I was trying to cut a stump down after falling a clump of trees leaning over my barn and my chain (brand new to boot) stops cutting I pull out of the stump and the chain is damaged... no sparks.. so I get my other saw to solve the puzzle and its a fist size chunk of concrete. what I cant figure out is why its there.
At first I thought it was a rock hard ball of pitch tell i started smacking it with a hammer.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/45186/Resized_20180911_172516_2870.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1536797267)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/45186/Resized_20180911_172519_1213.jpeg?easyrotate_cache=1536797269)
Back in the day that was the solution to healing trees with rot or other hollows.
huh heard of paper tar and twine... not this before ... but good to know.
I've found super compressed clay/dirt, gravel and bark in hollow pockets of an at-grade stump/root ball of a pin oak where the roots had grown together to form one root. It would dull a chain in a matter of seconds, only way was to take a stump grinder to it to remove the bottom of the stump, I called it tree coal.
As stated, an old time tree repair still used today. Always be aware of yard trees and those around buildings.
Does that work? Seems like it could trap moisture and bugs/microbes.
I can't find any forestry folks recommending concrete to repair tree holes anywhere these days. Concrete / cement is alkaline and porous and rigid, and is mostly incompatible with wood. Some places say expanding foam. I hate that stuff personally.
Trees rot from the inside when water enters the trunk thru cracks, holes and insect damage.
So best bet is to prevent water from entering.
I would try to cover the open hole to prevent water sitting in the cavity.
Fasten a white oak board over the hole and let the tree fill in around it.
Remove it and re-fasten every couple of years to let the growth build up and close the whole.
Here's one of several chunks of concrete we ran into milling a very large historic tree. All told I think we took out 1 36" chain, 1 24" chain, 1 Peterson swing blade and several Wood-Mizer LT40 bands.
In the end it was worth is as the white oak was marketed as being recovered from "historic tree". Some of it sold for $10-$12 a board foot. ;D
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11043/DRBuck004a.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1192063763)
My father worked for Davey Tree Service in the 1930's. Davey trained their tree surgeons to fill cavities with concrete. An example is shown in the attached picture.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/33392/Tree_Cavities_Filled.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1537061673)
The concrete in this picture was textured to look like blocks.
Davey Tree Service is still in business but no longer recommends filling cavities with concrete.
Dealt with it before, no fun.
Spent more time knocking out the concrete with an electric hammer than I did running the saw.
Started with a chain on it's last legs, think my buddy ran home and ground it 3 times before we finished. The tree was in his parents yard, his dad did the concrete job.
Ed
Old school fix for trees. Check out the YouTube channel arborist Blair glenn. Him and his crew.deal with lots of it.
Quote from: warren46 on September 15, 2018, 09:38:13 PMThe concrete in this picture was textured to look like blocks.
Very cool heirloom pic!
I sware dumb squirrels mistake small stones for acorns and hide them in trees. Ether that or their pist off for being shot at. Frank C.
I removed a old American elm like the one in above photo years ago that died from Dutch elm disease.
It was a grand old tree that the well to do owners spent a lot of money to save it over the years before it died from the disease.
Wish I had a smart phone back then when I removed it as it would have made a great picture. It looked alot like the above photo of the codominant elm tree with the bolt brace and etched concrete to look like cinder block.
The owners hired a Portuguese stone mason who etched the concrete to look like the surrounding bark. Quite impressive.
I had to hire a loader operator to haul it away to the landfill.