Increment Borer - Worth the Money?

[Fireaxman]

I would like to know more about these kinds of hollows before I start climbing and rigging, more than what tapping on them with a hammer will tell me. Thinking about getting an Increment Borer. I did a search on "Increment Borer" and got a few hits, looks like a few folks use them, but I could not find many details. Would like to know a little more about them before I fork over $150 to a couple hundred bucks.

1) Is a 0.2" diameter big enough to determine if a tree is sound enough for our kind of work? The literature i have recomends 1/2" for "...qualitative analysis" but I hate to cut that big a hole in the tree before I am sure whether to cut it down or not.

2) Do you recomend any attempt to plug the hole after you have the sample?

3) 2 thread or 3 thread?

4) Anybody got a recomendation on length, just for determining soundness for climbing, rigging, and hazard assessment? Seems like a short one would be fine. I'm thinking the story should be told within the first 6 inches.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

A cordless drill and a 1/8 in bit will tell you enough about wood quality from the chaff/frass whatever we call it coming off the bit.

Put a foam earplug on the bit and you will have a depth gauge.

 

[371groundie]

cant speak to your other questions but dont plug the hole. just like tap holes in maples it is best to leave them open to air flow. i dont remember all the whys and wherefores. but i know the university of maine cooperative extention has info availible online about maple tap holes. i dont see much difference between the two.

 

[treeseer]

A cordless drill and a 1/8 in bit will tell you enough about wood quality from the chaff/frass whatever we call it coming off the bit.

Put a foam earplug on the bit and you will have a depth gauge.

:agree2:drill is faster and less strain on the shoulders. re corers, The bigger the easier to use.

 

[bigbadbob]

I was out on my ATV and found a Sandvic borer, traded it for a flat of beer as it was of no use to me,, it had sat on a shelf for a year!!!

 

[Fireaxman]

Thats good enough for me. Thanks guys, you just saved me $154. I'll get a long reach 1/8" bit for the cordless.

 

[tomtrees58]

A cordless drill and a 1/8 in bit will tell you enough about wood quality from the chaff/frass whatever we call it coming off the bit.

Put a foam earplug on the bit and you will have a depth gauge.

use a dewalt 18 v works good tom trees

 

[Fireaxman]

cant speak to your other questions but dont plug the hole. just like tap holes in maples it is best to leave them open to air flow. i dont remember all the whys and wherefores. but i know the university of maine cooperative extention has info availible online about maple tap holes. i dont see much difference between the two.

Thanks. I am taking your advice until someone convinces me differently. That agrees with what I have also heard about pruning cuts, so it makes good sense. Dont want to trap moisture in the a cut, it would encourage fungus.

The only "...difference between the two" that makes me ask the question is sap flow. An obviously healthy tree, I'm sure, has enough vitality to heal such a small wound. But my next project is an oak that was damaged by Katrina. It is really sick, but the owner wants to try and save it. Several branches, and the entire top, are dead on one side but alive enough on the other that they are healing over. One of the reasons I was going to fork over for the increment borer was to determine how deep the dead goes. My concern is that this tree is already borderline. Hate to leave another open hole for the bugs to crawl in to. But then, if the tree is sick enough it cant take a few 1/8 inch holes, I guess it needs to come down anyway.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

The bigger the hole the more CODIT reaction there will be.

I sat in a lecture a while ago that compared the cross sections after invasive investigation. The drill bit was comparable to that of common native boring insects.

Another thought is that you do not have to go in any more then 20% of the D value on your drill, and 30% if there is a visible cavity.

 

[Fireaxman]

.... Another thought is that you do not have to go in any more then 20% of the D value on your drill, and 30% if there is a visible cavity.

Good. Thanks. That gives me what I was looking for in question #4.