Why You Should Avoid DIY Tree Surgery

Why You Should Avoid DIY Tree Surgery

Great Britain is known for its green landscapes dotted with leafy trees. Nature doesn’t disappoint us in terms of trees and the world surely has some magnificently amazing specimens.

The beautiful Blooming Cherry Trees in Bonn, Germany, the Angel Oak in John’s Island South Carolina, the Giant Sequoia Tree in California and the Baobab trees of Africa are just some of the many exquisite trees there are in the world.

You can imagine that huge trees like these, when planted in gardens, parks and streets, will need to be managed because they all have the potential to grow out of control, to become dangerous and to also succumb to disease.

It is sad when the time comes, but some of these trees have to be cut down. This will be the job of tree surgeons or arborists.

There are, however, people who have large trees growing in their gardens who decide to bypass using a professional tree surgeon and to attempt the job themselves. Many make the wrong decision to do a DIY job with cutting trees down and have lived to regret it.

DIY Tree Surgery: Tree Surgeons Witness the Unpredictable Behaviour of Trees

Professional tree surgeons have seen many people having to deal with smashed cars, caved-in roofs and deaths because of falling trees and branches and their unpredictable behaviour.

Homeowners who attempt tree surgery on their own without the proper equipment and without the know-how are asking for trouble.

Big tree removal is a lot like mathematics – it requires precise height- and angle calculations, and even then, trees don’t always fall in a predictable manner.

A huge tree has massive forces of energy stored and the wrong kind of cut can unleash those forces on anything that’s in the way.

DIY Tree Surgery: The Correct Working Technique Required for Tree Cutting

When felling trees, the correct working techniques are imperative. The reason for this is that not everyone has the skill to handle climbing around in a massive tree while simultaneously handling a chainsaw.

As a DIY tree feller, you may not be aware of the fact that there is a felling direction your branches and tree will fall. You need to clear a retreat path so that you don’t get flattened to the ground by a falling branch or tree. Most amateur DIY tree fellers have never thought of this aspect before.

And what about safety equipment? You may have decided to tackle that massive tree in your back garden, but have you got all the necessary safety equipment? This safety gear is very important for remaining safe…and alive. Safety equipment includes things such as –

• helmet with face visor
• goggles for eye protection
• hearing protection
• gloves
• steel-toed leather boots

When wielding a chainsaw and felling, you need this protective gear. A DIY-er is not likely to have this kind of protective gear lying around at home.

Power Lines Have Killed Experienced Tree Surgeons

And what about power lines? Do you know that even skilled, experienced tree surgeons have had serious accidents with felling trees near electrical lines?

Power lines are often hidden behind leaves and branches and unknowingly a chainsaw blade can plough through these wires and injure the tree surgeon badly or kill them outright.

A professional tree surgeon knows about these kinds of scenarios through experience. A private tree owner doesn’t have this experience and might pay for tree-cutting mistakes with their life.

With the cutting down of large trees, your chainsaw cutting technique will be determined by the size of the tree trunk. For those trees whose diameter is more than the length of the chainsaw bar, you will need to use a plunge cut. You’ll also require some felling wedges and a breaking bar to ensure your tree falls in the right direction.

Tree Surgery is High Risk

The truth is that tree surgery is a high-risk occupation and requires in-depth understanding. It is why at GraftinGardeners, our arborists are professional and well equipped for all kinds of tree surgery.

It can provide you with total peace of mind when you steer clear of a DIY tree surgery job and you hand it over to us. We specialise in all aspects of tree surgery, from tree felling to stump removal and much more. We’ve got all the latest tree surgery equipment needed to do the job swiftly and without incident.

We’ve felled many trees in awkward situations and we are clued up on all health and safety legislation’s. We’re also well versed in the different trees and areas that are protected by tree preservation orders.

Ignorance isn’t bliss with tree felling and if you cut down a protected tree and claim not to have known about it, you face a heavy fine. This is just one of the many reasons why you should avoid DIY tree surgery.

Grinding the Stump Finishes Off the Job

Also, once you cut your tree down, have you considered what you’ll do with the stump? It’s highly unlikely that as a private tree feller, you have stump grinding equipment to complete the entire tree surgery job to completion.

The stump grinding machine grinds the stump down about 350mm below ground level. Professional tree surgeons make use of their stump grinders to finish off the tree felling job in the most effective way.

If you are a private homeowner with small and large trees in your garden and you have the right knowledge and equipment to take down a small tree, then good and well, but a large tree in the hands of an inexperienced person is like a lethal weapon.

Cutting down trees can be dangerous work, more so in the city where there are buildings, cars and power lines nearby.

Trees don’t always fall where you want them to, and to get the desired results without risking damage to property, injury, death and a lawsuit, hire professional tree surgeons for your own peace of mind and avoid all the complications of a DIY job.

Article was written by Conner D.

Article Source: https://www.graftingardeners.co.uk/why-you-should-avoid-diy-tree-surgery/