with the ice/snow last week, we have a bunch of 4" to 12"+ live oak limbs that have broken off in our back yard. I will chop up for fire & BBQ wood for those on the ground, but my concern is up in the tree where there are nasty split breaks that could be susceptible to bugs / disease that need to be cut off square with the limb and then treated.

Most of these are 20-30+ feet up in the tree which is higher than a pole saw can reach, plus the size of some of these would be a challenge with pole saw even if they could be reached. At my age, I don't think it would be wise for me to shimmy up a tall extension ladder with a chain saw to take care of these.

suggestions other than just find a reputable local arborist to take care of them??? ... location west of IH35 in Georgetown (about 30 minutes north of Austin)

One word.

My first thought is a pole saw with an extension and maybe a short 6'-10' ladder. I have a Stihl Kombi pole saw that is 6' tall with no extension and grows to 12' with the extension. Add 5-6' vertical height of you (guessing) plus the ladder and you can easily do the 20' ones. You're a long way from me (I'm north of DFW) but you're welcome to borrow my pole saw if you'd like it

thanks TLew for the offer, I have a pole saw that with an extension is about 12' ... and I am 6'2" ... but not sure I want to climb up on my 10' ladder to cut a 8"+ diameter limb at ~25-30' ... at least not without having a camera crew hanging out videoing. I just envision that being one of the "hold my beer and watch this" moments that I no longer am young enough to attempt.

thankfully, my wife works in property management (handles about 60 investment properties) and has reached out to some of her points of contact that can do that type of thing.

but yeah, if I was 30 years younger, I probably wouldn't hesitate to do it myself.

Got my Stihl pole saw out yesterday. Had one big cedar branch down in the dog yard, then cut a bunch of dead palm fans off. Didn’t do the tallest one, it requires a step ladder also.

Did you have the extend- a- pole attachment on there?

No attachment, it does extend. It’s 12’ extended total length. My tallest palm tree is 18-20’.

Rain is in the forecast for tomorrow. You might have to trim in the rain.

No more trimming til the cool weather sets in after the rain.

I’ve really been using my pole saw, and thank goodness I have it. That said, with broken limbs overhead in the 20’ range, my choices are cut what I can and leave it like that, or call Bill’s friend - The Man. For now I am going with option one.

Today and yesterday were chainsawing firewood days. Tomorrow is PVC repair day. There will be one fitting that I won’t have. Always works like that.

Sounds like another trip to town.

Had to do the same thing at my new place and my brother's place. I rented a boom lift trailer from Walter (wburke) on here for I think about a hundred and a half for a weekend if I remember right. I towed it with a 3/4 ton, but it was light enough I bet a half ton would do it. See if a local equipment place has one available, it makes it real easy.

Rented one of these to paint my In-laws house a few years ago. A half ton could tow 3 of them.

I just pulled the pole saw out Saturday and did some cedar trimming and raised the canopy on a couple of trees. Time to wait and see what survives once leaves drop...there sure are a bunch of burnt leaves out here

Proper pruning is key to a healthy tree in your area, where you are highly susceptible to oak wilt. I would highly recommend using a certified arborist if you are not able to get up there yourself. Joe Blow with a chainsaw may do more harm than good.

yep, lots of oak wilt around this area but thankfully none very close to our place. I got the downed limbs drug out of the back yard and cut up the 2" and up into fire/BBQ wood & most stacked.


one of the crews my wife uses on the management properties she handles also does this type of work (cutting and treating) on a regular basis. I just need to identify all that needs to be cut back/cleaned up along with some others that need to come down.

Lucky for me, the broken limbs I can’t reach are on cedar trees. They can live or die and I don’t much care. What I do care about are the downed Live Oak limbs on a nearby old guys place. He says I can have all I can cut and take off, and I’ve been hard at it. Taking a rain day off right now. Sharpened some chains. So, I’m trimming his trees for the immediate future, trying to fill the depleted wood racks.

When the wood racks are full, I have more cedar trees to trim. No rest for the weary...

I'm in GT as well. Call Chris Doleva, he's a good dude.

https://www.dolevaelitetree.com/

1. call the man
2. stay off of ladders