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A big oak in Tampa taught me to always check for hollow spots twice | Arborists - Opinions Matter

A big oak in Tampa taught me to always check for hollow spots twice

I was up in a live oak last Tuesday, about 25 feet up, getting ready to make a cut on a large limb. I'd done my usual sound check with a mallet, but the wood was so thick it seemed solid. Just as I set my chainsaw, my foot slipped on the bark and I put my weight on a different part of the limb. It gave a deep, hollow groan I could feel through my boots. My heart jumped. I froze and slowly shifted back to my main tie-in point. I tapped around with my handsaw handle and found a soft spot the size of a dinner plate I'd missed. I had to completely re-rig my ropes from a different anchor limb to safely take that piece down. It added an extra hour to the job, but better that than a surprise break. Has anyone else had a tree hide a hollow that well, and what's your backup check?

3 comments

3 Comments

dakota_murphy906mo ago

Wait, you were already 25 feet up when you found that hollow spot? That's terrifying. Honestly, I would've needed new pants after feeling that groan through my boots. What do you use besides the mallet to check?

emmam674mo ago

Has anybody else tried using a short, stiff probe tool? I picked up a cheap one at a hardware store a couple years back - it's basically a long metal rod with a little hook on the end. You can poke around the bark and feel for any give or soft spots way before you even start climbing. Saved me from stepping on some rotten limbs more than once. It's not perfect for deep checks, but it's way faster than drilling every suspicious spot. Between that and banging the trunk, I feel like I catch hollows a lot earlier now.

kelly.dylan6mo ago

Oh man, tell me about it! That hollow sound is the worst. Besides the mallet, I just use a good old drill with a long bit. You get a way better feel for what's inside the wood that way (the sawdust tells you a lot). Honestly, nothing beats just knowing the tree, like looking for old wounds or weird fungus. Still gets my heart racing every time, though.