We've got a Poplar tree growing in the yard. It's about 25 or 30 foot to the top.
The trunk splits into two separate trunks about 8 foot from the ground.
Last year in the spring, I saw it was beginning to split apart down the trunk, so I used a big ratchet strap to bind the tops together and left it all summer, last fall it looked pretty well healed over. I was afraid of the strap getting grown over and took the strap off.
I wish I hadn't. Sometime in one of our windstorms the healed split broke again, splitting the main trunk down to about 3 1/2 feet from the ground.
I'd kinda like to save this tree if I can. I put another ratchet strap on it but I can't get it pulled tight enough to close the gap completely.
It's far enough from the house I'm not worried about it damaging anything, so that's not a concern. I'd just like to save the tree if I can. Is there anything else I can do? Wondering if I should've left the strap on and maybe used something to seal the split?
Any suggestions?
7mm

Fill the split with wood glue and crank it back together? Bigger come-along?

Why not pull it back together and get a piece of chain and put it around both parts permanently?

Get a chain binder, and a short section of chain that is long enough to get the job done.

Ratchet it together, and leave it.

The chain will keep it secure forever, where a strap will weather and break with time.

I have seen trees bolted together.
Big washers or plates, bolts lined up vertically.
Have fun drilling those holes!

Also, you might need to look up toward the top.
He tops are the levers that are splitting the trunk.
Some trimming and cables may be needed.
Be careful with the trimming though.
The split trunk is already stressing the tree.
This won't heal, the supports are permanent.

Cables are what a pro arborist would probably use.


Even with it cabled back together....the tree is still compromised. Rot and fungus will probably weaken the trunk further.


Generally a cable job would be used to prevent a trunk failure.



From a safety standpoint, I would remove the tree.

From little forestry I remember from school a couple of lifetimes ago... I believe that split trunk trees are culls.

Unless it has a pretty good reason for being left in place, I belive you are right, Jim.

I do have a couple that I've cut the weaker branch off, and the tree lives on.

Unless it were sentimentally valuable, I'd cull it and plant another right there. Poplars grow fast.

I bolted an apple tree back together five years or so back but it is a lot smaller than what you are dealing with. The side that was splitting finally died but the other side (and it is larger) is still producing apples. On a tree as big as yours I too would cut it down and plant another.

When I was growing up there was a Maple tree in our back yard that had been hit by lightning and split down the middle. That happened before I was born and someone had wrapped what looked like 1/4" steel rod around the split.

It was still there when the tree was cut down about 35 years later and the tree was still healthy. It just needed to be removed because it was too close to the house.

For the Poplar, I think I'd take it down and replant, since it's always going to be a hazard in storms. Trunks that branch like that need to be pruned as soon as it's noticed.

Trees that split in to a "V" shape should be pruned as soon as possible. The wind will get the two sides moving independantly and they will always split eventually. Best way to really help the tree is to pick the best side and cut the other off. Sooner the better.

Poplar trees are not long life trees. At30 feet, it doesn't have much time left. I'd plant another

7mm. If the tree is that important to you and I assume it is a tulip poplar tree, call a professional certified arborist. Have to use common sense if this it’s practical to save the tree. If this is a specimen tree then it probably can be pulled together with a com-a-long, maybe 2 or 3 1/2” or 3/4 threaded rod thru the split base and bolted and a cable connecting both halves up in the crown. Thinning may also be needed. This type of wound even if fixed most likely will fail sometime down the road. Call a professional for a opinion.

If it is any true poplar it is not worth saving and bound to create bigger problems when it comes down. I can understand trying to save a tulip poplar, but it is almost surely not worth it even for a decent tree. Now it is possible the lumber can be salvaged. Start driving metal in and all that goes away. The wood will also rot while standing.