Old timer showed me how to read a tree's lean in 30 seconds flat back in 2018

I was helping a guy in Tulsa take down a big silver maple and he just pointed at the trunk and said 'see that bend, that's where the wind been pushing on it for 40 years' and after that I never looked at a lean the same way, anyone else have a mentor drop a piece of wisdom that just stuck?

3 comments

3 Comments

fiona_hunt7115d ago

Tapped a black walnut once with a old logger from Missouri and he just kicked the base and said "listen to where the roots are tight, that's the side that'll snap first." Changed how I check every tree before I even pick up a saw. Always look for that soil crack or raised root now before I make my notch. Simple trick but it's saved me more than once on a tricky leaner.

morganmartinez15d ago

Had a buddy who used to fell pines in Oregon and his mentor just slapped a trunk and said "this tree's been screaming the same direction for 80 years, listen to it." Stuck with him ever since.

young.ryan15d ago

Man that’s such a cool way to look at it lol. Had a logger tell me something similar once too.