Am I biting off too much?

[hazmat5760]

A lady at work needs/wants 4 trees removed from her property. Two are walnuts and two she doesn't know the type. The walnuts both have storm damage from a few years ago and the other two are perfectly healthy. Their is a privacy fence and a flower garden that she'd prefer not be hit with the trees. I've never cut anything bigger than a 4" locus tree. She says the walnuts are about the height of a two story house. Below is a map she drew up for me. I've not gone to actually look at the trees though.

ETA, the "map" isn't showing up right on here, I'll try to fix that.

 

[hazmat5760]

View attachment 189749

 

[turnkey4099]

Without actually looking at the site, it is impossible to say if it is doable. From your exerience level I would say you would be over your head. A twostory tree, dependng on type will probably be rather small gauge.

Harry K

 

[Cedar-Acres]

I've taken down trees bigger than 24", but that was at the edge of a tree line in a wide open field or in the woods with nothing around but other trees.

I personally wouldn't take on this job. Any mistake would be VERY expensive and possibly deadly. Things can go wrong in an instant and once they do you cannot stop it. She should hire a tree service company to take them down and then you can clean up when they are done. That will save her a bunch of money and you would get the trees for firewood.

 

[olyman]

according to your pic....take the one, on the right bottom first,,and land it away from the house..then take the other walnut,,in about the same direction,,to the bottom of pic,,but miss house,,then either of the two other trees,,landing them,,about where the second walnut stood..you could climb up a ways,,and tie a rope to the top half of the tree,,so when you cut the "kerf":msp_tongue: or notch,,the pulling of the tree,would bring it over to where you want...the same way you took down the small tree,,with the chainsaw,,would just be a larger adaption of the bigger ones.......

 

[gulity1]

If you have to ask, or seek advice on something this dangerous then the answer is always No .. sorry just my two cents

 

[hazmat5760]

Oly, that was pretty much my plan in order of tree cutting.

I know this is over my head, just was trying to talk myself out of it, or at least doing it myself. That and it's a hour away from home, but only 25 minutes from work. Not that I'd want to start cutting trees at 1900 on a weeknight.

I'm trying to recruit my brother as he has more experiance than me, as do most people.

 

[blacklocst]

I would try it only if the trees to be cut were leaning in favorable direction. I once cut a tree that was 10 paces from my house the greatest feeling in the world was watching that tree fall in the direction that planed.

 

[Wood Doctor]

Iowa is a Big State...

... Where are you? Eastern or western Iowa? If Eastern, I'd be happy to drive over and take a look. My fee = one truckload of rounds if we can drop one of them safely.

 

[blackdogon57]

If you have to ask, or seek advice on something this dangerous then the answer is always No .. sorry just my two cents

good advice - not worth the risk. Who do you think is going to get sued if something goes wrong ? Unless you are charging her big bucks I
would pass.

 

[hazmat5760]

... Where are you? Eastern or western Iowa? If Eastern, I'd be happy to drive over and take a look. My fee = one truckload of rounds if we can drop one of them safely.

I am in Coralville, the trees are up in Central City. I should have her actual address tomorrow so I can at least google earth her property and maybe get a better idea. That's a pretty reasonable fee.

 

[Circle B MN]

Everybody starts somewhere......:cool2:

 

[Wood Doctor]

I am in Coralville, the trees are up in Central City. I should have her actual address tomorrow so I can at least google earth her property and maybe get a better idea. That's a pretty reasonable fee.

Shucks, too far away. I used to teach at the University, but that was ages ago.

I suggest you help her by taking down the easy ones first, but only if you feel comfortable. Then advise her to hire a pro for the ones threatening the house. Stay away from anything threatening a building.

You can also help get the bill down by offering to remove the heavy logs that the tree company cannot shred.

 

[TMFARM 2009]

its safe to say.... if you don't feel good about it don't do it...
also if you feel its a piece of cake it will bite you in the @ss....
in the world of the tree cutting business, carelessness kills... lack of experience can also... be safe...
just remember if them tree's don't fit your skills, there is always more somewhere else....just look around trees everywhere, now get cutting would ya...

 

[D&B Mack]

I never like to discourage anyone, but with this statement:

I've never cut anything bigger than a 4" locus tree.

I would say you need to get some experience away from personal property. Too much risk with little reward. This is assuming the trees are able to damage something when felled in a given direction, which from the map, they are. Really need some pics and/or more description, but given the information provided, I would pass.

 

[avalancher]

If you are inexperienced at tree felling, then the last thing you want to do is take down a tree where anything can get hit. Tree cutting takes time,experience, and a certain degree of reading wind conditions,tree weight, tree leaning, wood tendency to barber chair, the list goes on and on.

While taking a tree down for an experienced feller may look easy, there are many factors that can direct a tree in a given direction. Put the word out around here you are looking for some experienced guy to give you a few pointers, and there is bound to be a few members around here that would be willing to come on over and give you a hand. Just keep in mind that even if help does show up, there is a certain amount of liability on your part as well as the guy who shows up in the event something goes wrong.

 

[hazmat5760]

Thanks for all the tips/comments! Still waiting for an addy, but I may pass just because of my wife. She doesn't want me to do it, so that's prolly the deciding factor overall. She doesn't even want me to get a good chunk of hickory/oak, not sure what it is yet, that is a really easy snag. Planning on using that snag on our wedding party for smoking the pork, if it's hickory.

 

[CJ1]

Thanks for all the tips/comments! Still waiting for an addy, but I may pass just because of my wife. She doesn't want me to do it, so that's prolly the deciding factor overall. She doesn't even want me to get a good chunk of hickory/oak, not sure what it is yet, that is a really easy snag. Planning on using that snag on our wedding party for smoking the pork, if it's hickory.

While the trees sound small, if you are doubting yourself and asking then walk away from the job. You need to be 110% sure of your abilities then you may hopefully be 90% right. I missed the back of my truck by about 2 feet with the top of a tree a couple of weeks ago. Mis judged the hight of it. CJ

 

[4seasons]

The place to practice is not near someones house. Best place to learn is in closed walmart parking lot. No wait, that is driving. The open field would work well for either though. Even dropping trees in the woods can be hard to learn because they tend to get hung up in other trees and then you have created a hazard. Even when you know how to do it and have the experience to do it right things will go wrong from time to time. The only time that I would ever drop a tree that could hit something is if it was my house, shed, garden, truck, etc..

 

[mga]

Everybody starts somewhere......:cool2:

true.

but, if uninsured, i'd be 1000% satisfied with every cut i made to ensure there would be absolutely no damage to anything.

i'd also inform her that there is a possibility of lawn damage, plus a discussion on who does clean up.