Help - Taking down trees?

[billwendy]

HI!!

I need a little budget help here. We have 5 very very overgrown old pine/fir trees in our back yard. 1 is definately dying from the top down. Every time we have alot of wind, Im so afraid they will blow down!!!

Sooooo, hubby is mulling over a few options - 1 is renting equipment and taking them down himself with some help from friends. the other is having someone do it for us - they cart away the wood and everything - we got 1 estimate for $1800 and the other was for $2400.

What would you do? Is this fair pricing? Is doing it yourself better? what do you do with all that wood????

Thanks!!

 

[julirina]

I have a DH who will gladly come take the wood off your hands! We heat exclusively with wood so he's always scrounging downed trees.

Seriously, though, taking down a big tree is dangerous work. I would not attempt it as a DIY project unless you have some experienced help. Good luck!

 

[billwendy]

Haha - if you lived closer I'd say come and get it!!!! We live right outside of Philly...and is pine and I think fur trees..... and they are BIG!!!! Sure you cant come over???

 

[clh2]

We paid around 7 or 800 last year to have one tree removed, and the stump ground, and hauled away. It about killed me to spend that. But - we didn't feel like we had other options.

 

[billwendy]

We paid around 7 or 800 last year to have one tree removed, and the stump ground, and hauled away. It about killed me to spend that. But - we didn't feel like we had other options.

So that price isnt to bad then, right? We are not having it ground - thats an extra 75/tree more!!!

 

[julirina]

I don't think he'd drive the 3+ hours to Philly for pine. Now oak, or hickory, maybe...?! If you do take them down, just put an ad on craigslist for free firewood. Someone will take it, guaranteed. It will truly have to be someone local, due to the new state rules about wood quarantines ...you're not supposed to transport it more than a certain distance because of the emerald ash borer problem. (Can you tell I know way more about firewood than I ever cared to know?)

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

We paid 800 for one. It was huge and hit by lightening. So I think the prices you are getting are fair.

We have a wood burning fireplace that we use in the winter for a bit of extra warmth so they cut up the wood for us to use.
I had to split it myself which brought back memories of when I was a teen and had to split wood by hand all summer long because that's how we heated the house in the winter. *shudder*

 

[billwendy]

lol!! Splitting wood all summer - sounds like fun - but you had to do it!!

We took down a much smaller pine or 2 a few years ago, along with a dead cherry tree. Put something on craigs list, and all we got rid of was the cherry, no one wanted the pine for anything....So Im thinking we need to get them to haul it away (so they can make mulch or something to sell!!)

 

[LilyWDW]

I would never attempt to take down large trees as a DIY project without someone there who is well versed in how to do it. All you would need is for something to go wrong and then you end up damaging your property, your neighbors property, or the city/town/county's property. At that point, having a professional come do it would have been much cheaper.

 

[Evi]

Keep getting price quotes from different companies just be sure they are willing to fill out a contract. We were originally quoted 1700 to remove a tree limb and some smaller trees and after about 15 quotes (no lie, I wish it hadn't taken that many) we got someone to do the work for 700. They did a great job removed and chipped the tree outside and even swept up after themselves. So just keep asking around. You may luck out and they are doing a job in your area you can stop and asking them to come buy. Since the equipment is already close to you they may charge you less. Good luck.

 

[Colleen27]

That's one thing we won't mess with doing ourselves. There's just too much potential for something to go wrong. We take down damages trees on our undeveloped up north property but never at home where we have to worry about houses, fences, and power lines.

As far as the quote, I wish I was close enough to hire your tree company! We just got a quote of $1800 to take down one ash tree in our yard. Granted it is a really big, really old tree that is fairly close to our house and the cable line, and that was the higher of the 2 quotes we've gotten so far, but still... $1800 for five trees sounds reasonable; $1800 for one seems ridiculous.

We have a backyard fire pit and end up buying a fair bit of firewood every summer, so we're planning on splitting and stacking the wood to burn ourselves.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

That's one thing we won't mess with doing ourselves. There's just too much potential for something to go wrong. We take down damages trees on our undeveloped up north property but never at home where we have to worry about houses, fences, and power lines.

^^^This. If there's no chance of it hitting anything, I have no trouble doing it myself. But, around the house & other obstacles you really need to take the top out first which either means a ladder, climbing, or a cherry picker. Years back, my dad was taking a limb off while on a ladder. As the limb dropped off, it swung around and took his ladder out from underneath him. He managed to grab onto what stump was left of the limb with one hand and hang onto his chain saw (at full throttle) with the other, and hang there for a minute or so until my mom came out to see what was going on & set the ladder back up

Call the power company & see who trims trees for them. They often hire out for that rather than do it themselves. I'd definitely see about more than one bid, and as with anything prices are negotiable

 

[leidig32]

make sure the company is licensed insured and pays workmans comp. Ask for copies. Big difference in price of the job when the company does not pay insurance. If something goes wrong and they do not have insurance it is all on you.

 

[LilyWDW]

make sure the company is licensed insured and pays workmans comp. Ask for copies. Big difference in price of the job when the company does not pay insurance. If something goes wrong and they do not have insurance it is all on you.

Yes, another very good point. Make sure any company doing work like this is licensed and insured and be sure to actually SEE the paperwork. Do not just take their word for it.

 

[cvjw]

We paid about $500 per tree to have some very large pines removed from our back yard. They originally wanted more per tree, but I got them down to the $500 figure. I would never take down large trees myself - for large trees, my tree guy hires a tree climber, who is experienced with climbing to the top, and safely bringing the large trees down.

I only use the same tree company - I guess I am the exception, but I will gladly pay more for the peace of mind of knowing that I hired someone who is competent, careful, and does a great job. Some of our neighbors hired the lowest price tree companies, and had disasterous results. Make sure you hire someone with great recommendations.

 

[Jaime4004]

we paid about $2400 to have 8 or so large trees removed. DH removed some smaller trees himself. I'd definitely leave the larger trees to the professionals...

 

[mjkacmom]

For that price, I'd take the company! Heck, we've paid between $1500 - $2200 for a single oak! And they're insured, so if something goes wrong, it's covered. They take the wood for us.

 

[angwill]

HI!!

I need a little budget help here. We have 5 very very overgrown old pine/fir trees in our back yard. 1 is definately dying from the top down. Every time we have alot of wind, Im so afraid they will blow down!!!

Sooooo, hubby is mulling over a few options - 1 is renting equipment and taking them down himself with some help from friends. the other is having someone do it for us - they cart away the wood and everything - we got 1 estimate for $1800 and the other was for $2400.

What would you do? Is this fair pricing? Is doing it yourself better? what do you do with all that wood????

Thanks!!

What we just did was to have our dying maple professionally taken down for $300. We then called the neighbor who heats with wood who gladly cut it up and carted away the wood. What little was left like branches and such my son and the neighbors son carted to the back of our house and had a bon fire with in our burn pit. Let the pros do the dangerous work and finish it off yourself to save money.

Wow, I just read all the other quotes here and know we got a great deal. Ours was a big old maple near the house and a power line. The company was also insured and bonded. We got our stump ground by a tree guy who happened to drive past a few days after we cleaned up and offered to do it then and there for $35.