Help estimating height of white Spruce w/pic

[Jack_Shaft]

Hello all.

This forum has been a wealth of knowedge, so I thought I'd bring this question to you all.

I have a fairly (by my standards) large white spruce that has died next to my cottage. About a year ago it died and is very dry, I am now starting to worry about the root structure since it could do a lot of damage if it came down on my shed or cottage. I really hate to take it down as it is such a tall tree, but with the high winds we get in the Fall, I can either decide to bring it down myself in a controlled environment or I can leave it to mother nature to decide. No thanks.

I am trying to estimate the height of it from the attached pic based on a method I read about on here; take a pic with a known height object parked right next to it, then scale your way up the side of the tree. In my case, the yellow line on the attached picture represents 4'-6", the top of the windshield on my snowmobile. I counted 16-18 of these which gives me about 75' total height.

Does that look about right?

 

[tree md]

I was fascinated when I learned how they figured out how to measure the height of the pyramids in Egypt by measuring the shadow of something else then using algebra to determine the height of the pyramid.

Here's a cool link on measuring the height of a tree:

http://www.wikihow.com/Measure-the-Height-of-a-Tree

 

[tomtrees58]

i guess if the house is 20 ' the tree is 65' ?? tom trees

 

[TDunk]

i guess if the house is 20 ' the tree is 65' ?? tom trees

I'd say that's a fair guess, maybe a hair taller.

 

[Jack_Shaft]

I was fascinated when I learned how they figured out how to measure the height of the pyramids in Egypt by measuring the shadow of something else then using algebra to determine the height of the pyramid.

Here's a cool link on measuring the height of a tree:

http://www.wikihow.com/Measure-the-Height-of-a-Tree

That's interesting and makes logical sense, thanks for sharing. Unfortunately the shadow of this tree would not be easily distinguished since is lies in the forest with a multitude of other trees. Perhaps if the sun was shining in just the right direction with the tree shadow projected out onto the lake I could pull it off.

 

[Jack_Shaft]

i guess if the house is 20 ' the tree is 65' ?? tom trees

Yes, I also used that as my measuring stick, but the cottage is quite a bit closer to the camera compared to the tree, so this "foreground factor" will make the cottage look bigger than it really is.

 

[Jack_Shaft]

I'd say that's a fair guess, maybe a hair taller.

Good stuff. That's pretty close to my original estimate, should provide some great dry firewood for the next two years.

 

[bonker81]

55' by the popsicle stick scale i'm chewing on.

 

[Jack_Shaft]

55' by the popsicle stick scale i'm chewing on.

LOL

Better get that sucker recalibrated, it's more than 55'

 

[tree md]

Not much more than 55'. I'd say 60-65'. No way it's 75. Plus it looks very much green and alive to me. Hire a pro and take the guess work out of it. I never have to figure how tall they are because I climb them and cut them to whatever length I need to make them fit.

Edit: Shouldn't this be in the home owner help forum???

 

[True Blue Sam]

Easy Tree Height Measurement

Take a stick in one hand, extend your arm and lean the stick back toward your face. Use your other hand to pull the top of the stick through your hand until the top of the stick touches you at the corner of your eye. Stand the stick up vertically, and with your head motionless you back away from the tree until the top of your fist lines up with the bottom of the tree, and the top of the stick lines up with the top of the tree. You must hold your head still and roll you eye up and down to be accurate. When it matches, your eye is as far from the base of the tree as the top is from the base. Pace to the tree, or tape it, and you have the height. This is a very good method to determine if your tree can hit things like a powerline, or the neighbors garage.

 

[MonkeyMan_812]

That tree is 75 ft tall if you ask me. Measure it after you cut it down and let us know for sure.

 

[tree md]

Might be. Hard to tell by pics. Regardless of how tall it is, it's a pecker pole and would be a chip shot to drop.

 

[TreEmergencyB]

:agree2:

Might be. Hard to tell by pics. Regardless of how tall it is, it's a pecker pole and would be a chip shot to drop.

 

[Jack_Shaft]

Might be. Hard to tell by pics. Regardless of how tall it is, it's a pecker pole and would be a chip shot to drop.

Thanks for the belittling words. It's a significant task for me due to the ground hazards and I will certainly enlist the help of a very experienced crew of friends when I do decide to drop it. I live in the far reaches of the north and Arborist Professionals like yourself do not exist up here, so the option to hire is not there for me.

You cannot tell from this one picture just how difficult this tree will be to drop; it has a significant lean away from the shore and will likely have to be fallen that way. The tree is indeed dead and dry and that's why I want it gone. Not a green limb left on it and it has been wood peckered to death.

After printing and scaling the pic, the tree comes out to 70' in height. When it does come down, I will measure it for sure.

 

[tree md]

Thanks for the belittling words. It's a significant task for me due to the ground hazards and I will certainly enlist the help of a very experienced crew of friends when I do decide to drop it. I live in the far reaches of the north and Arborist Professionals like yourself do not exist up here, so the option to hire is not there for me.

You cannot tell from this one picture just how difficult this tree will be to drop; it has a significant lean away from the shore and will likely have to be fallen that way. The tree is indeed dead and dry and that's why I want it gone. Not a green limb left on it and it has been wood peckered to death.

After printing and scaling the pic, the tree comes out to 70' in height. When it does come down, I will measure it for sure.

Sorry bout that. Didn't mean to be belittling.

So hard to tell from pics. The tree looks green as a gourd on my computer.

The way I usually measure them is climb them and if I run out of rope coming down, I know for a fact the tree is over 75'.

I'd suggest getting a throwline in it as high as you can, at least in the top third of the tree (might be hard to do without a bigshot if the tree is that tall), set a line, put a good clean notch in it and pull that puppy over with your friends.

Best of luck.

 

[Jack_Shaft]

Sorry bout that. Didn't mean to be belittling.

So hard to tell from pics. The tree looks green as a gourd on my computer.

The way I usually measure them is climb them and if I run out of rope coming down, I know for a fact the tree is over 75'.

I'd suggest getting a throwline in it as high as you can, at least in the top third of the tree (might be hard to do without a bigshot if the tree is that tall), set a line, put a good clean notch in it and pull that puppy over with your friends.

Best of luck.

Thanks TreeMD, that is my plan. My good friend with the lineworking crew at my place of work has a great set of climbing spikes and rigging to help me climb, limb (to make it easier to fall) and then place the rope up high.

Should be fun, I will post pics when it drops.

 

[Jack_Shaft]

Sorry bout that. Didn't mean to be belittling.

So hard to tell from pics. The tree looks green as a gourd on my computer.

The way I usually measure them is climb them and if I run out of rope coming down, I know for a fact the tree is over 75'.

I'd suggest getting a throwline in it as high as you can, at least in the top third of the tree (might be hard to do without a bigshot if the tree is that tall), set a line, put a good clean notch in it and pull that puppy over with your friends.

Best of luck.

I had another look at the picture. I now know why you are seeing green! There is an almost identical tree right behind the dead one.

Those are the green boughs you are seeing in the background. I didn't even notice it until I had a better look at the picture.

 

[tree md]

I had another look at the picture. I now know why you are seeing green! There is an almost identical tree right behind the dead one.

Those are the green boughs you are seeing in the background. I didn't even notice it until I had a better look at the picture.

Be careful spiking up if it's been dead very long. If it still has most of it's needles it is probably still structurally sound. Just be mindful that you are in a dead tree and inspect it for defects and hazards on the way up (IE split from lightening and whatnot).

 

[Rickytree]

I'd say 58 feet!! Cut it down and tell us! Quit with the suspense already!