Lopsided tree due to powerline arborist maintenance, dangerous?

[TNTreeHugger]

Thank your lucky star the first tree didn't take out your house and have the other one cut down.
You may not be so lucky the next time.
Just curious, looks like the other tree was on the east side of your house and was blown to the south/west?
Is that normal wind direction for your area?

 

[keithphw]

Interesting, thanks for your comments.
That Banyan tree is gigantic. How dramatic that it fails 3 days after the arborist's "A-OK" assessment. Lucky no one was near it.

>>All things considered though, if you are worried about the balance of the tree and then potentially coming over, as well as possible disease from the spike damage, you may be able to just get them to take the whole tree down next time for free especially if they know they messed up by using the spikes.

Yes I'm hoping that's the case. Seems indefensible really, considering the lop-sided cuts, spike damage, high wind hill and proximity of our house.

>>Just curious, looks like the other tree was on the east side of your house and was blown to the south/west? Is that normal wind direction for your area?

The winds are very strong up here, it's one of the highest points in Sydney. It's called 'Pennant Hills' since the early settlers used flag signals on this hill to communicate between Sydney harbour and up-river at Parramatta. I have no idea which way the wind normally blows, it appears quite random to me.

Here's another picture of the uprooted gum tree that came down in Feb 2020 on the other side of our house, a narrow scrape. Luckily we were out at the time.

 

[TNTreeHugger]

Interesting, thanks for your comments.
That Banyan tree is gigantic. How dramatic that it fails 3 days after the arborist's "A-OK" assessment. Lucky no one was near it.

>>All things considered though, if you are worried about the balance of the tree and then potentially coming over, as well as possible disease from the spike damage, you may be able to just get them to take the whole tree down next time for free especially if they know they messed up by using the spikes.

Yes I'm hoping that's the case. Seems indefensible really, considering the lop-sided cuts, spike damage, high wind hill and proximity of our house.

>>Just curious, looks like the other tree was on the east side of your house and was blown to the south/west? Is that normal wind direction for your area?

The winds are very strong up here, it's one of the highest points in Sydney. It's called 'Pennant Hills' since the early settlers used flag signals on this hill to communicate between Sydney harbour and up-river at Parramatta. I have no idea which way the wind normally blows, it appears quite random to me.

Here's another picture of the uprooted gum tree that came down in Feb 2020 on the other side of our house, a narrow scrape. Luckily we were out at the time.
View attachment 967282

What's that yellow pipe/cable going through the base of the tree? Looks like the roots pulled up electrical wires and sidewalk, too?
Looks to me like it had very little root to support the weight of the tree and the heavy rain loosened the soil and, being top heavy, it just fell over.
That happened to a huge hickory tree I had in my yard - it was very old but close to the road and a water main and I'd guess during construction many years ago, the root system was compromised. When it came down I was shocked to see how little root there was for such a huge tree.

 

[TNTreeHugger]

The two trees in question are on Ausgrid property?

 

[TNTreeHugger]

>>Just curious, looks like the other tree was on the east side of your house and was blown to the south/west? Is that normal wind direction for your area?

The winds are very strong up here, it's one of the highest points in Sydney. It's called 'Pennant Hills' since the early settlers used flag signals on this hill to communicate between Sydney harbour and up-river at Parramatta. I have no idea which way the wind normally blows, it appears quite random to me.

Here's another picture of the uprooted gum tree that came down in Feb 2020 on the other side of our house, a narrow scrape. Luckily we were out at the time.
View attachment 967282

Looks like predominant winds in your area blow in the same direction that tree fell.

https://www.wunderground.com/dashboard/pws/INSWWEST4

 

[Bearcreek]

Great pics. And I'm sorry to hear about the poor workmanship of the power companies contracted arborists. I would think the gashes promote rot/disease/insect infiltration. Hopefully you are able to resolve the issue. Keep all of the detailed pics and and information gathered just incase there needs to be any claims filed in the future. Good luck

Don't know about Australia, but in the US, power companies don't hire "arborists" to do line clearance, they hire tree service companies. They're hired to cut the limbs back X number of feet from the lines, nothing more. If someone wants an arborist to work on their trees, they can hire one. That isn't the power company's job.

 

[arathol]

What's that yellow pipe/cable going through the base of the tree? Looks like the roots pulled up electrical wires and sidewalk, too?

Around here we call that a gas service line.....

 

[TheJollyLogger]

Quite frankly, those eucs never should have been planted there in the first place, this was inevitable.

 

[Cogito]

You would be surprised what a tree can do. I know these are a different species, but here are a couple pines near my house that I’ve been through many hurricanes.View attachment 967247
View attachment 967249
All things considered though, if you are worried about the balance of the tree and then potentially coming over, as well as possible disease from the spike damage, you may be able to just get them to take the whole tree down next time for free especially if they know they messed up by using the spikes.

I really can’t fathom why people keep trees like that. They’re pretty high maintenance and ugly to boot. I think trees in our urban areas should be enjoyed. I can’t see anyone getting much enjoyment from eyesores like that.

 

[Bearcreek]

I really can’t fathom why people keep trees like that. They’re pretty high maintenance and ugly to boot. I think trees in our urban areas should be enjoyed. I can’t see anyone getting much enjoyment from eyesores like that.

Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder I suppose. Those trees are zero maintenance for anyone who might care about their appearance. They're on the right-of-way side of the lines.

 

[Cogito]

What's that yellow pipe/cable going through the base of the tree? Looks like the roots pulled up electrical wires and sidewalk, too?
Looks to me like it had very little root to support the weight of the tree and the heavy rain loosened the soil and, being top heavy, it just fell over.
That happened to a huge hickory tree I had in my yard - it was very old but close to the road and a water main and I'd guess during construction many years ago, the root system was compromised. When it came down I was shocked to see how little root there was for such a huge tree.

Yellow is usually gas. Has Sydney got a bit of clay in the soil? Heavy rain can penetrate deep enough into the clay to turn it into soup. Roots can’t grip soup effectively.

 

[TNTreeHugger]

Yellow is usually gas. Has Sydney got a bit of clay in the soil? Heavy rain can penetrate deep enough into the clay to turn it into soup. Roots can’t grip soup effectively.

Yup. That's exactly what we have here. I've had four huge trees get uprooted and come down like that in my yard over the past 28 years.

 

[keithphw]

What's that yellow pipe/cable going through the base of the tree? Looks like the roots pulled up electrical wires and sidewalk, too?
Looks to me like it had very little root to support the weight of the tree and the heavy rain loosened the soil and, being top heavy, it just fell over.
That happened to a huge hickory tree I had in my yard - it was very old but close to the road and a water main and I'd guess during construction many years ago, the root system was compromised. When it came down I was shocked to see how little root there was for such a huge tree.

Yes the roots were small and weak and the core of the trunk was hollow with a delicate honeycomb structure inside, I suspect eaten out by termites or borers.
That yellow pipe was my neighbour's gas, the copper is water.

 

[keithphw]

Good news: This morning a different employee from Ausgrid the power line company inspected the trees and committed to removing them which is a big relief for our family.
The employee said that although he doesn't think the tree will fall in the near-future, it was against the standard to use climbing spikes, too many branches were lopped off the one side and that this would accelerate the trees' inevitable failure.

>>Has Sydney got a bit of clay in the soil? Heavy rain can penetrate deep enough into the clay to turn it into soup. Roots can’t grip soup effectively.
Yes there's clay soil on top of this hill unfortunately. It's been raining heavily everyday here for the past week which has made us a little tense and worried about whether high winds might push these trees over. So far the winds have been weak. We can't wait for the trees to be cut down.

The Ausgrid employee said that the tree removal will be done sometime in the next few weeks so I'll post up some photos of the big job when the time comes.

Great to have your expert insights Cogito and everyone, thanks for your advice.

 

[Cogito]

Good news: This morning a different employee from Ausgrid the power line company inspected the trees and committed to removing them which is a big relief for our family.
The employee said that although he doesn't think the tree will fall in the near-future, it was against the standard to use climbing spikes, too many branches were lopped off the one side and that this would accelerate the trees' inevitable failure.

>>Has Sydney got a bit of clay in the soil? Heavy rain can penetrate deep enough into the clay to turn it into soup. Roots can’t grip soup effectively.
Yes there's clay soil on top of this hill unfortunately. It's been raining heavily everyday here for the past week which has made us a little tense and worried about whether high winds might push these trees over. So far the winds have been weak. We can't wait for the trees to be cut down.

The Ausgrid employee said that the tree removal will be done sometime in the next few weeks so I'll post up some photos of the big job when the time comes.

Great to have your expert insights Cogito and everyone, thanks for your advice.

Amazing, you seem to have found a competent arborist. Probably because you didn’t find him here. While I’m always sad to see a tree go, hopefully you can replace it with something more suitable. If you have any worries about the professionalism of the crew it is probably a good idea to get a number of photos of the site before they start. That will mean any damage to your property can easily be seen.

 

[pdqdl]

Don't know about Australia, but in the US, power companies don't hire "arborists" to do line clearance, they hire tree service companies. They're hired to cut the limbs back X number of feet from the lines, nothing more. If someone wants an arborist to work on their trees, they can hire one. That isn't the power company's job.

Ummm...Nope! That isn't right.




There is an entire classification of arborist hired almost exclusively by power companies and the tree service that works for them.

 

[pdqdl]

Amazing, you seem to have found a competent arborist. Probably because you didn’t find him here. ...

I'm surprised to see you talking bad about yourself that way. You are one of the arborists here, are you not?

 

[Cogito]

I'm surprised to see you talking bad about yourself that way. You are one of the arborists here, are you not?

Technically no. I haven't got around to finishing the last unit for my Cert. III. When you're transplanting, you tend to do the exact opposite of best arboricultural practice.

 

[Cogito]

Technically no. I haven't got around to finishing the last unit for my Cert. III. When you're transplanting, you tend to do the exact opposite of best arboricultural practice.

While it sounds a little petty, I would be interested to hear your qualifications. I don't know how easy it will be to equate American and Australian qualifications.

 

[Cogito]

"in the US, power companies don't hire "arborists" to do line clearance"
"There is an entire classification of arborist hired almost exclusively by power companies"
You might want to reword that.