# Saving a little money



## headhunter (Nov 21, 2008)

I love trees. I plant them and enjoy watching them grow over the years. When it comes time to cut them down, I don't do so well. I really need to 'thin" some trees.
All of a sudden I came to the realization some oaks were over the power lines and small shed and of course leaning the wrong way, there was also a "widow maker" that had blown down and was leaning in the crotch or another tree. I grew very afraid when some close friends paid $1500 to get "a" tree cut down and $1300 for cleaning it up.
A neighbor across the section takes down trees for a living (knows what he's doing) and has the equipment (boom truck with bucket, large tractor with forks, chipper. and--- After talking for a spell, he agree to do it. The trunks of the oak were his for firewood and he'd take down four 70'+ trees and the "widow maker".
It cost $1300 for the five trees. When he finish with removing the branches, I used the little John Deere to push them out of the way so his big tractor could get where it needed right quick to help remove the trunks. I couldn't believe how quickly he was done. Now the granddaughter and I have been busy with the small tractor and chainsaw for cleanup. She needs some practice splittin' wood.


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## Sentry18 (Aug 5, 2012)

headhunter said:


> I love trees. I plant them and enjoy watching them grow over the years. When it comes time to cut them down, I don't do so well. I really need to 'thin" some trees.
> All of a sudden I came to the realization some oaks were over the power lines and small shed and of course leaning the wrong way, there was also a "widow maker" that had blown down and was leaning in the crotch or another tree. I grew very afraid when some close friends paid $1500 to get "a" tree cut down and $1300 for cleaning it up.
> A neighbor across the section takes down trees for a living (knows what he's doing) and has the equipment (boom truck with bucket, large tractor with forks, chipper. and--- After talking for a spell, he agree to do it. The trunks of the oak were his for firewood and he'd take down four 70'+ trees and the "widow maker".
> It cost $1300 for the five trees. When he finish with removing the branches, I used the little John Deere to push them out of the way so his big tractor could get where it needed right quick to help remove the trunks. I couldn't believe how quickly he was done. Now the granddaughter and I have been busy with the small tractor and chainsaw for cleanup. She needs some practice splittin' wood.


That was a great price and a good learning opportunity for you grandkid.

This spring we had a good storm and one of the neighbors small/medium trees fell right onto our backyard fence (which is only 3 years old) and into our yard. The tree was only perhaps 8-9" thick and maybe 22-23' tall. The neighbor was at his 2 week National Guard drill and I was very busy at work so I called a couple places about cleaning it up and was shocked at the prices they wanted; $600-700+ just to chop it up into sections and bundle the branches. I decided to just wait until the weekend and do it myself. Took me all of 25-30 minutes to remove the branches and chops the trunk into 10" sections, while it took my oldest boy 15-20 min to bundle the branches and take them to the curb. The neighbor returned and took the wood for his fire pit and paid for the materials to repair the fence damage out of pocket, which I also repaired myself. Good neighbors and friends are a blessing.


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## biobacon (Aug 20, 2012)

I need to get a tree trimmed as its about to grow into hitting neighbors house and I'm dreading the price.


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## RedBeard (May 8, 2017)

1300 dollars! Holy crap! for 300 bucks i could rent an excavator and push those bad boys any where you want.


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## Sentry18 (Aug 5, 2012)

biobacon said:


> I need to get a tree trimmed as its about to grow into hitting neighbors house and I'm dreading the price.


Here are some less expensive options: 

1. Just release dozens of woodpeckers into your ecosystem and hope for the best.

2. Find a baby beaver and start training it now. You may need a ladder.

3. Pick up 5,000 rounds of .22LR and a suppressor and start shooting.

4. Drive a metal rod through the branch and wait for a thunderstorm.

5. Put a Trump bumper sticker on it and tell your local SJW that the branch is a misogynist.

6. Put a Blue Lives Matter sticker on it and tell your local gang bangers that the tree shot a blackberry bush.

7. Get a local college professor to declare the tree the habitat of the rare ultra-rare Lithuanian humping beatle so it can be declare protected.

8. Tell Hillary Clinton that the tree has some dirt on her and wait for it to "have an accident".


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## ZoomZoom (Dec 18, 2009)

Dang, that seems expensive to me. I had some 50-70' trees pruned back (he had to climb to the top). I think I paid about $50 per tree and that included his crew of 3 cleaning everything up.


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## TheLazyL (Jun 5, 2012)

RedBeard said:


> 1300 dollars! Holy crap! for 300 bucks i could rent an excavator and push those bad boys any where you want.


I would suspect a large potion of what the Professionals charge is associated with liability insurance. I'd sure hate to have a acquaintance push the tress and now I have assumed liability for any and all damages that could occur.


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