AustinPSD
ArboristSite Lurker
Today I was sectioning a large diseased (oak wilt) live oak in preparation for final felling tomorrow... This is one of several 70" to 80" diameter (above the root flare) trees that are coming down here in the park I work in.
I was running my MS 361 using a Carlton 28" premium bar and Oregon 75JGX full-skip chain, and got to the last big limb section of the tree. I'd made an open-face cut on the underside of the limb (probably 20" diameter at the nodal point), and was about 2/3 of the way through the back cut when I saw a couple of sparks.
I immediately let off the throttle and lifted the bar, and saw a glint of metal in the cut...
It turns out there was a stainless steel screw, about 1/8" diameter and three inches long embedded in this limb section, apparently driven in when the tree was young, which the tree "absorbed".
I was lucky, as none of the cutters were knocked off, it only dulled the chain which was otherwise freshly sharpened and cutting nicely, but it was a close call. Pisses me off to encounter stuff like this in a tree...
Makes me wonder if there's some way to know in advance with a metal detector or something - if I'd made the back-cut about 1" off my original mark I'd have missed this hazard entirely...
I was able to complete the sectioning using my spare chain, and have this tree and two of its similarly ill-fated companions ready to come down to the stump tomorrow. What a pain! I filed the damaged chain tonight, so I'm good for the work tomorrow morning. Why do people have to drive screws, nails and spikes into nice trees anyway? End of minor rant...
I was running my MS 361 using a Carlton 28" premium bar and Oregon 75JGX full-skip chain, and got to the last big limb section of the tree. I'd made an open-face cut on the underside of the limb (probably 20" diameter at the nodal point), and was about 2/3 of the way through the back cut when I saw a couple of sparks.
I immediately let off the throttle and lifted the bar, and saw a glint of metal in the cut...
It turns out there was a stainless steel screw, about 1/8" diameter and three inches long embedded in this limb section, apparently driven in when the tree was young, which the tree "absorbed".
I was lucky, as none of the cutters were knocked off, it only dulled the chain which was otherwise freshly sharpened and cutting nicely, but it was a close call. Pisses me off to encounter stuff like this in a tree...
Makes me wonder if there's some way to know in advance with a metal detector or something - if I'd made the back-cut about 1" off my original mark I'd have missed this hazard entirely...
I was able to complete the sectioning using my spare chain, and have this tree and two of its similarly ill-fated companions ready to come down to the stump tomorrow. What a pain! I filed the damaged chain tonight, so I'm good for the work tomorrow morning. Why do people have to drive screws, nails and spikes into nice trees anyway? End of minor rant...
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