Hazards in the red oak family: down south we have a number of oaks in the red oak family. They include southern red oaks, water oaks, willow oaks, black oaks, scarlet oaks and more. One of the features of red oaks is a lower life expectancy, faster growth, and more decay. Decay can take form here in either heart rot or root rot. As an arborist, I worry more about root rot because of uprooted trees. I occasionally see limb failure and once in a while stem (trunk) failure, but usually it's the roots that give way and the whole tree comes crashing down. I will tap (sound) a trunk near the ground with a mallet and also sound the root flares. I listen to the tonal qualities of the tapping and pay attention when the tone drops or goes flat. It's easy to detect if you have any sense of music.

Open cavities are often seen more in red oaks more so than the white oak family. A larger cavity opening increases risk. Multiple cavities in the same area is a worse sign.

I avoid rope settings far out on a red oak branches. It's the leverage factor I worry about if the branch has heart rot. Leaning leaders are second choices for the red oak family and vertical leaders favored because trees hold up much better to compression forces than shear forces found on far reaching branches.

Things I like: Wide open crotches. I don't see too many tight V formations which means the throw bag whizzes down and pulling up the climbing rope is much easier.

Northern red oak is much favored by wood workers than the southern red oak. It doesn't split and check while seasoning. But all the red oaks seem to have a strong odor when cut. Most folks describe it as dog poop smell. Not the kind of wood you want to stack in your _base_ment.