# Remove barbed wire from Oak trees?



## Raz900 (Mar 30, 2010)

Hi all, 
Hopefully someone can give some advice on removing barbed wire from trees. I have 2 decent sized oak trees that have 2-4 strands of barbed wire grown into them about 2'-4' off the ground. I'd assume it's been in there at least 20 yrs as there's at least 4"-5" of growth around the wire. The trees are about 20"-25" at the base and 50'-60' tall. I think they're both red oaks. One might be a pin oak. 

Should I try to remove the wire or just cut it off and hope for the best? I'm in the process of cutting up an old white oak that fell farther down the property that was 40" at the base and had wire grown into it too. The base of the trunk up about 6' high was hollow. So I'm concerned these 2 reds may be dying inside. When I bought the property in 2004 I removed bundles and bundles of grape vines from these 2 reds and they've come back amazingly well, 1 a little better than the other. The pile of vines I burnt was over 30' long, 10' high and 20' wide. Couldn't believe how bare the trees looked once all the vines were gone. 

Anyway, advice appreciated. I bought a spur climbing kit and couple lengths of rope to finish the vine removal this year. If there's any tricks to getting the wire out, would like to do it all this spring. There's are the 2 best oaks I have on my 6 acres and want to do everything I can to save them.
Tks,
Steve


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## KRP (Mar 30, 2010)

Since the wire has been in there for 20 or so years and the tree has grown around it, I would just cut it close and leave it inside. If in the future you want to remove the trees and mill them, just nail a tree tag at the spot to indicate inside metal.


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## treeman73 (Mar 30, 2010)

> Anyway, advice appreciated. I bought a spur climbing kit and couple lengths of rope to finish the vine removal this year.



:jawdrop: Are you trying to save these trees or not? Spiking up these trees to remove the remaining vines will cause more damage as the holes you put in tree are an open door for insects and infection. It is a no-no to spike trees that you are not removing (unless in _special_ and _rare_ circumstances such as trees near power lines or other pruning where spurs may be necessary due to safety)

Once the vines are cut at ground level they will dry out and eventually fall from the tree in 2-3 years. It's best to just leave the dead vines hanging in the tree and let nature do its thing. 

"This is Radio Nowhere- is there anybody alive out there?"


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## tree md (Mar 30, 2010)

OK, didn't want to have to break this out since I just used it yesterday. Hate to be redundant but I think it's fitting for this thread: 







Oh yeah, cut the barbwire off and leave it in the tree. Just be sure to tell anyone who might have to remove it in the future that it is in there.


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## Rftreeman (Mar 30, 2010)

just cut the wire close to the tree and leave it, as for the vines, if you have cut the main feeder vine the rest will dye and fall out or can be pulled down pretty easy....


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## Raz900 (Mar 30, 2010)

Thanks for the replies. I'll snip the wire off and hope for the best.

I bought the spurs for other use on the property, the vines and the one oak that's not doing as well. There's 2 totally dead branches, 1 about 6" dia the other about 8"-10" dia, that happen to hang directly over my house. There's no way I can shimmy 30' up to the first solid branch and rope climbing it would be a bit iffy where the tree is, it's shape, getting to a good branch etc etc. Maybe if I threw a line from standing on the house (hadn't thought of that before)....... 

The vines are cut, have been for almost 5 years and still haven't come down. There's at least 20 still hanging from it. Some of these were 5+" dia vines and held my F150 when trying to pull them outta the ground.. in 4wd... downhill on a 40* angle.... and snatching at 20mph. The tree that's doing better shed it's vines after about 3 years. I need to get those 2 dead branches down somehow and getting into the tree that high doesn't leave many choices. If I spike it, and it dies, so be it. If one of those branches come down and crushes the roof....  I also have another huge Tulip (over 5' dia) that is half dead in the back of the property. The spikes will definitely come in handy on that one as I can't cut it all at once without something falling on me. 

My land was logged about 25 years ago and alot of the trees are beat up at the base and need to come down. My real plan for the spurs is taking out some of the more damaged trees . If I can get them down in pieces (with the skid loader or truck nudging the branches in the right direction, I have winches mounted on both) I can spare crushing the few nice cherry, maple and oaks I have from dropping the tulips on them. Most of what's grown up is the tulip weed trees as they didn't log them. And no.... I won't try pulling the branches down with the truck while I'm up in the tree to slingshot into oblivion. :greenchainsaw:

Thanks again!
Steve


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## Wishie22 (Apr 4, 2010)

What do you plan on doing with the tulip? 25 years since last cut, someone may be interested in cutting your land. Inquire with a forest manager, see what is recommended.

I use it for firewood usually mixing it in, burns hot great for fall and spring stove drafting. Seasons fast but will rot fast as well if not used with in a season or two (depends on how it is stored). 

Not a goldmine for type of wood but has its uses. Used as a cheap wood for trim work, soft and easy to work with. One person I know used some when they extend off of a barn storing machinery from the weather. They had boards rough milled out of some large tulips we were contracted to remove from a couple of locations.

Mills usually don't like any sign of metal in the wood, milling equipment is too costly to risk damage. Besides not may people will want a nice piece of finished wood, with black/purple running through some of the grain. Signs of metal run quite a ways from where the metal object actually is.


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