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Tried leaving a maple tree with a hollow trunk standing instead of taking it down... now I'm wondering if I made the right call
So about 3 months ago I had this big old maple on a job site in Burlington. It had a hollow spot about 2 feet up from the ground, maybe a foot wide. Client wanted it gone for safety reasons. But I looked at it and the canopy was still healthy, good leaf coverage, no dieback. I convinced them to let it stand and just monitor it. Figured the tree had walled off the decay and was stable. Fast forward to last week we got a heavy wind storm and it dropped a big limb on their shed. No injuries thank god but now they're second guessing me and I'm second guessing myself. I know there's research about hollow trees being structurally sound if the wall thickness is right but how do you really judge that in the field? Has anyone else gambled on a hollow tree and had it work out or end badly?
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oscarmurray22d ago
Ive had good luck with a hollow silver maple near Cambridge that stood for years after a similar scare. The trick is checking the sound wood thickness with a rubber mallet or a drill bit, if the walls are less than 2 inches thick on a big tree I'd take it down. Sounds like yours had enough wall but that limb was probably weak from something else.
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