A tree with a single weak point is often still worth keeping, so instead of taking the whole tree down, Sault Ste. Marie Tree Service installs cabling or bracing to support that one weak spot. The crew is fully insured, and we say plainly when hardware will not actually help.
Call (705) 710-8197.
Tree cabling and bracing solve the same basic problem two different ways: they support a tree that has one structural weakness but is otherwise healthy. A cable is a length of steel line run in high, keeping two stems from spreading further apart when the wind gusts or the crown loads up with snow.
Bracing works differently: a threaded rod runs straight through a split trunk, pulling and pinning the two sides together. Neither hardware option cures whatever caused the weakness in the first place - both simply buy extra years for a tree that might otherwise be coming down sooner.
Around here, tree cabling and bracing usually go into a multi-stemmed silver maple, or any big tree that split into two or three separate trunks close to the ground. When bark gets pinched inside that fork as the stems grow, it never actually knits them together the way solid wood would.
That weak join gets a little worse every year as the stems grow heavier, and a wet, heavy snowfall or an ice glaze is often what finally opens it. Once it has opened partway, get it assessed for hardware before the split goes any further.
A cable goes in well above the fork itself, up where the two stems have thinned out but are still solid enough to anchor into. Placed there, it checks how far the stems can spread apart without concentrating all the strain on one attachment point.
A cable is meant to permit some sway, not lock the whole tree stiff. Without any movement at all, a trunk never develops the reaction wood it needs to stay strong - so the aim is dampening the worst of the swing, not stopping it outright.
Often, yes. Pairing tree cabling and bracing with a canopy reduction takes real weight off the crown, which means less strain for the cable or brace to manage once the snow starts piling on.
Hardware installed by itself often ends up bearing weight a saw could have removed more cheaply. Pairing tree cabling and bracing with a reduction is usually our recommendation, and we'll break out what each half costs on its own.
Hardware isn't automatically the answer, and here's when we'll tell you it won't do the job:
- Rot low on the trunk means tree cabling and bracing in the crown will not touch the actual problem - A split that has already opened wide is usually past the point tree cabling and bracing can help - On a young tree, pruning out the weak fork costs less and holds up longer - A tree that is failing overall is often better removed than propped up
Yes, and it's the part most competitors' tree cabling and bracing quotes skip entirely. Hardware rusts eventually, and the tree itself keeps growing, slowly closing over the anchor points until you can no longer see them at all.
Leave an installation unchecked for ten years and it may quietly be doing far less than it used to, even as the crown above it keeps piling on more weight. Every quote states how often we'll come back to check it, so you know what you're signing up for.
Keeping an eye on a fork in a big tree? Sault Ste. Marie Tree Service assesses and installs tree cabling and bracing throughout Sault Ste. Marie and the surrounding communities, and the first tree cabling and bracing look is free. Everything else we offer is on the home page.
Call (705) 710-8197.
A single tree trimming visit rarely covers everything a property needs, so beyond tree trimming, here is the rest of what we offer, including services that often pair naturally with tree trimming.
Keeping a crown light before the first big snowfall is what tree trimming and pruning does, and it is the service Sault Ste. Marie Tree Service is called for most often. The crew carries full insurance on every visit. Regular tree trimming and pruning costs less than almost anything else we offer, which is usually why it is worth booking first.
View Tree Trimming and Pruning
A dead or hanging branch does not wait for a convenient moment to fall, so we take dead branch removal calls on short notice, from a single hanging limb up to a crown that has lost most of its living wood. The crew that shows up for dead branch removal is insured for the work.
View Dead Branch Removal
When a tree comes down in a storm, Sault Ste. Marie Tree Service is who people around here call, day or night when the situation calls for it. If wires are tangled in the wreckage, that's a call to Hydro One before it's a call to us; we move in once they've confirmed it's safe to touch. Every emergency storm damage cleanup job is fully insured.
View Emergency Storm Damage Cleanup
Not every tree can be saved, and when one has to come out, Sault Ste. Marie Tree Service removes trees of any size, including difficult tree removal sites along the shoreline and on shallow ground over bedrock. The tree removal work is insured, and a price is agreed in writing before the saw starts.
View Tree Removal
When a mature tree has outgrown its spot, either too thick through the middle or too wide for the yard, that is what crown thinning and canopy reduction correct, and Sault Ste. Marie Tree Service offers both to homeowners here. Nobody starts cutting until you have signed off on the plan, and the crew carries full insurance for the visit.
View Crown Thinning and Canopy Reduction
A stump left behind after a removal does not have to stay. Sault Ste. Marie Tree Service books stump grinding on its own timeline, separate from the removal that came before it, fully insured, and the choice of whether to grind it stays yours.
View Stump Grinding and RemovalDescribe the tree and roughly which part of Sault Ste. Marie you're in. We visit, then follow up with a written price that names the method, states where the debris goes, and lists anything the quote leaves out.
The only thing we truly need from this form is a way to reach you back. Everything else just speeds things along: which street you're on, roughly how big the tree is, what's sitting below it, and whether a storm is the reason you're filling this out right now. You can also call (705) 710-8197 if you would rather talk it through directly.
