c/arborists

Noticed the big shift in stump growth after switching grinding angles

I cleared the same maple stump patch twice, once with a flat approach and again at a 15 degree tilt, and the regrowth dropped by maybe 70% over 3 months. For anyone doing residential removals in tight yards, have you messed with angle of attack on the grinder to stop suckers, or is it just luck of the species?

Learned a new way to notch a tree after a sticky situation last week

I was taking down a big oak in my neighbor's yard and the damn thing started pinching my bar no matter which way I cut. Finally tried an open-face notch with a shallower angle than I usually do, and the tree went exactly where I wanted it. Anyone else have a go-to notch technique for different tree types?

Old timer told me to skip the paint on pruning cuts

When I started out, a guy named Mike with 30 years in told me never to paint pruning cuts on oaks. Said it traps moisture and does more harm than good. I tried it on a big red oak in Austin last summer and the wound healed cleaner than any painted cut I've done. Anyone else stop painting cuts after hearing similar advice?

Debate: should you strip a dead oak before dropping it or just send it whole?

I had a job last week on a 60 foot dead red oak in a tight backyard. One guy told me to strip every branch first to reduce weight and control the fall. Another said just notch it and let it go, it's dead weight anyway. I stripped it. Took me an extra 3 hours. The drop was clean but I kept wondering if I wasted my time. What's your call on this one, strip or send it whole?

Old forester told me to stop using chainsaw oil on pruning cuts. He was right.

About 8 months ago I was doing a big cleanup job for a lady in Oak Park. This retired arborist, maybe 70 years old, was walking his dog and stopped to watch me work. He saw me drizzle some bar oil on a fresh oak cut and he just sighed. Told me I was basically inviting fungus to a buffet. I laughed it off but later I googled it. Turns out petroleum based oils can mess with the tree's natural healing. Now I just use clean water or nothing. Those cuts I treated back then are still looking dark and kinda slimy. Anyone else get bad advice early on that took a while to shake?

Overheard a guy at the supply yard say he never bothers with tree cabling

I was grabbing some rope for a job last Tuesday and heard this older arborist tell his buddy that cabling trees is a waste of time and money. He said if a tree needs cables, it's already doomed and you're just delaying the inevitable. Got me wondering how many of you actually use cabling regularly or if you think it's more of a band-aid fix?

Swore off pole pruners but that Silky one changed my mind

I've been using a hand saw for years on smaller branches cause I hate how sloppy most pole pruners feel. Picked up a Silky Zubat 8 inch pole pruner on a whim after a coworker wouldn't shut up about it, and it actually cuts clean without vibrating my arm off. Anyone else had a tool they resisted for no good reason?

Spent 3 hours pruning a maple wrong because I didn't check the collar first

I just got done hacking at a big silver maple in a client's yard near downtown. Took me 3 hours to trim it up nice and clean. Then my buddy stopped by and pointed out I left stub cuts on 4 of the bigger limbs. Cut right past the branch collar each time. That tree is gonna rot from those cuts. Lost about $200 of my time on that job since I gotta go back and redo it. Has anyone else made this stupid mistake and had to eat the cost?

Swapped my handsaw for a Silky at a job in Austin

Back in 2018 I was still using a folding Corona handsaw for everything. Old school arborist in Austin watched me fight with a hackberry limb and told me to try his Silky Zubat. I bought one that night and never touched the Corona again. The difference in cut speed and finish is night and day. Has anyone else had a tool switch that made that big of a difference in your daily work?

The 5 seconds of pulling out a notch that changed my whole cuts

Ngl, I had been cutting trees for like 6 years and always just did a standard notch and back cut. Watched this old timer from Oregon at a demo last fall and he told me my notch angle was too tight. Said I was basically pinching my own saw. Changed it to a more open face notch and now my cuts are way cleaner and faster. Has anyone else had some simple critique that made you rethink your whole process?

Steel toe vs composite toe boots for tree work

I ran steel toes for 3 years and my feet were killing me by noon every day. Finally tried composite toes last month and I can actually feel the ground when climbing. Has anyone else found composite makes a difference on long days?

Overheard a landscaper talking about root barriers and changed my pruning strategy

I was grabbing coffee last Friday and heard this old landscaper telling a guy that most root pruning is wasted without a proper barrier. He said roots just grow right back into the same spot within a year. I've been cutting roots near my client's driveways for years thinking I was helping. Now I'm looking at putting in some good 40 mil HDPE barriers instead of just hacking away. Anyone else find barriers actually stopped their callbacks for root damage?

Rant: That tree I cabled last spring finally snapped in the wind yesterday

I was up on a job in Maplewood last May and cabled a big split crotch on a silver maple. Looked solid at the time, but yesterday's storm took it down. The cable held but the wood above it just gave out. Had to go back and clean up the mess for the homeowner. She was nice about it but asked why I didn't just take it down then. I told her trees are unpredictable. Anyone else have a cable job come back to haunt you?

Had a long talk with a retired logger that changed how I see tree work

I met a guy named Pete at the diner last week who spent 40 years logging up in Oregon. We got to talking about removals and he told me something that really stuck. He said most of today's climbers are too attached to gear and not attached enough to reading the tree itself. He told me a story about a 150 foot fir he dropped with nothing but a handsaw and a come along because his truck was broken down. That hit me hard because I've been guilty of buying the newest saddle or the lightest spikes thinking that makes me better. But Pete made me realize the craft is more about understanding tension and lean and wood fiber than any gadget. Has anyone else had a seasoned old timer call them out on gear crutch? I'm curious if I'm the only one who needed that reality check.

I spotted a huge change in a maple I've been watching for 7 years

There's a silver maple on a property I drive by every day on my route. After the 2019 drought here in southern Ohio, it started dropping branches left and right. I figured it was just getting old, but this year it leafed out way better than it has since 2020. Turns out the owner finally took down a big locust tree that was shading it out. The crown literally filled back in over one season once it got full sun again. Has anyone else seen a tree bounce back that fast after removing a competitor?

Noticed something odd about oak root fungus at a park in Portland last month

I was checking out some dying oaks at Laurelhurst Park and saw the same white rot pattern on three different trees in a row. Has anyone else seen it spread faster in urban soil vs forest settings?

Climb with spurs or not on removals? I'm torn on this one

Had a job last Tuesday taking down a big red oak in Albany, and I chose to climb without spurs to save the tree. My foreman said I was wasting time and should've just spurred up and got it done in half the time. I got the tree down clean but it took me an extra 45 minutes, so now I'm wondering if I was being too cautious or if he's just old school. Which side do you guys fall on when you're doing a removal on a healthy tree?

Switched from a handsaw to a Silky saw for pruning and the difference is huge

I spent 3 years using a regular folding handsaw for most of my pruning work around Portland. Last month I finally grabbed a Silky Sugoi after a guy at the lumber yard wouldn't stop talking about them. Cut through a 6 inch branch on a maple tree in like 15 seconds and the cut was way cleaner. Has anyone else made that switch and noticed a big difference in how fast you work?

Rant: that fancy downtown plaza with the 'artistic' tree pruning

I was in Portland last Tuesday walking through that new plaza near the courthouse, and I had to stop and stare. Some landscape crew butchered a row of mature London planes. They topped them like they were trimming a hedge, leaving ugly stubs everywhere. One guy was even using a chainsaw from a ladder without any safety line. I walked over and asked him what kind of pruning technique that was supposed to be, and he just shrugged and said 'the boss said shape them up quick.' There was no clean collar cuts, no branch selection, just hack jobs. I snapped a few photos to show my crew back home. Has anyone else run into a municipal landscaping team that clearly has no clue about proper arboriculture?

Unpopular opinion: the 3-point cut is overrated for most pruning jobs

I used to follow the 3-point cut religiously on every single branch removal, even tiny ones. Took forever and honestly I think I was doing more damage than good on smaller limbs under 2 inches. Last spring I started just using a clean single cut with a sharp handsaw on anything under that size and the trees healed way faster. My mentor called me lazy but then he saw the callusing on a crabapple I did two years ago. The 3-point cut has its place on big heavy branches sure, but for routine thinning I think we overcomplicate it. Has anyone else gotten better results ditching the notch on smaller stuff?

My rope got tangled in a squirrel nest 50 feet up last Tuesday and I had to cut myself free

Tried the throw line with a bag instead of a weight today

I've been using a steel throw weight for years on removals, but a buddy convinced me to swap to a bag for a big oak in Portland. The bag caught in the crotch way less and I only had to re-throw twice instead of like eight times. Anybody else made the switch and noticed a difference on tall conifers?

Can we talk about how wrong I was on root barriers?

I spent years thinking root barriers were just a gimmick sold by landscape supply places to push more product. Had a job back in '21 over in Medford where a silver maple had wrecked a guy's driveway so bad the concrete was lifted 4 inches. Client wanted me to just cut the roots and pour new concrete. I told him that would just make the tree angry and he'd be back in 5 years with the same problem. He finally let me install a proper HDPE barrier along the driveway edge, buried it 30 inches deep with that 2 inch lip above grade. That was 3 years ago and I drove by last week, the driveway is still flat and the tree looks healthy as ever. Now I spec them on every job near hardscape. Anyone else have a tool or technique they thought was snake oil until it saved their butt on a specific job?

Stick with a handsaw or go for a pole saw for those tall live oaks?

I split my crews between two jobs last month in Savannah, GA. One team used a Silky Zubat handsaw for a 40 foot live oak cleanup, the other used a Stihl pole saw for the same kind of work on a different property. The handsaw crew got cleaner cuts but took twice as long, and the pole saw team got it done quick but left some jagged edges near the trunk. Which do you guys lean on for big canopy work when reach is an issue?

Frustrated seeing everyone top their oak trees

I was out on a job in Phoenix last Wednesday and walked past three houses in one block that had their oaks topped. People keep doing this thinking it makes the tree safer or controls growth. But all it does is create weak regrowth that snaps off in the first good windstorm. I have been doing this work for 12 years and I see topped trees fail every single season. It also stresses the tree out bad and makes it more likely to get rot or bugs. Who taught people that cutting the whole top off was a good idea? Has anyone else had to clean up messes from topped trees that the homeowner paid for?