c/arborists

Old timer told me to stop pruning oaks in summer. I didn't listen.

A guy with 40 years in the biz told me at a job in Nashville last July to never cut oaks when it's hot. I figured he was just being old school and kept trimming a big red oak during a heat wave. Within 2 weeks, oak wilt showed up and I had to remove the whole tree. Lost a $1,200 client because of it. Anyone else learn this lesson the hard way?

2 comments

johnson.jason•1d ago

Husqvarna vs Stihl on a big oak removal, clear winner for me

Last week I had to take down a 60 foot red oak that was leaning bad over a garage. I brought both my Husqvarna 572XP and my buddy's Stihl MS 461 to compare on the same cuts. The Husky just felt way more responsive in the cut and vibrated less after 20 minutes of nonstop work. I timed my big back cut and the Husky was about 3 seconds faster through 30 inches of wood. Anyone else notice a big difference between these two on heavy hardwood removals?

2 comments

wright.lisa•2d ago

The difference 3 years of neglect makes on a maple

I drove past this big sugar maple on Elm Street in Denver every day for like 3 years and never really noticed it. Last week the city finally trimmed it and took out all the deadwood and crossing branches. Now you can actually see the structure underneath and it looks twice as healthy. Has anyone else had a client who just let a tree go for years and then finally paid for a proper pruning?

c/arborists

Old timer told me to stop pruning oaks in summer. I didn't listen.

Husqvarna vs Stihl on a big oak removal, clear winner for me

The difference 3 years of neglect makes on a maple

Saw a guy trimming a massive oak with a dull handsaw yesterday in Austin

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Spent $400 on a fancy pruning sealer last spring

Cable guy changed my mind about topping trees

Nearly lost a 40 year old oak by trusting a cheap soil injector

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Pro tip: don't drop 120 dollars on a fancy telescoping pole saw without checking the weight first

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That elm I cabled last spring just let go in the wind and took out a fence

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Tried a bypass lopper on an old live oak branch, split clean in one cut

The day my climbing line got pinched in a fork

Hit 500 mature tree removals this week... that's a lot of sawdust

I finally switched from a rope saddle to a padded one this year

That old arborist in Tallahassee told me to cut my pruning paints with water and I thought he was crazy

Spent 4 hours climbing a 100-foot oak only to realize my rope was twisted the whole time

Customer told me I was "chipping too close to the trunk" on a maple job. Changed everything I do now.

Hit 2,000 trees pruned this week and the last one nearly took me out

I finally checked the soil compaction around a 20-year-old oak we lost last month and the numbers were scary

Just ran the numbers on oak wilt spread in our county

Old timer told me to stop pruning oaks in summer and I didn't listen