Standing up toppled Crabapple tree

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HarryDunn

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The recent storm in the northeast was pretty brutal and a lot of people lost trees. We unfortunately had one of our beautiful 25' crabapple trees topple over. The tree was very healthy but the branches tended to spread in one direction to reach sunlight creating an imbalance with the heavy snow/ice mixture. There was about 1/3 of the root ball exposed when the snow melted and no major damage to the trunk. Only 1 or 2 medium branches were damaged somehow. I have been piling snow on top of the exposed roots to keep them cold and wet.

There are 2 other good size trees that make a triangle with this tree and the tree fell away from them (see picture). It seems like attaching cables to the other 2 trees after standing the toppled tree would work perfectly... The other trees are a 40' Blue Spruce and an identical 25' Crabapple tree. I have a V6 tacoma with the towing package to possibly help get the tree into place. I was thinking a combination of a heavy duty cable ratcheting system attached to the other 2 trees (or the telephone pole) in tandem with a chain attached to my truck could lift the tree into place and then leave the cables (with some sort of protection for the trunks) to hold the tree from falling again and leave the cables in place for 5 years or so... But I don't really know what I'm doing and looking for advice. I attached a birds eye diagram. Thanks for any advice!!!!
 

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Worth a try. You'll need to really saturate the soil to get the roots to go back close to level. Once it is not so soggy, maybe add just a little soil to fill in air gaps, but try NOT to raise the grade with new soil. What is that soil like on the upwind side of the tree? If it is compacted, aerating the soil will increase rooting ability.

You may be able to ratchet that in place without pulling with the truck - especially if you have a couple of pulleys you can use to get some mechanical advantage.

Is the utility pole your pole or does it belong to the utility? If yours, I'd use that before the other trees...but it looks a little farther away than what might be ideal. If you have access to an auger and a used pole, maybe sink another closer to the tree? How big in diameter is the spruce's trunk where you'd be tying off? I guess before knowing that...are there good branches in the upper half of the subject to tie on to? They can really branch out and not leave a big enough trunk to be conducive to pulling back up. If that is the case and your braces will be down low on the trunk (not ideal, length of a lever and all...but sometimes you gotta use what you have), a few shorter steel posts closer to the tree may be your best bet.

Finally, what does the tree look like? A reduction pruning and/or thinning may be in order to reduce the wind load on it while it roots back in. I'd also consider having an arborist treat with Camibstat growth regulator. This will slow the growth of the top of the tree and enhance fine root growth which will help with anchoring. May be well worth having somebody out to do a consultation and give on site advice. 25' tall is a big crabapple...if you want to save it, you really have one good shot, so make sure you do it right.

Plan on leaving the support system in place for less than 5 years. If it takes more than 2-3, it probably isn't gonna work...
 
Thank you ATH for all the very helpful info! I will have to get out there and measure the trunks etc tomorrow. I am tempted to hire an arborist to do the whole thing but I'm concerned that they are probably in high demand after these storms and can charge a fortune... Guess I won't know 'til I call. How long can I wait before standing the tree back up? There's a lot of snow banks around the edge of the circle that would make it a pain to work on and I'm waiting for them to melt. Thanks again!!
 
I stood up a weeping willow for a customer with my winch a few years back once i had it stood up I used mobile home anker's on 3 way system. I told her I needed to loosen the cables yearly and first time i went back she said she kept them tightened which I specifically told her not to do lol. Then I told her the plan was to remove them at year 3 she would have no part of that and insisted that they would stay affixed:dizzy: I finally told her ok mam you take on the responsibility from here on out !
 
I'm thinking I'm going to call around to get some quotes to have it done right... However, I'm wondering how much time I have to get it done. Like I said, I'm keeping the exposed roots covered with snow to keep them cold and wet. I have no idea if I have days, weeks, etc. before the tree needs to be stood back up...
 
As long as you keep the roots moist you should be good. If they dry out, they will start to die pretty quickly. Call around and see how long before somebody can get there.
 
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