Showerthought: a simple oak cavity cleanup took me 3 hours longer than I budgeted

I had a call about an old oak with a deep cavity near the base. Figured it would be a quick 2 hour job to clean out the debris and check for rot. Turns out the cavity went almost 4 feet into the trunk and had packed soil and rocks inside. I ended up using a shop vac with a custom nozzle and a long scraper to get it all out. Took me nearly 5 hours total just to clear it enough to assess the tree's health. Anyone else run into hidden cavities that turned simple work into an all day thing?

2 comments

2 Comments

laura_white995h ago

Did you find anything weird in there besides the rocks and soil? Like old tools, bones, or anything that looked like it had been down in that cavity for decades?

rowanbennett4h ago

Did anyone else find old rusted nails or broken pottery mixed in with the soil?