That time a rotten limb gave way before I even touched it

I was up in a big silver maple in a backyard in Tacoma, just getting set to take down a dead limb over the garage. Had my rope set, my cut planned, everything looked good. I was about six feet out on the limb, maybe a 10-inch diameter piece, when it just... went. No saw, no weight shift, just a loud crack and it dropped. I was tied in above it, so I was fine, but it smashed right through the corner of the garage roof. The whole inside was hollow and soft, covered by what looked like solid bark. It taught me to always, always give a dead limb a solid poke with the pole saw tip before I commit any weight to it, no matter how it looks. That was a $2,000 roof patch for the client. Anyone else have a tree just fall apart on them before the first cut?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_fiona4d ago

Ten inches of solid looking limb just dropping on its own is wild. The idea that it was completely hollow inside gives me chills. You can't trust bark at all, it's just a shell waiting to collapse. That's the kind of thing that makes you double-check every single piece of wood you put a hand on. A two thousand dollar lesson is a tough one to learn for sure.

clairepark4d ago

Actually Fiona, that bark is doing its job pretty well if it held up a hollow limb until the right moment. Nature's way of warning you is often just a thin shell, so learning to spot the difference is part of working outside. Calling it untrustworthy misses the point that it's always giving signs.