i think we need to Id the tree... before we come to any conclusion ...

the wild diversity of the bark.. makes me wonder if its a water sprout ... though the large branch below kinda rules that out ....

pix of leaves.. flowers.. etc ... to Id ... so we can go from there... [in GW pix.. one pic per reply .... do multiple replies to your own post to add more than one]

otherwise.. sure.. cut it out.. it wont be easy ... cut off 90% of the top ... and then go down.. and make the best surgical cut you can .... and walk away ... no sealers or anything...

do you have a good tree saw???

ken

ps: i suppose someone will roll thru.. and Id it on the bark ... lol ... i cant...

Ken,
Thanks for your reply. The tree is a malus Zumi Calocarpa. I do have good tree saws.
Attached is 1 of 4 additional photos.

photo # 2

photo # 3. This last one. the 5th one is same view as #4.

The short answer, well hell yes!

The long answer, well it depends how much the branch has fused to the trunk in pic 3 and 4.

I've come across trees in which the branch had fused to the point you couldn't just lift it away so I never tried to remove the branch but in other cases I was able to do so by lifting up on the branch to see if I could get it to separate from the trunk before I cut the branch. Just my experience with some hawthorns and lindens.

The Hawthorn example is hard to show as the first pic was phase one with excessive wild brush and fused sprout removal. In the next pic you can see how much they were thinned out but the canopies (my actual point of showing them) was unaffected and filled in within a couple years.

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With the lindens the bottom left sprout was completely fused to the main trunk but as I kept pushing it did separate and healed nicely.

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pre WWWeb .... the first house i bought.. had a crab such as this ... no one to ask ..

lo and behold.. it was a water sprout ... and get this.. it had pink and white flowers .. lol ... pink on the graft.. white on the sprout/understock ....

i solved it the easy way.. i moved.. lol ..

get to it ... take it off in sections.. surgically ... do your best at the trunk ... come back often to remove new buds... sooner or later.. it will get the idea.. and heal over ...

one trick i learned... make the bottom cut .. and if you cant get it out of there.. leave it... by late summer.. it will desiccate.. and probably come out easy .. no need to go in there and tear out good stuff ... this would require a double cut near the bottom.. to remove a quarter inch or so ... dont want it to fuse back ...

it would be really spectacular.. if it is fused.. and though cut.. continued to thrive.. lol ...

its an experiment.. have fun with it ..

ken