What's a fair price for felling this tree?

[rudysmallfry]

I have a small to mid size Maple in my backyard that is dead. It's a single trunk, maybe 12" around at the base, not a big tree. It's an easy job. There is nothing at all to hit on the way down. I'd do it myself, but I don't think tree cutting is a good job for a newbie. I got an estimate for having it taken down today for $250. It seemed high to me, so I said I would call him after I get the other estimates which instantly had him changing his bid to $200. I get nervous that people try to take advantage of me since I'm not a guy. I still don't get why men see female and equate that with idiot, but hey whatever. Is $200 a good price for such an easy job? This will take 15 minutes tops. They don't even have to chip anything. I'm keeping it all for firewood.

 

[claydogg84]

I'd say $200 is a good price. If there is no chance of the tree hitting anything, this is a perfect time for you to practice felling. Just make sure someone else is around in case something goes wrong.

 

[mark cline]

Go for it , its the time to learn and save $200. Good advice to have somebody with experience , with you to show how to cut it . Do you have any experience with a chainsaw?

 

[midwestcoast]

Pretty hard to get Anything done by a pro for less than $200. He's not trying to rip you off.
If he's nice maybe he'll give you some pointers while he's there.
I bet you could find a "guy with a chainsaw" to do it cheaper but, well, just spend some time on YouTube to preview what you might get.

 

[rudysmallfry]

I've done lots of bucking logs, but I have yet to cut down an entire tree. I wait until it's safely on the ground.

 

[Applesister]

Its the perfect opportunity to pay the guy 200.00 to supervise your cutting it down!!
Just do it...
If you give a woman a fish, she eats for a day..but teach a woman to fish and....
Well...you know.

 

[Lake Girl]

BC worksafe videos on felling trees were recently posted on the forum ... try a search; get your proper gear and go for it. Find a mentor to help you with the first one would be even better!
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/bc-feller-training-standard-you-tube-series.142362/#post-1919722

 

[Seanm]

If you do it yourself and bugger something up its on you which can be ok in some circumstances. If you hire someone they have to pay for the liability. If you are comfortable doing it then great, if not then hire an insured tree faller and get some advice at the same time. The other option is to go out in the bush and drop a few trees that are similar until you are comfortable. Small trees can be dangerous as well so be careful. FYI in my area if I have a company come out to drop trees in residential areas I expect to pay $1500 canadian if a dollar.

 

[Oldman47]

Go for it girl. Until you have done it you will still be there saying "I have never done this". Yes $200 is a nice price for an insured professional but it sounds like you really don't need him. The BCfaller safety instruction or even the Husqvarna felling videos will get you darned close to a perfect fell. I am assuming you already have a chain saw and some basics including at least 2 felling wedges. A foot at the base is a really small tree and should be a breeze unless it is a back leaner. You will cut maybe a 3 inch deep notch and leave a 1 to 1 1/4 inch thick hinge to drop it right where you want it. A word to the wise. BC feller videos always use a Humbolt face cut. That is far from the best one to use but it is one they use because it is very efficient for lumber production. Do you really intend to produce lumber? If you will be using the trunk for firewood, cut your notch at a height convenient and comfortable for you. You can always go back and cut the stump shorter while getting more fire wood.

 

[Woody Stover]

$200 is a deal. Tree work ain't cheep, as you are finding out. You could go ahead and cut it yourself; Sounds like the worst that can happen is that you injure or kill yourself. Seriously, it may be a good one to practice on if it can't hit anything, isn't leaning too hard, and isn't rotten in the bottom of the trunk where you are cutting. You can tell if the saw starts hitting dark, rotted wood. And look out for dead branches falling (widow-makers.) If you've been bucking logs, you already know a little about how a saw works and reacts. Read some material online or in your saw manual and watch some videos...

 

[CrufflerJJ]

$200 is a decent price. You're not just paying for the work itself, you're also paying for the cutter's experience/equipment/insurance. Yes, it's a chunk of change. Play what if:
- how much is it worth if you get your saw bar stuck in the tree?
- how much is it worth if you get injured in the process?

I just payed a local guy who has a tree service $500 to drop 3 big ash trees. I could have probably done one of the three trees myself. Probably. Maybe. One of the other trees threatened power lines. The third tree had a trunk about 50% rotten at the base. I think $500 was a great deal. It took two guys about 2 hours (with ropes, saws, and a pickem-up truck) to drop the trees for me.

 

[AK13]

I've heard that about 1 out of every $3 they earn goes to cover insurance premiums.

 

[homebrewz]

A few years ago, friends of mine had a mid-sized silver maple dropped in their yard for $200. It was close enough to the house and barn that they wanted someone to professionally drop it, but they had them leave all of the wood there so I could take it for firewood. Similar situation, same price. Good thing they had it done as the tree was starting to rot from the inside out.

 

[Corey]

Perfect example of how I've learned to do ...well, just about everything.

1) cost for 'pro' to cut the tree = $200-$250

2) Cost to buy chainsaw, or other gear required to cut tree...$200-250, but then you own the gear/saw for the next time.

3) Hit youtube or search the interwebs for videos and/or articles on how to 'DIY'

4) Start in on project...is it going like youtube or interwebs describe? If yes, keep going, if no, stop and figure where you goofed up, research a bit more, then proceed.

5) Project done, skills learned, gear acquired.

 

[jeffesonm]

Go for it! Nothing to hit is the perfect tree to start on! I've only cut down a few now, and would definitely hire a pro if it was near my house, but this is the best opportunity to learn. Go watch a bunch of YouTube videos (that BC Feller Standard series is great) and then find a friend to chaperon.

 

[rudysmallfry]

I'm tempted to just wait and let it fall down in the next big storm, but it's losing bark fast and is a bit of an eyesore since it's dead center in my back yard. It's been slowly dying off since Hurricane Sandy. Last year it still managed to push out a few leaves, but now it's dead dead. I'll just let the pro do it and pay attention. I just wanted to make sure the price seemed fair. I got nervous when he came down $50 so quickly.

 

[CrufflerJJ]

He may have been so willing to cut his price due to his current workload. Not sure about up in CT, but up until recently, with the cold weather here in OH, it was the slow season for the local tree businesses. Some of them supplement their winter income by selling firewood. That's why I was able to have my 3 trees dropped for "only" $500. Had I waited until the early summer, it could have easily cost me two or three times as much. Some folks would rather stay busy, even at a lower cost per job.

 

[Dix]

I'd say go for the cost of watching and learning. Sounds like an inexpensive education, as opposed to what could turn into an expensive one.

Either way, you get firewood and kindling

 

[Montanalocal]

BC feller videos always use a Humbolt face cut. That is far from the best one to use

What cut would you recommend?

 

[Bigg_Redd]

Is $200 a good price for such an easy job?

IMO, no. Start with offering $50.00, go no higher than $75.00

 

[Oldman47]

What cut would you recommend?

I recommend that you examine the situation and choose a good face cut. I am going to be dropping a tree growing along a fence line and want to minimize the height of the stump so I will make a standard face cut on that one, one of those with an angled top and a flat bottom. On a tree out in the open I like the open face cut with a steep top and an angled bottom to get 70 degrees of opening and have more options on the back cut due to how shallow the face cut is. I really don't think there is such a thing as a face cut that suits all situations.

 

[BringinHeat]

Here is an example of what you have to do to make sure you don't have any close calls when felling a tree.




When the weather cleared up recently enough for me to finally tackle this tree, I decided not to get too cute with it (like I originally had drawn up) and only used one anchor point with a pulley (and strap) attached to one tree to make about a 75 degree angle on the pulling direction (I attached a few pictures showing my rigging).

Thankfully things went very well.

For this tree, I had a decent amount of pulling force on the tree (but not too much) before I made my notch cut. While I was making the notch I was paying close attention and made sure I did not make the notch too deep. After making the notch I went back over to the rope puller and cranked it pretty good to straighten up the tree even more (btw this tree had about 12' of back lean towards the cottage so I really had the adrenaline going).

It still was leaning back quite a bit while I made my plunge cut. I left about 3" of hinge wood first, then cut back towards the back of the tree leaving about 2 inches of hold wood there. I got 2 wedges in there and pounded them in as tight as they would go. I then finished the hinge leaving about a good 2" there.

I went back of to the rope puller and gave several more good cranks. The tree looked to be finally starting to get vertical. I pounded the wedges in again as tight as they would go and then made my final back cut.

I finally heard some cracking and the tree started moving. It was going over perfectly in the direction I had intended, but then just started to slow down as the top was rubbing past the top of the tree next to it. I was expecting this so I was on my way over to the puller again to crank some more to keep it going, but it had enough momentum to get past this and finished going down on it's own.

My wife had some nice video of it and was really cool to watch it (she was out of breath she was so scared

). I was pretty pumped myself and felt really good to get this one down safely.

I mention all of this because the pros usually are getting what they deserve when it comes to dropping "hazard" trees. I had about 10 taken down professionally because they were too dangerous for me to handle as a newbie.

Good luck.

 

[saskwoodburner]

.... It's an easy job. This will take 15 minutes tops....

Well, if you think $200 is too much, why not go for it? If you figure it would take a pro 15 minutes, and suppose it took you 4 hours (but it wouldn't) you still win. Save money, and gain experience.