Tree is splitting; can I fix it?

[thisoldgoat]

This has been in the works for some time and I procrastinated, now I have this. This Hackberry is 16" in diameter measured below the straps. Can this be corrected? In retrospect, a bit of pruning when the tree was young may have prevented this problem.

 

[peakbagger]

Thats where an arborist comes in. I have seen steel rods and plates used on trees like that with major splits to keep them from getting worse but no matter what water and rot is going to work its way in during freeze thaw cycles.

 

[EbS-P]

You could Probably extend its life but the outcome is it will fail. Plant a couple new trees now. It’s a hackberry and worth a couple afternoons of my time couple feet of rod and maybe a new long drill bit. but probably not calling in a professional.

 

[stoveliker]

It'll fail eventually . And the straps will also hurt it by restriction the sap flow.

 

[CincyBurner]

As peakbagger mentioned some trees make good candidates to be cabled and braced with screw rods.

Even then it doesn't guarantee it won't fail, cabling and bracing treatment is considered to mitigate damage.​

Your hackberry is a good candidate for removal.
Hackberry as a species is prone to poor structure contributing to future splitting and failures, they compartmentalize wounds poorly, are often low value specimens. This specimen in particular can't be corrected - it is actively failing. Money used to correct split would be be better spent elsewhere.
This might have been easily corrected when much smaller diameter tree. The current industry recommendation is ideally limit limbs pruned off to a diameter of half-doller.

 

[thisoldgoat]

Thanks for the replies. I kind of thought it may be a lost cause but I needed to hear that from others. The silver lining is that I don't have to skid it out of the forest to process it into fuel.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

It’s also young and small. A new one will grow quickly.