AIE - Arb Tools - Rubber Mallet

Tools & Equipment: Plastic Mallet

rubber_mallet.jpg (6306 bytes) Plastic Mallet.

A useful but often overlooked tool for use during a general tree inspection. This mallet head is constructed from a hard plastic which is ideal for tapping around the basal area of the tree to help detect major areas of dead bark, deadwood and cavities through the differences in sound pitch. In some cases it is relatively easy to track a tongue of dead wood as it travels down a stem from an old pruning wound or for finding the thinnest wall of a cavity.

However, such a method has obvious limitations so its results must be used with care.