Three hours wasted on a dying silver maple

I spent last Friday trying to cable a silver maple that had a heavy lean over a garage, and it took me over three hours just to get the hardware set because the wood was so soft the bolts kept stripping. Turns out the tree was way more rotten inside than I could see from the bark, and I ended up having to drill fresh holes three times before one held. Has anyone else run into a tree that looked solid but turned out to be mush once you started working on it?

2 comments

2 Comments

patricia_lee3d ago

Heard a local arborist say silver maples are basically just giant sponges with bark on them.

brookebailey3d ago

Pretty sure @patricia_lee's arborist was just being dramatic for effect, silver maples aren't that extreme. They do drink up a ton of water but that's kinda their job as a fast growing tree, not like they're gonna burst. Still wouldnt plant one right next to your foundation or anything but they're not sponges.