe 60 feet tall with a crownspread of 120 feet, wonderful tree.
The new next door neighbours had bought their house 2 years before and now that they had got a baby, they all of a sudden became paranoid about the large limbs reaching over their property.
I checked the tree, found it to be completely sound, so I told them that the tree was there when they bought the house, so live with it or move.
The owner of the tree was adamant about not having it felled or reduced.

2 years later I got a call from the owner of the tree, he wanted it felled, and preferably the same day.
It had dropped a 30" thick limb on his house and sheared about 6 feet off a corner of the brick building, pretty impressive.
The largest branch on the tree reached directly across the house, scaring the owner s***less.
We did a quick job on it the next day, to help the poor guy.
I checked the break in the fallen branch for the report I wrote to his insurance company and could find absolutely no reason for the branch to have failed. Scary stuff.

His insurance paid for the damage to the house and also for me to remove the tree, I must have worded my report really well.

 

[darkstar]

Pratically keep us in buisness some of the hot weeks.

 

[gf beranek]

Don't see much of it on the coast. Lot cooler.

 

[Paul B]

I found a couple poplar branches on the ground a few weeks ago, no wind event or other factors that I could figure. Crappy cell phone pic attached.

 

[gf beranek]

IIRC I've seen it on some Red Oaks around here. Pretty wild.

IIRC, meaning what?

 

[Frans]

Willi, if it were excessive water build-up, then the break would show signs of water.
S.L.D. limbs are dry at the break.

My theory is that the tree rapidly cuts off water supply to a limb because for the tree to keep the limb viable, the tree needs something back from the limb.
When the limb is taking more resources than it is giving back, the tree cuts off the water supply

The limb, through compression and reaction wood build up, just 'pops' off because of the sudden weight change with the sudden loss of water weight. Think of how easily a redwood branch will snap off IF you pull it UP.
IMO.

 

[Mr. Sir]

IIRC, meaning what?

If I recall correctly, it means "if I recall correctly."

 

[gf beranek]

Oh Kay, that's so simple

 

[MasterBlaster]

I had to google it. I love google.