Damaged tree-tap or no?

[ebliese]

This is a tree which was damaged in the past few months. The half of the crotch which came off is on the east side of the tree. I have tapped it before on the north side, moving westward for two seasons (two taps each season). The pictures of the tap holes are from the previous season (2022) and appear to be closing nicely. I'm curious as to what other folks' thoughts are on tapping it for the upcoming season and your reasonings. Don't tap? One tap? Two taps? If I tap it, I would continue my tapping pattern of moving westward so to stay away from the damaged side.

https://share.icloud.com/photos/041o...ta1EHsvvFohCeA

[Swingpure]

I will be interested in the answer. If I have a tree like that, I choose not to tap it. The rule I have been following is if it looks unhealthy or damaged I do not tap it. If the consensus comes back that it is okay to tap it, I might add a few more taps.

[bmbmkr]

Tap it, you might not have the chance next year.

[CTguy923]

its dying anyway, might as well get what you can out of it now

[Pdiamond]

Daniel I would go ahead and tap it while you can. From the looks of the tree, you really won't have too much longer.

[TapTapTap]

It seems that this tree is mature in age, declining in health, around 24 in dia.

So I would conclude that you may as well tap it and could still get several years of sap production. Given its size, I don't think tapping will significantly impact it's remaining life. If, however, the tree is on someone else's property then I would take a more conservative approach.

Ken

[DrTimPerkins]

The tree appears to have several issues...including a possible lightning strike years ago, some dieback and decay, and intertwining branches, all of which contribute to its declining nature. Growing on a lawn and near a road/path also aren't helpful due to soil compaction and getting hit by lawnmowers. Regardless of those things, trees can surprise you at times and this one could take several years (decades) to die.

If it were a highly prized tree for some reason or as Ken said, growing on someone else's property, I'd leave it alone.

If it's your own tree and you don't really care one way or the other, I'd tap it, but only one tap and take care in the placement to be sure you hit good wood. Typically you "adjust" the diameter of trees based upon stem/crown wounds, so although it may be 24+" dbh, the "adjusted" size is considerably smaller than that.

The alternative philosophy if you have observed it fading fast would be to heavily tap it given that it'll be firewood within a short time anyhow.