White oak help

[Clint Eatswood]

May well need to go.

How long has it had that lean?

Since we bought the property in 2013. Can't guarantee it but the lean seems greater over the last few years. Forgive my ignorance, but is it possible the lean could increase and not bulge the roots on the opposite side of the lean?

 

[Del_]

Since we bought the property in 2013. Can't guarantee it but the lean seems greater over the last few years. Forgive my ignorance, but is it possible the lean could increase and not bulge the roots on the opposite side of the lean?

It may be slowly falling over. I've heard that a tree is like a lamp on a table and if the tree's center of gravity no longer falls over it's base that soil friction on the roots is what is mostly holding it up. Each time the soil is super saturated the tree moves some. Sometimes lots.

As far as a 'pillow' being formed on the upside of the tree root plate......there usually is. If there is no 'pillow' it may be that those roots have rotted and broken off. Judging from the crown growth that I can see, your white oak has not been leaning a terribly long time because new growth displays 'geotropism', meaning grows closer to straight. After at least the 11 years of that you have owned the tree it should be showing some signs of this and probably does.

As I'm ranting this morning I'll included this:

If you have an electronic carpenters level drill and screw two small screws into the tree trunk a few feet up with the upper one sticking out an inch or so and the the bottom one exactly below it so you get °90, vertical. Now you can go back and check if there is any change anytime you like. Hang a thin aluminum tag that you can emboss with a pen, screwdriver, etc. and you can keep a record right there on the tree.

Don't tell your friends or they will think you are nuts.

Or maybe they already do.

 

[dandan111]

How much they charge? I think that looks pretty easy to cut.
I’d take the big limb off first cut it up then decide. I’d say it needs
to come down.

 

[buzz sawyer]

I had big White Oak in the woods by my house. I thought it looked very healthy but one day it just fell over - root rot.

 

[Clint Eatswood]

How much they charge? I think that looks pretty easy to cut.
I’d take the big limb off first cut it up then decide. I’d say it needs
to come down.

$500 to climb and cut 6 troublesome limbs off, then drop the tree. Another $150 to come back and grind that stump and one other.

 

[dandan111]

I’d cut it myself then burn stump but I’d be messing with it for
weeks. I’m sure the crew will have it done fast. Price isn’t terrible.

 

[dandan111]

That mound of mulch around the tree might have caused the rot.

 

[Clint Eatswood]

That mound of mulch around the tree might have caused the rot.

When this area was excavated the region outside the rock girdle was cut down. It's why I built the rock girdle to begin with because final ground elevation made a weird transition to base of the tree. It's deceiving but mulch elevation is within 1-2" of original ground level. When mulch was applied I always dug the old away from the base of the tree to replace with new. I get what your saying but I was very careful to not allow mulch to build up the trunk knowing that would cause problems. Unless the presence of the mulch in itself caused a specific issue?

 

[Clint Eatswood]

I’d cut it myself then burn stump but I’d be messing with it for
weeks. I’m sure the crew will have it done fast. Price isn’t terrible.

I thought the price was reasonable.

 

[HumBurner]

I thought the price was reasonable.

That's very reasonable for a licensed/bonded business, and still a good price if they're operating under the radar.

 

[Clint Eatswood]

That's very reasonable for a licensed/bonded business, and still a good price if they're operating under the radar.

Licensed and bonded.

 

[Mad Professor]

I think I have myself convinced of that as well. The problem is I'm almost sure the tree is taller than the distance to my house. At least close enough that I'm not comfortable dropping it myself.

Anybody have a good way of estimating tree height?

It might only crush the porch. You might be able to get a climber and take the top and lower leaner limbs, the the rest could just be dropped.

Just had a tree service with eyes on. He agrees it needs to go. Dropping it tomorrow.

 

[Clint Eatswood]

It might only crush the porch. You might be able to get a climber and take the top and lower leaner limbs, the the rest could just be dropped.

He's going to climb it, take a half dozen limbs off then drop it aiming left of the porch

 

[Clint Eatswood]

He's going to climb it, take a half dozen limbs off then drop it aiming left of the porch

Tree is down. Determined what's causing the rot. Carpenter ants. I was splitting limbs 40 feet from the trunk and ants would scatter.

He's going to climb it, take a half dozen limbs off then drop it aiming left of the porch

 

[Clint Eatswood]

Tree is down. Determined what's causing the rot. Carpenter ants. I was splitting limbs 40 feet from the trunk and ants would scatter.

 

[Del_]

Tree is down. Determined what's causing the rot. Carpenter ants. I was splitting limbs 40 feet from the trunk and ants would scatter.

Carpenter ants don't cause rot.

The tunnel in wood already decayed by fungi.

Your tree guy should know that.

He's a removal specialist, evidently, and not the type to ask 'Does my tree need removed'.

Well it was a tree of reduced value anyway, so not much of a loss.

Any chance that your guy was an ISA Certified Arborist?

 

[PapaWhitebeard]

Regardless of the cause of the lean, if a tree like that was in danger of hitting my house I’d drop it like a hot rock.

Sounds like you paid a reasonable amount and like the other posters in this thread I agree it needed to come down.

So well done, fella!

And if those roots aren’t all rotted youre looking at underground root flare that for white oaks is ~4x the diameter of the base of the stump (enormous if the tree were to fall over and pull all that up) so… sounds like you got a good price for him to limb it fell it and grind that stump. And that it was the right call!

 

[Del_]

When this area was excavated the region outside the rock girdle was cut down. It's why I built the rock girdle to begin with because final ground elevation made a weird transition to base of the tree. It's deceiving but mulch elevation is within 1-2" of original ground level. When mulch was applied I always dug the old away from the base of the tree to replace with new. I get what your saying but I was very careful to not allow mulch to build up the trunk knowing that would cause problems. Unless the presence of the mulch in itself caused a specific issue?

Bulldozer blight.

The excavation damaged roots and years later the rot got all the way back to the trunk.

It's a ticking time bomb and happening to millions of trees in graded landscapes as we sit here conversing.