CL ad: red oak tree (free wood for taking it down)

[StihlHead]

Here is an ad for some red oak. Only thing is that its in large tree form, near power lines and houses near it, and you have to take the tree down, take the branches, and oh, you can have the entire tree for free! I see these ads a lot, and obviously it is not only here that people post these ads. But do these people really think that arborists are going to fall their trees for free?

(broken link removed to http://portland.craigslist.org/wsc/zip/3855826279.html)

I have a large red oak tree that is avaliable to anyone that wants to take it down and haul it and the limbs away. Tree is probably about 40 feet high with a base diameter of about 3 feet. Located adjacent to main road for easy access.



I will be right over with my chainsaws and chipper, and my insurance agent, my crew, and a lawyer.

 

[scroungerjeff]

You could buy 5 cord of oak for what an arborist around here would charge to take that tree down.

 

[billb3]

craigslist ads, especially but not limited to the free ones, can be a source of humour entertainment

 

[westkywood]

Maybe if the guy said he'd clean up the limbs I didn't take, I'd go for it.

 

[Applesister]

How does that saying go? theres an a$$ for every seat?
The lawyer would be the best tool here.

 

[Jon1270]

It's the sort of idea that makes intuitive sense if you don't think too hard about it, supported by other assumptions and observable evidence:

• Firewood is expensive. My tree is made of wood, therefore it's valuable.
• The ordinary price tag for professional removal seems absurdly high, considering how quickly trees come down; those guys must be getting rich by gouging people like me. It's obviously a racket.
• This tree situation is distressing me, so someone should come to my rescue.
• So many other people are offering firewood as payment for tree removal. Some of them can even spell and punctuate, so they're obviously smart. This must be a real thing. I'd be a fool not to get in on it. I'm posting my ad tomorrow...

 

[Paulywalnut]

Yeah. The location of the tree and the size could cost a grand here.
Maybe even a permit, If you are working in the road.

 

[StihlHead]

No permit required in that town, well west of Portland. Working with a chipper in the road you only need cones in the burbs and rural towns around here. If it was in Portland you would need a permit to cut it down, as it would be considered a frontage tree or street tree. In Lake Oswego, the ritzy burb south of Portland you need a permit to cut any tree bigger than 5 inches DBH. Fines for cutting down trees w/o a permit there run in the many thousands of dollars, and likely they would not approve a tree like that to be cut down (unless it was diseased or dying).

It looks to me that there are lower cable and phone lines running parallel to the street, and so it would have to be limbed and blocked down. Cutting, chipping and removing that size tree would be at least a grand here. My guess is also that it is more like 60 feet tall.

 

[Woody Stover]

The lawyer would be the best tool here.

How would that work? If I had no insurance, he let me cut it anyway and I landed it on his house, could he sue me?

Some of them can even spell and punctuate, so they're obviously smart.

My spellin' ain't too bad, but I've rarely been accused of being a genius.

more like 60 feet tall.

Yeah. 3' diameter tree that's 40' tall? Only Oak I've seen like that had the top torn out of it.

 

[StihlHead]

How would that work? If I had no insurance, he let me cut it anyway and I landed it on his house, could he sue me?

Actually... come to think of it if you are not bonded/insured in this state, the property owner would be liable for any and all damage, and you could sue them!