It would take constant pruning to eliminate as much as possible the tight crotch angles to which these dreadful pears are prone. Those tight angles are what cause them to self destruct somewhere between 10 and 15 years of age.

We used to joke the best pruning cut for these trees is a heading cut 1" off the ground.

At any rate as an undergrad in arboriculture classes, we'd practice pruning cuts on these trees, because the cuts from last years' class had all kinds of crazy reactions. Nice tree to learn on, and decent tree if it is on someone else's property, bad tree if it is on your property.

Dan

Well the tight to many crotches is what made it splitpracticly in half in a ice storm. So what your saying it I can prune it pretty heavy and it should react well as long as I stay on top of it? It is close to 20 feet high at this point.

Yes, prune heavily (ground level).

It isn't necessary to stay on top of it yourself thereafter, a large concrete block (say, 2 metres diameter) kept on top of it should do the trick, as long as the block is also in contact with the ground on all sides to stop any light getting to the stump.

Resin

So what your saying it I can prune it pretty heavy and it should react well as long as I stay on top of it?

What I was saying was it likely will react in all kinds of crazy ways even though you stay on top of it.

You lost half in an ice storm? I recall an old 'Victory Garden' where they lost 1/3 and gladly took theirs out. Don't waste your energy and find a new plant IMHO.

Dan