OT: How not to cut down a tree

[farmerEd]

Nothing to do with ER, but thought someone might enjoy a laugh (at someone elses expense)....sometimes you just need to know when to hire a pro.

 

[pb4uski]

The audio is an understatement. That is why we tie a long rope high up in the tree and have pressure on the rope from the direction that we want the tree to fall.

Is "stupidity" an insured event?

 

[Walt34]

Is "stupidity" an insured event?

Probably not, although the policy will take two or three paragraphs to say so.

 

[clifp]

Sometimes I am glad I am not a DIY guy. Definitely cutting a tree near your house is good time to hire a pro.

 

[Texas Proud]

Sometimes I am glad I am not a DIY guy. Definitely cutting a tree near your house is good time to hire a pro.

Agree.... but if you cut it right it will fall the way you want.... at least in the general direction....

 

[bssc]

The scary/amusing thing is that there are lots of similar videos under chop/cut down a tree.

 

[Khan]

Many years ago at my parents' home in AL, the guy across the street decided to to save money by cutting down a tree himself. Knocked out electric and cable for the neighborhood.

"A man's got to know his limitations." --Dirty Harry

 

[FIREd]

I need to remove a 50-foot oak tree from my front yard. I am hiring a professional.

 

[ratto]

Judging the smoke coming out of chimney, it doesn't look like it was a windy day. Also the pine appeared to be straight, so it's not a leaner case either. Maybe this guy didn't want to or just couldn't let the tree fall toward his neighbor's yard. So he made the face cut which he thought would guide the tree to fall along his driveway, but apparently some mistake/miscalculation was made. At least, the tree was not barber-chaired, otherwise it could be much worse. Who knows, maybe this guy is a pro. If not, his courage to tackle this difficult task with such close proximity to a house (all by himself) is really commendable.

 

[Nemo2]

I need to remove a 50-foot oak tree from my front yard. I am hiring a professional.

Once had a HUGE fir cut down in B.C.; the logger (almost) literally 'ran' up the tree with 2, (count 'em), 2 running chainsaws, (of different sizes), hanging on ropes from his belt........at the top he started back down, cutting in ~ 2' sections, all of which landed in a roughly 6' circle at the tree's base.

Over and done in nothing flat....no muss, no fuss......all I had to do was the splitting & piling.

Hire a pro!

 

[lemming]

Anyone want to hazard a guess at the cost of having a tree removed these days. In Virginia. Northern Virginia , not known to be the home of loggers who run up trees.

I need to get an ok from the HOA first. That might cause me enough grief without even seeing a bill. I figure I need to get a note from a tree person that says it is time to take it out.(dead branches)

video was removed by owner before I saw it.

 

[clifp]

No clue on the cost of the logger but cheaper than replacing the house.

 

[FIREd]

My logger does run up trees and I am paying him $1,000 to have 1 large oak tree and 2 smaller trees removed. He will also trim all the dead branches from the 30+ trees on our property. We do live in a low cost of living area though. Prices do vary quite a bit. I have heard of someone who paid $10K to have a single tree removed.

 

[lemming]

Yeah prices vary by when the contractor's boat payment is due.
I've thought about importing a logger from Oregon. Offer airfare and hotel for a week and maybe $1k. I'm sure it would be cheaper then what happens here.

I don't want to end up on youtube so I'll stay out of the tree.

 

[braumeister]

A couple of years ago, we needed to have a large tree cut down because it had grown too close to the power lines. Called a well known local company and they quoted us $6,500 to cut down and remove the tree. I said I didn't need it removed; the firewood would be fine. Dropping the removal part brought the quote down only to $6,000.

After my heart rate dropped a bit, I did a little more investigating, and discovered that the power company would cut it down for free, since it was in their interest as well as mine.

Bottom line: If I needed to get another big tree cut, I would get a LOT of quotes for the job.

 

[TrvlBug]

A couple of years ago, we needed to have a large tree cut down because it had grown too close to the power lines. Called a well known local company and they quoted us $6,500 to cut down and remove the tree. I said I didn't need it removed; the firewood would be fine. Dropping the removal part brought the quote down only to $6,000.

After my heart rate dropped a bit, I did a little more investigating, and discovered that the power company would cut it down for free, since it was in their interest as well as mine.

Bottom line: If I needed to get another big tree cut, I would get a LOT of quotes for the job.

You want to be careful having the local power company cut down your trees. In our area, they do a hatchet job. We had ours professionally done and the company did a great job. Our neighbor relied on the power company to do it for free. One of their massive trees had three huge trunks, two of which leaned towards to power lines, one towards their driveway where they park their very pricey cars...guess which trunk the power company left standing . Other trees were asthetically ruined if not damaged and some were removed. He had to hire some professionals to come in and clean up the power company's mess. Like they say...you get what you pay for, in our area at least!

 

[audreyh1]

Sometimes I am glad I am not a DIY guy. Definitely cutting a tree near your house is good time to hire a pro.

One time we hired someone to cut a tall tree in our front yard. When the guy showed up by himself and a rope we said - Never Mind! and sent him away. Then we called a professional tree removal company. They did a tidy job, removed all the wood, ground the stump, very clean. I don't remember it costing very much - but that was a LONG time ago!

 

[bld999]

Yeah prices vary by when the contractor's boat payment is due.
I've thought about importing a logger from Oregon. Offer airfare and hotel for a week and maybe $1k. I'm sure it would be cheaper then what happens here.

I don't want to end up on youtube so I'll stay out of the tree.

Yer out! contractors can't afford boats anymore...

 

[Texas Proud]

You want to be careful having the local power company cut down your trees. In our area, they do a hatchet job. We had ours professionally done and the company did a great job. Our neighbor relied on the power company to do it for free. One of their massive trees had three huge trunks, two of which leaned towards to power lines, one towards their driveway where they park their very pricey cars...guess which trunk the power company left standing . Other trees were asthetically ruined if not damaged and some were removed. He had to hire some professionals to come in and clean up the power company's mess. Like they say...you get what you pay for, in our area at least!

The power company is ONLY interested in protecting their lines.... they could care less about how the tree looks... your example is exactly how they would cut... cut the ones going to the power lines and leave the rest.. they are not doing you a favor.... Also, they have the right to do that hatchet job even if you do not want them to.... do a search on some cut trees and take a look.... some are just hideous...

BUT, the cost of removing the REST of the tree should be a lot less...

 

[W2R]

One time we hired someone to cut a tall tree in our front yard. When the guy showed up by himself and a rope we said - Never Mind! and sent him away. Then we called a professional tree removal company. They did a tidy job, removed all the wood, ground the stump, very clean. I don't remember it costing very much - but that was a LONG time ago!

I had a medium sized tree removed in 2006 ($900) because it had tipped and was leaning on my roof after Hurricane Katrina. I waited for 10 months before calling the tree removal company, or else the price would have been twice that.

Then I had a very large tree removed in 2008 ($1200) because a huge branch from it fell and completely took down my neighbor's fence during Hurricane Gustav. It had been weakened by Hurricane Katrina, and Gustav did it in.

Finally I had a small ornamental tree removed in 2010 ($900). The reason it was so much was that it was right next to the foundation of my house. I was putting my house on the market and didn't want potential buyers to worry about it. Besides, it was growing like wildfire and was becoming difficult for me to trim.

These are considered to be good prices around here. I think most companies would charge half again as much in my location. All three trees were completely removed, and my yard is only 50'x100' so it was tricky to make sure nothing fell on a house or fence. I think prices vary by location. I have no more trees and no intention of planting any, as pretty as trees are.

Here, all the power company does AFAIK is hack away the part of the tree near the power lines and they don't ask first. You end up with an ugly, deformed tree.

 

[pb4uski]

Once had a HUGE fir cut down in B.C.; the logger (almost) literally 'ran' up the tree with 2, (count 'em), 2 running chainsaws, (of different sizes), hanging on ropes from his belt........at the top he started back down, cutting in ~ 2' sections, all of which landed in a roughly 6' circle at the tree's base.

Over and done in nothing flat....no muss, no fuss......all I had to do was the splitting & piling.

Hire a pro!

My mom had a ~35' dead spruce that was within 10' of two buildings (house and garage) and the guy did it that way (but with only one chainsaw). He trimmed as he went up the tree, then kept cutting down sections and trimming as he came down, tied a guy rope about 2/3 of the way up and heaved the rope to me and then worked on the bottom until a point in time that he asked me to apply pressure by pulling on the rope and he felled the tree within a couple feet of his target. No sweat.

He cleaned up all the branches and took away the wood in his truck. I'm not sure what he charged but I think it was only a few hundred (but we live in a low cost area).

Fun to watch a pro at work.

 

[Nemo2]

I'm not sure what he charged but I think it was only a few hundred (but we live in a low cost area).

Fun to watch a pro at work.

Ours was done circa 1994.....can't recall the cost either, but if it was more than a couple hundred bucks I'd've left the damn tree where it was, so it had to have been cheap.

Fun...yes....we were watching agape and laughing, it was almost like a circus act....wham, bam, thank you ma'am, and he was on his way.

 

[TrvlBug]

The power company is ONLY interested in protecting their lines.... they could care less about how the tree looks... your example is exactly how they would cut... cut the ones going to the power lines and leave the rest.. they are not doing you a favor.... Also, they have the right to do that hatchet job even if you do not want them to.... do a search on some cut trees and take a look.... some are just hideous...

BUT, the cost of removing the REST of the tree should be a lot less...

Agreed. The problem is that with their pruning, they damaged some trees so badly that they had to be removed...with proper pruning that would not have been necessary. My neighbor incurred additional costs that weren't planned for because of the damage the pruning caused. Just saying that unless it's clear the power company is to remove a tree, it can actually cost more than planned. Relying on the power company can have unintended consequences.

 

[Grainiac]

My logger does run up trees and I am paying him $1,000 to have 1 large oak tree and 2 smaller trees removed. He will also trim all the dead branches from the 30+ trees on our property. We do live in a low cost of living area though. Prices do vary quite a bit. I have heard of someone who paid $10K to have a single tree removed.

I think $1000 for a half day visit from a logger crew of 2-3 is pretty accurate estimate here. That would include docking the trunk and chipping the branches but not hauling them away. If they need to bring extra equipment such as a big crane truck to hold the tree from falling on the house, the price will go up exponentially. Not every tree company employe climbers, which I guess might be a cheaper option than a crane truck. Also stump removal would be a couple hundred extra.

 

[Nemo2]

Coincident with upgrading our old 'kerosene powered' printer to one with scanning capabilities, I found this pic of the operation previously mentioned:

Which reminded me of the old joke about a couple Newfies looking for work in British Columbia.....they passed a logging company office which was sporting a sign 'TREE FELLERS WANTED'........"Damn" said one Newfie "And there's only the two of us".