On a recent climb I noticed that a large limb coming out of the main trunk of the tree had significant bark inclusion at the joint. The evidence is bulging structure at the joint on each side and sap weeping from the joint.

The limb is 2-2.5 ft in diameter, is otherwise healthy and extends up at a 40 degree angle around 50+ ft. It's successfully bearing considerable weight but the inclusion makes me nervous.

Question is, would you climb on it?
-moss

Sorry I missed this posting Moss. I would change your climbing route. I would climb away from this branch entirely on wet or icy days. A tree can weigh more than a third more with rain water on the leaves and more than 10 tiems its weight with ice coatings. Wind loadings can torque branches off too.

If I was to climb on this branch, I would have a higher anchor point above this branch. I would use a dog legged carabiner on my lanyard so I could unclip quickly if I felt a vibration or heard a snapping sound. It is true, your mere weight should not send this branch crashing down. But these weakly attached branches do fall. Hurricanes can also hit heavily populated cities. The odds are low, but these events do happen.

Treeman is right! The Lake Horton Grove lost a major limb from MaryAlice due to ice. It wasn't a major storm but the shape of the limb and the build up of ice caused it to break.Thanks to Tengu who assisted in taking it out, we were back ready to go but minus two limbs.

Hi Trailwatcher,

How is the tree healing from the operation?

I am going to start a new topic on ice loading. Certain trees are more prone to failure and I want to hear from others on their observations on who and what is falling apart. Please go to the"General Discussion" Forum here for the thread.