Changed my mind about tree cabling systems after a rough storm season

For years I thought cabling and bracing was just a bandaid fix and not real tree care. I was pretty vocal about it too at the local ISA chapter meetings here in Portland. Then last March we got hit with that crazy windstorm that took down half the neighborhood. I went to check on a client's big old maple I had been maintaining for 3 years, and a branch I had refused to cable split right down the middle. It crushed their fence and barely missed their bedroom window. After that I spent a weekend with an older arborist from Seattle who walked me through proper installation on a couple test trees. Now I use the Dynamic Tree Systems method with proper hardware and it's made a real difference on these mature trees. Has anyone else had a strong opinion change about a specific technique after seeing it fail or work firsthand?

2 comments

2 Comments

king.dakota17d ago

Honestly I was in the same boat as you. Used to think cabling was just a way to squeeze more money out of homeowners. Then a client's oak lost a big limb during a storm and I felt terrible about it. Seeing it fail firsthand changed my mind real quick.

leebrown17d ago

My buddy's maple split right down the middle last spring (he'd skipped cabling, figured it was fine), and yeah, that was a rough lesson.