A neighbor had an old post oak in their back yard that was precipitously leaning toward the house. I asked Chris Hastings, owner of Arbormedics, to evaluate the tree’s health.

Chris has an amazing computer-driven system that allows him to “see” inside a tree trunk to determine if it is hollow.

He drives short metal pins into the trunk and taps them sequentially with a special hammer. The computer “listens” to the sound as it travels through the trunk from side to side and determines where there is sound wood and where there is rot.

The result is a “picture” of the interior of the tree trunk.

Sadly, although the trunk was solid, it had such a severe lean toward the house that Chris advised its removal.

sensors installed on trunk

connecting computer to sensors

tapping pins with special hammer

interior cross-section of the trunk