Overheard a city inspector say climbing spurs on a living oak is a death sentence for the tree

I always thought spurs were fine for removals but he said even one climb with them can start decay that takes decades to kill the tree. Any other arborists out there switch to rope-only for live trees?

2 comments

2 Comments

ivanb4112d agoTop Commenter

Right because trees are immortal until a guy with spurs shows up, that's totally how nature works. I guess all those old growth trees that survived lightning strikes and beaver attacks just never met a certified climber. My oak has been rotting from the inside out for years and it's still standing, so maybe the inspector was just having a bad day.

sethp2612d ago

Hold on, you're mixing up spurs with climbing spikes. Spurs are for horses. Arborists use spikes or gaffs. But yeah, your point still stands. Trees survive way worse stuff than a guy poking holes in them.