Six guys, two chain saws, and the wood chipper. I warned my neighbors it was going to be a noisy morning.
The dogs are all inside going nuts because they want to see what’s going on. Visitors! Stuff happening! Noisy! People on the roof! More exciting than squirrels! Not safe to let them out, obviously. What with ropes and ladders and falling branches crashing into the yard.
This will be $650 well-spent, since I have several large branches and one tree (the head guy told me it probably weighed about 5,000 lbs) that could potentially fall on my deck or roof.
My nice shaded back deck is going to feel awfully bright and naked after they’re done, though.
We’ve had several trees removed over the years, plus a couple of very big branches that overhung the roof. I gotta say, it sounds like you got a great price. Or maybe tree-removal in my county is just really pricey…
The last tree guy we hired offered a great price for taking down some trees, chipping up everything, and stump grinding. Chatting, I asked him about his insurance. He pointed out he didn’t have any, which was reflected in his price. I asked him to be careful and he was.
This was the cheapest of three estimates - none from fly-by-night outfits, either.
The guy who cuts my lawn and does other odd jobs said he could do it for about half the price, but I am pretty sure he doesn’t have the necessary insurance and equipment.
A couple of years ago someone I know hired a guy with no insurance to do some tree work - he was very cheap.
BUT. A branch took out a power line, and the homeowner was charged about $2,000 by the utility company for the repair. She never did get reimbursed by the guy. I’d hire someone like that (and have in the past) for taking out trees if there were no power lines or structures close by. But otherwise, I think it would too risky. I’d rather pay “full price” for an insured and bonded tree service.
I’m hiring these guys. The guy on the home page is up in one of my trees right now.
We hired a young couple to take down several small-ish pines last year. I’m pretty sure they weren’t insured, either, but the trees were far enough from the house that they wouldn’t hit it, and they were small enough that, frankly, we could have dropped them and cut them up ourselves, we just didn’t want to. And they mostly did an OK job.
But for the real trees near the house, we hired a local guy whose company has been doing the work for a good number of years and they were highly recommended on a local forum. We were very pleased with their work, but we did pay for the peace of mind.
Wow, they were efficient. Done in about 90 minutes. Raked my yard and swept off my back deck. Even took a few minutes to pet the dogs before they left. It’s like they were never here, except I have greater peace of mind now.
I’m definitely recommending these guys. Will probably schedule some more tree trimming later in the summer/fall.
Someone on my street is having big tree work done today. They brought in a boom truck. I am glad they waited until 9 AM to start (I work from home - I get to wake up and waltz in to work!)
Huh. I didn’t know that. And apparently nor did the homeowner in my anecdote above, or the guy who trimmed her trees and took out a power line.
Last time I had tree work done was three years ago - a tremendously huge and tall dying ash tree in front of my house. Those guys used a boom truck. The service today had one guy roped up in the trees cutting them down one section at a time and the other guys on the ground and roof turning the big chunks he cut off into small enough pieces to feed into the wood chipper.
Luckily my only two relatively-close neighbors are early risers! Because these guys today showed up a little after 8 and were in full noisy mode by 9 am.
For me, the truck-mounted wood chipper at the curb was the best part of the tree work. I offered them $50 to run my old CRT TV through, but they refused.
I have a neighbor who heats their home with wood. When I cut down a tree, I offer to share the wood. He brings over a chainsaw and wheelbarrow. He takes the lion’s share and I add some to our woodpile for the fireplace.
