Are my trees too hazardous to remove?

[Shadyplace]

Our house is surrounded by several huge big leaf maples. After a winter storm, our neighbor sent us the "hazard tree letter". We had an arborist come out and evaluate the trees--he tagged two for immediate removal. We had a firm lined up two months ago to remove them, scheduled, a bid, then he emailed me a few days ago that he is "too busy". Others that have looked at them have passed on them. We've had quotes that start at $8,000 and then get revised to $13,000. I'm starting to think no one wants the job. The trees are 90-110 feet tall, they are dying but not dead, and hang over the neighbor's house. There is crane access (but not great) from her yard. We really can't afford to do this right now, but we have no choice. How do I find someone who is actually willing and competent to do the job, and won't back out on us at the last minute? Is there any way to cut the cost back and still do it safely? We'd really like to get the work done before the fall rains hit, so we can run equipment over the back yard. BTW I am terrified of chainsaws, I don't know how you guys even do that work! I'm going to have to leave when (if!) we ever find someone to do it.

More information about the job:
we are willing to leave habitat stumps about 20' tall (especially if you can carve a big BA to face the neighbor)
all chip can be dumped on our lot or our neighbors
we will arrange for wood removal if it can be staged in an accessible area
location is in Olympia, WA
we will provide bathroom facilities, catering, and beer at end of day

 

[BarkBuster20]

I guess you havent called the right company. Too bad theres no pics up. Where are you located?

 

[2treeornot2tree]

You could find a company listed on TCIA website. Post some pics if you can. I bet there is some guys on here that would come cut down those trees if you paid there air fare.

 

[Raintree]

Look for tree Co's that own their own crane. They would have the experience & equipment needed. We have two cranes, if I can't reach the tree with mine. I have contacts that can get a larger machine to the job. Here in the NE if I rent a 80-100 ton construction crane using our climber & support equipment the bill would be about 5-6K for the day.

 

[Shadyplace]

The problem area seems to be the branch on the tallest tree that is hanging over the neighbor's house. The only access for a crane would be the drive shown in the picture. I would be curious as to how you might approach these trees.

 

[Raintree]

Easy pickings with a crane. If the trees are safe to climb, a skilled guy could dismantle them with rope & saddle.

 

[KenJax Tree]

No such thing as too hazardous, like other said a piece of cake with a crane.

 

[Toddppm]

Geez, $13k for those? ? ? That's almost worth a trip across the country to check out..... I know pics can be decieving but they don't look that difficult at all. Maybe bigger than they look but pretty straight forward job.

 

[capetrees]

Geez, $13k for those? ? ? That's almost worth a trip across the country to check out..... I know pics can be decieving but they don't look that difficult at all. Maybe bigger than they look but pretty straight forward job.

$8K - $13K?????

With the economy the way it is, I can't imagine too many people passing on trees with numbers like that. Post this in the commercial discussion section and I'm sure someone is close by that will do the job. I know I would at least look at it if I were even 100 miles away.

 

[Shadyplace]

I'm really heartened to hear that this is not an especially difficult job in your opinions, I'm going to add some more parameters of the job to the first posting.

 

[pdqdl]

Geez, $13k for those? ? ? That's almost worth a trip across the country to check out..... I know pics can be decieving but they don't look that difficult at all. Maybe bigger than they look but pretty straight forward job.

I was thinking the same thing, and I am closer than you.

 

[pdqdl]

Question: Did any of the experts that inspected the trees identify anything particularly hazardous about them? I am not familiar with that variety of tree, and I don't know what your local conditions are, but those trees look mostly healthy. Foliage seems a bit thin, but is that because of weather or other conditions that are normal?

I would expect any arborist to state definitively why a tree was hazardous, not just "tag them for removal". Many "arborists" are guys with chainsaws that don't make any money off your call until they sell you a removal. These are the same guys that are often unqualified to do big trees, then they get cold feet...and you don't hear from them anymore. After all your failures with the first company, you begin to sound desperate...and the next salesman detects a big score coming his way. You get a huge bid.

I did a very large dead locust this last winter that all the capable companies (that the homeowner got bids from) wanted $2400-$3500 to remove. It was truly hazardous. It had no bucket truck access, and the customer only wanted the tree cut down to the ground! No removal was required. The little guys were afraid of it, the big guys wanted a fortune. I did it for $750.00, but I apparently knew a few tricks the big guys didn't.

Sometimes you need to find the right company.

 

[Shadyplace]

In response to your questions PD--the arborist we had evaluate our trees is only an arborist, he doesn't do any actual tree removals. We did get a complete report, which I don't recall the specific of. He tagged only those two out of seven trees. We also consulted a Real Estate attorney about our liability and property line issues. Those trees have quite a bit of the trunk that is actually hollow ("hidy holes"), which is not unusual for big leaf maples, but these are apparently excessive. They appear to have some kind of systemic disease like a verticillium wilt, but I can't get a definitive answer on that. All I can say for sure is that when we moved here seven years ago, the leaves on all the trees were a foot across, dark green, and you could not see a bit of sky looking up through the canopy. And now you can see how stressed they look .Bear in mind we have had a much different summer than the rest of the nation. A mild wet spring, and it has only gotten above 90 once.

 

[beastmaster]

Man, I would love to remove those trees. They might be big, but really pretty basic if your good at rigging and roping. I've worked for a lot of company's that would tackle that job, and use 4 climbers to do it. Looks like after getting a lot of the limbs down you have a nice drop zone. A crane would make it fast and easy(but where's the fun in that?) I think I could do it with a small ground crew in two days(maybe 3), but that's a lot of wood and brush to move after its on the ground, that's where the time would eat you up. But 13,000 seems high, but not rip off high. Better sometimes to pay the right person or Company what their worth, then suffer the pain of the job going bad. The trick is finding that right person. Call more Companys for more bids, but don't just look for the lowest bid. Those tree's don't appear overly difficult, but on trees that big over a structure, there's no room for mistakes.

 

[sgreanbeans]

what he said

 

[Blakesmaster]

Man, I would love to remove those trees. They might be big, but really pretty basic if your good at rigging and roping. I've worked for a lot of company's that would tackle that job, and use 4 climbers to do it. Looks like after getting a lot of the limbs down you have a nice drop zone. A crane would make it fast and easy(but where's the fun in that?) I think I could do it with a small ground crew in two days(maybe 3), but that's a lot of wood and brush to move after its on the ground, that's where the time would eat you up. But 13,000 seems high, but not rip off high. Better sometimes to pay the right person or Company what their worth, then suffer the pain of the job going bad. The trick is finding that right person. Call more Companys for more bids, but don't just look for the lowest bid. Those tree's don't appear overly difficult, but on trees that big over a structure, there's no room for mistakes.

Why don't you go after it, beast? Take a nice weekend trip up with the family and make a little $ to boot!

 

[treeseer]

"The trees are 90-110 feet tall, they are dying but not dead, and hang over the neighbor's house... Is there any way to cut the cost back and still do it safely?"

Yes, get them pruned instead of removed. 1 day 2 people.

The work is done on behalf of your neighbor. the trees are in THEIR air space. They should help pay, or at the very least deal with the debris when it hits the ground.

Crane would be handy for pruning or removal, but not needed.

 

[Shadyplace]

Don't even get me STARTED on the neighbor! She wanted to know if the tree company would clean the moss off her roof when they were done! There is the letter of the law, then there is doing the right thing if you KWIM :angry2: The trees have to come down, that's what it boils down to. I have a few calls out, what IS a reasonable cost (range?) for this job, given the parameters I put down on first post?

 

[no tree to big]

Don't even get me STARTED on the neighbor! She wanted to know if the tree company would clean the moss off her roof when they were done! There is the letter of the law, then there is doing the right thing if you KWIM :angry2: The trees have to come down, that's what it boils down to. I have a few calls out, what IS a reasonable cost (range?) for this job, given the parameters I put down on first post?

if we could get our crane to it or at least a bucket, if its unclimbable, it would be about a day for the pair so roughly 5-6K if bid in on of our "high class areas". we could go as low as maybe 4K if it is indeed a 1 day job. leaving a 20' trunk standing would not really effect our price as its just another couple picks with the crane

 

[treeseer]

There is the letter of the law, then there is doing the right thing if you KWIM :angry2: The trees have to come down, that's what it boils down to.

Maybe if things cool down below the boiling point, you will see through the steam.

The law may require risk to be mitigated, but removal is not the only way. Another expert may see options that your first consultant did not--have you considered a second opinion? Lots at stake by the sounds of it. You'd have to change your name here if you lose your trees; Shadyplace no more! See the August Arborist News magazine; there's a case just like yours in there. :msp_wink: