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?

2 comments

2 Comments

barbarah1913d ago

That "already doomed" take is pretty harsh but honestly not wrong in a lot of cases. Cabling buys you a few more years tops if the tree is already splitting or has a bad crotch, it doesn't fix the core problem. If a tree isn't structurally sound from the start no amount of steel cable is going to make it safe long term.

jennifer20412d ago

Used to think cabling was a solid safety net but that arborist has a point. Seen too many cabled trees come down in a storm anyway, just with a bunch of rusted steel hanging off them. Kinda made me realize you're mostly setting people up for a false sense of security.