Mega branch bend on a JBP. Part 1

[nathanbs]

Last night we had a study group and one of the trees was a fairly old JBP with a 2-2.5" thick very straight branch. The verdict was to either bend it or lose it. So why not risk losing it while bending it and maybe the branch survives. We didn't bend it as far as originally hoped for two reasons: the owner felt bad for the tree and a second, twisting downward bend was needed so we will do that in a second round. The trees owner thinks were done at this point There didn't seem to be any issues during this bend. Little to no cracking or tearing was heard or felt. It's just eye opening what can be accomplished with some guts, knowledge, experience and tools. I know that this isnt the craziest bend you guys have all seen but its just meant to act as a reminder of what can be bent. I will definitely post part 2 if/when it happens

 

[Poink88]

Nice. Instead of wires...it is much better to use turnbuckles after the initial major bend. You can continue giving it small tension within the growing season.

The cracking sound is actually good...it will set a lot faster after...as long as it did not snap off (lol).

Question, the rebar on the 3rds pic seems on an odd place....is there a reason for it where it is?

 

[nathanbs]

We could have gone further but our teacher said that for now until he does the second bend he thinks its far enough so in this case a turnbuckle wasn't necessary. I agree the rebar does look like its in an odd place but it provided an enormous amount of leverage as the jack that was being used was in kind of a precarious position. We were worried to put to much tension on the jacking points so we evened out the distribution across several more points by using the rebar. Trust me when he levered on the rebar it gave me, the guy wire tightener, a lot of slack.

 

[Vance Wood]

I would like to see the entire tree. This is like appreciating Mt. Rushmore by looking at Washington's nose.

 

[nathanbs]

Sorry ill try to get you a pic of Lincoln's ear as soon as I get a chance

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Hard to tell from the photos, but the technique doesn't seem to support the goal.

First, tightly coiled aluminum wires can't hold a bend, but make it difficult to to bend around, and second, it appears that the rebar was positioned as a spine, rather than as a lever. If rebar is used as a lever, it is fastened to the tree just above the base of the bend, and further up, along which, it should not bend.

This crude virt may help explain. Nonetheless...it is exciting to do this type of work.

 

[fore]

Great pic Brian! Thanks for posting Nathan!

 

[nathanbs]

Hard to tell from the photos, but the technique doesn't seem to support the goal.

First, tightly coiled aluminum wires can't hold a bend, but make it difficult to to bend around, and second, it appears that the rebar was positioned as a spine, rather than as a lever. If rebar is used as a lever, it is fastened to the tree just above the base of the bend, and further up, along which, it should not bend.

This crude virt may help explain. Nonetheless...it is exciting to do this type of work.

View attachment 28690

i don't disagree with your suggestions. However the coiled wire is not meant to hold the bend it is a support for the cambium as is the raffia. I do agree that the lowest tie wire for the rebar is perplexing however it did provide great leverage for the bend as i mentioned. In hindsight i think there are several things that could have been done differently and perhaps better but the bottom line is it got the job done without fail so was it wrong? Or just not ideal? Thank you for your vert as it helps one understand what you are trying to explain. I think the coiled wire when dealing with a round branch works very well as it serves as not only compression on the cambium during the bend but also gives you virtually unlimited guy wire attach points.

 

[nathanbs]

Here is another JBP that underwent a very similar bending procedure exactly 1-year ago

 

[nathanbs]

and the result

 

[berobinson82]

Excellent work on that bend my friend!

 

[edprocoat]

I would like to see the entire tree. This is like appreciating Mt. Rushmore by looking at Washington's nose.

And whats wrong with Wshington's nose ?

ed

 

[Vance Wood]

And whats wrong with Wshington's nose ?

ed

It's got a booger in it.

 

[october]

Hi nathanbs.. In regards to the last pic, the coiled pine... It seems from pic 1 that this tree had great potential as a cascade. However, it could just be the angle. It seemed that maybe just bending the second half of the tree up a little bit, would have created a beautiful, short cascade.

Rob