Tree ID

[krex1010]

get another estimate for sure! and everyone was spot on to say use someone with a good climber, a climber will generally get from $250-500 a day as compared to what the crane will cost.

 

[gzecc]

Looks like some kind of elm. Leaf pictures needed to confirm. Climber for under $1000.

 

[Skier76]

I'll keep this thread updated. We're supposed to have one guy stop by tonight for more info on the crane. I'm going to call a few other people for second opinions next week.

 

[Skier76]

1st guy came yesterday...really nice guy. Just to take the poplar down and remove all the wood, $3k. If we do the three pines that are near the house: $4,200. Option 3, take down the three pines and limb the poplar, $2k. Problem with what, he has to drive a 22k lb bucket truck over the leach field. Not sure we want to deal with that.

We've got two other guys coming out this week to take a look.

I'll post some pics so you guys can see what we're dealing with. He and I talked about dropping it vs sectioning it with the crane. Doing a drop would still require some work to winch out the chunks since dropping it would put it right on the hill in our back yard.

His guess is the tree is 120-150 years old. He's never seen one that big in Southern VT...and he's been in business for 38 years.

 

[krex1010]

so that tree is an aspen (aka poplar) i was going to say it looked like aspen but i have never seen one that was anywhere near the size of that tree. very cool tree, its to bad you have to cut it down.

 

[Skier76]

It is a bummer...it's a large tree. But then again, it would do some real damage if it feel on it's own.

We recieved another estimate to have it removed along with 3 pines. $1,500. That seems much much much more resonable. I'm just waiting to get it in writing.

 

[krex1010]

$1500, thats really cheap, i don't think you'll find a lower price than that. i just hope the guy is honest and knows what he is doing.

 

[Skier76]

And has insurance. Can't forget that!

 

[krex1010]

god yes, insurance is a MUST!

 

[Skier76]

I should have the written estimate up there this weekend.

I got another call yesterday. $975 for the pines...1800-2000 for the poplar. But he wants to come back out because the septic is in his way. So I'll see what he has to say.

The $1500 is the clear winner. Almost seems a bit on the low side.

 

[smokinj]

I should have the written estimate up there this weekend.

I got another call yesterday. $975 for the pines...1800-2000 for the poplar. But he wants to come back out because the septic is in his way. So I'll see what he has to say.

The $1500 is the clear winner. Almost seems a bit on the low side.

Check insuance, but depends on how they are doing it a crew with a good climber will have it done in a day....1500.00 is a strong day. day and half at the most.

 

[Battenkiller]

I talked to the guy for almost 20 minutes. Really nice guy. 38 years doing tree work. He said that base area is starting to rot...conk disease or something like that. He recomended taking it out because if it fell, it would probably destroy the entire house. Not a pleasant thought. Problem is, his crane isn't big enough. So he's going to have to sub the crane work out. Off the top of his head, he was thinking $1600-$1800 just for the crane. Eek!

Don't equate the time the guy spent on the phone giving advice as a guaranteed indication of his integrity. Any fisherman will tell you, the bigger the fish, the longer you need to play him. At $3k to get rid of that tree, I'll bet he views it as a pretty big fish.

 

[Skier76]

Thanks guys. Lots to think about. But I'm glad I called a few others to come for a look. That first estimate was a lot of money. Eeek!

 

[Skier76]

The trees were taken down yesterday. 4 pines were done in about an hour or so. Unreal what they can do with a big crane and a turbo diesel chippper.

The popplar took hours. They had to do some careful picks from the top of the tree. The crane was at it's max reach, so a few branches had to be lowered via pulley. They did a great job though. Everything was done by 4PM...they got there a little after 8AM. They did some limbing for our neighbor as well.

The poplar was only about 50 years old. The rings were HUGE. The owner of the tree company showed us on the stump how some years, the rings were 1" wide....pretty crazy. There wasn't any rot in the tree; it was pretty helthy. That gash on the side wasn't lightening, it was some other type of damage. It was good to have it taken down thought if it got any bigger, it would have been harder to remove. Plus, it was just too close to our house. God forbid it fell...or part of it fell...

I'll upload some pics this week or over the weekend. It's cool to watch the pros do their thing.

 

[thewoodlands]

Looking forward on seeing those pictures.


zap

 

[Skier76]

zap,
I started a new thread in the pics forum: https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/61111/