Jim Timber
1/4 bubble off
This tree is in my back yard and has always troubled me since building my shop in it's projected line of fire should it decide it doesn't want to stay standing. We have 3 other large green ashes, so removal wouldn't make an impact in a negative way. The problem with removal is there's no way to get any machinery back there, so I'd be chunking it out in tiny pieces. "When in doubt, there is no doubt" comes to mind and my gut says get cutting. My real question is whether or not I'm off base with my assessment of this power-line mutilated beast.
The root ball has remained stable for the past 10 years or so, but I don't remember it being as pronounced early on. Our "lovely" old couple across the fence is fond of tilling their whole back yard for an annual garden, so I do question the integrity of the roots. I haven't measured DBH, but I think it's around 30". None of the other trees have a bulge at their base, this one is on the downhill side and roughly 8" from grade to the flare.
Sunday we had storms and had a piece about the same size as this come down. I think the middle-top of the tree broke off and what remains is half. I need to get this down before it lands on my wife or kid while they're mowing. The other central branches were already dead anyway.
The left leaning large limb is actively growing. It was cut back by the power crew a couple years ago, and sent up at least a dozen new branch sprouts. I have no doubt the tree is relatively healthy given the abuse it's endured. There's no evidence of rot at the crotch on that large branch either.
Here you can see there's more dead branches up in the canopy since this tree is competing with the other 3 for the same space.
Lastly, this is a perspective shot on the angle of lean. The "bat" (really a squirrel) house is very close to vertical. The power pole view is a little misleading in this shot.
So, what would an arborist do if it was theirs? Would you remove it given the potential damage to the shop outweighs the benefits of leaving it?
I know I need to clean up the break so it can heal if it's going to, and I should really clean out the dead stuff before it falls. I'm just torn on whether or not to gaff up it with a flip line and get chopping vs trying to set a rope and climb high enough to work it.
The root ball has remained stable for the past 10 years or so, but I don't remember it being as pronounced early on. Our "lovely" old couple across the fence is fond of tilling their whole back yard for an annual garden, so I do question the integrity of the roots. I haven't measured DBH, but I think it's around 30". None of the other trees have a bulge at their base, this one is on the downhill side and roughly 8" from grade to the flare.

Sunday we had storms and had a piece about the same size as this come down. I think the middle-top of the tree broke off and what remains is half. I need to get this down before it lands on my wife or kid while they're mowing. The other central branches were already dead anyway.

The left leaning large limb is actively growing. It was cut back by the power crew a couple years ago, and sent up at least a dozen new branch sprouts. I have no doubt the tree is relatively healthy given the abuse it's endured. There's no evidence of rot at the crotch on that large branch either.
Here you can see there's more dead branches up in the canopy since this tree is competing with the other 3 for the same space.

Lastly, this is a perspective shot on the angle of lean. The "bat" (really a squirrel) house is very close to vertical. The power pole view is a little misleading in this shot.

So, what would an arborist do if it was theirs? Would you remove it given the potential damage to the shop outweighs the benefits of leaving it?
I know I need to clean up the break so it can heal if it's going to, and I should really clean out the dead stuff before it falls. I'm just torn on whether or not to gaff up it with a flip line and get chopping vs trying to set a rope and climb high enough to work it.