Stop trusting that crack in the trunk, here's why

I been doing removals for 8 years out of Portland and I keep seeing guys eyeball a trunk, spot a hairline crack, and call it a day. Last month I had a 60 foot maple with a crack running up the south side, looked like surface stress, but when I got the bucket up there the whole thing was hollow past the first 12 feet. That crack was the only sign the heartwood was gone. If you see a crack that runs vertical and connects to a branch union, do the mallet test before anyone climbs. Hit the trunk with a hammer, if it thuds instead of rings, walk away and get a pro with a resistograph. I know it adds time and the boss hates it, but I watched a 40 footer split sideways and snap a crane cable last fall, cost the company 14 grand. Has anyone else seen a crack lie to them like that, or am I the only one who's getting paranoid about it?

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