To notch or not to notch on storm damaged oaks?

Been seeing a lot of crews making deep notches on mature oaks that have storm damage. I get the whole hinge wood theory from logging, but on a 60 foot oak with a split crotch, does a notch really help or just make the tree more unstable? Had a job last week where the foreman insisted on a 40% notch on a red oak that was leaning bad over a house. I argued we should just do a straight back cut with wedges since the lean was already pulling the direction we wanted. He said I was overthinking it. What do you guys think - are notches always necessary for takedowns or do some trees work better without them?

2 comments

2 Comments

richard_shah1mo ago

The home DIY comparison is close but not quite the same thing. Notches on storm damaged oaks serve a different purpose than a simple straight cut. That 40% notch on a leaning red oak over a house wasn't just for show. It controls the direction and rate of fall. A straight back cut with wedges on a leaning tree can work, but if the lean is pulling hard, the tree can rip off early or twist sideways. That's where your foreman might have been coming from. The notch gives you a precise hinge and steering ability that a straight cut can't match, especially when the tree is already compromised.

price.jake1mo ago

Is it just me or does this kinda mirror how people overcomplicate stuff everywhere? I see the same thing with home DIY - everyone thinks you need the fancy tool or the tricky cut when a straight, simple approach does the job better. If the tree already wants to go that way, why mess with a notch that might just make things harder?