Saving the trees

[oldgringo]

Related thread

And another:
http://www.hammockforums.net/forum/s...lic+perception

[WarmSoda]

and another talking about the idea of short horizontal sticks in between the tree and the straps/rope.

[Graybeard]

no- heretics put giant eyebolts into trees to hang from.

Actually, properly installed eyebolts do little or no damage to a tree. If a particular hang-site were used quite regularly, they might be better than routinely circling the tree with huggers. I say that on the basis of what I see right on our property here in Vermont. Dozens of trees 12" to 18" in diameter have barbed wire going in one side and coming out the other side in positions that indicate that the barbed wire was installed when the trees were only 4" to 6" in diameter. These fence-row trees are every bit as healthy as similar trees in the middle of the woods. Similarly, maples in a sugarbush get tapped every year, decade after decade, and show no damage from it. Some of the bigger ones may get a half-dozen or more taps every year. Trees do get damaged by bruises that leave damaged bark still on the tree. My guess is that disease and insects find bruised and broken areas more inviting than clean cuts. In an urban area, watch what a good, professional arborist does, and avoids doing.

[Deadphans]

If you do find a soft tree, one solution is to place a few twigs up and down beneath the webbing. They will lift the webbing off the bark and reduce the pressure to just a few points, rather than the entire circumference.

Welcome to the forums, by the way!

Thats a great idea vitamaltz

[Deadphans]

I'm wondering if the damage can be caused in one or two nights? I'm sure that prolonged use would not be good for the tree.

Would damage to the soft areas be immediately noticeable? I'm thinking that I would be going back to the same areas and using the same trees over and over. If I never went back, would I notice the damage? I don't want to ruin my favorite sites. Even if no one else goes there, I GO THERE, and I don't want to kill my support trees.

I know when I came home from college I saw my dad had a clamp on a Chinese Maple he planted for landscaping because the weight of snow split it nearly in half. I told him about how it can eventually girdle the tree and suggested the tree was already healed. A year later the clamp was still there and I reiterated the importance of releasing that clamp. He did and the tree was healed and is still doing just fine. Even with most of the branch split and a bit of the bark and heartwood still intact it still lived lol.

I am sure it depends on what species you are hanging from, but I think trees like Maples and similar species will be fine with just webbing straps. Even Pines and Spruces and Firs if you don't mind sap. As for prolonged, once in my Plant Ecology class we were surveying a plot of woods and during a lecture our professor found a forgotten chain link about 70% wrapped in bark. The tree was still alive! But I am sure that ability lies within a species ya know. In other words, I am willing to bet your trees will be just fine As long as your webbing strap isn't their for a really long time.

[Hiline]

I think you have to take into account the type of tree and the bark type. Most oaks, pines, hickorys and hardwoods have pretty stout park and hanging would not affect the cambium layer. Trees like aspen, poplar, birch and other soft woods have a thinner softer bark that would be affected. I hung my hammock on pine trees with my one inch strap and noticed not damage at all. One of my scouts hung his with the supplied rope on an aspen and I could see damage to the bark and massive compression on the tree and he was less than a 100lbs. If you hang on soft barked trees use a wider strap or do what arborists do and run it through a rubber hose. I wouldn't worry about using 1" straps on the ponderosa's I have cause the bark is usually 3" thick but would never hang on poplars or aspens with them.

[Acer]

In Indiana,,and elsewhere as well,,,deer completely ring a soft wood tree during the pre-rut,,building his neck muscles to fight,,and scraping the velvet off,,sometimes same trees year after year,,and they get penciled down sometimes depending on the size of the rack on the buck,,and the tree survives. I don't see a tree being abused by hammock hanging no matter how many times we hang from it,,others have stated barbed wire,,I have seen cable buried completely around trees,,old metal tree stands left hanging that bark and trees have grown around for years. I really don't think its a major concern as using tree straps of any size is definitely doing your best to protect a tree. Trees are amazingly rezillant and will grow over anything that is drilled or driven in them. I was hiking on a Indian Res. once, and even they know how to take the birch bark off a tree and keep it growing to where they don't kill the trees and some of the trees I have seen are very old where they go back and take more using a knowledge of when to do this practice in not harming their envioment. That is not to say,,the white man uses the same practice as he may not be as astute as the American Indiana.

[dejoha]

You can always do what climbers/rappers do: bring along a cut-to-fit piece of closed-cell-foam to insert between the tree and the strap, instead of using twigs or small branches. The wide area helps distribute the weight and impact. I would recommend this if you plan on using the same pair of trees for more than a night.