Neighbor asked to cut down her maple... Charge her?

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Cornflakes

Cornflakes

Burning Hunk
Sep 19, 2014
203
Maryland
The neighbor lady asked if I would want to cut this down and take the wood. It's clearly not an ideal firewood tree... Limbs and knots...

Not sure I want to mess with it. If I do, I'm the kinda guy that would just do it for free to help an older retired neighbor lady out. But my time is more valuable to me now-a-days, and this tree looks like a headache of cutting up small limbs.

Say I charge her... What is a fair price worth my time?


image.jpg
 
If it were me I'd say $250 I keep ideal wood rest goes in a pile!
 
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She says it has some wilt disease and doesn't want it to spread to her other maple.

I don't think it's worth the hassle to be honest, aside from me just helping a neighbor out. I may tell her $200... Idk... Haven't decided if I want to fudge with it.
 
TheAardvark said:
I would cut it down for free. I just wouldnt mess with all the leftover branches.
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Free is my gut response... But I'm just overly anal about helping people. Now that I have 2 kids and work a lot... Time is of more value and there isn't much to be desired with that tree/wood.

I may tell her $100, keep the scraps, I'll take the big stuff and call it a day.
 
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Like you said old lady, she wants it down and is going to get it taken down one way or the other. If she's a good neighbor, don't let her get whacked with a 1-2k take down charge. I would do the "neighborly thing", just do it for free, take what I want, and have a neighborhood bonfire for the rest.
 
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Jay106n said:
Like you said old lady, she wants it down and is going to get it taken down one way or the other. If she's a good neighbor, don't let her get whacked with a 1-2k take down charge. I would do the "neighborly thing", just do it for free, take what I want, and have a neighborhood bonfire for the rest.
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Yea... She offered $100. I'm going to take her up on that. Mainly because I need the money time is golden to me at this point in my life. I think $100 is pretty fair for her end.
 
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Does taking money make you in the business of tree cutting? Increase potential liability if anything goes wrong? Require a business license/permit? Does removal of the tree require a permit?
 
jebatty said:
Does taking money make you in the business of tree cutting? Increase potential liability if anything goes wrong? Require a business license/permit? Does removal of the tree require a permit?
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Not to mention the op wrote extensively above how doing it for free was the preferred thing to do
 
Jay106n said:
Like you said old lady, she wants it down and is going to get it taken down one way or the other. If she's a good neighbor, don't let her get whacked with a 1-2k take down charge. I would do the "neighborly thing", just do it for free, take what I want, and have a neighborhood bonfire for the rest.
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This.
 
jb6l6gc said:
But it's a beautiful tree don't see anything wrong there!
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Maybe the lady is tired of raking leaves each Fall?;lol


OP: What ya gonna do with all the brush? It will really add up.
 
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Well... when all is said and done it's your call to make. $100.00 seems like a gravy deal for the neighbor, considering what you've got there.

Landscaped lawn, power lines nearby. A lot of brush, sawdust and leaves to clean up and get rid of. If you have a chipper and truck available, all the better. She may want the stump ground, too when she looks at the site the next morning. (I remember working for the BIL's tree company years ago. You can do everything right and still get the dreaded morning after call. :eek: )

She may not be receptive to vehicles on that nice lawn. If you have to climb or use a bucket truck to do a top-down removal, you're looking at some serious time, labor expense and effort.

Not saying you should charge her more... just sayin'. :)
 
Cornflakes said:
She says it has some wilt disease and doesn't want it to spread to her other maple.

I'm guessing a tree removal company told her about this disease and she didn't like the $1000 estimate they gave her - pretty small tree, looks like 2 hours of work, $300 is fair.
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For me it depends what kind of neighbor she is.They are all different. If she a good neighbor that in itself is worth something. Does she have kids or grandkids that could help free or are the just there to get what they can. All those things factor in. But i like the idea of cutting it down take the good and leave the bad. 2 hours of time is about right.
 
I would either do it t all completely for free, or pass all together. Fred wright makes some good points, you don't want things turning south with a neighbor, especially when money's involved. This seems high risk, low reward.
 
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How about you do it for free if she hires a neighborhood kid to help you for a few hours? He can drag all the brush away somewhere and help pickup/move the wood, you still do it for "free", and it takes less of your time.
 
I would probably forget the $100 and take the wood you wanted, but it will be up to her to hire someone to clean it up. You will be saving her a lot of money correct? Not too much time, and still doing her a favor.
 
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mwhitnee said:
I would probably forget the $100 and take the wood you wanted, but it will be up to her to hire someone to clean it up. You will be saving her a lot of money correct? Not too much time, and still doing her a favor.
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+1

Dropping and bucking it is the fun part for me. The cleanup is the hard part.
 
Tell her your fee is you get to keep the wood for firewood. The smaller branches and twigs you will put in a pile. If she offers you some cash then take it. If she doesn't, just be happy you got some nice free firewood.
 
Sounds like a win win!
 
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