# Removing Burls



## TreeStyle (Jun 15, 2007)

Sometimes as part of my work i am required to carryout assesments and recommended actions which have been decided upon by my superiors or an independant consultant. 
Luckly i've been fore warned about this one, a large Euc. which i haven't seen yet is reported to have large burls growing all around it's trunk at 1-2m from the ground. the tree is on the foot path and the resident has complained that they can't see around it when exiting their property. An independant consultant has recommend that we remove some of burls to minimize the trunk diameter and maximize the residents visabillity. 

All i understand about burls is that are a freak node that the tree thinks is a branch, so they feed the node up thinking they are producing a branch? 

Do they have collars? i would assume not.......i really do need to inspect a big burl to get a better understanding. 

what do you all think bout this? i don't want to hack a burl off if the tree has no way to cover the wound. 

thanks


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## Wolfking42084 (Jun 15, 2007)

very interesting
I have cut a couple off the sides of oaks before but never a euc. i wouldn't think there would be that much difference though. how big is the burl vs. the tree diameter? i would say you are fine to do that as long as the burl is not a major part of the tree bark. do you have any pics? around here the wood workers pay big $$$ for the burls to make wood bowls out of.


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## treeseer (Jun 15, 2007)

TreeStyle said:


> An independant consultant has recommend that we remove some of burls to minimize the trunk diameter and maximize the residents visabillity. i don't want to hack a burl off if the tree has no way to cover the wound.


Bingo, trees take so long to form burls that they are unlikely to close those wounds. Who is the consultant, a transportation engineer?:censored: 

Wolf, if you are whacking burls off mature NC oaks so you can sell them, I'm wondering if you revisit the trees to see if they are closing those wounds at all. Hacking most burls imo is like killing an elephant to sell the tusks.  

If/when the tree fails where a burl was whacked, the whacker may be found liable for damages. Word to the wise, and the others.:jawdrop:


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## Dixie1 (Jun 15, 2007)

i honestly don't know the answer, that is why i am asking. don't burls add to the value of some wood or not? i think it is just a unique characteristic that oaks have. why would you want to remove them? they aren't hurting anything. totally agree treeser


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## ddhlakebound (Jun 15, 2007)

I know the locations of several fairly large burls, all on government land. They've been growing there for years and years, and thats where they'll stay, unless those trees die or fail in my lifetime. I don't talk about them, usually, and won't tell others where they're at, because someone would find out and go harvest them for $$$. 

I also agree they should be left in place unless the tree is being completely removed. Removing them would most likely kill the tree.


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## John Paul Sanborn (Jun 15, 2007)

Dixie1 said:


> i honestly don't know the answer, that is why i am asking. don't burls add to the value of some wood or not? i think it is just a unique characteristic that oaks have. why would you want to remove them? they aren't hurting anything. totally agree treeser



The burl is usually valuable as a seperate item, as WK states. They are cut off the slab, and sometimes if they are in the baord, they are sold seperately.

A merchantable burl will be so large that the tree witll not be able to close up the wound in any reasonable time. They are not a branch, but usually a pocket of meristem that grows differently thhen the parent wood. Cutting them, off a trunk will do the smame thing as a flush cut. Often you will not get the whole burl, there will be more figured wood "in the slab" so the reaction is not the same as normal wood.


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## Industry (Jun 15, 2007)

Excuse my ignorance on the subject, but are you guys talking about the growths that seem to be frequent on cherry trees? these seem to grow in a ring around the bark, so maybe it's different.


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## treeseer (Jun 15, 2007)

Industry said:


> Excuse my ignorance on the subject, but are you guys talking about the growths that seem to be frequent on cherry trees? these seem to grow in a ring around the bark, so maybe it's different.


I don't understand what you are describing--what kind of cherry, do you have apicture?--, but burls are very different. JPS is 100% RIGHT, you can only harvest a burl properly when the tree is being harvested.


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## Wolfking42084 (Jun 16, 2007)

treeseer i wasn't hinting cutting the burls for just the $$$, but rather if he had to take them off, not to just throw them away. i agree 100% that if the burl is too large, meaning removing a large portion of bark, then the tree most likely won't survive.


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## TreeStyle (Jun 16, 2007)

*Moral dilema*

Yeah i thought taking them off would be a no no. I cant imagine how the tree could heal such a wound. The problem i will be faced with when i recieve the job sheet to do this hack job, do i (a) cut the burls off and sell the timber. or (b) tell my superiors that it's nonense and i'm not gonna cut them off. 

Alternative solutions might be to mount a mirror on a pole so old mate reso can see when leaving his driveway.

yeah i don't know what to do with this one yet, really have to see the tree before i can make a call.

other bogus jobs i have are to take an axe out of the truck to do "Root pruning". what does a tree need roots for anyway?

oh well it's all learning,


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## treeseer (Jun 16, 2007)

TreeStyle said:


> Yeah i thought taking them off would be a no no. I cant imagine how the tree could heal such a wound. The problem i will be faced with when i recieve the job sheet to do this hack job, do i (a) cut the burls off and sell the timber. or (b) tell my superiors that it's nonense and i'm not gonna cut them off.


why not head off this decision by showing the consultant what will happen to the tree if the burls are hacked, and the liability you both would be exposed to?


> Alternative solutions might be to mount a mirror on a pole so old mate reso can see when leaving his driveway.


Bingo, there are always alternatives.


> yeah i don't know what to do with this one yet, really have to see the tree before i can make a call. ,


No you don't. Removing burls reduces stem strength and leads to stem decay, every time. You know that without seeing the tree.


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## Ekka (Jun 17, 2007)

Sounds like another mob of typical Brisbane hacks to me.... consultants, arborists, bosses and all.


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## TreeStyle (Jun 17, 2007)

i think the new school of arb in Bris is about doing it right. unfortunatly us younger guys have to get through the heads of alot of the older hacks out there that what they have been doing is wrong. 

the problem i am faced with is finding the alternative solution so i don't have to do the hack job that they're all wanting me to do. we need to be VERY diplomatic when talking to the old school at times. 

You are right Ekka and i was shocked when i heard the recommendation. But i'm here finding out the truth and getting the knowledge to provide the appropriate care.

Your support is appreciated!


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## Ekka (Jun 17, 2007)

Tell me where the tree is and I'll do all the dirty work, I dont give two craps whose toes I step on, this town is full of idiot tree workers.

I hope it aint the big burls on trees near the reservoir down Capalaba way, either way, tell me where and it's a done deal.

Sure as eggs if I see it done some-ones getting screwed for it.

AS4373 states collars and no flush cutting, you'll only flush cut a burl. 

Time for the old school to piss off, and I'm 45 and learning.


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## treeseer (Jun 17, 2007)

TreeStyle, you'd do well to take Ekka up on his offer. If an arb consultant is recommending that burls be flushed, something needs to change because that is like a doctor telling a nurse to remove a mole with a chainsaw.

They may hope to evade liability if someone else does the deed, but liability spreads like fire, even to those who have the ability to lie:hmm3grin2orange: .


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## turnkey4099 (Jun 17, 2007)

treeseer said:


> TreeStyle, you'd do well to take Ekka up on his offer. If an arb consultant is recommending that burls be flushed, something needs to change because that is like a doctor telling a nurse to remove a mole with a chainsaw.
> 
> They may hope to evade liability if someone else does the deed, but liability spreads like fire, even to those who have the ability to lie:hmm3grin2orange: .



I keep trying to picture burls large enough that removing them would _significanlty_ improve the sight line. Total failure doing it.

Harry K


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## SilentElk (Jun 17, 2007)

that burl wood is very value but it needs to be cared for asap or it will crack out. Aside from that point, as said, any burl big enough to need to be cut would likely be too big to just cut off. Taking ekka up on the offer is your easiest and best solution I bet.


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## John Paul Sanborn (Jun 17, 2007)

turnkey4099 said:


> I keep trying to picture burls large enough that removing them would _significanlty_ improve the sight line. Total failure doing it.
> 
> Harry K



I did once, but I recomended that they move the table they were sitting at over a few feet to change the line of sight.


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## Ekka (Jun 17, 2007)

Be good to get some pictures of this. 

Guys, there's some pretty unusual specs coming out of council at times, and even more unusual interpretations of the specs from the crews doing the jobs. 

I live here and see it ALL THE TIME!

If you ring and question you even get them telling you to mind your own fuggen business and threaten sueing you if you mention their names on the forum. But there's ways around that.


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## rreidnauer (Jun 17, 2007)

Drop the tree, sell the whole burl, replant with something nice.

Problem solved. Everyone's happy. Have a beer.


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## Tree Machine (Jun 18, 2007)

Buy those popular eyes / nose / mouth that look like they're made of bark. People paste them onto trees to give the tree a 'face'. You find them at nursery and garden centers.

Place the eyes above the burl, let the burl act as the nose, the mouth goes beneath.

I think you will 'add value' by creating an interesting and unique converstion piece.

Embrace the burl and leave it where it is. There are millions of fungal spores floating around just waiting for the opportunity to germinate on some freshly cut wood. That is nature's promise.


ps I have an image of me sitting atop a rather large burl. I'm on vacation and don't have the image library with me, but I'll post it later on.


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## NWTREECLIMBER (Sep 17, 2019)

What do you guys know about tooth burls or pine nuts or detachable burls they are often smaller and if you wiggle them a little pop right off I have tried to find any information about them with no luck it’s weird we have them all over around here and I have started doing some research because no one knows what I am talking about any help guys o and removal of these doses no significant damage to the trees as they are only held on by small fibers such as a tooth


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## jzack605 (Sep 17, 2019)

NWTREECLIMBER said:


> What do you guys know about tooth burls or pine nuts or detachable burls they are often smaller and if you wiggle them a little pop right off I have tried to find any information about them with no luck it’s weird we have them all over around here and I have started doing some research because no one knows what I am talking about any help guys o and removal of these doses no significant damage to the trees as they are only held on by small fibers such as a tooth


Could be "popcorning" from bark beetles.


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## ATH (Sep 17, 2019)

I don't think @jzack605 's tree is going to be hurt be removing a burl from it.

Kinda like harvesting organs at the morgue at that point.


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## jzack605 (Sep 17, 2019)

ATH said:


> I don't think @jzack605 's tree is going to be hurt be removing a burl from it.
> 
> Kinda like harvesting organs at the morgue at that point.


Sorry should have been more clear. Those are images I found to try and match what nwtreeclimber was describing.


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## ChoppyChoppy (Sep 18, 2019)

Can hardly give burls away here. I've got a pile of them that's sat there going on 2 years. Anymore they just go in the stove.


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## ATH (Sep 18, 2019)

jzack605 said:


> Sorry should have been more clear. Those are images I found to try and match what nwtreeclimber was describing.


I know...I was just trying to make a joke. Once the tree is that bad with SPB, it is toast anyhow. Therefore, if there were a burl on such a tree, it wouldn't matter if you cut it off or not because the tree is already on its way to dead.


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## jzack605 (Sep 18, 2019)

Got ya. My bad, I’m a little dense.


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