Its all about the Beech!

We were invited view a local Scout Camp, with the view of tendering for the annual grounds maintenance contract.

Whilst on site, we noticed a very large, mature Copper Beech tree that was not in leaf as expected for the time of year, and was showing other symptoms of a root rotting fungus. It prevailed that the tree had been dead for a number of years and was at risk of dropping large limbs. As the tree was situated in a public space it was important that immediate action was taken in order to avoid risk to life or damage to property. In the time between noticing the hazardous tree and starting work, we cordoned off a large safety zone, to minimise the risk to the public.

The tree was in a very unstable, fragile state, and would have been unsafe to climb. This made the job of felling the tree safely tricky, so the decision was made to use a mobile elevated work platform (MEWP) for our arborist to work from. We began by reducing weight from the back of the crown of the tree, and reducing some of the limbs from either side of the crown. Reducing the weight of the crown also helped to balance the tree and aid the felling process. Whilst working from the MEWP we attached a rope to the main trunk of the tree, with the view of attaching it to a winch when it came to felling the tree.

On our second day on site we started off by cutting into the front of the main trunk, to create a directional felling notch. We then proceeded to fell the tree.

Once felled, the tree was processed, with the timber stacked on site for the clients use. The main trunk was taken off site to the saw mills, where it will be processed and given a new lease of life.