Climbing spikes on a live oak changed my approach for good

I was working a job in Austin off South Lamar, a big live oak with some deadwood over a driveway. My old foreman always said to strip spikes at the root flare to avoid damage, but I saw this other crew across town using spikes on a healthy oak for speed. They left nasty spiral wounds up the trunk. Took me about 6 months of watching that tree decline to realize they were cutting off its nutrient flow. Now I only spike when I'm removing the whole tree or working a dead one. For pruning climbs I use a footlock or a bucket truck. Felt like a waste of time at first but the tree health payoff is real. Anyone else switch how they climb after seeing damage from spikes?

2 comments

2 Comments

spencer_moore391mo agoTop Commenter

Damn that pecan tree story hits hard. Ive seen the same thing happen to a couple of big oaks in my neighborhood and its brutal watching a healthy tree just slowly fall apart over a couple years. The cambium layer is exactly what gets shredded and once you break that ring in a spiral it really does choke the life out of the tree like a slow tourniquet. Good on you for switching to footlock setups, its a pain at first but those trees will thank you in the long run for sure.

thomas1051mo ago

Big live oaks are tough trees but they don't heal from wounds like people think. Those spiral cuts from spikes basically girdle the tree over time like you said. One thing though - you mentioned nutrient flow being cut off. It's more about water and sugars moving through the cambium layer just under the bark. That thin layer is what dies when the spikes tear through it. I switched to a climbing belt and footlock for pruning jobs after seeing a similar mess on a pecan tree here in Dallas. Took that tree about two years to show serious dieback from spike damage.