Large Crack in My Sycamore

[Nikki Follis]

Hi!

I noticed a rather large (nearly 5 ft long) and deep (about 12 inches) crack in my sycamore trunk this morning. The tree is about 15 feet from my house. Should I be concerned and tale it down?

I hate to see it go, but don't want to chance it coming down on my house either. The tree is fairly old (an arborist told me its nearly 100 years, but it could be as young as 65 years).

Thanks in advance!!

 

[Jed1124]

Wow, that's a big frost crack! With the temperaures we have been having frost crack will be pretty common on the sunny side of trees.
It's hard to be sure from pictures but front the look of the crack if the tree would to split down because of it it would fall parallel to your house. That being said I've never seen a tree fail due to a frost crack. It' possible others have and they will chime in shortly.

 

[diezelsmoke]

It looks like that trunk has been cracking for years. The size of the crack should allow you to see into the center and determine if the center is rotted. If it has minimal rotting then the tree should be fine. In the North when the temps get -0, probably 90% of the trees have frost cracks, some are visible and some are not.

 

[Oldmaple]

Frost crack won't cause your tree to fail. Decay is the issue, since it now has the inner portion of the tree exposed. Never seen it be an issue on Sycamore as people usually have them cut down long before they decay since they are such a mess.

 

[Nikki Follis]

A couple more things to add....

The canopy of the tree is over my home through two very large limbs. There is nothing small about this tree.

Living in Michigan, we have a tendency for heavy snow and ice storms. Does this frost crack actually weaken the tree?

This tree is massive and beautiful, despite the mess it makes. I hate to remove a tree unnecessarily.

Thanks!!

 

[arathol]

An on site evaluation is almost certainly needed to determine the structural integrity of that tree.

 

[ATH]

Get somebody who really knows what they are doing to look at it. Expect to pay a consulting fee. If you call a tree removal company, I can already tell you what they'll say (even without a picture). If you don't know who to call, look for a Tree Risk Assessment Qualified Arborist at treesaregood.org

 

[jefflovstrom]

A couple more things to add....

The canopy of the tree is over my home through two very large limbs. There is nothing small about this tree.

Living in Michigan, we have a tendency for heavy snow and ice storms. Does this frost crack actually weaken the tree?

This tree is massive and beautiful, despite the mess it makes. I hate to remove a tree unnecessarily.

Thanks!!

Try here,
http://www.isa-arbor.com/findanarborist/findanarborist.aspx

Jeff

 

[jefflovstrom]

I would just monitor it,
Jeff

 

[gunny100]

Hi!

I noticed a rather large (nearly 5 ft long) and deep (about 12 inches) crack in my sycamore trunk this morning. The tree is about 15 feet from my house. Should I be concerned and tale it down?

I hate to see it go, but don't want to chance it coming down on my house either. The tree is fairly old (an arborist told me its nearly 100 years, but it could be as young as 65 years).

Thanks in advance!!

looks like i would cut down that tree because its dammaged dont want that tree to fall on the house
it makes good firewood

 

[gunny100]

looks like i would cut down that tree because its dammaged dont want that tree to fall on the house
it makes good firewood

if you want to knolw how old the tree is cut it down and count the rings on the trunk pcs

 

[ropensaddle]

I've never seen a frost crack failure either but there are ways to mitigate the likelihood of a failure with a slight reduction of canopy. It should be noted if you have a reduction it should not look like a giant lawn mower ran over the top. Many smaller cuts 2 to 3 inch diameter to nodes will lessen the load and not be detrimental . Having said that, I only like sycamore 300 foot from my house because they are nasty to sinuses and I'm not allergic. Sick some more lol