Tree cabling was said to have began during the early 1900s as an alternative to cutting down historic and cherished trees. Tree cutters discovered that common steel utility wire, strung betweem branches could help keep wind and heavy ice from peeling trees apart, often isolating damage to above the cable. in time, this process became increasingly popular as an alternative to removing middle-aged “oddle-shaped” trees and, as a sort of insurance policy for nearby structures
Tree Cabling in Georgia
Tree cabling is the practice of tethering two or more limbs together, not to keep unhealthy trees from “falling apart,” but to assist healthy, odd shaped trees in resisting the stresses of extreme weather (wind and ice). Incredibly, since its discovery, tree cabling materials have changed very little. Although strong and cheap, steel wire used as dynamic restraint has virtually no capacity to absorb shock loading that occurs when mass moves against restraint. Just one example of this phenomenon requires that mariners dock their boat with rope instead of wire. The result of using wire could be devastating in the wrong conditions. Cobra dynamic cable is an easy to install rope-like material that has excellent shock-absorbing properties. Made up of UV protected materials Cobra delivers restraint characteristics that mimic the tree’s natural reaction to wind. In a gust, tree limbs usually collapse upward and then out in an exaggerated manner. Cobra is installed relatively loose in a manner that doesn’t interfere with light wind exercising of growing wood tissue, but is there to halt excessive flailing that might cause over-stress to a limbs crotch.
Take the time to watch trees react to wind and we think you’ll agree that dynamic cabling materials like Cobra are the best answer to a more natural supplemental support system. According to the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), tree cabling should be monitored annually. Such inspection should be performed by a knowledgeable professional upon notification by and at the expense of the property owner. Inspection is necessary to manage potential hazards such as broken branches entangling cable or cable becoming stressed by the growing tree. In the US there are currently 3 choices for cabling mature trees that meet ANSI standards.