Neighbor wants me to take down two trees for them.

[Kenster]

I'm getting known as a 'wood' guy in our community. I've been seen removing downed oaks, and recently a pine, from the front of a couple of neighbors' homes. Now another neighbor is offering me two fairly good size (maybe 15 inch diameter) Water Oaks that are in their pasture and have died from our killer drought. I can drop the trees fairly easily. My dilemma is... I'm really doing them a favor. They got a quote of several hundred dollars from a real Tree Guy. They know I scrounge for wood. I don't mind cutting them down and taking the wood from the trunk and larger limbs. I do not want to do a clean up job for them. Should I be expected to?

If I fell the trees and remove 80% of them, since it's at no cost to them, I shouldn't feel badly about not also removing all the brush/tops. I have no place to put it and we are in a months long burn ban. I'll leave a fairly neat pile in their pasture and let them handle it.

Does that seem fair?

 

[chinkapin_oak]

Yes, I would tell them you can pile the limbs on the stump for them to burn, but you cannot move them any distance, or remove them at all.

Basically I would handle it like I would on my own property. Toss them in a pile to burn. If the burnpile is a few hundred feet away, tell them to bring out their tractor and help load.

 

[Loco Gringo]

Ive never done cleanup. Ill pile it up but anything more they can pay someone. I wasn't born last night so I knew they were saving money. If there's a burn ban in effect fine, the longer it sets the faster it will burn giving off less smoke and leaving less mess that didn't burn. Don't get known as the "will work for free guy" there Ken. Just tell em that you know how much money they will be saving with your labor and knowledge and you'll gladly work for the bulk of the wood but that's it. I left a note on a door last month stating that I would take away the logs that were in her driveway but the 3 truckloads of mess down in the ditch I knew I wasn't gettin into. She called, I cut and then the property owner asked me where I wanted his next tandem load of logs. It was win win but I wasn't humpin logs up a bank out of a ditch some 20 feet deep. No way!

 

[smokinj]

I am very up front about brush...I DO NOT TAKE OR REMOVE IT.....................

 

[Thistle]

Take the wood,leave the brush. You're doing them a favor not being their clean-up guy.

 

[Danno77]

It is fair. That's what I would do, but just make sure they know that's your plan...

 

[Jags]

Just make your intentions clear from the beginning. They know they are getting a deal. You know you are getting a pretty easy scrounge (as long as you don't have to deal with the brush), so if everybody knows the deal it should be a win-win for all. YaaaY!

 

[Delta-T]

take the tops and brush..leave the logs...that'll teach 'em.

 

[Bspring]

The most I will do is cut what I leave in small enough lengths for them to move. If they want to help me load what I am taking then I will help them pile the trash in one spot. It is a case by case issue.

 

[Kenster]

They are not close friends but are good neighbors. We all know each other out here in this rural area. I get along fine with them and want to keep it that way.
Yes, I'll make things clear up front. I probably won't be able to do this until mid October anyway. That will be the first chance I'll have time to deal with it and hopefully the temps will have cooled down below 100 by then. It's 103 right now (heat index 107)... 5:15 PM. Down from the high of 104. Not my favorite time of year to work on wood.

 

[Woody Stover]

The most I will do is cut what I leave in small enough lengths for them to move. If they want to help me load what I am taking then I will help them pile the trash in one spot. It is a case by case issue.

That's what I'd do, Ken. If they have to move it out of the pasture (I can't see why they would) I would trim the brush to a size they could handle and fit on their trailer, or leave them a pile that is ready to burn. That would be easy enough. Even at your "endless wood" site you have to move the brush, right?

 

[Danno77]

take the tops and brush..leave the logs...that'll teach 'em.

Yeah. I'm with DT!

 

[cptoneleg]

No need to teach them anything just be up front, You have options if you have time, charge them if they want anything extra, find out what someone would charge to chip and haul. :zip:

 

[cptoneleg]

take the tops and brush..leave the logs...that'll teach 'em.

Yeah. I'm with DT!

:lol:

 

[Loco Gringo]

Hell if they're in fact good neighbors I would keep it that way. You want them looking out for you. Since you say the oaks are dead, when they hit the ground most of the small limbs that you don't want anyway will shatter and splinter. Anything under 1 inch I burn myself. Rake up the small stuff ( an hour of raking?) make them happy and enjoy the free heat. Get some kids involved in the cleanup and treat them with ice cream. Im a firm believer in keeping good relations with my neighbors. A reason I also don't get too terribly close to them.

 

[rdust]

Sounds fair to me. I always tell them I'll take anything 3-4 inches and up, the rest will get stacked neatly for them to dispose of.

 

[KodiakII]

Tell them if they want to rent a chipper that you would help them run it through!

 

[oldspark]

Show them this thread!

 

[SolarAndWood]

More than fair. Let them run out there and push the brush off to the side of the pasture with their loader and let time have its way with it.

 

[RNLA]

As some here know I run my own tree company. I scrounge for wood too. I tell people all the time that my truck doesn't move for less than $100.00. If the chipper is in tow it's $150.00. I'd say if they want more than a brush pile you could discuss money. Scrounging for wood is a funny deal, sometimes people want you to do lots of work.

 

[Wood Duck]

I'd be as clear about your plans as possible to try to avoid any misunderstanding. I'd agree to cut down the tree and stack the brush neatly very near the location where the trees drop. I don't have any way to deal with a stump, so it stays put, and no, I can't cut it off at or below ground level because I don't want to ruin a chain.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

I've cut a few trees for others but have never taken the brush. We simply pile the brush as neatly as possible for them to burn at their convenience. As for the sawdust, it can stay put or I just tell them to take a rake and spread it out thinly and it won't harm the grass. I always offered to leave them some firewood if they wanted some to burn but never left a whole lot; just enough to be neighborly.

 

[Jutt77]

I'm getting known as a 'wood' guy in our community. I've been seen removing downed oaks, and recently a pine, from the front of a couple of neighbors' homes. Now another neighbor is offering me two fairly good size (maybe 15 inch diameter) Water Oaks that are in their pasture and have died from our killer drought. I can drop the trees fairly easily. My dilemma is... I'm really doing them a favor. They got a quote of several hundred dollars from a real Tree Guy. They know I scrounge for wood. I don't mind cutting them down and taking the wood from the trunk and larger limbs. I do not want to do a clean up job for them. Should I be expected to?

If I fell the trees and remove 80% of them, since it's at no cost to them, I shouldn't feel badly about not also removing all the brush/tops. I have no place to put it and we are in a months long burn ban. I'll leave a fairly neat pile in their pasture and let them handle it.

Does that seem fair?

Totally fair. Just give them that expectation up front and it should be all good. You're going to be giving that new splitter a workout eh?

 

[Elderthewelder]

As some here know I run my own tree company. I scrounge for wood too. I tell people all the time that my truck doesn't move for less than $100.00. If the chipper is in tow it's $150.00. I'd say if they want more than a brush pile you could discuss money. Scrounging for wood is a funny deal, sometimes people want you to do lots of work.

But I only live 6 blocks down the road!

 

[thewoodlands]

I'm getting known as a 'wood' guy in our community. I've been seen removing downed oaks, and recently a pine, from the front of a couple of neighbors' homes. Now another neighbor is offering me two fairly good size (maybe 15 inch diameter) Water Oaks that are in their pasture and have died from our killer drought. I can drop the trees fairly easily. My dilemma is... I'm really doing them a favor. They got a quote of several hundred dollars from a real Tree Guy. They know I scrounge for wood. I don't mind cutting them down and taking the wood from the trunk and larger limbs. I do not want to do a clean up job for them. Should I be expected to?

If I fell the trees and remove 80% of them, since it's at no cost to them, I shouldn't feel badly about not also removing all the brush/tops. I have no place to put it and we are in a months long burn ban. I'll leave a fairly neat pile in their pasture and let them handle it.

Does that seem fair?

Put it on paper exactly what you will do (keep a copy) won't be any bitching if they thought you would cleanup and you had on paper in ink something different.

gibir