Working with an arborist? Getting firewood?

I had 2 oaks taken down last year due to a fungus, They were beyond saving as well. The tree cutting company cut all pieces to 18" or so ready for me to split. Because they did not have to haul the wood, they charged me a few hundred dollars less.

edge-of-the-woods said:

So we have two BIG ash trees near the street at our house in CT, and it looks like they are infested with the emerald ash borer beetle and beyond saving...meaning they have to come down.

These trees are 4-5 feet around and too big for us to handle ourselves, so this will be the first time we hire someone to take down trees.

I am wondering if the tree service might cut the fallen trees down to a small enough size that we can then finish up, sawing and chopping them for firewood. Has anyone had experience with this?

Thanks!

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You are paying them- they should do what ever you request. Typically if they have to piece them down by climbing or bucket - you end up with what ever lengths are convenient for them - and it's never consistent firewood length.

You should be able to arrange for them to do whatever part of the work you want them to do. At my house I'd have them drop the trees and cut all pieces larger than 18 inch diameter to 16 inch lengths. I have a saw but they have better saws, and I don't think it is a big cost for them to cut the big stuff to length.

I think the fact the tree company won't have to haul the wood away should save money for you, but you won't really know how much until you collect a few bids both with hauling and without.

If they top the tree then drop a good trunk section, take your marking stick and floor chalk, mark out the length you require.

Even highly experienced cutters sometimes struggle to get the correct length by eye cut after cut.

Rossco said:

Even highly experienced cutters sometimes struggle to get the correct length by eye cut after cut.

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We had a tree service drop a dead ash that was leaning directly at my living room. Saved a good deal of money since they could leave everything on site, but consistency of length was... uh... interesting. I guess 14 inch splits burn just as well as 20 inch ones if I stack 'em right.

Chalk, paint, spray paint, whatever you have in the house to mark it. Your wife's index finger will work.

If you pay them to take down your trees just agree in advance what they will leave for you and what length it will be. I had a 36 inch DBH ash taken down 2 years ago, about 10 feet around, and had it cut into 2 foot lengths in case some day I would become a wood burner. I kept everything down to about 5 inches diameter except the huge rounds I could not even move. The 2 foot was +/- about 2 inches but the tree service wanted to act like a real service and tried to accommodate me. This year I have a new stove with a "best" wood size of 12 inches so I am cutting those rounds in half before splitting them.

edge-of-the-woods said:

This is awesome info, thank you all! What's floor chalk, though....like sidewalk chalk?

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Yeah the stuff kids use to draw on the side walk. It's soft and chunky. Doesn't break easy. Buy a box of the stuff for future use.

Cut a decent 2x2 dimensional timber to use as a marking stick, wrap some hi-viz tape around it or you will loose it on the bush floor. If you cut 16" then make the stick 15" to account for the thick chalk.

The odd time I forget the stick I try to use my bar as a guide. Just a PITA to be honest.

If you have enough saw, have them leave it as long as possible and buck it yourself. I have a friend that cuts trees on the side, and did a job close to me so I hauled the wood away for him. I told him I would buck it, but when I got there they had rounds anywhere from 12-24"

I just use a branch off the tree for a marking stick. paint a cpl marks on it good to go. nice and flexible if a log rolls on it. and if I lose it no biggie cut another branch or small sapling.

Tree companies will generally buck the wood for you at no additional cost. But as everyone said, they dont really care about even lengths.
Those boys move fast, before you can find the 16" spot on your ruler they are already packing up.
Have fun.

jeff_t said:

If you have enough saw, have them leave it as long as possible and buck it yourself.

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I think his issue is that he doesn't have enough saw to handle the 4-5 foot diameter trunk.

In that case I would have them leave anything smaller than XX inches (whatever size you're comfortable bucking on your own) and have them buck the large stuff to the length you specify.

I will warn you, as others have, they are used to cutting wood up into any size that is manageable so unless you mark out the lengths or you get lucky and get a saw operator that is really good at eye-balling length and cares enough to take his time you're going to get all sorts of lengths. It would be best to be there the day they take them down and mark the buck lengths for them if they're ok with it.

Applesister said:

Tree companies will generally buck the wood for you at no additional cost. But as everyone said, they dont really care about even lengths.

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Yeah, and they don't care if they make angle cuts, either. If you are using a power splitter, those angle-cut ends want to scoot out to the side when the wedge hits 'em. Or the wedge will start, build up pressure, then the round will kick out and hit you in the acorns! Well, not you...

I had a few big trees taken down close to my house and got a fantastic price by hiring the tree services to essentially just drop them, and I did the rest. It was 6 or 7 huge trees, all 20"+ DBH and cost $1000 to drop them. I bucked everything up and rented a legit hydraulic feed tow behind chipper for a day to do all the brush. I saved a ton of money, it wasn't too much work (even two people can't keep up with the chipper) and everything was perfectly cut to 16" +/- . With the money you save, you could probably buy a big enough saw

I had 10 trees removed by professionals last summer and cost me about $2300. They stacked the logs for me to cut up as I wished and chipped anything I told them to (I told them to chip the tops and anything < 6" dia).

It seemed a little pricey at first but they were very much "hazard trees" and could not have been done without using a lift. They did an excellent job.







I had a nice video of them dropping one of the tops, but couldn't get it linked to this post.

Dollars to donuts they sell the wood and/or burn themselves, and want the trunks for that reason.

drz1050 said:

Dollars to donuts they sell the wood and/or burn themselves, and want the trunks for that reason.

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X2 something fishy there

I personally know 2 tree service guys and both of them charge extra money to have the wood removed/cleaned up - It would easily be $500 extra in this case, if not more. They both burn, but don't sell. I'm assuming both of the people you got quotes from sell firewood. Your 2 quotes were $1,000 different, so you need to keep getting more. There are good guys out there, and it doesn't sound like you've found one in either of these companies.

edge-of-the-woods said:

I'm more than willing to invest in a bigger, gas-powered saw. I figure this much wood will save me from having to buy a bunch next year.

What I am really surprised at is that these companies are A) not giving me any break for not having to dispose of the wood, and B) pretty adamant about wanting to take the trunk wood with them. They didn't even ask what kind of equipment I have to cut it with, they just seem to want to take it. This surprises me, because this wood is supposed to not leave the site, because of the ash borer.

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ash doesn't have a lot of value as saw logs but is the fastest drying firewood I know of. it looks like they are on the edge of your lawn is there room to drop them whole and not hit anything? I certainly wouldn't pay anyone thousands of dollars to drop a tree unless it was near a building or power lines ect.

notshubby said:

the wood can leave the site it is allowed to go within 50 miles. http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/28722.html ash doesn't have a lot of value as saw logs but is the fastest drying firewood I know of. it looks like they are on the edge of your lawn is there room to drop them whole and not hit anything? I certainly wouldn't pay anyone thousands of dollars to drop a tree unless it was near a building or power lines ect.

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Regardless of what the tree is next to, it can still kill you. These trees are fairly large, and unless the OP is extremely comfortable felling trees, paying someone to do it shouldn't be looked at as a ridiculous option. Is saving $3,000 worth your ability to walk, or perhaps even your life? I say no.

I might be reading this wrong but it looks to me like wood can move freely anywhere in ct. must less restrictive than in ny state. so that means your wood can be sold as firewood to anywhere within ct. http://www.ct.gov/deep/lib/deep/forestry/eab/eab_firewood_transportation_maps.pdf