Gotta Pull it Together

In THIS POST we talked about a big old live oak tree that had split in half during a storm several years ago.  We didn't want to lose the tree, but we also didn't want to spend a bunch of money on getting an arborist to come work on the tree.  A neighbor and I climbed high into the tree with a powerful drill, a very long drill bit, a threaded rod with an eye bolt on one side and a washer and nut on the other.

After drilling holes in four large branches high up in the tree, we inserted the rods into each of the four holes and tightened the nuts on the backside of the limbs with the eye bolts facing inside.  We then looped a 5/8 inch cable through each of the eye bolts and fastened the cable back down with two cable clamps.  Using a turnbuckle we tightened the cable until it pulled the split tree back together.  It was frightening work, way up high in the treetops, but it did the trick.  Over several years, the tree, where it was split, grew back together, healing itself with lots of new growth over the crack. Amazingly, we were able to save the tree!

About a year or so ago, we had a thunderstorm that came through, bringing with it straight line winds of 60 mph or so.  The force of the wind was so strong, one of the cables broke.  I've had it on my to do list to fix it and this weekend I got it done. Climbing up on the eastern limb, I ran a new cable through the eye bolt and looped it back down on itself and using a socket wrench, tightened it down with two cable clamps.

One side done

I tied a rope onto the other end of the cable and threw it to the ladder that I had propped up against the limb containing the eye bolt that we were going to pull against.  Then I climbed way up to the top with the boys holding the bottom steady.

The other side

I made a loop through one end of the turnbuckle and tightened down with two cable clamps.  The other end of the turnbuckle has a hook and that was hooked into the eye bolt on the tree.  At this point the work was pretty much done and all that remained was was to tighten down the turnbuckle.  By holding the end on the left while turning the middle piece, the cable got tighter and tighter and pretty soon the cable was taut.

Turnbuckle is ready to tighten

It is hard to see in the photo below, but the work is done.  Two cables fastened to four limbs provide stability for when the high winds blow.  The tree has already healed, so the cables just support the limbs, preventing them from opening up the portion that was split.

Criss-crossed cables

Hopefully we won't have any hurricanes this year or strong winds, but if the high winds blow, we've done all we can to protect the big old oak that provides lots of shade for us - a valuable commodity during south Louisiana summers.

We'll keep our eye on the tree, ensuring the cables stay in place and hold things together.  If something goes awry, it will be time for the amateur arborists to spring back into action!