Lightning Struck Oak

[KentuckySawyer]

I looked at a good sized Northern Red Oak today that had been hit by lightning a couple days ago. The forest grown tree is 75-80' tall, about 34" DBH, and sits with a 5º lean towards the house and gardens. The lightning had blown off a patch of bark 2' x 12' and had fractured at least the outer layers of wood on the compression side of the tree.

I presented the options of removal and preservation. I suggested pruning to compensate for the lean towards the house and possibly the installation of two bolts through the fractured area of the trunk. Sound okay? Any thoughts on other treatments? What is an average life expectancy for a tree such as this one?

 

[treeseer]

The wound is 2' wide? Sounds fatal, in the long run. I'd probe those cracks, and tap the bark with a hammer to see if a hollow sound will tell you where bark is popped off yet still attached.

Some homeowners' policies will compensate the owner for the value of the tree. Something to check out.

Got a camera handy?

 

[Redbull]

I would also look at the roots for rot. I looked at a Pin Oak a couple of days ago that was struck 14yrs ago and had a good size cavity from the base up to 15ft. The cavity had a lot of new wood and was closing nicely, so I drilled from the cavity side to find out how much solid wood I had. The cavity was not as deep as suspected, so far so good. I went to check the roots and began to excavate the main support roots. The top of the root looked fine, the bottom was so soft I could poke a hand trowel through the bottom. This tree was in the 80' range as well and failure would mean total devastation to the house, so I recommended removal. This customer wanted to keep the tree, as did I, but it posed too much of a hazard. She was happy that I was thourough enough to make an educated decision about the tree instead of a knee-jerk reaction just to pocket the removal money.
Just make sure you are thourough and comfortable with your decision.

 

[Redbull]

This seems like a good post to put up the pics of the Oak that I looked at, but I dont want to hijack Kentucky's thread. If hes cool with it I'll post em up.

 

[Redbull]

Looks like hes offline so Ill go ahead and post them.

 

[xtremetrees]

Cut it down like yesterday:rockn:

 

[Redbull]

If the cavity was higher in the tree and did not extend to the roots, I would not have recommended removal. The rotten roots was the nail in the coffin.

 

[KentuckySawyer]

The wound is 2' wide? Sounds fatal, in the long run. I'd probe those cracks, and tap the bark with a hammer to see if a hollow sound will tell you where bark is popped off yet still attached.

Some homeowners' policies will compensate the owner for the value of the tree. Something to check out.

Got a camera handy?

Sorry no pics. I left the camera at home on that bid. It would be a good one to have documented. Maybe I'll be going back.

The cracks aren't deep. Maybe an inch or so, but they extend up the length of the wound. The main thing that makes me lean towards removal is that the tree is in an unaccessable location for equipment. If it dies theres no getting a crane to it. I'd rather climb it now while its still sturdy.

 

[treeseer]

how many roots were rotted?

What kind of tree?

KY, lack of access should not be much of a factor; if the tree is solid now it will be solid for years.

 

[smokechase II]

lightning

I don't know much about the effects of lightning on oak trees.

While it generally doesn't kill softwoods by itself, it often sponsors bugs and rot comes on the back of the bugs and finishes the job. {The bugs have learned to sniff out the odor of excessive pitch, sensing weakness, the bugs move in for the kill. The brutal scum that they are.}

Anybody got any experience on how often an oak tree survives a significant lightning strike and related follow-up events?

One thought on the order of things in the world. Dropping a tree before it gets rotten means safety for the crew and usually a more successful directional felling adventure.

 

[clearance]

One thought on the order of things in the world. Dropping a tree before it gets rotten means safety for the crew and usually a more successful directional felling adventure.

You are so wrong, cable it, stick rods in it, do whatever you have to to squeeze more life out of it. Then if it dies don't hesitate to risk your life climbing it, and do not just let er rip, lower down big hunks, using the tree for a spar, it will take it. Have you not learned a thing from these ISA guys, trees first, people second, always.

 

[treeseer]

The cracks aren't deep. Maybe an inch or so, but they extend up the length of the wound.

Both the wound and the cracks will not get smaller. 24" wound on 113" circumference, that's a lot.

Time to find the best place to sell the trunk. The crack'll hurt timber value, but it's still got some. and it's the crack that you can't see that'll really get ya.

 

[Redbull]

You are so wrong, cable it, stick rods in it, do whatever you have to to squeeze more life out of it. Then if it dies don't hesitate to risk your life climbing it, and do not just let er rip, lower down big hunks, using the tree for a spar, it will take it. Have you not learned a thing from these ISA guys, trees first, people second, always.

Seriously, stick to what you know and butt out! Belive it or not there are actually customers out there who seek out us tree hugging Arborists because they care for their trees and understand that there is more to do with trees than cutting them down or hacking off limbs so they dont hit their head when they mow. Utility companies seek out qualified Utility Arborists too dont they?
Tough concept, I know.

Anyway, the tree I looked at was a 39"DBH Pin Oak, 80' tall (give or take a few feet), 65' spread, good branch structure,& healthy foliage. You can see from the pics the dimensions of the cavity. When I drilled into the cavity, I reached sound wood at 17" from the very front of the hole, leaving about 22" of sound wood on the back side.
As far as roots go, two main support roots were decayed underneath, and there were signs of fungus on the others but they were not so soft. The root decay was the big red flag, much more than the cavity itself.

 

[PWB]

I don't know much about the effects of lightning on oak trees.


Anybody got any experience on how often an oak tree survives a significant lightning strike and related follow-up events?

Got a whole winter's burning out of one, roadside tree about 1/2 mile from my house. Tree was huge, about 6 feet diameter at the base. Didn't last the summer after the strike. We left it alone until spring, got absolutely no growth, took it down about late june, drier than a popcorn fart.

 

[smokechase II]

Method of kill

Clearance:
The cause of death is the key. There are mechanisms of injury/death where neither cabling nor rods will squeeze anything but some poor saps pocketbook.

Hence the question I asked about Oak versus lightning and related survivability issues.

Outside of structural issues from the split, the tree can be left and observed for some period of time. Rot will take awhile and if it seems to progress, please remember: "Dropping a tree before it gets rotten means safety for the crew and usually a more successful directional felling adventure."

Regarding falling a tree with a split. Barber Chair city if you match the face parallel to and short of the split. Best results for almost all falling of trees with splits that extend close to the stump is to fall the tree at a right angle to the split.
This can remove the split from affecting the fall.

Dropping it now could mean wedges with a rope pull as insurance and take it over in one simple effort.

KentuckySawyer:
Does the split, at any point in its course over the tree, run parallel to the house? Lightning usually travels down a tree in a spiral. So look it over throughly. If there is a parallel split risk with a 5 degree lean backing it up. Move the house and save the tree at all costs.

Thanuberrymuch. I'm here all week. Try the veal.

No photos mean meaningless threads that split off who knows where. Not my fault.

 

[smokechase II]

Lightning plus

PWB:
When you cut that oak up. Did you notice anything besides the lightning?Such as beetle tracks under the bark or ....?

I'm going to assume that in the time frame you mention that there was little rot and you had good wood for falling and burning? Hope so anyway.

 

[KentuckySawyer]

KentuckySawyer:
Does the split, at any point in its course over the tree, run parallel to the house? Lightning usually travels down a tree in a spiral. So look it over throughly. If there is a parallel split risk with a 5 degree lean backing it up. Move the house and save the tree at all costs.

Thanuberrymuch. I'm here all week. Try the veal.

No photos mean meaningless threads that split off who knows where. Not my fault.

The wound, and the cracks, are facing the house. On the compression side of the lean. If the tree fails it won't hit the house, but will damage the gardens. There are no visable signs of lightning above the already mentioned wound. Zero.

These cracks are not that bad right now, and probably much less severe than you all are imagining.

Guy, There is no getting that log out intact for sawing. The tree is in at the bottom of a hill in the back yard. The chipper would sit 120' away and 30' higher than the stump. Unless we chopper it out.

If I get a chance I'll go take pictures, but I don't see it happening unless I'm going out there to work on the tree.

Thanks for the feedback. Everybody.