having lived through our loved maple splitting neatly in half and coming down across the back of our 3 story house I have very firm opinions on split tress. My next door neighbors wanted us to save the rest of the 100 + year old tree, at least 80 feet tall. Until I pointed out the next time it split the rest of the tree would go through the center of their house. Cut down 2 days later, rotten right through the middle of the trunk but even with all that rot it had had a lovely canopy of leaves. To heck with saving it, cut it down.
I had that same problem with an old "century" Oak that used to be right in front of my house. I kept noticing limbs on the ground from time to time but they were dead and you learn to expect that if you have trees on your property. What I did NOT expect was to get up one morning and find an eight inch LIVE limb lying across the top and down the side of my nearly new pickup! Close to $3000 later the truck was repaired. I had a tree company come out and inspect the tree and they had to call the County Code Enforcement Officer to come out and look at the tree. As it turned out the tree looked fine on the outside but was completely hollow inside. The tree that stood on the corner of the house was also dying and would have fallen in time as well. When the company took the tree down it was like mush inside. Even though this tree was close to six feet in diameter, it had very little left that was actually living. Sometimes you just have to do what you have to do and the insurance company told me later that had either one of those trees fallen on my house they would not cover the repairs. Many insurance companies have that clause in their coverage. Many years later Hurricane Michael solved any further tree issues I may have had by wiping out fourteen of my remaining trees (I live in the rural part of the county and trees aren't normally a problem).
About Arborist Blair Glenn and the educational, tree video collection. This is my 42nd year in business and it is time that I start giving back. I have had the great opportunity to learn about trees and tree care from some amazing people. I'm proud to call myself a Certified Arborist. We are in a field where few young people want to become Arborists. Maybe the youth of today feel that the work is too hard or maybe the young are being programmed to follow other directions, like high tech careers. In any case, the knowledge that I have been so fortunate to learn may be lost unless there are enough young people who decide that tree work is a good way to make a living. Now think about this, TH-cam has only been in existence for the last few years. This incredible new form of public media is an opportunity for those of us who may have something to share, to actually do something about it in a powerful way. Video production has become so easy that just about anyone can do it and anyone can put those videos up for the whole world to see! Whenever and as often as they want, for free! How amazing is that. Now I don't claim to be a professional video producer nor do I intend to become one. I have, however, invested in some high end video equipment and I am learning how to produce the best quality productions that I can. As I continue to learn, the production quality improves. The content that I am focusing on relates to trees and tree care. Those of us who work out in the field with these trees make discoveries and come across interesting things to share. I keep a video camera with me at all times and when I see something unique or worth sharing, I capture it. Not only are new upcoming Arborists able to benefit from these captured video pieces, but homeowners and property managers alike can benefit from being able to find the knowledge that may help them. Tree professionals can also take advantage of this new way of sharing knowledge, by forwarding links to specific tree videos that their clients may benefit from. I started this video project 7 years ago and I intend to continue putting up these educational videos as long as I can. Not everyone will agree with what I say (or show), but everyone can benefit from sharing knowledge about the subject. If you disagree with something you see in a video, say so. Post your comments for others to learn your thoughts as well. This is an open opportunity to teach. The last thing I want to do is profess to be "the one and only expert" on trees and tree care. I do want to continue building this base of knowledge for anyone to benefit from. I have worked in trees a long time but I am still learning every single day. I hope you share my efforts with anyone who may benefit from these videos. And let me know what you think. Respectfully, Blair Glenn I.S.A. Certified Arborist #654 saratogatreeservice.com/video.html
I really appreciate what you're doing making these videos and sharing your knowledge. I've been wanting to be an Arborist for almost 5 years. I'm only 23 and have a construction background, but its seems impossible to find a company who will take you under there wing and give someone a chance to learn, they just make you drag brush, which is okay for a while, I enjoy the exercise, and groundsmen are a crucial part of tree care, but its repetitive, and i feel like i'm stuck and not able to move up in the trade. My question is, what kind of training would i need and where can i receive this training to show potential employers I'm serious about becoming an arborist?
+Ham Davis finding the time to work and study is the challenge. At only 23, you have the energy to do both. Watch all my videos and start to read. Invest in your own future. Join the ISA, buy the books, go to conferences. Don't wait for someone to recognize that you are serious---BE SERIOUS!
In my case, I applied to work for a city in southern California. They had a tree crew and ran their training course like a college course. Being civil, they had the time for formal instruction, testing, and a great deal of practical work. Some degree of certification was available at the end of the course, and continuing employment.
Another great job Blair.....thanks for sharing! It's hard to imagine that the owners continued to live under that tree for so many years; they are lucky to have escaped unharmed. Twenty-eight cables is crazy!
Worked for my uncles tree service back in the 60's, he would look at a job like the this and used A 1936 Marion steam shovel to help take down a job that was about 65% of what I'm watching in this Video. When I showed it to him he said "" no way in hell would I touch that job". Nice on taking hit down, hope the homeowner is aware of how much you saved him house wise. Excellent job sir. A tip o the hat for a job well done.
arboristBlairGlenn He told me he paid $ 50 for the steam shovel from the a local contractor who didn't need it anymore. Kind of the reason I worked with my uncle was the shovel. Used to burn coal but with an excess of wood about he burned wood in the boiler. Every time he used it the old men and kids would come out of the woodwork to watch it. After a track chain failed he parked it in his back yard and heated his house with it for over 30 years before he sold the house but he sold the old shovel to a construction company in Maine who restored it and still runs it several time a year for grins at his gravel pit. You want to see the owner operators when they back up to a pile to pick up a load and this old girl comes trundling around the corner. Not the fastest loader but nobody really complains.
Wow. What a nightmare for both home owner and you. You did a fantastic job, considering what you were up against from the start. Problems compounding other problems. I think I would have ran away, lol. ( And I bet you felt like walking away on several occasions. ) I was on edge throughout the entire video. Whew!!! You guys do amazing work and I commend you for all you do.
Thanks for sharing. I believe that if a tree needs the aid of a cable to survive, then its a liability and most likely belongs on the ground or in a wood stove. Beautiful tree at one time, but became a liability. Nice work
I don't know how many times I stopped breathing waiting for the worst to happen. That job would have given me nightmares. I recently cut down a few trees around my property in preparation of us building (took documentary video) and I was freaking out over knocking off a plastic vent on the neighbours house. Respect dude this was some seriously challenging work.
There are tough tree jobs, and then there are jobs like this...no right answers, just best educated guesses and reassess after each move. Fantastic video! I got a headache just trying to think about the puzzle of figuring this thing out. Glad it all worked out.
This job was a nightmare, there really wasn't a perfect "right" way of doing it. You had to go with your gut and make choices on the fly. The neighbor was pretty cool for allowing the debris to be put into their yard. You guys did an excellent job,.. this one wasn't easy!
Wow. I was on the edge of my seat for this whole video! Amazing what work challenges goes on out there for you guys! I'm awed by this example. I know somebody's got to do it, but t is hundreds of leagues out of my scope of ability and I applaud and highly-respect professionals like you who tackle these sort of things head-on on a daily basis! The sheer potential for danger to life and all of the "unknowns" that could happen during the removal operation is staggering! Your team did a fine job and I'm very glad that no one experienced any serious injury. (I'm glad to learn that that tree, although once magnificent, finally was taken down.)
Wow! Blair that was quite a job. I, too, was on the edge of my seat. I honestly can't believe that the homeowners left the tree there for 5 years. What did it look like when you were finished and they decided to keep it?
Another superb video, Blair! I love your detailed descriptions and the way you give credit to historic good workmanship (the old cable bracing whipping by the hand-forged eye). That job looked a nightmare. I must admit, i think I;d have declared that tree well and truly fu**ed when I first saw how bad it was, and I;m amazed it got another 5 years.
BlairGlenn, I'm glad someone had to have the courage and understanding of this hazardous structural failure needed to save that historic home. I bet that homeowner is very grateful for you.
I am an auto mechanic by trade (since retired). In the late 70's a bunch of my friends worked for either LA Parks and Recreation or LA Department of Water and Power. They did their jobs and I did mine. We were part of the second great wave of "back to nature" people to leave the San Fernando Valley for Northern CA (Siskiyou County). Ok get up in Northern CA right when the big recession of the early 80's hit and I found myself working as a ground crew member. I will come out and say I have never been more tired as I was after a "dawn till dusk" day of tree work. I saw my climbing friends use all the tricks they learned in the city, very interesting work. No big injuries and no major failures but things got real close "danger close" a few times. I did not see exactly why it happened because the guy cutting was so high up but a branch that was tied off came down at an unexpected angle and the rope holding the branch pinned the arm of the person working the saw to his chest. Try as he may he could not pull that pinned arm free. With his last effort he was able to pull his arm free with the next step being cutting the rope with his hand saw (and using his unstuck arm). One other "error" my best friend clipped his chainsaw to his belt (or thought he had) the saw fell from the height he was cutting from (had to be 60ft) and all the way down it came. Not much chance in things ending well if you get hit by a falling chain saw. Dangerous work even when all precautions are taken.
Dan R good story. I too have dozens of close call stories. Keeps life interesting and you really do feel alive. A hard day of work means a good night of sleep!
Hello Blair. I read in the LA Times the our Gov Brown has signed legislation for felling 102 million dead or dying trees. This is the result of poor management, our drought and beetle infestation. I read that if the tree does not get enough water (up to 250 gallons per day) it can't make the pitch to fight off the bugs. I sure will miss being involved with this but I am 62 with failing health (cancer) This sure would be fun to get out there.
Holy Moly what a giant of a tree. I can see the sentimentality of the owner of keeping this giant alive, as it has been living there for centuries, maybe it was young in the days of the indepence war. But such is circle of life....plant some offspring of it, take it down, and have the wood milled to use for furniture and houses. Great job taking it down.
Thank you so much for the videos. I worked as a ground crewman many years ago. You climbers make the work look easy but I know how hard it really is. Thank you for sharing what was going on in your head while you did this. That information was the hard part to get.
I sympathize with the problem. We had a large tulip tree in our front yard. One limb was as large as the trunk and hung over one of the bedrooms. When the men came to take it down our neighbors brought yard chairs and watched the whole operation. Fascinating!
Thanks, you might enjoy some of these other exciting jobs too! Check them out on this playlist. th-cam.com/play/PLdq3KQ_xcH4B7yGHc9wcKxThfLRslgT9Q.html Arborist Blair Glenn
These owners have been inviting disaster for many years. The only way to deal with it is to reduce the weight a small piece at a time while keeping the whole tree weight in balance. Yup, easier said than done.
The thing is they knew the tree was in bad shape by the amount of cabling that had been done to the tree. The arborist said it was a disaster. These "homeowners" are plain stupid.
This brought back a memory of many years ago before my late wife and I sold our place in town and moved out into the rural part of the county. One night there were several loud pops that sounded like gunfire. A neighbor called the police and two County Deputies showed up at the property where the noise came from. They got out, weapons ready, and started walking around towards the back of the house. All of a sudden I saw BOTH of them running like they were on fire trying to get to their cruisers and get out of that driveway! Just as they cleared the driveway, a HUGE Oak tree next to the house suddenly ripped in half right down the middle. The tree was beginning to break apart internally which was what we all heard. It was funny after it was all over thinking back on the way those men took off but you can bet they weren't laughing at the time.
This was a very dangerous job indeed. The pucker factor on this job must have been enormous! That tree needed to come all the way down for the safety of you guys working around it as well as the continued safety of the homeowner.
They waited 5 more yrs to finally remove the entire tree. Someone really loved that tree. All those cables, all that time it was falling to pieces. In the end nothing saved the tree, and the house could have been destroyed over their love for that tree.
Now that is some intense tree work, I can only guess at how stressful doing this job must have been. Outstanding work all the way around. Thank you for filming and sharing.
Blair such a Dammed if you do and Dammed if you don't, From Construction back ground the loads and potential load shifting without any way to control of judge just how much load will change is just a night mare, the only thing that could have been different is to have removed it before it got this bad, if only people listened more often when we say you really need to take those trees out now years before it gets this bad, but many don't listen. Amazing you would take on such a huge job good for you
Blair, I think you did the best you could on this. Aside from bringing in the Army Corp of engineers and more machinery there are just some things that are impossible to avoid. Somebody consciously built this house under this tree at one point knowing that it would eventually grow even larger. I'm sure it was charming for many decades before becoming dangerous and unstable and ultimately failing. The best thing to do is make sure your crew will be safe and also be realistic with the homeowner and warn them that they may have to deal with the strong possibility of property damage. Sometimes in life there are sacrifices one must make to achieve something else. Of course you think out every step carefully as you did to minimize damage, but this is not a guarantee that all will go perfect with a tree like this. If the homeowner does not trust your expertise along with your fair warning, then they are free to try someone else i guess. Good job!, glad nobody was hurt.
you sir, are definitely not too old and you are doing an amazingingly good job. I have very little experience and knowledge compared to you, but I can tell you know what your doing and how to coordinate others to do what needs to be done. but you are correct when you say that it's hard work that most young people don't even want to try to do. however; there are still a few of us young people that do. I'm a recently separated from the military, but before that when I was even younger I worked with my father who owned/operated a small arborist company. I love to work with trees and would love to be able to go to school and start my own small business. thank you for these very informative videos
Blair, just wanted to let you know that I really enjoy watching your videos and I appreciate the time and effort that you put into them. Please keep them coming. As a certified arborist myself, I can see why you would want to save this Oak, but from a practical point of view, I can see why it needed to come down. I am fortunate enough to climb with cranes on a weekly basis with a company that has been in business since 1957 and knows a thing or two about balancing crane picks. Never cut a cable under tension, that's a standard rule. Like Nick said below. Another sling way out further on the end and a slight lift by the crane operator before cutting that last cable, may have saved the branch from snapping and coming down on the roof??Like you said, hindsight is 20/20, but you guys did an awesome job.Chris Girard - CTSPISA Certified Arborist NE-6619A
Beautiful tree, would be hard to part with, I cut down trees for a living too, but yea there’s a point where you gotta realize practicality is more important than aesthetics.
I was on the edge of my seat! I adore trees and your program was a delight. Thank you! (It looks to me, like lightening struck the poor tree( thank God the owners were safe.)
Blair, I just fell upon this? My brother is over, and I showed him this, trying to described how we handled storm work without the cranes/buckets, and what it took to do the jobs. We found this filming fascinating, thank you so much, the detail of the job was perfection with the documentation, DAMN!
Blair, you made a brave attempt here but to my non-expert eye, this tree was coming down no matter what precautions you could have taken. A slight puff of wind... a bird landing on it after a heavy luncheon... It was a job from hell.
Just me here, but if the customer simply must try to save a tree for sentimental reasons that a seasoned pro thinks should be removed they should assume the lions share of risk to property.Thanks for the feedback.
The client’s lawyer can always argue that the arborist didn’t inform them of all possible options, and that the arborist was therefore negligent. This is why you always need to have everything in writing.
Awesome vid- Explained quite well as to the danger, the weight of the tree, and all around dismantling. Well done, and experience was greatly demonstrated by your crew.
I'm not a tree expert......but I noticed on my acres of trees...... When you can easily see thru a tree, it is in the last stage of its' life. I can easily see thru this tree.
Hindsight is 20/20. Should we have put another crane support further out? Clearly that is what was needed. Getting out there was the issue. We really thought the location of the crane tie in was good. Just goes to show how weak it really was. The cable was the only reason the limb didn't fail and when we needed to cut that cable, well, you saw what happened. Fortunately, very little damage! Live and learn.
***** Thanks Mark, I have seen too many people get hurt and a few that died in this line of work. I like to think everything out but I still make my share of mistakes as do my crew.
actually the fix for the limb snapping would probably have been lifting it till the cable lost tension. If you Google " spaghetti high speed camera" you'll find vids the show spaghetti breaking in 3 or more pieces (instead of just 2) when you bend it to far. The additional breaks are caused by the whip action as the piece unloads, which causes new stresses in the opposite direction.... or something like that... so maybe use 3 cables, one at the cable point to release the cable (let's say loaded 40%) then one up and one down the branch to support it, each taking 30% of the load. But I'm not an aborist, I like my trees laying on the ground before I cut them up :)
Wow, two years ago! Betcha you're thinking all kind of shoulda coulda wouldas. : ) Those cables sure scared me. You did your best with what ya knew at the time I'm sure. Thank you so much for sharing. I hope you never take it down. This video is valuable in so many ways.
Bill, Please set up the guys in the Treehouse to watch this 18 min video during a weekly Tailgate Meeting. They will learn more from it that of 2-years worth of training. It’s one of the most difficult takedowns needing a crane that I’ve yet witnessed. In the end, King Crane balanced the huge piece intuitively (good feel of the controls & scale). Saratoga tree did the work in Silicon Valley, and the owner Blair Glen. . .as the conductor. Awesome stuff. Dave Dockter, Planning Arborist, City of Palo Alto, USA
Lindsey Zacek I think you might be frustrated with the cost of living here. We get the big nasty ones but I think we make the most money doing fine pruning
A truly epic job because of all the hidden tortional stresses. Plain compression and tension is one thing, but the less obvious stresses caused by twisting can cause a limb to split lengthwise unpredictably in a nanosecond, in an unexpected direction. Bloody dangerous! Great job done, gents. I hope the home owner fully appreciates the fact that the superficial damage done could easily have been catastrophic.
Incredible that the house suffered so little damage in the first place despite the 23000lbs !! Part 2, removal of the second branch: it appears obvious (now) that the whole tree should have been removed at this stage. The best job "you would not want" that I have ever seen, thanks for filming it!
I love trees, and understand the wish to preserve them, but what had been done there bordered on insanity. I have watched most of your videos; this one is truly scary. The skill here is amazing! This must have been one of the most challenging jobs you've ever encountered.
My thing is if you have to add cables to stabilize it then it should be cut down.If this tree had been out in the woods it would of been no danger to any buildings or homes.I was looking at a home a few months ago and noticed that the drive was cracked very badly.and there was somewhat of a hole right next to it and the house next door was completely remodeled the house i was looking at was built in 1923 and the neighbors probably around the same time.I did a google earth of the house and as i thought there had been a big ol tree between the properties and the tree had fallen on the neighbors house.This was confirmed by a coworker who lives in the neighborhood when he stopped by and talked to the neighbor.
onbigkahuna69, there's a time and place to put cables in trees. Like, if an other wise healthy and beautiful tree is struck by lightning or an ice storm and you want to hold what is left together than a cable or two is fine if it is done correctly and the wound is protected from rain water and disease... betting more than 5 cables in one tree is asking for trouble though.
Herbert ... I agree! Anyone that leaves a live oak close to the house n does not trim the house side does not know much about large live oaks. God Bless!
glenn, your tree work is always seeming to be the worst a tree can be, yet your crew always does the best, using tools instead of fingers, i recall that clearly from an other video, which made me know you and your crew are very professional and not wanna bee-s again, expert observation, work,, and well done i do like your videos as both educational to home owners and would be tree trimmers thanks for posting these
I would have cut little pieces at a time, starting at the extremities . Like slicing bread or salami. Anything that fell on the house would cause minimal damage or none at all
i just found your videos. Im addicted. Its amazing how you tackle these jobs. I wish I could have that burl on that tree lol. Why did they wait so long to tackle this tree? Why would they put all of those cables? They had to know gravity pulls to lease resistance. And pull everything with it. The ones who put those cables should be responsible for this mess. Youre a mast at work. Like an artist
some times you just have to walk away from a job. But a great cliff hanging story and glad it wasn't my job. I hope I would have walked away when owner didn't want to remove entire tree. You and your crew did a wonderful job; no one got hurt. bravo
Wow...what a jig-saw puzzle and precariously placed dominoes all in one.! There was no way that you, Blair, could have anticipated exactly how those limbs were gonna react at each step. But you did a heck of a job in analyzing all the weights & counter weights and balancing factors.!! I hope the homeowner realized what a tremendous job you and your crew did in saving his house from severe damage. I hope you got a big, fat check from him..!! Did you ever play the game of 'pick-up-sticks' back in your elementary school years? This tree problem reminded me of that game.!
@@arboristBlairGlenn Some people love their trees too much, so much that their beautiful homes and lives are at risk. That thing should have been tamed a long, long time ago.
@@ruthlessgoat3702 you are probably right. In our area, (of the super rich and Silicon Valley famous), the need to get permits for removals is not easy. Heritage oaks are important for the city.
Wow what a job! I'm not in the arboreal business, just an interested observer. Thank you for sharing and I'd love to see any more old beauties like this from the archives. Respect to you, your crew and Paul the crane operator and thanks again. Martin
Man dont you ever take an easy job lol.The crane man rock the job mad skills same with your saw man do something to him and make him smile he always looks to worried lol
You are the coolest. I have some "problem trees "around the log home that we just purchased. While I will not be using your videos as gospel, I am happy that there are dudes like you around to use as a guide. Thanks
You are an artist sir. It’s a shame stupid people don’t respect the trees. They never should of had a house built next to that beauty, they do not realize how big these giants can get. It should have been cut back decades ago. I realized this several yrs ago after stupid me planted an atlas cedar next to my front step. Now I research tree size and how much room they need to live so they are not near the house or stick to dwarfs. Good job! 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻❤️🙋🏼♀️
God I hope so hope they made a lot I've done a few of them in my life a lot can go wrong fast more dangerous then most you can get hurt fast by one wrong move or just missing a presser point
Wow, interesting job. Thanks for posting it ! Great job you did speaking, very clear and descriptive. Good job evaluating the situation. I sure like complicated jobs to figure out; I doubt I'll ever get to experience one like that though :-( In the beginning of the video, your text says, "so, tell me now you would do this job. I want to hear your ideas." I'm sure looking back on it you have it figured out. But you did ask; so my thoughts were: 1. Never cut cables under tension, either cut after the crane lifts enough to slack them, or put in temporary rope rigging to slack the cables, or take weight off somewhere to slack the cables. Almost never cut tight cables. 2. The first pick was not balanced. ( As you know I'm sure.) Not having tie-able heavy duty static rope and dealing with those "crane guy" steel cables and clevis was part of the pain for the crew not getting it right. 3. There was a feel of un-easiness and lack of confidence in the air. There needs to be a plan and skilled enough people to be rock solid confident and KNOW what is going to happen, or else don't do the job. I might have added many 3/4" to 1" ropes throughtout the tree, to limbs that were cracked if those cracked limbs were supporting other cracked limbs through the cables. Rachet strap the cracks too. Also, you have an option of making supports in unstable situations. This is good for when worrying about rolling pieces or if the crane you are using can only take a portion of the cracked limb (you didn't have that problem with such a large crane). Supports can be made from Y shaped limbs, or you can haul in something like 8x8 or 12x12 beams and even drill and through bolt them in place. That piece really wasn't 23,000 lbs though, right? crane guy said 23K when he was winching up AND the butt was still attached, right? Don't get me wrong, I know it was HUGE and heavy. 17,000 maybe? We don't have that type of oak though, I think those are denser than ours. Those hand made eyes were cool. Good call on the crappy past cabling work. No thimbles and common grade soft cable. J-Lags into huge diameters. Large old trees that are hollow or soft inside and just outer shells could really benefit from bracing legs instead of just cabling. Of course, crown tip reductions all the time too. For some reason, people don't think of legs; like utility poles used with large U-shaped steel ends with pipe and huge threaded rods. I do strongly believe in steel cabling and bracing by the way, if it's done right. But after a while, it might need something else, like poles or else taken down. That tree was really starting to struggle with it's dieback, sparse foliage on certain leaders and all that bleeding. Whole removal probably should have been done all at the same time. But the owners must have loved that tree and probably would not have gone for it.
Great reply, thanks. Yes, it really was 23 thousand pounds. Surprised me! There were os many things happening and we needed to rush to get that limb off the roof ridge. Easy to say what might have been a better idea after the job is done but in a situation like this, well-- there was a bit of head scratching going on.
Agreed David. I don't agree with the hurry hurry approach and the haste-caused extra damage and hail-Mary moments. It seems the home owner was ready for collateral damage and probably gave permission to do your best but in light of that, more deliberate moves could have been executed unless they had stated a ceiling of fund expenditure that hampered the project in which case collateral damage under the terms of clear economic limitation would be totally acceptable Love the honesty of recording Blair.
Thank you for sharing this very interesting challenge! It is a perfect example of the numerous problems that arise with invasive and static crown cabling - it makes the tree dependent on these systems - a relevant assessment of structural integrity becomes virtually impossible with all the unknowns that are introduced over time. The increase in complexity of tree movement and loading with each cable could be exponential, not to mention the attachment points that get embedded in wood and impossible to inspect.
I would not cut a cable that is under tension. A temporary cable with winch needs to be installed to slacken the original cable, then cut the original cable, then slowly unwinch the temporary cable. Cutting tense cables may cause sudden shocks to pass through limbs which may produce unexpected breaks.
Believe me, we thought this through. With the space available, the machinery that we brought in was what we believed was our best option. The man lift was a straight lift where a bucket would have been a problem. I'm not sure there was a better option. Hind sight? Not sure.
Jess Stuart why? Are you implying that all big oaks are dangerous? This one was but most are not. This is different in areas of tornados or hurricanes but in my area, no.
My opinion is that having large trees very close to a home isn't worth the risk. Plus, it will cost you a fortune when the time comes to have them removed.
I agree that large trees can help with cooling, saving money on the cost of A/C, but I also agree with Jess, that it might not be worth the risk, any savings in money that the shade provided might/would be negated or dwarfed by damage caused. As you said, this one was dangerous, but not all trees are. The key, obviously, is preventative maintenance. Pay someone, like an arborist, to come out and assess the trees' condition periodically. I think most sane people like (or love) trees, but a tree that you don't know (moving into a new home and inheriting mature trees on the property) should be investigated for signs of trouble before it becomes a nightmare. I would rather pay an expert up front to find out I'm going to have to spend big bucks very soon, rather than find out what kind of damage a catastrophic failure will do. I don't care if homeowner's insurance takes care of a disaster, I would rather not get into a disaster to begin with. Just my opinion.
@27:20 The owner says he wants to keep the good part of the tree...I bet hes lookin for another insurance claim to file once the tree falls again, now is the time for the insurance company to cancel his policy :)
+Sahadi420 it does but only if you maintained the tree. Furthermore, the deductible probably exceeds the cost. Next time, either get rid of huge oaks before storms esp if they're right next to the house.
+KATHRYN WEIGEL to take out a tree like that is gonna be thousands of dollars........WAAAAAY more than a deductible. Not to mention, if you go out and hire your own company to do this, and shit goes wrong, you're gonna have a long, possibly messy problem on your hands. If the insurance company is in charge of the repair, and things go wrong............you can sit back drinking your tea, and let them deal with it.
Can't believe the idea of saving the tree was even an option. Especially looking at the weeping under the burl. Took them 5 more years to figure it out. All those cables along with decay completely weakened the tree yet it continued adding weight to itself.
Seeing those huge internal cracks makes me wonder how bad installing steel cables with lag bolts are for trees in the long run. I wonder how much better it would have been overall if they were all dynamic, non invasive cables like cobra. I also wonder if the root rot was started due to construction from the addition on the house. Great video, "23,000 POUNDS!"
Dylan Brown Interesting thoughts. I too wonder about cables. They make things safer for a while but in the long run, the trees can become dependent on the cable system to a point where when one fails it sets off a chain reaction of limb failures.
You don’t want to change the grade over the tree’s roots or chop away roots to pour a foundation. If the addition requires such work, the homeowner should consider removing the tree as part of the addition.
Not possible due to location. I told her the limb would swing into the house but it was supported. We were also in a hurry to get the other limb off the house! Thanks for replying
There are really strict city ordinances where I live protecting old trees. You have to write a comprehensive (and convincing) Arborist report to get s permit.
Stillmin Stilldoit If you are the type that does not want to live with the shade then please go buy the house that does not have trees around it. There are many places that dont. No not a tree huger but I do like having them. It seems a real shame and irrational to cut the good healthy trees down if you dont want to live with them. After watching this I would demand the seller pay to have a real arborist come out tell me the shape of the trees. Any bad trees they would have to pay to have removed.
man did you even read what I was sayin lmaooo, I said the same thing your saying and I know what I like around my house, looool, im sayin to ppl in general to not buy a house surrounded by trees that's gonna make life harder on them if they don't know what to do, around here trees on state property fell on my house and no one is to blame but the city owns the lot, don't you get it, ike what the guy above states every state has their own laws to go by and what some are jokes, damages my house I gotta pay outta pocket for, and to do it with force meaning taking them to court, is a battle in itself, I love being surrounded by nature but when they start fallin on your house due to wet grounds, storms etc etc, better have some good insurance, and that's IF they cover for that, im covered but still have to sue the city for this? Understand
Stillmin Stilldoit It seems the real giveaway is that you look at house and there are cables in any trees to hold them together, common sense would say there is definitely a problem. Not really sure where Saratoga is geographically but there seems to be a TON of cabled up, hacked up trees there. Seems like trees are thought of like sacred items that cannot be removed and replaced until every dollar has been spent on worthless repairs which in the end leave someone down the road with a huge bill to do the inevitable. I am thinking this HAS to be CA....... just saying.
Don't get me wrong, cables can and do save trees. But, when they are forgotten, the tree can out grown the benefits and the dependency on a cable causes problems. Had this tree been maintained, and kept light enough, it would still be here.
+arboristBlairGlenn - Exactly. We have a giant oak in a city park that is split all the way to the ground. You can see light through it. It's been cabled up in the canopy in several places. I'm waiting for the day that it just pops the cables and settles to the ground in half. Much appreciate your vids. Very educational.
People are funny, they wait until a tree is in such bad shape that it causes damage when they should of have it dealt with many years ago. Now it most likely cost them much more than was necessary.
Hypnotic video! I actually watched the whole thing, fascinated. You have a fine speaking voice. Excellent vocabulary, and very well described. Thank you.
You're welcome. I've been watching more of your videos, and they have a consistent quality. I have my own limited experience of tree-dealings, made necessary by living in five acres of cedar/fir forest, at the mercy of windstorms, snow, and root-rot. It's a complex subject, and dangerous, so your sharing of how-tos are invaluable.
Since I obviously don't have a clue, I can offer the following opinion. I would have told the homeowner that I would lowboy in a D-9 and pull the tree over, cut it up and haul it off. If he didn't like that plan, I would have told him to have a nice day and went on my way. You guys impress me with your skills.
Ok.. This may be wrong..but.. 1) I would leave all cables attached. 2) attempt to take away weight via cutting as far out as possible....little by little cut back..remove weight. 3)..if you can reach with a bucket; secure each piece. Then undercut/top cut..keep removing weight. Its lots of cuts- but maybe safer(?) Certainly the Doctorate of tree Removal. But a great learning experience! I saw this once before..and think I commented..So many elements- definitely worth watching as this tree I'M SURE is full of surprises!! Thank You Kindly
I have a hard time believing people do these crazy things to save a tree like this over their home. Trees are planted for timber. Once they reach a certian size I beleive they should be cut down and used to built things. Plant a new tree then. Wow.
Being the fact that it is an Oak tree, as long as you climb to the highest point of a sound, undamaged stem and anchor in as you normally would, providing its still attached, even though it's split, being Oak and the fact it's so very stringy, i would walk out on limb on house and gently dismantle it, all the while weight is coming off it with every bit you take off! It would take a little longer but it's perfectly doable without any lifts or cranes!! I dread to think how much the poor customer ended up paying AND just after they had their house smashed!! I realise people will call me reckless or a cowboy or whatever but I've dove this job for over 25 years and have dove many similar trees in similar situations and still haven't ever smashed any roofs or anything!! I promise its perfectly able to be done with a climber and two good grounds that know what they are doing, 3 rigging/pulling ropes and that's all and we would have it dove
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having lived through our loved maple splitting neatly in half and coming down across the back of our 3 story house I have very firm opinions on split tress. My next door neighbors wanted us to save the rest of the 100 + year old tree, at least 80 feet tall. Until I pointed out the next time it split the rest of the tree would go through the center of their house. Cut down 2 days later, rotten right through the middle of the trunk but even with all that rot it had had a lovely canopy of leaves. To heck with saving it, cut it down.
I had that same problem with an old "century" Oak that used to be right in front of my house. I kept noticing limbs on the ground from time to time but they were dead and you learn to expect that if you have trees on your property. What I did NOT expect was to get up one morning and find an eight inch LIVE limb lying across the top and down the side of my nearly new pickup! Close to $3000 later the truck was repaired. I had a tree company come out and inspect the tree and they had to call the County Code Enforcement Officer to come out and look at the tree. As it turned out the tree looked fine on the outside but was completely hollow inside. The tree that stood on the corner of the house was also dying and would have fallen in time as well. When the company took the tree down it was like mush inside. Even though this tree was close to six feet in diameter, it had very little left that was actually living. Sometimes you just have to do what you have to do and the insurance company told me later that had either one of those trees fallen on my house they would not cover the repairs. Many insurance companies have that clause in their coverage. Many years later Hurricane Michael solved any further tree issues I may have had by wiping out fourteen of my remaining trees (I live in the rural part of the county and trees aren't normally a problem).
About Arborist Blair Glenn and the educational, tree video collection.
This is my 42nd year in business and it is time that I start giving back. I have had the great opportunity to learn about trees and tree care from some amazing people. I'm proud to call myself a Certified Arborist.
We are in a field where few young people want to become Arborists. Maybe the youth of today feel that the work is too hard or maybe the young are being programmed to follow other directions, like high tech careers. In any case, the knowledge that I have been so fortunate to learn may be lost unless there are enough young people who decide that tree work is a good way to make a living.
Now think about this, TH-cam has only been in existence for the last few years. This incredible new form of public media is an opportunity for those of us who may have something to share, to actually do something about it in a powerful way. Video production has become so easy that just about anyone can do it and anyone can put those videos up for the whole world to see! Whenever and as often as they want, for free! How amazing is that.
Now I don't claim to be a professional video producer nor do I intend to become one. I have, however, invested in some high end video equipment and I am learning how to produce the best quality productions that I can. As I continue to learn, the production quality improves.
The content that I am focusing on relates to trees and tree care. Those of us who work out in the field with these trees make discoveries and come across interesting things to share. I keep a video camera with me at all times and when I see something unique or worth sharing, I capture it.
Not only are new upcoming Arborists able to benefit from these captured video pieces, but homeowners and property managers alike can benefit from being able to find the knowledge that may help them.
Tree professionals can also take advantage of this new way of sharing knowledge, by forwarding links to specific tree videos that their clients may benefit from.
I started this video project 7 years ago and I intend to continue putting up these educational videos as long as I can. Not everyone will agree with what I say (or show), but everyone can benefit from sharing knowledge about the subject. If you disagree with something you see in a video, say so. Post your comments for others to learn your thoughts as well. This is an open opportunity to teach.
The last thing I want to do is profess to be "the one and only expert" on trees and tree care. I do want to continue building this base of knowledge for anyone to benefit from.
I have worked in trees a long time but I am still learning every single day. I hope you share my efforts with anyone who may benefit from these videos. And let me know what you think.
Respectfully,
Blair Glenn
I.S.A. Certified Arborist #654
saratogatreeservice.com/video.html
I really appreciate what you're doing making these videos and sharing your knowledge. I've been wanting to be an Arborist for almost 5 years. I'm only 23 and have a construction background, but its seems impossible to find a company who will take you under there wing and give someone a chance to learn, they just make you drag brush, which is okay for a while, I enjoy the exercise, and groundsmen are a crucial part of tree care, but its repetitive, and i feel like i'm stuck and not able to move up in the trade. My question is, what kind of training would i need and where can i receive this training to show potential employers I'm serious about becoming an arborist?
+Ham Davis finding the time to work and study is the challenge. At only 23, you have the energy to do both. Watch all my videos and start to read. Invest in your own future. Join the ISA, buy the books, go to conferences. Don't wait for someone to recognize that you are serious---BE SERIOUS!
In my case, I applied to work for a city in southern California. They had a tree crew and ran their training course like a college course. Being civil, they had the time for formal instruction, testing, and a great deal of practical work. Some degree of certification was available at the end of the course, and continuing employment.
+Michael Dougfir you are fortunate to have had that opportunity
arboristBlairGlenn c
Another great job Blair.....thanks for sharing! It's hard to imagine that the owners continued to live under that tree for so many years; they are lucky to have escaped unharmed. Twenty-eight cables is crazy!
Nice job Blair. Without the crane I would of been scratching head for sure. Thank's for the video!!!
s
m
Worked for my uncles tree service back in the 60's, he would look at a job like the this and used
A 1936 Marion steam shovel to help take down a job that was about 65% of what I'm watching in this
Video. When I showed it to him he said "" no way in hell would I touch that job".
Nice on taking hit down, hope the homeowner is aware of how much you saved him house wise.
Excellent job sir. A tip o the hat for a job well done.
Damn, I don't have a steam shovel!😜
arboristBlairGlenn
He told me he paid $ 50 for the steam shovel from the a local contractor who didn't need it anymore. Kind of the reason I worked with my uncle was the shovel. Used to burn coal but with an excess of wood about he burned wood in the boiler. Every time he used it the old men and kids would come out of the woodwork to watch it.
After a track chain failed he parked it in his back yard and heated his house with it for over 30 years before he sold the house but he sold the old shovel to a construction company in Maine who restored it and still runs it several time a year for grins at his gravel pit. You want to see the owner operators when they back up to a pile to pick up a load and this old girl comes trundling around the corner. Not the fastest loader but nobody really complains.
Great job with the tree and minimizing further damage, and a great video too! A real edge-of-the-seat thriller, very nicely put together.
I did work hard on the edit, thanks. Telling a good story needs all the pieces to fit.
Reg is a man with a deep gentle soul who understands much about life. Love his wisdom. Thanks Reg!
All I can say is, "Wow!" What a job! Thanks for sharing!
Wow. What a nightmare for both home owner and you. You did a fantastic job, considering what you were up against from the start. Problems compounding other problems. I think I would have ran away, lol. ( And I bet you felt like walking away on several occasions. ) I was on edge throughout the entire video. Whew!!! You guys do amazing work and I commend you for all you do.
Nuts to have wanted to keep it. Great job!
Thanks for sharing. I believe that if a tree needs the aid of a cable to survive, then its a liability and most likely belongs on the ground or in a wood stove. Beautiful tree at one time, but became a liability. Nice work
I don't know how many times I stopped breathing waiting for the worst to happen. That job would have given me nightmares. I recently cut down a few trees around my property in preparation of us building (took documentary video) and I was freaking out over knocking off a plastic vent on the neighbours house. Respect dude this was some seriously challenging work.
There are tough tree jobs, and then there are jobs like this...no right answers, just best educated guesses and reassess after each move. Fantastic video! I got a headache just trying to think about the puzzle of figuring this thing out. Glad it all worked out.
Thanks Tom, seems like I get called out about once a year for an especially difficult one
This job was a nightmare, there really wasn't a perfect "right" way of doing it. You had to go with your gut and make choices on the fly. The neighbor was pretty cool for allowing the debris to be put into their yard. You guys did an excellent job,.. this one wasn't easy!
ThePatriotsBrother thanks, we had fun
Wow. I was on the edge of my seat for this whole video! Amazing what work challenges goes on out there for you guys! I'm awed by this example. I know somebody's got to do it, but t is hundreds of leagues out of my scope of ability and I applaud and highly-respect professionals like you who tackle these sort of things head-on on a daily basis! The sheer potential for danger to life and all of the "unknowns" that could happen during the removal operation is staggering! Your team did a fine job and I'm very glad that no one experienced any serious injury. (I'm glad to learn that that tree, although once magnificent, finally was taken down.)
Jeff Harris Thanks Jeff, I'm glad you liked it. Yes, we do risk our lives daily.
Wow! Blair that was quite a job. I, too, was on the edge of my seat. I honestly can't believe that the homeowners left the tree there for 5 years. What did it look like when you were finished and they decided to keep it?
Rita Jannusch McKenzie City requires removal permits so it was not as easy as wanting to remove the tree.
I guess as much as had to be removed it wasn't much of a hazard, but surely not very good looking.
Another superb video, Blair! I love your detailed descriptions and the way you give credit to historic good workmanship (the old cable bracing whipping by the hand-forged eye). That job looked a nightmare. I must admit, i think I;d have declared that tree well and truly fu**ed when I first saw how bad it was, and I;m amazed it got another 5 years.
BlairGlenn, I'm glad someone had to have the courage and understanding of this hazardous structural failure needed to save that historic home. I bet that homeowner is very grateful for you.
I am an auto mechanic by trade (since retired). In the late 70's a bunch of my friends worked for either LA Parks and Recreation or LA Department of Water and Power. They did their jobs and I did mine. We were part of the second great wave of "back to nature" people to leave the San Fernando Valley for Northern CA (Siskiyou County). Ok get up in Northern CA right when the big recession of the early 80's hit and I found myself working as a ground crew member. I will come out and say I have never been more tired as I was after a "dawn till dusk" day of tree work. I saw my climbing friends use all the tricks they learned in the city, very interesting work. No big injuries and no major failures but things got real close "danger close" a few times. I did not see exactly why it happened because the guy cutting was so high up but a branch that was tied off came down at an unexpected angle and the rope holding the branch pinned the arm of the person working the saw to his chest. Try as he may he could not pull that pinned arm free. With his last effort he was able to pull his arm free with the next step being cutting the rope with his hand saw (and using his unstuck arm). One other "error" my best friend clipped his chainsaw to his belt (or thought he had) the saw fell from the height he was cutting from (had to be 60ft) and all the way down it came. Not much chance in things ending well if you get hit by a falling chain saw. Dangerous work even when all precautions are taken.
Dan R good story. I too have dozens of close call stories. Keeps life interesting and you really do feel alive. A hard day of work means a good night of sleep!
Hello Blair. I read in the LA Times the our Gov Brown has signed legislation for felling 102 million dead or dying trees. This is the result of poor management, our drought and beetle infestation. I read that if the tree does not get enough water (up to 250 gallons per day) it can't make the pitch to fight off the bugs. I sure will miss being involved with this but I am 62 with failing health (cancer) This sure would be fun to get out there.
Here is the link to the tree story.
www.yahoo.com/news/m/94143e8b-f1a5-3d01-aa07-8d86df5cf4e5/the-102-million-dead-trees-in.html
Dan R sorry about your failing health. Hope that you find some enjoyment watching my videos and in you mind at least, you're still out there!
Holy Moly what a giant of a tree. I can see the sentimentality of the owner of keeping this giant alive, as it has been living there for centuries, maybe it was young in the days of the indepence war. But such is circle of life....plant some offspring of it, take it down, and have the wood milled to use for furniture and houses. Great job taking it down.
Thank you so much for the videos. I worked as a ground crewman many years ago. You climbers make the work look easy but I know how hard it really is. Thank you for sharing what was going on in your head while you did this. That information was the hard part to get.
As I realize I'm getting older, I find TH-cam as a valuable medium to share what I've spent a lifetime learning
I sympathize with the problem. We had a large tulip tree in our front yard. One limb was as large as the trunk and hung over one of the bedrooms. When the men came to take it down our neighbors brought yard chairs and watched the whole operation. Fascinating!
Thanks, you might enjoy some of these other exciting jobs too! Check them out on this playlist.
th-cam.com/play/PLdq3KQ_xcH4B7yGHc9wcKxThfLRslgT9Q.html
Arborist Blair Glenn
These owners have been inviting disaster for many years. The only way to deal with it is to reduce the weight a small piece at a time while keeping the whole tree weight in balance. Yup, easier said than done.
The thing is they knew the tree was in bad shape by the amount of cabling that had been done to the tree. The arborist said it was a disaster. These "homeowners" are plain stupid.
I agree. Asking for disaster.
Another interesting video. Lots of firewood there. Thank you for sharing.
This brought back a memory of many years ago before my late wife and I sold our place in town and moved out into the rural part of the county. One night there were several loud pops that sounded like gunfire. A neighbor called the police and two County Deputies showed up at the property where the noise came from. They got out, weapons ready, and started walking around towards the back of the house. All of a sudden I saw BOTH of them running like they were on fire trying to get to their cruisers and get out of that driveway! Just as they cleared the driveway, a HUGE Oak tree next to the house suddenly ripped in half right down the middle. The tree was beginning to break apart internally which was what we all heard. It was funny after it was all over thinking back on the way those men took off but you can bet they weren't laughing at the time.
Richard Cline good story, thanks
This was a very dangerous job indeed. The pucker factor on this job must have been enormous! That tree needed to come all the way down for the safety of you guys working around it as well as the continued safety of the homeowner.
Fascinating video. I'm not an arborist or tree cutter of any description, but I enjoy the problem solving that goes into your videos.
Rob Appleby thanks Rob, I too enjoy the challenge
arboristBlairGlenn It's organic demolition. Stay safe.
They waited 5 more yrs to finally remove the entire tree. Someone really loved that tree. All those cables, all that time it was falling to pieces. In the end nothing saved the tree, and the house could have been destroyed over their love for that tree.
Now that is some intense tree work, I can only guess at how stressful doing this job must have been. Outstanding work all the way around. Thank you for filming and sharing.
P Wise Do appreciate to comment
A really amazing piece of work! Thanks for posting this.
Blair such a Dammed if you do and Dammed if you don't, From Construction back ground the loads and potential load shifting without any way to control of judge just how much load will change is just a night mare, the only thing that could have been different is to have removed it before it got this bad, if only people listened more often when we say you really need to take those trees out now years before it gets this bad, but many don't listen. Amazing you would take on such a huge job good for you
Blair, I think you did the best you could on this. Aside from bringing in the Army Corp of engineers and more machinery there are just some things that are impossible to avoid. Somebody consciously built this house under this tree at one point knowing that it would eventually grow even larger. I'm sure it was charming for many decades before becoming dangerous and unstable and ultimately failing. The best thing to do is make sure your crew will be safe and also be realistic with the homeowner and warn them that they may have to deal with the strong possibility of property damage. Sometimes in life there are sacrifices one must make to achieve something else. Of course you think out every step carefully as you did to minimize damage, but this is not a guarantee that all will go perfect with a tree like this. If the homeowner does not trust your expertise along with your fair warning, then they are free to try someone else i guess. Good job!, glad nobody was hurt.
Thanks, I do enjoy reading the comments here.
Richard Federico you and Blair married?
Sometimes a house is as old as the tree
you sir, are definitely not too old and you are doing an amazingingly good job. I have very little experience and knowledge compared to you, but I can tell you know what your doing and how to coordinate others to do what needs to be done. but you are correct when you say that it's hard work that most young people don't even want to try to do. however; there are still a few of us young people that do. I'm a recently separated from the military, but before that when I was even younger I worked with my father who owned/operated a small arborist company. I love to work with trees and would love to be able to go to school and start my own small business.
thank you for these very informative videos
Blair, just wanted to let you know that I really enjoy watching your videos and I appreciate the time and effort that you put into them. Please keep them coming. As a certified arborist myself, I can see why you would want to save this Oak, but from a practical point of view, I can see why it needed to come down. I am fortunate enough to climb with cranes on a weekly basis with a company that has been in business since 1957 and knows a thing or two about balancing crane picks. Never cut a cable under tension, that's a standard rule. Like Nick said below. Another sling way out further on the end and a slight lift by the crane operator before cutting that last cable, may have saved the branch from snapping and coming down on the roof??Like you said, hindsight is 20/20, but you guys did an awesome job.Chris Girard - CTSPISA Certified Arborist NE-6619A
Nightmare job! Well done, nice work
homeowner wants to keep the tree.... I'd say that is when you walk away from a job
Beautiful tree, would be hard to part with, I cut down trees for a living too, but yea there’s a point where you gotta realize practicality is more important than aesthetics.
I was on the edge of my seat! I adore trees and your program was a delight. Thank you! (It looks to me, like lightening struck the poor tree( thank God the owners were safe.)
Fed up With lies I'm also fed up with lies!
For so many reasons that are impossible to list, Blair, this job site was incredible.
Michigan Mister this is a really old one. I’m surprised you had not seen it. Thanks. Yes, we have done some Harry jobs.
Blair, I just fell upon this? My brother is over, and I showed him this, trying to described how we handled storm work without the cranes/buckets, and what it took to do the jobs. We found this filming fascinating, thank you so much, the detail of the job was perfection with the documentation, DAMN!
Blair, you made a brave attempt here but to my non-expert eye, this tree was coming down no matter what precautions you could have taken. A slight puff of wind... a bird landing on it after a heavy luncheon... It was a job from hell.
Nobody sneeze!
Just me here, but if the customer simply must try to save a tree for sentimental reasons that a seasoned pro thinks should be removed they should assume the lions share of risk to property.Thanks for the feedback.
The client’s lawyer can always argue that the arborist didn’t inform them of all possible options, and that the arborist was therefore negligent. This is why you always need to have everything in writing.
Awesome vid- Explained quite well as to the danger, the weight of the tree, and all around dismantling. Well done, and experience was greatly demonstrated by your crew.
Thank you John
Love it when we are able to rig a limb perfectly and the driver gets the credit.
I'm not a tree expert......but I noticed on my acres of trees......
When you can easily see thru a tree, it is in the last stage of its' life. I can easily see thru this tree.
Hindsight is 20/20. Should we have put another crane support further out? Clearly that is what was needed. Getting out there was the issue. We really thought the location of the crane tie in was good. Just goes to show how weak it really was. The cable was the only reason the limb didn't fail and when we needed to cut that cable, well, you saw what happened. Fortunately, very little damage! Live and learn.
T and M. I would not bid something like this
***** Thanks Mark, I have seen too many people get hurt and a few that died in this line of work. I like to think everything out but I still make my share of mistakes as do my crew.
actually the fix for the limb snapping would probably have been lifting it till the cable lost tension. If you Google " spaghetti high speed camera" you'll find vids the show spaghetti breaking in 3 or more pieces (instead of just 2) when you bend it to far. The additional breaks are caused by the whip action as the piece unloads, which causes new stresses in the opposite direction.... or something like that...
so maybe use 3 cables, one at the cable point to release the cable (let's say loaded 40%) then one up and one down the branch to support it, each taking 30% of the load.
But I'm not an aborist, I like my trees laying on the ground before I cut them up :)
+nicholastrawinski thanks for the comment
+ILLUMINATUS1973 I missed out on the burl as another company did the final removal. It was dumped
Thanks Glynn. A very educational video. Most of us would never even think about what the dangers are before lopping off a limb.
Gary McCoy anticipating what “might” happen is so important. To know what is coming means you had to be there before in similar situations.
Wow, two years ago! Betcha you're thinking all kind of shoulda coulda wouldas. : ) Those cables sure scared me. You did your best with what ya knew at the time I'm sure. Thank you so much for sharing. I hope you never take it down. This video is valuable in so many ways.
What a job!!! WAUW!!!
Bill,
Please set up the guys in the Treehouse to watch this 18 min video during a weekly Tailgate Meeting. They will learn more from it that of 2-years worth of training.
It’s one of the most difficult takedowns needing a crane that I’ve yet witnessed. In the end, King Crane balanced the huge piece intuitively (good feel of the controls & scale).
Saratoga tree did the work in Silicon Valley, and the owner Blair Glen. . .as the conductor.
Awesome stuff.
Dave Dockter, Planning Arborist, City of Palo Alto, USA
Thanks Dave
+arboristBlairGlenn I'm one of the best tree climbers in Michigan and I have people that will say so...38$ an hour I'll work for you.
Lindsey Zacek I think you might be frustrated with the cost of living here. We get the big nasty ones but I think we make the most money doing fine pruning
A truly epic job because of all the hidden tortional stresses. Plain compression and tension is one thing, but the less obvious stresses caused by twisting can cause a limb to split lengthwise unpredictably in a nanosecond, in an unexpected direction. Bloody dangerous! Great job done, gents. I hope the home owner fully appreciates the fact that the superficial damage done could easily have been catastrophic.
Thanks, I did tell her that the limb would swing into the house but it still surprised her!
Incredible that the house suffered so little damage in the first place despite the 23000lbs !!
Part 2, removal of the second branch: it appears obvious (now) that the whole tree should have been removed at this stage.
The best job "you would not want" that I have ever seen, thanks for filming it!
Thanks Mike, check out "tree job from HELL" at my site. This was another "fun" job that I lost sleep over.
I love trees, and understand the wish to preserve them, but what had been done there bordered on insanity. I have watched most of your videos; this one is truly scary. The skill here is amazing! This must have been one of the most challenging jobs you've ever encountered.
suck hole ! whimp.
This tree should have been taken down a long time ago. Why would you want that hanging over your house. That is crazy.
That's exactly what I was going to say.
My thing is if you have to add cables to stabilize it then it should be cut down.If this tree had been out in the woods it would of been no danger to any buildings or homes.I was looking at a home a few months ago and noticed that the drive was cracked very badly.and there was somewhat of a hole right next to it and the house next door was completely remodeled the house i was looking at was built in 1923 and the neighbors probably around the same time.I did a google earth of the house and as i thought there had been a big ol tree between the properties and the tree had fallen on the neighbors house.This was confirmed by a coworker who lives in the neighborhood when he stopped by and talked to the neighbor.
If this tree was in the woods it would have fallen already.
onbigkahuna69, there's a time and place to put cables in trees. Like, if an other wise healthy and beautiful tree is struck by lightning or an ice storm and you want to hold what is left together than a cable or two is fine if it is done correctly and the wound is protected from rain water and disease... betting more than 5 cables in one tree is asking for trouble though.
Herbert ... I agree! Anyone that leaves a live oak close to the house n does not trim the house side does not know much about large live oaks. God Bless!
Didn't realize that until I watched further. I have throughly enjoyed watching these. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Craig
glenn, your tree work is always seeming to be the worst a tree can be, yet your crew always does the best, using tools instead of fingers, i recall that clearly from an other video, which made me know you and your crew are very professional and not wanna bee-s
again, expert observation, work,, and well done
i do like your videos as both educational to home owners and would be tree trimmers
thanks for posting these
I would have cut little pieces at a time, starting at the extremities . Like slicing bread or salami. Anything that fell on the house would cause minimal damage or none at all
i just found your videos. Im addicted. Its amazing how you tackle these jobs. I wish I could have that burl on that tree lol. Why did they wait so long to tackle this tree? Why would they put all of those cables? They had to know gravity pulls to lease resistance. And pull everything with it. The ones who put those cables should be responsible for this mess. Youre a mast at work. Like an artist
some times you just have to walk away from a job. But a great cliff hanging story and glad it wasn't my job. I hope I would have walked away when owner didn't want to remove entire tree. You and your crew did a wonderful job; no one got hurt. bravo
Amazing. Thank you for sharing this.
so many cables should have been a clear sign that it was no longer safe. You don't cable and healthy tree.
Wow...what a jig-saw puzzle and precariously placed dominoes all in one.! There was no way that you, Blair, could have anticipated exactly how those limbs were gonna react at each step. But you did a heck of a job in analyzing all the weights & counter weights and balancing factors.!! I hope the homeowner realized what a tremendous job you and your crew did in saving his house from severe damage. I hope you got a big, fat check from him..!!
Did you ever play the game of 'pick-up-sticks' back in your elementary school years? This tree problem reminded me of that game.!
This was a tough job and it did require a lot of thinking.
I re-watch this all the time. Over one MILLION views! Great job!
How about “Tree Job from Hell”?
@@arboristBlairGlenn Some people love their trees too much, so much that their beautiful homes and lives are at risk. That thing should have been tamed a long, long time ago.
@@ruthlessgoat3702 you are probably right. In our area, (of the super rich and Silicon Valley famous), the need to get permits for removals is not easy. Heritage oaks are important for the city.
Wow what a job! I'm not in the arboreal business, just an interested observer. Thank you for sharing and I'd love to see any more old beauties like this from the archives. Respect to you, your crew and Paul the crane operator and thanks again.
Martin
three legged lift with a chain block on each leg would allow weight transfer gently so as not to shock load that delicate load also control any roll.
Man dont you ever take an easy job lol.The crane man rock the job mad skills same with your saw man do something to him and make him smile he always looks to worried lol
The easy jobs don't make very exciting videos!
You are the coolest. I have some "problem trees "around the log home that we just purchased. While I will not be using your videos as gospel, I am happy that there are dudes like you around to use as a guide. Thanks
Thank you very much
You are an artist sir. It’s a shame stupid people don’t respect the trees. They never should of had a house built next to that beauty, they do not realize how big these giants can get. It should have been cut back decades ago. I realized this several yrs ago after stupid me planted an atlas cedar next to my front step. Now I research tree size and how much room they need to live so they are not near the house or stick to dwarfs. Good job! 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻❤️🙋🏼♀️
Three days on site with a large crew, hiring extra cranes...
This job must have cost a bundle!
God I hope so hope they made a lot I've done a few of them in my life a lot can go wrong fast more dangerous then most you can get hurt fast by one wrong move or just missing a presser point
Wow, interesting job. Thanks for posting it ! Great job you did speaking, very clear and descriptive. Good job evaluating the situation. I sure like complicated jobs to figure out; I doubt I'll ever get to experience one like that though :-( In the beginning of the video, your text says, "so, tell me now you would do this job. I want to hear your ideas." I'm sure looking back on it you have it figured out. But you did ask; so my thoughts were: 1. Never cut cables under tension, either cut after the crane lifts enough to slack them, or put in temporary rope rigging to slack the cables, or take weight off somewhere to slack the cables. Almost never cut tight cables. 2. The first pick was not balanced. ( As you know I'm sure.) Not having tie-able heavy duty static rope and dealing with those "crane guy" steel cables and clevis was part of the pain for the crew not getting it right. 3. There was a feel of un-easiness and lack of confidence in the air. There needs to be a plan and skilled enough people to be rock solid confident and KNOW what is going to happen, or else don't do the job.
I might have added many 3/4" to 1" ropes throughtout the tree, to limbs that were cracked if those cracked limbs were supporting other cracked limbs through the cables. Rachet strap the cracks too.
Also, you have an option of making supports in unstable situations. This is good for when worrying about rolling pieces or if the crane you are using can only take a portion of the cracked limb (you didn't have that problem with such a large crane). Supports can be made from Y shaped limbs, or you can haul in something like 8x8 or 12x12 beams and even drill and through bolt them in place.
That piece really wasn't 23,000 lbs though, right? crane guy said 23K when he was winching up AND the butt was still attached, right? Don't get me wrong, I know it was HUGE and heavy. 17,000 maybe? We don't have that type of oak though, I think those are denser than ours.
Those hand made eyes were cool.
Good call on the crappy past cabling work. No thimbles and common grade soft cable. J-Lags into huge diameters.
Large old trees that are hollow or soft inside and just outer shells could really benefit from bracing legs instead of just cabling. Of course, crown tip reductions all the time too. For some reason, people don't think of legs; like utility poles used with large U-shaped steel ends with pipe and huge threaded rods. I do strongly believe in steel cabling and bracing by the way, if it's done right. But after a while, it might need something else, like poles or else taken down.
That tree was really starting to struggle with it's dieback, sparse foliage on certain leaders and all that bleeding.
Whole removal probably should have been done all at the same time. But the owners must have loved that tree and probably would not have gone for it.
I second on never cutting cables under tension. Ever, period. The one time I ever did that did not go well.
Great reply, thanks. Yes, it really was 23 thousand pounds. Surprised me! There were os many things happening and we needed to rush to get that limb off the roof ridge. Easy to say what might have been a better idea after the job is done but in a situation like this, well-- there was a bit of head scratching going on.
Agreed David. I don't agree with the hurry hurry approach and the haste-caused extra damage and hail-Mary moments. It seems the home owner was ready for collateral damage and probably gave permission to do your best but in light of that, more deliberate moves could have been executed unless they had stated a ceiling of fund expenditure that hampered the project in which case collateral damage under the terms of clear economic limitation would be totally acceptable Love the honesty of recording Blair.
If BlairGlenn were not passionate about trees but about movies he would have been a great film maker.
Hin Leng thanks
Thank you for sharing this very interesting challenge! It is a perfect example of the numerous problems that arise with invasive and static crown cabling - it makes the tree dependent on these systems - a relevant assessment of structural integrity becomes virtually impossible with all the unknowns that are introduced over time. The increase in complexity of tree movement and loading with each cable could be exponential, not to mention the attachment points that get embedded in wood and impossible to inspect.
By the look of the tree It need to be cut down when you started the work sad what a great looking tree,
Holy shit it's all cabled too.. This is gonna be interesting.
Gurney McBuzzin it was
Great job, crazy homeowner!
I am...actually!! Can always learn something! Watched the one with supports. Tree was green all the way thru...another great job well done! - Skip
Good job, but I think a 50 ton rotator wrecker would have made things a lot easir=er, especially somebody like Ron of Midwest trucks.;)
Spam Hater Slow down, Move over!
I would not cut a cable that is under tension. A temporary cable with winch needs to be installed to slacken the original cable, then cut the original cable, then slowly unwinch the temporary cable. Cutting tense cables may cause sudden shocks to pass through limbs which may produce unexpected breaks.
Believe me, we thought this through. With the space available, the machinery that we brought in was what we believed was our best option. The man lift was a straight lift where a bucket would have been a problem. I'm not sure there was a better option. Hind sight? Not sure.
Nice new toy. I'm envious. As far as I'm concerned Kubota should sponsor you. Good health and God bless to you and all your family.
Infact it's a real challenge and it's worth watching as a lesson to others!
It's me,
Sule Shangodoyin.
Thanks for commenting
Big oaks are nice, but keep them at-least 100ft from your home.
Jess Stuart why? Are you implying that all big oaks are dangerous? This one was but most are not. This is different in areas of tornados or hurricanes but in my area, no.
My opinion is that having large trees very close to a home isn't worth the risk. Plus, it will cost you a fortune when the time comes to have them removed.
Jess Stuart large trees around your home can also save you a lot of money on cooling due to the shade. Don't be too quick to judge
I agree that large trees can help with cooling, saving money on the cost of A/C, but I also agree with Jess, that it might not be worth the risk, any savings in money that the shade provided might/would be negated or dwarfed by damage caused. As you said, this one was dangerous, but not all trees are. The key, obviously, is preventative maintenance. Pay someone, like an arborist, to come out and assess the trees' condition periodically. I think most sane people like (or love) trees, but a tree that you don't know (moving into a new home and inheriting mature trees on the property) should be investigated for signs of trouble before it becomes a nightmare. I would rather pay an expert up front to find out I'm going to have to spend big bucks very soon, rather than find out what kind of damage a catastrophic failure will do. I don't care if homeowner's insurance takes care of a disaster, I would rather not get into a disaster to begin with. Just my opinion.
Nice to hear from someone intelligent, thanks Stan.
@27:20 The owner says he wants to keep the good part of the tree...I bet hes lookin for another insurance claim to file once the tree falls again, now is the time for the insurance company to cancel his policy :)
Tree is now gone
+arboristBlairGlenn does homeowner insurance cover this???
+Sahadi420 yes
+Sahadi420 it does but only if you maintained the tree. Furthermore, the deductible probably exceeds the cost. Next time, either get rid of huge oaks before storms esp if they're right next to the house.
+KATHRYN WEIGEL to take out a tree like that is gonna be thousands of dollars........WAAAAAY more than a deductible.
Not to mention, if you go out and hire your own company to do this, and shit goes wrong, you're gonna have a long, possibly messy problem on your hands. If the insurance company is in charge of the repair, and things go wrong............you can sit back drinking your tea, and let them deal with it.
Can't believe the idea of saving the tree was even an option. Especially looking at the weeping under the burl. Took them 5 more years to figure it out. All those cables along with decay completely weakened the tree yet it continued adding weight to itself.
I would call this job a certifiable nightmare.
I respect your wish to keep your workers safe. Nobody would blame you if you walked away.
Clyde Balcom Thanks, it was a tough job but we sucked it up and got it done. I don’t walk away from many.
Seeing those huge internal cracks makes me wonder how bad installing steel cables with lag bolts are for trees in the long run. I wonder how much better it would have been overall if they were all dynamic, non invasive cables like cobra. I also wonder if the root rot was started due to construction from the addition on the house. Great video, "23,000 POUNDS!"
Dylan Brown Interesting thoughts. I too wonder about cables. They make things safer for a while but in the long run, the trees can become dependent on the cable system to a point where when one fails it sets off a chain reaction of limb failures.
You don’t want to change the grade over the tree’s roots or chop away roots to pour a foundation. If the addition requires such work, the homeowner should consider removing the tree as part of the addition.
Good job, think first than cut, more than 28 cabels in a tree.....you made it , but why didn' t take a second crane? Greetz from a german treeworker
Not possible due to location. I told her the limb would swing into the house but it was supported. We were also in a hurry to get the other limb off the house! Thanks for replying
Hell yeah, great job, great video. A real thriller you made there :)
Very worth watching. Love your story telling style and voice. Love watching your videos.
Ritercrazy thank you
if your buying a house surrounded by trees, either have em pay to cut them down or don't move there to begin with, save you time and pain later on
There are really strict city ordinances where I live protecting old trees. You have to write a comprehensive (and convincing) Arborist report to get s permit.
Stillmin Stilldoit If you are the type that does not want to live with the shade then please go buy the house that does not have trees around it. There are many places that dont. No not a tree huger but I do like having them. It seems a real shame and irrational to cut the good healthy trees down if you dont want to live with them. After watching this I would demand the seller pay to have a real arborist come out tell me the shape of the trees. Any bad trees they would have to pay to have removed.
man did you even read what I was sayin lmaooo, I said the same thing your saying and I know what I like around my house, looool, im sayin to ppl in general to not buy a house surrounded by trees that's gonna make life harder on them if they don't know what to do, around here trees on state property fell on my house and no one is to blame but the city owns the lot, don't you get it, ike what the guy above states every state has their own laws to go by and what some are jokes, damages my house I gotta pay outta pocket for, and to do it with force meaning taking them to court, is a battle in itself, I love being surrounded by nature but when they start fallin on your house due to wet grounds, storms etc etc, better have some good insurance, and that's IF they cover for that, im covered but still have to sue the city for this? Understand
Stillmin Stilldoit It seems the real giveaway is that you look at house and there are cables in any trees to hold them together, common sense would say there is definitely a problem. Not really sure where Saratoga is geographically but there seems to be a TON of cabled up, hacked up trees there. Seems like trees are thought of like sacred items that cannot be removed and replaced until every dollar has been spent on worthless repairs which in the end leave someone down the road with a huge bill to do the inevitable. I am thinking this HAS to be CA....... just saying.
maaaan do yall even read wtf I wrote lmmfaooooooo jus sayin
This is what happens when you cable a tree. 23,000 pounds of dead weight. Wow!
Don't get me wrong, cables can and do save trees. But, when they are forgotten, the tree can out grown the benefits and the dependency on a cable causes problems. Had this tree been maintained, and kept light enough, it would still be here.
+arboristBlairGlenn - Exactly. We have a giant oak in a city park that is split all the way to the ground. You can see light through it. It's been cabled up in the canopy in several places. I'm waiting for the day that it just pops the cables and settles to the ground in half. Much appreciate your vids. Very educational.
+Mary K Thompson thanks Mary
People are funny, they wait until a tree is in such bad shape that it causes damage when they should of have it dealt with many years ago. Now it most likely cost them much more than was necessary.
You guys did excellent work on a very dangerous job. It's nice that you took the time to think things through and no one was hurt or killed.
Much appreciated
Hypnotic video! I actually watched the whole thing, fascinated. You have a fine speaking voice. Excellent vocabulary, and very well described. Thank you.
The Crow kind compliment, thank you
You're welcome. I've been watching more of your videos, and they have a consistent quality.
I have my own limited experience of tree-dealings, made necessary by living in five acres of cedar/fir forest, at the mercy of windstorms, snow, and root-rot. It's a complex subject, and dangerous, so your sharing of how-tos are invaluable.
I would have brought in two cranes
And where would the second crane be put?
Shawn Sumpter 'oo
Sky crane, obviously ;-)
Skycrane would have been pretty pimp and neat to see
the tree was there before the house, why build a house so close?
the tree was there, true, but the house creeped up so that the tree would have something to crush..... read the script, houses are stupid
Since I obviously don't have a clue, I can offer the following opinion. I would have told the homeowner that I would lowboy in a D-9 and pull the tree over, cut it up and haul it off. If he didn't like that plan, I would have told him to have a nice day and went on my way.
You guys impress me with your skills.
Ok.. This may be wrong..but.. 1) I would leave all cables attached. 2) attempt to take away weight via cutting as far out as possible....little by little cut back..remove weight. 3)..if you can reach with a bucket; secure each piece. Then undercut/top cut..keep removing weight. Its lots of cuts- but maybe safer(?) Certainly the Doctorate of tree Removal. But a great learning experience! I saw this once before..and think I commented..So many elements- definitely worth watching as this tree I'M SURE is full of surprises!! Thank You Kindly
I would have done exactly the same as you. There were to many negative variables for an incident free outcome.
Thanks
what a horrendous mess you undertook. it was an incredible disaster that was inevitable and human manufactured.
+The Bud Meister somebody has got to do it
I'm not the irs or your ex wife you can tell me... It's just us here.
Who job was about 10 k including the crane. Back then, the crane cost was about 2k
Awesome, arborist seems like a interesting job! Exiting and hard work.
As a retired operating engineer I was immediately thinking CRANES.. At 4:58 I heard the magic word. Still a tough job to say the least. Good job....
I have a hard time believing people do these crazy things to save a tree like this over their home. Trees are planted for timber. Once they reach a certian size I beleive they should be cut down and used to built things. Plant a new tree then. Wow.
You're a fucking idiot thats for sure. Trees arent planted for timber you fool. I believe they existed long before mandkind.
why would anyone in their right mind wait so long to take that tree down,not real smart i would say
The crane operator has balls of steel
Being the fact that it is an Oak tree, as long as you climb to the highest point of a sound, undamaged stem and anchor in as you normally would, providing its still attached, even though it's split, being Oak and the fact it's so very stringy, i would walk out on limb on house and gently dismantle it, all the while weight is coming off it with every bit you take off! It would take a little longer but it's perfectly doable without any lifts or cranes!! I dread to think how much the poor customer ended up paying AND just after they had their house smashed!! I realise people will call me reckless or a cowboy or whatever but I've dove this job for over 25 years and have dove many similar trees in similar situations and still haven't ever smashed any roofs or anything!! I promise its perfectly able to be done with a climber and two good grounds that know what they are doing, 3 rigging/pulling ropes and that's all and we would have it dove