The Newbs version of "Whadja do today?"

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The HOs of that big busted cottonwood were told by their insurance that since one of these trees has proven that they are all potential threats to property, they will not cover future damage from this group of trees and that the HOs would be liable for all future damages. I thought it sounded kinda weird but they asked me what it would cost to cut the rest of them down (11 large cottonwoods, the smallest is over 30" at it's base). I would just put it on the ground and cut it up. They will just pile it all up and burn it or give it away for free. I threw out $10,000 for the lot. Some over hang 2 different barns and an old farm house and would require several hours of climbing each. Kinda hoping I can show up and do 1 or 2 at a time through the fall. That's a nice little seasonal income for me:)
 
bootboy said:
The HOs of that big busted cottonwood were told by their insurance that since one of these trees has proven that they are all potential threats to property, they will not cover future damage from this group of trees and that the HOs would be liable for all future damages. I thought it sounded kinda weird but they asked me what it would cost to cut the rest of them down (11 large cottonwoods, the smallest is over 30" at it's base). I would just put it on the ground and cut it up. They will just pile it all up and burn it or give it away for free. I threw out $10,000 for the lot. Some over hang 2 different barns and an old farm house and would require several hours of climbing each. Kinda hoping I can show up and do 1 or 2 at a time through the fall. That's a nice little seasonal income for me:)
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Don't ya just love insurance companies?

I think the HO should make the IC pay at least part of the removal, either that or drop them altogether. I mean, telling the HO they won't pay any future claims because they know there's potential for actually having to pay a claim is like a tree service telling them they won't take down a certain tree because there's potential for something going wrong, BUT you still have to pay us for it, and we're raising the price to by the way.
 
No joke, I thought the insurance company would maybe pay a percentage of the cost of mitigation. especially since they have already met their deductible. Because if we are honest, the insurance co's job is to protect the liabilities of the Ho. But looks like they'll always weasel their way out of it somehow.
 
bootboy said:
The HOs of that big busted cottonwood were told by their insurance that since one of these trees has proven that they are all potential threats to property, they will not cover future damage from this group of trees and that the HOs would be liable for all future damages. I thought it sounded kinda weird but they asked me what it would cost to cut the rest of them down (11 large cottonwoods, the smallest is over 30" at it's base). I would just put it on the ground and cut it up. They will just pile it all up and burn it or give it away for free. I threw out $10,000 for the lot. Some over hang 2 different barns and an old farm house and would require several hours of climbing each. Kinda hoping I can show up and do 1 or 2 at a time through the fall. That's a nice little seasonal income for me:)
Click to expand...

maybe we should just cut down every tree in the world because technically every one is a hazard and could fall :confused: maybe they should just find a new insurance company...
 
bootboy said:
No joke, I thought the insurance company would maybe pay a percentage of the cost of mitigation. especially since they have already met their deductible. Because if we are honest, the insurance co's job is to protect the liabilities of the Ho. But looks like they'll always weasel their way out of it somehow.
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This sort of thing often happens when a company goes public, their priority shifts from protecting their customers interest to paying dividends to stock holders, so paying out claims means withholding dividends from stock holders, which means they loose their stock holder's monies.

Then you have the fact that there a gazillion new insurance companies lowballing for customers, and driving down premiums to the point that there's not much left to pay claims with. Give us 15 minutes and we'll save you $1500 on your insurance, then we'll give you 15 reasons why we're not paying your claim, after you call us 15 times asking why we haven't moved things along.

Mix all that with a little greed and you just about hit bull's eye as far as evaluating insurance companies goes IMHO.
 
no tree to big said:
maybe we should just cut down every tree in the world because technically every one is a hazard and could fall :confused: maybe they should just find a new insurance company...
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It's a dilemma, they need a new insurance company, but which one won't be exactly like the one they already have?
 
Saw Holder

Put this together today, I have had my saws in it for a couple weeks now but I put on the lowering setup today, just as a visual for explaining to friends who come over how my rigging works. What u guys think?? Anyone else have anything like this?

View attachment 246006
 
Customcuts said:
Put this together today, I have had my saws in it for a couple weeks now but I put on the lowering setup today, just as a visual for explaining to friends who come over how my rigging works. What u guys think?? Anyone else have anything like this?

View attachment 246006
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I have all that, mine's just not arranged in one place like that.

Makes a cool display.
 
bootboy said:
The HOs of that big busted cottonwood were told by their insurance that since one of these trees has proven that they are all potential threats to property, they will not cover future damage from this group of trees and that the HOs would be liable for all future damages. I thought it sounded kinda weird but they asked me what it would cost to cut the rest of them down (11 large cottonwoods, the smallest is over 30" at it's base). I would just put it on the ground and cut it up. They will just pile it all up and burn it or give it away for free. I threw out $10,000 for the lot. Some over hang 2 different barns and an old farm house and would require several hours of climbing each. Kinda hoping I can show up and do 1 or 2 at a time through the fall. That's a nice little seasonal income for me:)
Click to expand...

The insurance company is just covering themselves regarding what they cover. As far as trees, it's landscaping. The trees got too big for their location. The homeowner did nothing to make the home safe over the years and now why is it the insurance companys problem to pay when the tree falls on the house when it was the homeowner, years ago, that planted or let these trees get too big. (No different than the growing problem with health insurance. Someone lets themselves go and becomes excessively overweight, why is it the insurance companies problem having to pay for all kinds of medical treatments for a problem caused by lack of oversight by the insured?) I'm sure the insurance company told the homeowners that any trees that could possibly hit the insured structures weren't covered and must come down. Maybe not all the trees which is something that maybe the HO decided to do.
 
capetrees said:
I'm sure the insurance company told the homeowners that any trees that could possibly hit the insured structures weren't covered and must come down.
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Is this a fact? Do insurance companies actually have this in their disclaimer? If it's not in writing within the HO's policy, then it's not likely to stand up in court.
 
The HOs in question have only owned the property for 3 or 4 years. They built a new house well off the highway and away from any large trees. The original farmhouse is about 100 years old and the cottonwoods are the same age. Why after 1 tree going down does the insurance co say they won't pay for future damages? To use the healthcare analogy, it seems like saying, " you just got cancer, we'll pay for the initial treatments but from here on out, you're on you're own". How do you determine that the trees are "too big"? These trees, though very large, are robust and relatively healthy.

What is the typical behavior for insurance companies elsewhere? Do they all run around after a tornado in the midwest, refusing to pay claims because the HOs knew they had a potential problem? Or after a hurricane on the east coast?

I know that while generally regarded as poor practice on the world of tree care, topping or even pollarding these large trees may be an option. It would be a shame to loose these trees for their shade value and aesthetic appeal on an old homestead. I could simply reduce the height of these trees to significantly mitigate the current hazard. Cottonwood is extremely resilient to this kind of severe reduction and these trees would retain much of their intrinsic value to the HOs. However, I realize that topping or pollarding opens the door for a host of future problems and would necessitate more maintenance on these trees in the future to maintain a certain margin of safety. Job security maybe?
 
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Carburetorless said:
Is this a fact? Do insurance companies actually have this in their disclaimer? If it's not in writing within the HO's policy, then it's not likely to stand up in court.
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The insurance company probably never visited the property prior to insuring it but now that a claim was made and they did a physical visit to the site and noted the trees, they have decided no doubt to tell the homeowners that the other trees are not covered nor is damage caused buy them due to their size and potential for large scale destruction. My mother went through it a couple years ago. Very large white pine fell in the yard, luckily away from the house. The insurance company paid out $1000 dollars for the tree removal but told her that due to the size and locattion of the remaining trees in proximity to the house, future tree damage to the house would not be covered. Perhaps if she wanted to pay a higher premium they could be covered. Company claims the trees were planted too close and now pose a potential threat to the house whicvh the homeowner knows. The insurance company doesn't want to pay for landscaping.

If the trees in question are safe and away from the house or any other structures on the property, the homeowners need to realize the insurance copmpany won't pay for their cleanup in the future but that doesn't mean thay have to come out. If they fall, the HO cleans it up on their dime. My mother didn't take anything else down because all of the other trees are healthy and safe from falling (they're somewhat protected, the white pine stuck out like a sore thumb abbove the rest). If they do fall, she'll have to clean it up and knowing the potential for damage, if they hit the house, it's her dime also. She's still covered for other issues like flood, fire, theft, etc. just not tree related damage.
 
Trimming

Was trimming a couple maples today and found a deer antler 30 ft up in a crotch. I had heard squirrels chew on them but I didn't know they drag them up trees. It was funny and I left it there:)
 
On the insurance stuff. Couple facts to consider when dealing with tees and insurance. First, insurance company's hate trees.

All insurance company's have different coverage's and procedures when dealing with tree claims. Each binder is written to the customers request. Rarely do they have a opinion on the status of a tree, when they do, challenge it with a Arb or follow it, or they may cancel. If there is nothing in the binder about any specific tree, then it should be covered under the general. You can have a tree that fell, is being held up by a little tree, waiting to smash a house, if it is not touching, they may not pay.
Most of the time they will only pay 500 for debris removal, so you have to separate the cost of removing the wood from the structure and then moving it off site (the 500). If a tree is deemed hazardous by the insurance co, and a Arborist disputes, they will concede. If left un-challenged, they will wright into the binder and excuse them selves from any claims. If you touch a storm damaged tree before a adjuster has been there and authorized the price, they can deny coverage, simply because it is already done. Pics, pics and more pics. Adjusters are not Arbs, although they like to think they are. They do get trained, but will back down when a legit expert in a specific field calls BS. They can, and will tell you too remove all your trees around your home or your policy is void, they do this after a big claim is paid like stated before. If this is done, and you disagree, get a Arb or 2 over to do a report, if he says that trees are good, then insurance co has no choice, than to cover it. More Arbs to challenge the better. Document everything, copy everything, make sure the insurance company has all copy's, no originals. Adjuster get graded on how much they can save the company, they are not there for you or the HO, they are there to make sure that the insurance co does not pay 1 dime more than they absolutely have too, if they can get out of it, they will.

2ND, always make sure that you get paid by the custy,that the contract is with them not the InsCO. You can wait for a check from the insurance company if you want, but often it can get tied into several other things and you have to wait to get your money. If you have to battle, who would you rather go against, Mr Jones or State Farm. Also, HOs get real shady at this time. Its real hard for them to let go of the money. They would like a new 60" LCD. So make sure that they are held responsible for payment, not the insurance company. Then they cant say "talk to them, not me"

3rd, Insurance company's hate trees.
 
shady

Don't see one of these in this thread much, but today i turned down a job and tried desperately to get this guy to hire pros. Went to give him a quote. Didn't seem like a big deal, remove a bunch of water sprouts off of a silver maple and clear one or two branches from over his garage. Well about fifteen feet up was a basketball sized fruiting body growing out of the stem (which wasn't terribly thick for how tall the tree was, maybe 12" thick 50'tall). About 20' away from this was the biggest ash tree i have ever seen. 4' thick trunk up to about 20' and co-dominant like all beejesus (70-80' hanging naturally over his house)...icing on the cake...early signs of the dreaded EAB. So instead of earning a couple of bucks, i walked. What a shame.
I figured since this is the newbs version, i thought it appropriate to share my experience, The Classic, HO who wants to lowball till his eyes bleed on something superficial, he even offered to pay me more than i originally i wanted. But my local bank won't transfer my funds to the afterlife, bummer.
 
Another job for free. Wish my family wasn't so huge and I could ask for some coin. Storm damage, some broken ash branches. First time I did rigging without someone on the ground giving me pointers. Everything went great. Missed the house by a mile. Had fun anyways.
 
I still charge family. They know this is a source of income for me. I do it at a huge discount and they are happy to pay. The way I see it, I'm still making a significant sacrifice, and they are getting the work done for a huge discount. I get warm fuzzies, plus a little something for the effort ;) what I charge them is usually little more than the cost of cheap manual labor. Win/win
 

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