Just had a 50 foot oak split apart on me yesterday

I was working a removal job in Marietta, Georgia on a big red oak in someone's backyard. Everything looked fine from the ground, no rot or cracks I could see. Got about halfway through my back cut when the tree twisted hard and split right up the middle. The bar got pinched so bad I had to leave the saw in there and winch the piece off. Took me an extra 3 hours to clean up the mess and finish the job. Has anyone else dealt with a tree splitting unexpectedly like that and have a better way to spot it ahead of time?

3 comments

3 Comments

karenb9711d ago

Just had a 50 foot oak split apart" and here I thought my Monday was bad.

max22311d ago

Oh man that's rough. Same thing happened to me last spring with a big maple in my backyard. What worked was getting a certified arborist out quick before it fell more and took out my fence. They had a crane and cut it down in sections, took maybe 4 hours total but saved my other trees from getting damaged. Also called my homeowners insurance just to be safe, they covered part of the cleanup since it was a storm tree. Hope yours didn't hit anything important.

michael_green4410d agoMost Upvoted

Appreciate you sharing but I gotta disagree with the arborist and insurance advice here. The guy's asking about spotting a split mid-cut, not bailing on the job and calling for help.