to remove now or prune and remove later?

[roachy]

Daniel, I can relate to this situation .As you know John does most of the removals now and I am in this situation all the time.Your tree does not seem that bad at all and would say not to remove it.It looks like a Black oak from the pic and they often have decay spots .I have pruned trees like this over and over and most(95%)are still with us.Easy on the reduction and use a few good wieght cuts on any over weighted limbs ,remove the dead wood and get paid.
As long as you establish on paper to the client of the trees condition .

 

[Guy Meilleur]

2/3 hollow means 1/3 srength loss is the traditional formula. So much variation in species, location, vigor, other defects, exposure, etc. etc.

A more recent variable entered in July 03. Journal of Arboriculture article on toughness of woundwood found that in red maple it is up to 40% tougher than regular wood. So the formula needs major adjustment on a tree like in murph's picture, with so many years of woundwood growth.

Err on the side of safety, yes, but remember the tree you see has been standing a long time before assessment. And is it really 100' tall?

 

[a_lopa]

nice work grigory,thats a fair sized oak!as to this thread id inform the customer and let them make the call on removal/crown reduction