Advice on Tree Removal

[nate8]

Hi all,

looking for some advice. I have two large fir trees (I believe they are fir) that I would like to have removed. They drop a lot of pine needles on my roof, block a lot of sunlight from my house and the roots are becoming very exposed.

A friend mentioned that it may be possible to avoid paying too much for their removal by letting someone come and take all of the wood for lumber/firewood. I'd like some advice on where to search for someone that could do that and what to be sure of if/when they come. I imagine they should be licensed/bonded/insured? I am also curious about the permit process. I live in Bothell, Washington and our property was recently redesignated from unincorporated King County to the City of Bothell.

Anyways, here are a couple images of the trees/how they sit on my property. Any help/insight/advice would be great!

 

[Marshy]

People won't remove them for free or for the sake of keeping the wood and mills won't take yard trees. Not even a hack would remove those in barter for the wood. I think many people will agree whit this. You can search on this site about this and confirm this for yourself or wait for people to chime in.

 

[jackjcc]

If somebody did do it in exchange for the wood I would guess they wouldn't know what they are doing, and would probably damage something. It is best to hire a business that is insured. It would also be good to check with the city if they have any requirements for tree removals. Every town is different.

On top of that, those are very tall trees that would be difficult to remove and there are a lot of things in the area that could be damaged by the falling branches alone. Most of the tree would have to be lowered by ropes (rigging) in order to be removed safely.

Call a pro. Don't risk it.

 

[no tree to big]

You might try finding a pro to remove them and leave the logs. At that point you can split the logs into firewood (at this point there is value to the product) then you can sell the firewood to help offset the cost of removal. Debris from a yard tree has zero value until the finished product is produced

 

[Raintree]

A few knotty Hemlock logs doesn't even pay the trucking.

 

[stoolie10]

I would get three lic. & bonded tree service bids, then make a choice. No reason to risk your property.

 

[cupar]

Seem's simple enough, you can easily get a couple quotes to remove the tree and haul the branches away (have branches chipped) leave the wood and people will take the wood for fire pits and the like. Here in my area we charge $210/h after taxes and fee's. From those pictures I'd say 3.5 hours(conservatively) to take it down haul branches and leave 16-20" rounds. No stumping, no splitting, just taking it to a couple inches off ground level. However I've been told companies in other areas go down as low as $65/h before tax.

However if there's something I don't see in the picture or there's strict bylaws or other unknown conditions it could go north of 8 hours to do it.

I live nowhere near you aka Canada and can't help you remove it, just giving you an idea.

 

[cupar]

If it was my tree and I was using my personal gear, and a 6.5' pick up box and a small utility trailer to haul branches away. It'd take me multiple days.

 

[stoolie10]

Not worth the hassel to mess with limbs IMO. Have a tree service do all work. You get rid of firewood & it's all done.

 

[TheJollyLogger]

I needed a new roof last year, and I asked the roofer if I gave him the old shingles would he knock some off the price....
and then we laughed, and laughed...

Seriously, nate, you have maybe $200.00 worth of firewood in those trees, AFTER it is bucked, split, seasoned, and delivered. How much is it worth to you not to have your house crunched?

http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/236559-it-s-unwise-to-pay-too-much-but-it-s-worse-to

 

[nate8]

I really appreciate the all of the replies and advice! I will get several quotes for removal. I didn't believe the friend that said I could get the trees removed in exchange for the wood and I REALLY don't believe him now! I have removed about 6, 30 foot trees from my property at this point, but these larger trees are far outside of the scope of my capability so I figured I'd try the pros here. Again, thanks for all of the help!

 

[TheJollyLogger]

And honestly, thanks for being receptive. Speaking for most tree professionals, The wood is kind of a PITA. We generate so much of it, mills don't want urban trees due to low volume and metal contamination, and firewood is just such a labor intensive low margin product. I don't really tell customersthis, but I'll add a little to the bid to cut and stack trunks for firewood, because it's less labor just to chip it.
Those are really pretty easy trees, and one way you can save money is to handle the cleanup yourself if you have the capability.

As far as the zoning/municipal issues go, anygood local arborist should be familiar with the local regs.

 

[ArtB]

nice super easy to climb tree

Ya got any athletic grandkids (or kids)? Son had similar near his house, set the 14 YO grandson up with some rope and harness and let him top it first with a good sharp handsaw. He had climbed to the top of the tree just for fun years ago already. took about 20X longer for him to cut thru 8" farther down that the climb took.

Had to pay the kids to cut the branches off, then just dropped the trunk next to the house. 12 YO dropped in with electric chain saw, but had skinnier trunk (15"dbh)

At least Bothell does not have any city 'save that tree' ordinances like down south of you like we have here.

they still have a 8 foot high pile of branches in the back yard, good for may cookouts in the legislated 3 ft max fire circle <G>

Or do like a neighbor - he sat out reading a book next to the fire with a hot dog on a stick for 5 hours every weekend last summer to burn up his branches! (but never on "no burn days")
note: only 'left coast' folks may understand the 'no burn day' reference and our local 'wood smoke enforcement mafia' and sitting all day by the fire with a hot dog.

 

[TheJollyLogger]

nice super easy to climb tree

Ya got any athletic grandkids (or kids)? Son had similar near his house, set the 14 YO grandson up with some rope and harness and let him top it first with a good sharp handsaw. He had climbed to the top of the tree just for fun years ago already. took about 20X longer for him to cut thru 8" farther down that the climb took.

Had to pay the kids to cut the branches off, then just dropped the trunk next to the house. 12 YO dropped in with electric chain saw, but had skinnier trunk (15"dbh)

At least Bothell does not have any city 'save that tree' ordinances like down south of you like we have here.

they still have a 8 foot high pile of branches in the back yard, good for may cookouts in the legislated 3 ft max fire circle <G>

Or do like a neighbor - he sat out reading a book next to the fire with a hot dog on a stick for 5 hours every weekend last summer to burn up his branches! (but never on "no burn days")
note: only 'left coast' folks may understand the 'no burn day' reference and our local 'wood smoke enforcement mafia' and sitting all day by the fire with a hot dog.

They'll let anyone on here.

 

[stoolie10]

Different strokes for different folks or something like that.

 

[TheJollyLogger]

Oh yes, sending your 14 year old grandson up into a tree with a hand saw is just the advice th OP was looking for from a professional tree forum.

 

[KenJax Tree]

I've had more than a few stitches from my Silky.....they're real dangerous too.

 

[treeseer]

"They drop a lot of pine needles on my roof"
So blow them off. 2-3x/year is not high maintenance.

" block a lot of sunlight from my house"
So prune the branches that are shading the windows.

"the roots are becoming very exposed"
So put soil and mulch between the roots. Plant some groundcover. Cheap and quick.
Cutting the tree down will not fix this problem will it?

 

[Pelorus]

Yeah....go buy an extension ladder and a blower so you can use them to blow the unwanted needles falling from your unwanted trees onto your roof. And then when you get back on the ground, you can use the blower to corral those needles, and do whatever you do with them. That's the kinda advice you wanted to hear, right?

 

[no tree to big]

Just set the tree on fire cheap and easy and it's o so pretty