A storm in Mobile last fall made me rethink my whole approach to hazard trees

I saw a huge pine that looked fine from the ground snap clean at a hidden cavity 20 feet up, and now I'm way more aggressive with my bore tests. Anyone else change their inspection routine after a close call?

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3 Comments

kelly.daniel5mo ago

Was it actually a clean snap if there was a hidden cavity? Sounds like that weak spot is what caused it. I'd call that a failure at a defect, not a random break.

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benreed5mo ago

But doesn't every break start at a weak spot? The cavity was the defect, but the snap itself was still clean across the grain.

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skyler_adams5mo ago

Wait, but isn't the weak spot the whole point? If the break follows the grain because of a hidden flaw, it's not a clean snap in the true sense. The defect guided the break. So it's not a normal break, it's a failure caused by a problem already there. That changes how you look at it.

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