Tree felling?

[alme]

Is it a terrible idea to cut down a tree ourselves? The tree is in our backyard and in proximity to a fence, our detached rental unit, and possibly our neighbors' house. We have no experience whatsoever removing trees, so our knowledge would be limited to internet and library research. We'd also likely have to buy or rent equipment (beyond basic tools), which we would not reuse, since this is the only tree in our backyard. We just got quoted what seems like an outrageous amount of money to remove the tree, and I'm getting another opinion and quote on Monday. Meanwhile, DH thinks it would be better to DIY this to avoid spending the money.

[TrMama]

How big is the tree?

[alme]

How big is the tree?

30-35 feet

[dougules]

How big around is the trunk?  Taking down a full grown tree is a bit risky. 

[sokoloff]

My dad was a teacher (so we had summers off) and we spent a lot of summers felling trees for firewood, so I was exposed at a pretty early age.

I've dropped a few trees in my own (city) lot, and if you're going to try to drop your first tree with precision, you're going to want to have a way to put a tension line on the top of the tree to help guide it. (With more experience and a straight growing tree, this is less important, but you don't have the experience.) I dropped a large tree between my new (and expensive) fence and my old (and more expensive) house within 12" of where I wanted it.

I would not entertain progressively cutting the tree down (where you climb 30 feet up, cut 5 feet of the tree off, then climb down 5 feet, etc). That's too dangerous for amateurs, even though it seems like it might be a workable idea. Just don't.

I would also not tackle a tree that was leaning significantly as your first tree. It can be hard to read where a leaning tree is going to fall, and you may need to rig two sets of lines at 90 degrees to each other to steer a leaning tree in the direction you want it to fall.

For a 35' tree, if you have 15' of clear space in which to drop it and it's growing straight, that'd probably be my limits for a first-time DIY job.

[Rollin]

I just cut two down and it is not easy work. That is not the issues though, as all went well, but there are so many things that can go wrong that if you are not confident your best to hire a professional (WITH insurance). The worst is getting a chainsaw to the body somewhere. Most people just throw on some jeans and put in earplugs. However, I will not operate my saws without the proper gear, and that is expensive. If you just nick your leg you could end up in the emergency room. Another thing to think about is if the tree fall the wrong way you could damage your fence, your house, or other important things.

Also, the hauling away of debris should be part of that price. You may have a hard time getting rid of that yourself without paying a high price. Factor that into your decision.

I'm not saying you cannot do it, but these things can be more involved than one might realize.

[geekette]

Or you could hire these guys...

(Skips to about 2:30 for the good stuff - talk about your close quarters, and yes, it ends well).

[alme]

Thanks for the comments. The tree is a full-grown Bradford pear. The trunk is about a foot in diameter. It has fireblight and damaged roots. It's growing straight, but the trunk is split, and a large branch is threatening to fall on a garage which is attached to an apartment we rent out. I just walked outside and noticed that there is a power line going through the tree's branches to that apartment, on the only side of the tree where there is clear space. In addition to all the other issues, the complicating factor of the power line has led me to conclude that I need to leave it to professionals. Hopefully, though, I can get a lower quote.

[TomTX]

Thanks for the comments. The tree is a full-grown Bradford pear. The trunk is about a foot in diameter. It has fireblight and damaged roots. It's growing straight, but the trunk is split, and a large branch is threatening to fall on a garage which is attached to an apartment we rent out. I just walked outside and noticed that there is a power line going through the tree's branches to that apartment, on the only side of the tree where there is clear space. In addition to all the other issues, the complicating factor of the power line has led me to conclude that I need to leave it to professionals. Hopefully, though, I can get a lower quote.

Bradford Pear? They often don't have an actual "trunk" beyond maybe 10 feet around here anyway. It's all branches. Sequential branch removal from the bottom is how I would approach it, using an electric pole chainsaw (~$100) Debris removal is likely to be an issue, and you can't just drop a whole branch on your roof. Or the power line.

You HAVE TO get that power line de-energized while working near it. Probably at least 10 feet, depends on the line.

[Fishindude]

Sometimes the power company will cut those down or at least trim it back from the power lines no charge.   They would rather remove that tree on their terms, than get a call during a storm because it put the power out.   Give them a call first.

[TomTX]

Sometimes the power company will cut those down or at least trim it back from the power lines no charge.   They would rather remove that tree on their terms, than get a call during a storm because it put the power out.   Give them a call first.

Excellent point.

[Metric Mouse]

Sometimes the power company will cut those down or at least trim it back from the power lines no charge.   They would rather remove that tree on their terms, than get a call during a storm because it put the power out.   Give them a call first.

Excellent point.

Probably not if the line is jumpered from the house service to the garage/apartment.  That's usually the homeowner's responsibility.  Can't hurt to ask though.

[GuitarStv]

Check your local city bylaws too . . . Toronto for example has rules about cutting down large established trees.  If the trunk is more than a foot wide you need to apply for a permit.

I used to live up in a small town where the main industry was logging.  Every couple years one of the lumber guys would be killed while dropping trees in the bush.  A 40 ft tree is massively heavy and needs to be respected!  You will need to pay attention to the way the tree is leaning, the wind, any structures or hazards nearby, and be very careful.  Even a small looking branch can weigh a couple hundred lbs and easily crush your skull after falling twenty feet.

[robartsd]

Probably not if the line is jumpered from the house service to the garage/apartment.  That's usually the homeowner's responsibility.  Can't hurt to ask though.

In most places, the power company will only care about the service lines to the meter location. If it is on the owner's side of the meter, then it should be easy to de-energize the line at the breaker box. If it is on the service side of the meter, the power company may trim the branches away from the line for free, but probably only when their crew is in the area trimming any trees that are threats to their distribution lines.

If you do need to contract out felling the tree, you might discuss what you could save buy doing the debris removal yourself. It's a lot of work, but not as risky as felling the tree. You'd put small diameter material through a chipper and cut larger diameter material into logs then split them for firewood. If you, or someone nearby, has a use for the chipped material you can avoid the expense of having it hauled off. In some areas the firewood could be sold for enough to cover the cost of equipment rental.

[TrMama]

I used to live up in a small town where the main industry was logging.  Every couple years one of the lumber guys would be killed while dropping trees in the bush.  A 40 ft tree is massively heavy and needs to be respected!  You will need to pay attention to the way the tree is leaning, the wind, any structures or hazards nearby, and be very careful.  Even a small looking branch can weigh a couple hundred lbs and easily crush your skull after falling twenty feet.

Yes, felling trees can be super dangerous. Even a small tree is extremely heavy. I personally know of one dead person and one paralyzed person because of tree felling accidents. Add to the fact that the tree is sick/damaged, there are structures and power lines in the vicinity and this is something that should be left to an expert.

[Lulee]

Yes, this is a bad idea as you likely have worked out by now.  You two have too little experience and the risks to various properties are too high, never mind hazards to yourselves.  NH is full of trees that people harvest for yearly firewood and it seems every year or so we hear of highly EXPERIENCED people getting seriously injured or killed while felling a tree.  The last one I recall was of a 74 year old who'd been cutting her own trees for firewood over several decades getting her leg broken by a tree that bounced up and hit her after it landed (luckily she managed to crawl back to her house to call for help instead of waiting hours or days for someone to find her).

If you were going to learn the requisite skills to do this type of work from an experienced person, they would not have you start with such a tricky situation as what you described.  They might not want to do the job themselves.

Since this is just a one-time thing, could you find an insured and experienced person to do the work who would reduce the costs in trade for some unique service you can offer?  Otherwise, the suggestion from robartsd is likely to be the best way to get the costs down.

[ncornilsen]

I've fallen maybe 75 or 100 fir trees logging my grandma's property. Fir trees are realatively easy to read : lean, branch distribution on the trunk, etc. and even those will surprise you sometimes.

I've fallen 3 or 4 oak trees. The last one I fell looked to be leaning heavily uphill, so I started to make my face-cut on the uphill side. Normally you go about 50% through the tree's cross section horizontally, then come up diagonally, going deep enough that you just start to feel the tree sit on your saw bar a bit. Then you go to the backside, which is in tension, and cut through quickly so you get a clean cut. You leave a little holding wood on one side or the other if you want to steer it a little cit.

Turns out, that tree wanted to fall DOWN the hill. So I was cutting on the tension side. About the time I got 50% through, a huge crack fired up the tree trunk, and the portion I had cut free kicked out, and the tree started to fall. Since half of it was uncut, the whole tree was sitting up about 10 feet, leaving me no safe way to handle it. Google "barber chair tree falling" for a visual.

Another fun one I saw some local yokels doing was trying their little S10 pickup to a tree to pull it over against it's lean. At the end of the day, the truck ended up about 15 feet in the air hanging from another tree, and the tree they wanted to cut fell on the fence anyway.

Moral of the story: Leave it to professionals.

[Rollin]

I've fallen maybe 75 or 100 fir trees logging my grandma's property. Fir trees are realatively easy to read : lean, branch distribution on the trunk, etc. and even those will surprise you sometimes.

I've fallen 3 or 4 oak trees. The last one I fell looked to be leaning heavily uphill, so I started to make my face-cut on the uphill side. Normally you go about 50% through the tree's cross section horizontally, then come up diagonally, going deep enough that you just start to feel the tree sit on your saw bar a bit. Then you go to the backside, which is in tension, and cut through quickly so you get a clean cut. You leave a little holding wood on one side or the other if you want to steer it a little cit.

Turns out, that tree wanted to fall DOWN the hill. So I was cutting on the tension side. About the time I got 50% through, a huge crack fired up the tree trunk, and the portion I had cut free kicked out, and the tree started to fall. Since half of it was uncut, the whole tree was sitting up about 10 feet, leaving me no safe way to handle it. Google "barber chair tree falling" for a visual.

Another fun one I saw some local yokels doing was trying their little S10 pickup to a tree to pull it over against it's lean. At the end of the day, the truck ended up about 15 feet in the air hanging from another tree, and the tree they wanted to cut fell on the fence anyway.

Moral of the story: Leave it to professionals.

Oh, glad you got out of that barber chair situation. I know that has taken out many an experienced logger.

[steviesterno]

I just paid $1000 for tree removal after some straight line wind came in and smashed 1/3rd of a 60 footer elm something (the other part was leaning over my house) and a 35 foot Bradford pear. The pear tree, including stump removal, was $300. The big guy was $700. it was not work I could have done in a reasonable time frame, and it would have meant spending my next 3 weekends dealing with it. I was able to keep the parts I wanted for firewood, and watching these guys work was amazing. The big tree was dropped with laser precision, did no damage to anything, and was cleaned up from estimate to removal in 5 hours.

I'm unhappy that we lost all the trees in my yard, and it's annoying to pay that much money unbudgeted, but that's what our emergency funds are for. Insurance should be helping us a bit, as my grill, fire pit, fence, patio furniture, etc all got smashed.

But I have felled trees, I chop and cut wood, and knew this was worth going with professionals. Saving a couple hundred bucks is great, but you can do thousands in damage with a chain saw and/or ladder if you're not great at it.

[Spork]

IMO, a 30-ft tree is pretty small.  It's totally do able.  For the price of a tree guy, you can buy a really decent chain saw. 

Back when I lived in the city, I would just "disassemble" them.  Lop the branches off one by one, then climb up it and take 10 ft chunks off of the height.  I did not try to fell the entire tree.  I didn't even try to do it all in one session.  The city was kind enough to haul off entire trees as long as they were in manageable chunks.

I generally only call a tree guy for very tall trees that are in close proximity to a structure or power lines.  The rest I do myself.  The tree guys around here will take down very large pines (~100ft) for about $300-400 if you agree to do the cleanup.  They generally give a discount for cash as well.

[alme]

Thanks again for the comments. We are responsible for trimming around this power line--it's going from the house to the garage apartment.  The power company trims the tree in our front yard away from the main lines. I hired a professional to take the Bradford pear down, and they'll come out in a couple weeks.  It's not fun to spend the money, but we have a maintenance fund for the property, and it'll be tax deductible (it's an owner-occupied rental property).  I'll focus on other projects that are more in my wheelhouse, like tiling and painting the bathroom.

[Rollin]

It can be tough to give up on a DYI project, especially one that costs a lot. That happens to me now and then, but once I have done all my research and given it my bet shot (and conclude /I cannot complete the job within reason) I move on.

[Goldielocks]

My inlaws just hired for trees to be cut.

They are outside of town about 1 hour, and found that the cost to cut the tree down was 1/3 the total cost.  By doing the bucking and disposal themselves, they saved 2/3 of the total price.  It took less than 4 hours to cut down the tree, but FIL took 3 days to dispose of the rest.

You could try asking the company how much to cut the tree down, if they do not need to do disposal, stump removal or cutting into smaller pieces.  Especially if you give them a 1 month window to "fit it into their schedule" as needed.


This works well if you have  a use for your own firewood.

[kapnfriday]

Alme - sounds like you made the right decision given all the circumstances.  I have had a fair amount of professional tree work done and found two things that might help others: get several quotes if you can (not just 2) and see if any neighbors also need tree work done.  In one case I got 5 or 6 quotes and the least expensive was half the price of the most expensive.  Most tree companies have an equipment set up and transport cost built into their fee, which they should as this is a very real cost.  If you can offer the tree company multiple jobs (neighbors needing work done too) then you can reduce the overall cost for everyone involved.