Saved a Tree, and it killed or damaged?

Arborist Forum

Help Support Arborist Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

M.D. Vaden

vadenphotography.com
Joined
Oct 31, 2002
Messages
2,329
Reaction score
640
Location
Beaverton, Oregon
Just wondering about something tonight. Since I'm looking at a big tree in Jacksonville, Oregon, which may considered for saving or removing.

Has anybody recommended saving a tree before, but afterwards it fell and crushed something, or caused injury?

I've done tree consulting and work for years, but this was the first week the thought came to mind about what it would be like to deal with a backfire.

It must be a real and present issue for the medical profession, but with people. Like treating patients but loosing them, whether or not the treatment was the right one.
 
If you as a professional recommend that the owner keeps the tree because you condone is "safe" and it fails within a reasonably short period of time I am sure that you would be liable in a court of law. I mean obv. there are exceptions like storms and such. I have a place in my contracts that states when I visit a property it is not an evaluation of hazards unless otherwise stated. And when people asked me "how long will this tree live? or will it fall?" my response is "It could fail tomorrow or live for another 10 years" I mean you have to tell them not to worry but I never gave a concrete answer unless they paid me to evaluate their tree.
 
Also, the thread is not tied to the tree in Jacksonville. It mainly that my thoughts were in tree hazard mode and the concept came to mind.
 
This tree was coming out anyway but I thought it was relevant.

Monday night one of my guys stopped and looked at a tree. It was just about dusk. Tim looked at the tree and told the homeowner that the tree is very unstable (heavy at the base). Tim told them to move there car and we would be there in the morning to cut the tree. About 2 hours later the tree fell. No wind nothing...just fell over. No damage other than some broken limbs in a Dogwood tree.

I don't feel to bad about it. The tree was dead 18 months ago when we were onsite doing some other removals. They were not concerned then so why should there failure to plan become an emergency situation for us. In hindsight, from the looks of the roots, it was a good thing it fell other wise we could have had some problems piecing it down and got someone hurt.
 
Has anybody recommended saving a tree before, but afterwards it fell and crushed something, or caused injury?

The consultant should not try to influence the client either way, unless there us a very high risk of failure.

The report should state that the client is the ultimate decision maker, and the consultant is providing a professional opinion.

If you use your report to convince the client to save a tree they otherwise would not, you invite added liability.

I've gauged the client's risk tolerance and put that in my reports. Often times I will outright ask where they feel it is, how important is it to them to keep a tree.

When they do not want to have a complete, invasive exam, I will state that it was just visible with no excavation or boring of wood. I may say that the trunk was sounded with a mallet. The the visible defects are listed and stated that these increase the risk of failure for a perfect tree, but that it should not fail in the near future under normal conditions.
 
Has anybody recommended saving a tree before, but afterwards it fell and crushed something, or caused injury?

QUOTE]

Yes, more than once, no injury to people though.

My case may be a bit different since I make dozens of stay/go decisions daily.

I've also recommended the removal of a tree, and was over ruled by the public/higher ups, only to have the tree fail causing damage to property.
 
I hear that OTG.

The experience of making calls like that every day and having people trying to "get you" all the time is part of what my job entails. Just part of working for a town. Working for a town all this is amplified by a magnitude of 100. It does teach you to develop a strategic plan and paper trail.

Just learn to cover ALL the bases and document everything, and photos. I would have been hung many times if I did not have proof of management of the tree. I have had a couple later fail.... One is a 50mph winds, one after construction was done right beside it. However because I documented the whole process (3 years plus) I was covered.

The other big thing is credential's. As much work as it might be, or the expense, if you achieve the highest degree of credentials then you really cover your A__.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top