Almost lost a big oak last week to a hidden crack

I was up in a 60-foot red oak in Denver last Thursday, stripping deadwood, and spotted a hairline crack running 8 feet down the main trunk. It was the kind of thing you'd miss on a ground inspection, but from above with the sun hitting it just right, it screamed trouble. Anyone else climbing into trees blind without a solid pre-climb aerial check?

3 comments

3 Comments

river_thompson2d ago

Hold on, you just eyeballed it from the ground and then climbed 60 feet into a tree that was already trying to divorce itself? That's like checking if a bridge is safe by driving a semi-truck onto it and hoping for the best. I get it, sometimes you're chasing sunlight and can't do a full sweep from the truck, but that's a big gamble. At least you caught it before it caught you, but maybe next time try a quick binocular check from the ground before you go full squirrel mode up there. Trust me, I've had a few close calls that way too, and now I'm paranoid enough to scan every branch twice before I set my harness. Glad you walked away from that one, man.

shane_morgan2d ago

Jump right into that pattern you're talking about, @river_thompson. It's like we all get tunnel vision when we're in a hurry, right? I see it every day with folks rushing through stuff they know better than to rush. You're spot on about the binoculars though. I started keeping a small pair in my truck after a similar scare with a dead branch that looked fine from the ground.

dylan_ward2d ago

Yeah that "full squirrel mode" line got me, I've had similar tree situations where I got too comfortable and paid for it later.