I was told the best way to mend this tree was to bend some sheet metal around the split trunk to make a collar the fill the crack up with cement. Then remove the collar after the cement dries.

Sound right?

Here's a pic...


[This message has been edited by PooDoo (edited 10/16/2013 1:26p).]

I had one do that from Hurricane Ike. It's a red maple about 24" in diameter. After extensive research and consulting with an arborist here in Houston, I put two 3/4" threaded rods 90 degrees to each other thru the trunk and used 1/4" galvanized cable stretched between the major limbs, mounted with eye lag bolts and turnbuckles. The rods prevent further splitting, and the cables keep the tree from stretching apart in wind. After 5 years, my tree has almost absorbed the rods and the cables are still there doing their job. If you want to chat about it, my email is in my profile.

Yeah, bolt through. How is concrete supposed to help, the tree will simply pull away from the concrete? There's nothing to stick the concrete to the tree.

That's what I thought but the guy that told me about the concrete said his dad has a tree that thrived for 15+ years after the procedure.

I have seen the concrete done before, but it seems like that would be more useful to fill a crack but not to help keep a tree from splitting in two.

what tx4guns said

what tx4guns said x2. My parents had that done to a very large, old live 4 years ago and saved it from splitting.

The concrete is a much older method, i would recommend going with Tx4guns method.

My folks had a big live oak that had a major limb break off in a storm about 12 years ago. He winched it back up into place and bolted it back onto the tree.

The tree thrived and absorbed the bolts until Ike came through town and just sawed the tree off.

Here's a good document discussing:

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=4&ved=0CFkQFjAD&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.agriculture.purdue.edu%2Ffnr%2Furbanforestry%2Fpdf%2F06CablingBracing.pdf&ei=KvNeUuavCoTC2QWzt4C4Bg&usg=AFQjCNGamR0HNlpg19ehxlSy1lJfMav_MA&bvm=bv.54176721,d.b2I&cad=rja

quote:

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The concrete is a much older method, i would recommend going with Tx4guns method.

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Makes sense... The guy that told me about it was an old fart.

Thanks for the info fellas!

I'm an arborist in Houston. Feel free to call me. 713-202-2437

From Howard Garrett. Just sharing what he said.

http://www.dirtdoctor.com/organic/garden/dallasnews/id/25/

quote:

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Q. We have a cedar elm (18” trunk that divides into two trunks about 6’ up. ) It’s about 25 feet tall. It is split all the way through, so you can’t see light through it. What would happen if I drilled a hole all the way through the trunk, put a large bolt through to draw up the split and bolt the trunk back together? Is there something to encourage the split to glue itself back? I would hate to lose this tree. – P.B., Pecan Plantation, TX

A. Sorry, but I can’t recommend bolting a damaged tree back together. Even if the split does appear to heal over, the damaged tissue will also exist inside the tree. Tree tissue doesn’t heal as animal tissue does. The result is a very dangerous situation. A hard gust of wind could break the tree apart and hurt something or somebody in the future -- and destroy the tree. I would either remove the smallest, weakest side and let the remaining half try to rebound or remove the tree completely and plant a new one.

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Sorry to disagree, but Mr. Garrett is wrong on split Y trunks. The bolts are your ONLY option to prevent further splitting and keeping the tree alive. I'll try to post some before and after pics of my tree when I get time.

I know you are trying to save the entire tree, and the bolts method sounds good to me.

If it was me, I would remove the 1/2 of the tree that is nearest the house, all the way down to the bottom of the split. If you have never seen that done, you should hire a pro who will use a winch attached to a permanent limb. Then winch down the removed limbs in manageable pieces.

And, I would call that Houston arborist.^^^^^

had the exact same thing happen to an 10 yr old live oak. Winched back together with ratchet straps and inserted 3 big lag bolts. 5 years later and cant even tell it occurred. My neighbor across the street followed the same process a few years ago and his tree is doing great as well.

We had a very tall elm split at the y probably 15 years ago and had an arborist out that bolted it. It has since grown around it and even after some extremely high winds and bad weather it shows no signs of weakness. So yeah, I'll disagree with the above also.