Bolting a Tree

[Al Smith]

Another side note: Copper does not hurt trees. How did that myth begin and why is it so widespread?

Really .Evidently you've never heard of copper sulfate then .

The only tree I every bolted together was one of my dads favorite apple trees .I used an 18" DA bolt [double arming ] with galvanized washers and nuts .It saved to old tree for a number of years until it met its demise a few years back in an ice storm .

Not a big deal ,lifted the split back in place ,bolted it and smeared about a gallon bucket full of roofing tar over the crack .It worked at least for a while .

 

[stehansen]

We spray copper on our walnut trees to protect them from blight.

 

[SkwerI]

You're doing it wrong, Steve. Copper will kill the trees, you need buckets of roofing tar to protect them.

 

[stehansen]

Not again!

 

[Knotahippie]

Another side note: Copper does not hurt trees. How did that myth begin and why is it so widespread?

I think I remember reading Cu is toxic at some level to young cambium and roots?

 

[sotc]

"at some level" everything is toxic, oxygen included

 

[TC3]

I really like the tar effect. Now THAT'S what I call retardant.

 

[Al Smith]

Well,it worked ,what else can I say Besides that when the ice finally finished the old apple tree I just cut bolt tar and all and burned in on the slash pile .I imagine the bolt is out yonder amidst the ashes . Hmm,wonder if I can recycle it .

 

[Mr. Sir]

Gee, maybe if you had used TWO gallons of tar... or loosened up the nuts every year... :roll:

 

[Al Smith]

If I'd have cut the darned thing down when I wanted too I wouldn't have used any tar .

 

[treelooker]

3. or to experiment on a tree that will need to be removed in a few years and a) learn something new or b) prove us right

Good post. I agree, experimenting is good, but making stuff up without even knowing about standard methods seems like...treating walnut blight with roofing tar (use the silver it's prettier).

 

[Al Smith]

Well what else could you use to try and prevent a big old crack from rotting inside out ,body putty ? I suppose you could nail roofing shingles over it but bark would be better .

I don't know ,I'm not a tree doctor .Rather an amputation expert ,about ground level .

 

[SkwerI]

And your first instinct, like most of our customers, is to cover it up with roofing tar. This is exactly why arboriculture cannot and will not ever advance. Everything learned hardly ever gets passed forward. Darin is reverting back to the same failed methods of 50 years ago to loosen the bolts every year, you're smearing roofing tar on wounds, the ignorance never ends. This is why I quit trying to educate customers because nobody wants to learn, they just want the cheapest guy to perform their idea of treework. 90% of what we do is not in the benefit of tree health, but rather it takes life away from the tree in the pursuit of aesthetics.

 

[Al Smith]

Well okay ,tar is bad .What do you do with it other than preform a treeectomy about 6 inchs off the ground ?

What do I know ,not much .All I did was save the old mans dwarf apple tree because the danged thing grew too many apples to hold up .Evidently the old boy should have pruned it a little more .

 

[stehansen]

Apple trees need to be pruned to make a stiff "fruiting unit" and thinned (the fruit not the limbs) to not overload the branches. It's kind of complex and needs to take place over a period of time so you wouldn't expect a homeowner/gardner type person to know it.

 

[Al Smith]

Well come on all ye tree folk just what,if not tar does one repair the busted split in a tree with .This is not a quiz ,I don't know .

 

[SkwerI]

You don't paint it with anything, Al. And no, I'm not going to explain for the eight hundred and fourty seventh time why. you have a computer, search on CODIT and whatever else for your answer.

 

[CurSedVoyce]

Ohhhh common Brian.... One more time for old times sake

 

[Al Smith]

Ah gee ,I missed the other eight hundred and four six . Okay grumpy CODIT it is ,

 

[Al Smith]

Okay already I looked it up .Now if the damned thing would scab over before it rots ,all is well .If not ,treeectomy .That I'm not too bad at .

 

[treelooker]

You don't paint it with anything, Al. And no, I'm not going to explain for the eight hundred and fourty seventh time .

Astounding math skills, but a little short on patience...:roll:

 

[Paul B]

a pic I found on my computer from 2005, Doc Shigo was showing a few folks the effects of a bolt through a tree at the PNW chapter AGM. Kinda neat if you dig forensic tree care

 

[Old Monkey]

Cool Paul. I put my bolts in today and did it according to the BMP book thingy. It went smooth except for when I dropped the nut from the tree in the snow below. I would have taken picts of the tree and my work but my camera is either dead or doesn't like the cold weather. Time for a new one. I am going to inspect the whole cable and bolt set up in spring after the tree leaves out, I'll take some pictures then.

 

[FJR]

Cools picture there Paul and nice job on the bolting OM.

 

[Mr. Sir]

Paul, it looks like that bolt wasn't in the tree for very long. Not much new growth around the washer/nut. The discoloration is usually the first sign of the decay process. The extent of decay is very species dependent.

OM, glad the bolting and cabling went well. I remember from working up north that it was much easier to drill frozen trees.