Author Topic: How to trim giant trees around house?  (Read 3262 times)

Poundwise

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How to trim giant trees around house?
« on: December 03, 2016, 03:29:24 PM »
Dear Mustachians,

I was just skimming through the anti-Mustachian wall of shame and read a bit about some guy who spent $2300 on getting trees around the house trimmed. 

Which leads to my problem.  Our house is on a tiny lot (less than 1/4 acre), but it is surrounded by a dozen mature trees, mostly oak, about half of which we own and the rest of which are owned by neighbors. One massive oak tree is in fact right on the property line, so we own half, and a hickory tree belonging to a neighbor is 5 feet from our house.

When we first moved here a few years ago, the trees had been recently trimmed.   However, now the problems are starting. This year, a small branch from one of our own trees fell on our roof and poked a small hole in it.  We looked into fixing it ourselves, got a few quotes, and in the end got what I consider a great deal with the guys who were installing gutter guards on the second floor anyway... they were charging by the hour and it took them about 30 minutes, so about $85.

Not long after, a smallish branch fell off the neighbor's hickory tree and shattered the moon roof on our car while it was parked in our driveway.  We bought a replacement window from eBay and replaced it ourselves for $90. Also, nuts from the hickory have dented our car, though since it's a 1998 model, we haven't been too put out.  We like those neighbors, who are an elderly couple on a fixed income, so we don't want to hassle them.

I can see some other problems coming up... some trees that we own overhang the road and power lines. I'm also concerned about branches falling on people who walk on the edge of the road.  Last month, I called the power company asking if they could trim them, and they told me somebody would call back within the week (they didn't). Also, it's a matter of time before more branches fall on our house and car.

The trees are beautiful, they add class and value to our lot, they shade us nicely in summer but we get sun in winter. But trimming will cost thousands of dollars.  I also value our lives, so I don't see us climbing up there and trying to do it ourselves. What to do?

MDM

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Re: How to trim giant trees around house?
« Reply #1 on: December 03, 2016, 03:41:34 PM »
I was just skimming through the anti-Mustachian wall of shame and read a bit about some guy who spent $2300 on getting trees around the house trimmed. 
...trimming will cost thousands of dollars.  I also value our lives, so I don't see us climbing up there and trying to do it ourselves. What to do?
Your money or your life?

You could at least get a few quotes so you know for sure what the hired-out cost would be.

lizzzi

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Re: How to trim giant trees around house?
« Reply #2 on: December 03, 2016, 03:45:49 PM »
You really need somebody from the electric company to come out and take a look. What my company told me is that they trim the trees that are encroaching on the highest power lines (no cost to homeowner)--those are the electrical lines, and are the ones they care about. The lower lines, for telephones and cable, they don't care about, and don't trim trees encroaching on those.

For your other trees, I would start by finding a reputable, well-established and well-reviewed tree company, and have them come out, take a look, and give you an estimate. Maybe you can spread the work out over two or three years if it is very costly, and start by having them undertake only the "must-do" work. Maybe just for future safety, some of your trees should come out. A house near us was recently sold, and the new owner had several big trees taken out of the yard. The yard looked much better after it was done--I thought it was a shame to cut down the three or four big trees, but the yard still had three big trees left, and had a much nicer, opened up look, while still being shaded.

Poundwise

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Re: How to trim giant trees around house?
« Reply #3 on: December 03, 2016, 03:56:00 PM »
Thanks, for a reference point on the cost of tree removal in this area: when we moved in, the neighbor who shares an oak tree with us offered to go halves on removing it. I believe that our share would have come out to $3000, plus they would have left a 6 foot stump which would have cost $600 to grind down (our neighbor didn't care about that because the tree is thirty feet from his house, but it would look unsightly in our yard.)  Because we don't mind raking leaves and because that tree does not have limbs overhanging our house, we declined. 

But I would guess that offering to remove the other neighbor's hickory tree would be $5K, and it might take a couple of thousand to trim the tree that broke our roof. Yes, I should get some estimates.  And I should keep calling the electric company until they come out. 

lizzzi

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Re: How to trim giant trees around house?
« Reply #4 on: December 03, 2016, 04:02:02 PM »
My neighbor just had some big trees taken out, and he was complaining because it was $1,000 per tree. (northeastern Ohio). I didn't think that was so bad, because when I had a huge pine removed in another state (New York), it was $1,400.

anotherAlias

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Re: How to trim giant trees around house?
« Reply #5 on: December 03, 2016, 07:21:31 PM »
My neighbor just had some big trees taken out, and he was complaining because it was $1,000 per tree. (northeastern Ohio). I didn't think that was so bad, because when I had a huge pine removed in another state (New York), it was $1,400.

Wow, I must have gotten a screaming deal when I had a tree removed and two stumps ground out and another tree trimmed for $450.  I guess there are perks to living in podunk WI

worms

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Re: How to trim giant trees around house?
« Reply #6 on: December 04, 2016, 01:15:10 AM »
Costs for a qualified (and adequately insured) tree surgeon vary wildly, so shop around - also ASK around, as the guys who do this sort of thing very often have different rates for different people!  If you simply phone the companies for a quote the rate might be much higher than if you speak to the guys on the ground (or up the tree!).  Around here, it is quite common for a company to quote a price for the job - say £1500 per tree, while the guys will quote £250 a day. Most trees can be less than a day to remove.

Also it is much cheaper if the tree surgeon brings it down and you DIY the rest of the clearance.  No point in paying the professional to do the layman's part of the job!

Spork

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Re: How to trim giant trees around house?
« Reply #7 on: December 04, 2016, 07:02:56 AM »
Costs for a qualified (and adequately insured) tree surgeon vary wildly, so shop around - also ASK around, as the guys who do this sort of thing very often have different rates for different people!  If you simply phone the companies for a quote the rate might be much higher than if you speak to the guys on the ground (or up the tree!).  Around here, it is quite common for a company to quote a price for the job - say £1500 per tree, while the guys will quote £250 a day. Most trees can be less than a day to remove.

Also it is much cheaper if the tree surgeon brings it down and you DIY the rest of the clearance.  No point in paying the professional to do the layman's part of the job!

+1

The lot also matters.  It takes more work to "disassemble" a huge tree on a tiny lot than it does to fell one on acreage where it can just fall where it may.  I normally DIY for trees that are not likely to fall on houses/power lines.  But the last couple of (very large) pines I had taken out were about $300 each because I did the clearing myself.

OP: I feel your pain on the hickory trees.  We used to live in a metal building with a metal roof (which is now my workshop).  It sits underneath a massive hickory.  Every nut that falls sounds like a gun shot.

Poundwise

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Re: How to trim giant trees around house?
« Reply #8 on: December 04, 2016, 07:09:40 AM »
Thanks worms, that's good to know.  I will definitely shop around. Who knows if the neighbor who offered to split was really going to pay 50%-- he's a wheeler dealer kind of guy. And that's a good idea, we could see if they will give us a break if they just leave the logs and we chop them up to burn in our fireplace.

Spork, you're right. It's expensive here (metro NY suburb) because the cost of labor is so high, plus because of the lot size they have to send a couple of guys up the tree to saw it into sections, which have to be carefully removed with a crane.  I've seen it done in this area.  Traffic sometimes has to be blocked off, etc...

I wish we could just make a couple of notches at the bottom and shout Timber! but we would end up crushing six houses.

worms

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Re: How to trim giant trees around house?
« Reply #9 on: December 04, 2016, 09:32:09 AM »
... if they just leave the logs and we chop them up to burn in our fireplace.
Just remember that your tree might be a huge volume once it is down, with a lot of small stuff as well as the logs and that getting it all down to a manageable amount might be a lot of work.  If you let the tree guy know the size that you can handle, then he can take the job through to the point that you can reasonably take over.  For example you might want him to disc the main trunk (unless you have a chainsaw with a big bar yourself) and take the main limbs down to manageable lengths.

TomTX

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Re: How to trim giant trees around house?
« Reply #10 on: December 04, 2016, 12:39:05 PM »
Thanks, for a reference point on the cost of tree removal in this area: when we moved in, the neighbor who shares an oak tree with us offered to go halves on removing it. I believe that our share would have come out to $3000, plus they would have left a 6 foot stump which would have cost $600 to grind down (our neighbor didn't care about that because the tree is thirty feet from his house, but it would look unsightly in our yard.)  Because we don't mind raking leaves and because that tree does not have limbs overhanging our house, we declined. 

Don't grind down the stumps, just turn them into benches. Just takes some 2x12 lumber, sealer and screws.

Roadsidetreasurehunter

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Re: How to trim giant trees around house?
« Reply #11 on: December 04, 2016, 06:50:26 PM »
Last year I received a quote to trim oaks in my yard for $800.  I waited a few months and called the vendor back and offered $600 cash.  They took me up on the offer and I was happy with the reduced cost.    Suggest that after they give you a written quote you then ask for the cash price.

CatamaranSailor

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Re: How to trim giant trees around house?
« Reply #12 on: December 05, 2016, 02:47:57 PM »
I'm not suggesting anything...there are definintley safety concerns when doing big tree trimming projects. However, my friend, who is not a big DIY'er had the exact same issue on his property (1/3 acre in Denver). He rented a large roll off dumpster ($400.00) and rented one of the big industrial chainsaws. He and his dad worked over the course of 3 weekends and not only trimmed ever tree, but completely took down a large tree that was a safety concern. They went slow but in the end my buddy spent less than $1k (he had to have the dumpster dumped 2x) for a job that he'd received quotes of more than $3800 for.

lthenderson

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Re: How to trim giant trees around house?
« Reply #13 on: December 06, 2016, 09:40:35 AM »
Don't be afraid to negotiate with tree trimmers. When I bought my current house with four dead trees up next to the house, I got some quotes and then negotiated another 30% off by allowing him to just do it as filler work, i.e. didn't have to be done all in one day or even one week. He showed up for several hours a time over the course of several weeks.

Last fall I had a guy knock on my door who was grinding stumps at a local golf coarse and was looking for extra work. He ground down 24 stumps (I live on a two acre wooded lot) for around $400. I had to level everything out again myself but thought it was priced really cheap.

TrMama

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Re: How to trim giant trees around house?
« Reply #14 on: December 06, 2016, 12:34:06 PM »
I'm not suggesting anything...there are definintley safety concerns when doing big tree trimming projects. However, my friend, who is not a big DIY'er had the exact same issue on his property (1/3 acre in Denver). He rented a large roll off dumpster ($400.00) and rented one of the big industrial chainsaws. He and his dad worked over the course of 3 weekends and not only trimmed ever tree, but completely took down a large tree that was a safety concern. They went slow but in the end my buddy spent less than $1k (he had to have the dumpster dumped 2x) for a job that he'd received quotes of more than $3800 for.

Please don't DIY the trimming or felling unless you know what you are doing. I have a friend who lost her dad in a tree felling accident and went to school with a man who ended up in a wheelchair after a tree fell on him.

By all means, do the cleanup and chipping yourself. But let someone more knowledgeable take them down.