[almostthere]

Its a very large tree, and its comming down, a few large branches at a time. It seems to be dead from the top down? The Ram is in the body shop right now because of it. The trunk looks ok to me, but I'm not a tree person so that doesn't mean much. We need to take it down but have never taken down a tree or bush taller than we are. Its in the front yard, threatening the house and the neighbors property as well. Hubby is thinking we may have to get a boom at start at the top. he might be able to borrow one from work, cutting the cost. the last time we had to have trees cut down(they were also dead, leaning hard and infested with ants) it was like $350 and we had to remove the wood from the yard ourselves and we just don't have the $$ right now. I think hubby justs wants an excuse to use some power tools :haha:. So, suggestions? TIA!!!

 

[uncle Will in In.]

Does this boom truck have a bucket to stand in at the top? A bucket truck is the ideal way to get to the top to start cutting, BUT that is no job for anyone without a lot of experience cutting trees with a chainsaw. One wrong cut could make you a widow.

 

[Alex]

I have cut down only about 200 trees, only for various building projects.

Be careful, in close quarters, and with a big tree, I would say it could be very dangerous. If it's a nice straight tree, and no bigger than about 24 inches in diameter, then falling it would be no problem in the bush.

However, if you have to take-it-down-a-piece-at-a-time, I think it would be much safer and better to find some money, or make payments, or something. Unless, you have lots of skill, physical strength and agility, and safety experience with this type of high level dangerous work, then you might consider "doing-it-yourself-(with help)" (I would not do it!).

Be careful, an accident can be a big problem for everyone, and even mangled hands, faces and legs are no savings to anyone.

Alex

 

[big rockpile]

You said $350 to cut down a Tree and you couldn't pay that much.Think about it this way what if part of it goes through your Roof while your cutting.What if your husband runs the Saw up his Arm or Leg,or worse,lays him up for a long time or worse kills him. Seems it would cost considerable more.

big rockpile

 

[jassytoo]

I wouldn't even try it. Cutting down a tree that large and close to property is no job for an amateur. Maybe as rockpile says you can make payments. Cheap at the price IMHO.

 

[almostthere]

Right now that is too much, not to say that it is always too much, just right now. Thats how we had the other cut down, things were better then, it will be again. Wanted to see if we could do this ourselves. Dh is good with tools and is carefull...has been working construction type work for more than 10 yrs., various expierences. Never taken a tree tho, although he has worked on buildings much taller than the tree in the yard.. And yes it would have a bucket and harness(he won't work without it). In fact he has a "favorite" boom that he likes to use. Hes the 'annoying' guy on the job who makes sure all the safety equipment is supplied and working properly...he says if he had to take time off to do all that safety training and had to pass a test then they(contractors) are d*mn sure going to follow the rules too. I guess I am just concerned about him bing so high in the air working like that, and wanted to get some insights.

 

[Guest]

Believe it or not $350.00 for cutting down a dead tree is a good price. My minimum charge on any take down is usually $450 and all I do is take the tree down, homeowner picks up the mess. Dead wood/trees are as dangerous as it gets. We don’t call them widow makers for nothing. Deadwood or insect damaged wood snaps/breaks too easily and it is very difficult to safely control. If the tree is anywhere near a house/fence/neighbors property, please call in a professional that has insurance. Attempting to do this yourself is an excellent way for someone/something to get hurt/killed.

 

[Jena]

well...my minor accident just keeps getting more expensive, not counting all the non-financial types of things...pain, frustration, etc. medical bills, work i cannot do, work i have to pay someone else to do, animals that aren't doing as well as they could because i can't care for them to optimum standards....

it is not worth it.

you are risking a much larger accident, plus it sounds like some property damage to yourself or the neighbor could be a risk. if money is the issue, then think of the costs that you could very possibly incur in attempting to save a few hundred. you might end up with a few thousand instead.

i vote for "do not attempt this at home".

jena

 

[horselogger]

please read what everyone said. I have climbed trees and taken them down its been 15 years since I did it;I used to charge400 per tree for the falling.It is not a job for a handy man . There are times to hire a proffesional,who will hand you a copy of his insurance or a workers comp exemption form!!!Plus broad form liability!!!!!!!!

 

[Guest]

A big tree.....next to a house......quite possibly infested with insects????
And he has NEVER cut a tree down before?

A no brainer. Let someone else do the tree. You could easily be severely injured or killed. This doesn't even take into account the huge potential for damaging the house.

If you want to learn how to run a chain saw.....great. Learning on a mature tree next to a house is just plain idiotic.

 

[Thumper/inOkla.]

almostthere, 1st I agree with everyone who said to pay someone with insurance to do it, we have been cutting our firewood for 3 years now, I have seen my husband cut stuff down, that he should not have, and risked his life by trying to hurry to much to "get it done"....
and being people who learn and do things ourselves, with the understanding that we may very well get ourselve hurt or even killed if it goes bad, we have done such things ourselves,...

If you are determined to do this yourself, use every bit of safety training you have ever known, plan it out on paper, run through a rehersal with the equipment in hand, take time, think it through, look for trouble, practise useing the saw and know that running it will tire your arms faster than you think,...

then if you really must do this, I don't think you should, cut small sections from the top and lower them down by rope, and I mean small, fire place sized pieces, or even smaller, please don't try to save time by doing big pieces, the wind or even just the grain of the wood will twist it and take you out on the way down.

And have someone to watch, with a phone at hand to call the ambulance if it is needed.

 

[Amy Jo]

Wow! My husband should go into the tree cutting business! That's good money! Just cutting it down, not even removing the stump!??

Our new neighbor was cutting down trees on his property to make way for the house and almost killed himself with the chainsaw... bled almost half his blood supply out, and went into shock in another neighbor's yard... and he'd been cutting down LOTS of trees for many weeks... still has no idea how the chain saw jumped onto him that way.

Of course, watching some people use chainsaws is enough to make me pee my pants... a friend of ours cut a tree down with maybe a 6" diameter, using a chainsaw with an agressive chain and no safety stop, standing on the ground and cutting at about the height of his nose/eyes... I couldn't watch... I ran to find my husband and begged him to take the chainsaw off the guy before he was killed... He also made a cut straight across so he had no idea where the top 15 feet of that tree was gonna go.

How big is the diameter of this tree?

If it were me, I'd have a fit if my husband cut one down close to the house that way (and he's VERY careful, and VERY good at cutting down trees - even dead ones...) too much can go wrong and one homeowner's claim can get you cancelled.

 

[big rockpile]

I've cut Trees all my life and I will admit I've had a few accidents.Here is a Pic of my last one,just cutting Trees off this hill for a Power Line,this was the next to the last Tree,got hung up in the last one,decided to pull it down with the Truck like I had hundreds of times before.It went the wrong way,hit my Truck,knocked me silliy and cut me up some,could have been so much worse and it happened so fast.

big rockpile

 

[rambler]

The only sensible way is to write the check for $350. That's the _only_ sensible way.

I cut down 20 trees a year or better, for heating the house. i've gained a lot of experience on how trees fall, how to manuver them to fall 'my' way, how to stay out of the way of them falling, how to cable them with my large tractor.

If it were my tree & my house, I would probably do it myself.

HOWEVER this is NOT the time or place to LEARN how to do this. Add in the liability of damaging your neighbor's place, and you are looking at spending several $10,000's to save $350.

If you have a woods, get a chainsaw & start practicing. In 5 years, you can do this yourself on the next tree.

You can't learn how to jump off an Olimpic ski jump the first time you are on skis. you need to start on the bunny hill.

Right now, this is a NO BRAINER. Have it hired out. Do not hurt yourselves physically or financially. Hire it done.

--->Paul

 

[almostthere]

Well he hasn't cut it yet guys, don't worry. Our schedule has just been too busy and I think it might be busy for a while, maybe long enough for me to get the money together . I don't want him up there either but i'm not his mother and I don't make his decisions. I thought maybe I could find out some ideas so I could suggest them to him. I know where all of you are comming from concerning the danger of this, and have read all of your replies more than a few times. he does know how to use a chainsaw, and every other tool he has ever used. the tree isn't the best option for him to do right now, I agree. thats all I'm going to say for now, and thanks again for the replies.

 

[Tractorman]

Well he hasn't cut it yet guys, don't worry. Our schedule has just been too busy and I think it might be busy for a while, maybe long enough for me to get the money together . I don't want him up there either but i'm not his mother and I don't make his decisions. I thought maybe I could find out some ideas so I could suggest them to him. I know where all of you are comming from concerning the danger of this, and have read all of your replies more than a few times. he does know how to use a chainsaw, and every other tool he has ever used. the tree isn't the best option for him to do right now, I agree. thats all I'm going to say for now, and thanks again for the replies.

I cut 3 trees next to my brand new house 1week after we moved in used a bucket truck to tie a big long (very long) rope to the top tied the other end to a tractor put my wife on the tractor and laid them just where I wanted them. To quote a famous ******* I know "I aint scared"
Although my father in law has hit his house 2 times and almost fell off a ladder with a running chain saw. But whatever you choose I claim no responibility or liability have fun!

 

[Kirk]

Gee, if DH is handy and does constuction, Have you considered dropping the tree accidentally on the house? Insurance will pay for the new roof and repairs. DH does the work and you guys pocket the extra. LOL

Kirk

 

[almostthere]

Kirk, Im not saying yes and Im not saying no...:haha:...but we did just have a string of tornado weather come thru.

 

[mysticokra]

What's the deductible on your health insurance and homeowners. That will usually cover the cost of paying pro. I just paide $850.00 for a large boxwood elder tree that was so brittle, it was dangerous to climb the limbs.

It made a bout 3 cords of firewood, so there was some pay back in that. My wife was delighted with the bark mulch. Don't let whoever you hire convince you they can't chip it up. If they don't have a chipper, then they don't qualify to do the job.

 

[comfortablynumb]

safest way... rent or borrow a bucket truck, get a pole saw and nibbel away at it from the top down.

if you can drop it somewhere clear, it can be rigged with a lot of ropes and pullys to mak eit land where you need it. THE BASE WILL KICK OUT so remember it doesnt fall right over.

my buddy has a huge catalpa tree 3 feet fromhis home he cannot get a truck to, nor cut right down. the only option is paying a tree fella to climb the tree and nibble away at it for 500 bucks till its down.