Had a huge oak in Charlotte with a split crotch and used a 3/4 inch drill bit to make a relief hole before bolting it, which stopped the cracking sound within a week.

Has anyone else used this method on a mature white oak, and what size bolt did you pair with it?

3 comments

3 Comments

Hold up, you drilled with a three-quarter inch bit? That's massive. I've only ever gone up to a half inch for a relief hole on oak, and even that felt like a lot. A hole that big in the crotch of a mature tree makes me nervous about creating a new weak spot. What size bolt did you even use to fill that?

derek172mo ago

Buddy of mine did the same thing on a white oak in his yard. He used a 5/8 inch lag bolt with a big washer after drilling. Said the tree stopped groaning after a few days and it's been solid for years now.

gavin_kim31mo ago

Forget the lag bolt fix, that's just a band-aid. Drilling a huge hole and jamming metal into stressed wood ignores the real problem. That groaning means a major crack is forming inside from structural weight. Bolting it just locks the crack in place while rot sets in around the bolt. Seen it happen. The tree might seem fine for a few years until the whole limb fails because the core is mush.