Tree Removal

[GlockSpock]

Unrelated to recent weather, unless you figure precautionary against future weather as counting.

I have a number of pine trees that I'd like cleared. Two of them are large and too close to the house. The others may as well go too while I'm at it.

I've had a mix of several different quotes, but am now hoping for a few more serious quotes to make a selection from.

Questions

1) How likely is it, if at all, that the large and straight pines are worth anything to paper/lumber mill? I ask because a "friend of a friend" acted excited about cutting the trees for me for next to nothing because he seemed to think he could sell them to make his money. He's uninsured and I generally don't get a good feeling about going that specific direction. I guess what I don't want is to pay someone money to cut them, them convince me to pay a bit extra for haul-off, and then them sell it and double dip on the same trees. If the trees are worth something, I'd like to know.

2) Anyone recommend anyone good in the Cleveland area? I've spoken to two various companies and received quotes that vary, I'd like to see what the average quote.

 

And...I know this isn't the best week for tree service.

[Danger Rane]

I helped a friend cut, load, and haul a car hauler full of nice straight oak (2-3’ around and 10-16’ long) to a saw mill over in Ethridge last year, and he only got $112 for the whole trailer full. We would have been better cutting and spitting it for firewood. I’m not sure the pricing on pine but I would call and ask first.

[Ronald_55]

When we had a couple huge (30 inch diameter) poplars go down, I couldn't give the logs away. The guy up here that I have do work says he just has to pay the landfill to dump them. He said most sawmills are afraid of yard trees since they could have old nails or barbed wire in them that would mess up their blades. There was one place that used to cut trees, haul them to their yard to split for firewood but he went out of business. Not sure how because keeping his guys busy to a degree even in the wet or winter with the firewood had to make some money . 

Edited April 16, 2020 by Ronald_55

[TomInMN]

@GlockSpock do you all have access to County/ State or private foresters down there? They could tell you if there's enough value in your specific trees to make it worth messing with. They should also know who's going to be buying that kind of thing in your neck of the woods.

Also, make sure the outfit doing the taking down is licensed/ bonded/ insured. Not just by asking them, actually call the company and verify that the tree cutter all paid up (and will be when they're doing the work). You don't want to get into a situation where there's damage, and you have no recourse. Also, because an outfit that has and has maintained insurance probably doesn't need to use it a whole lot, ya know?

Edited April 16, 2020 by TomInMN
Spelling

[Erik88]

No way I'd let some uninsured friend cut trees that are already close to the house. Some jobs are best done by pros.

 

 

Edited April 16, 2020 by Erik88

[Chucktshoes]

What’s the saying we love to employ around here for when folks are looking at buying stuff and thinking about cheating out on gun parts? Buy once, cry once. Tree removal is a job for the professionals, and the professionals only.

Edited April 16, 2020 by Chucktshoes

[Hozzie]

I don't automatically assume your friend can't do it, but I would have to know how much he has done it.  My best friend and I aren't professional tree arborists, but I am confident I can take down any tree I would need to myself (with help of course).  A lot depends on what equipment he has available.  Lots of country boys could do it in their sleep, but there are plenty who I also wouldn't let near one.  Depends on the person.  Then again, if you aren't sure yourself how to do it, I suspect you may not be a good judge of if they can do it.

That being said, I don't think he knows enough about it simply based on the idea he thinks he will sell it to a mill.  Not going to happen most likely and anyone who knows much about it probably wouldn't have even brought it up.  

[DaveTN]

I have seen a lot of trees taken down. but it wasn’t until last month I saw this done. Trees next to my BIL’s house were taken down totally using a Cherry Picker with a 64ft reach. No ropes or rigging. Three guys on the ground were cutting up the logs and putting them on a trailer. I suspect this was pretty expensive.

Tennessee doesn’t regulate tree removal on private property. Check with your insurance agent to see if your homeowner’s insurance covers any damage someone does. Or ask them for recommendations.

[jpx2rk]

Call Bowater pulp mill, they are just up the road from you and see if they'll buy your few trees.  

[RED333]

By the ton

https://timberupdate.com/timber-prices/

https://timberupdate.com/timber-prices/tennessee-prices/

Pay a pro

[Patton]

No one will cut it for the pulp alone. A tractor trailer of pines is worth less than $300 best case scenario. Most mills will not accept yard trees.  

It’s probably the worst time in the last 50 years to be asking about tree work in the Chattanooga and Cleveland area. In fact, I referred someone to Chattanooga Tree Service, which is honestly the oldest and biggest tree service in the area, and they are not returning calls unless your situation is an emergency.  

[ReeferMac]

I'll second a lot of the comments about hiring a professional. You're fortunate this isn't an emergent situation!

I worked on a tree crew for a short spell.. tough way to make a buck. The experience and skills with rope and rigging are truly impressive when you see a skilled individual ply their trade. Did one job at an apartment complex using a crane to remove several large pine tree's - was no where to drop them!

As mentioned, lots of folks are capable of putting the wood on the ground without breaking anything. The problem is when that DOESN'T happen. I had a close call at a friends one time, tree was knocked, leaning the right way, and I started the final cut... then the wind came, and blew it back towards his neighbor's house. Fortunately we were roped, pulled it back over, but it was close.

If your friend thinks he's getting a score taking the wood to a pulp mill, he doesn't know what he's talking about, and I wouldn't let him near my house. Literally, couple hundred bucks for a tractor-trailer, barely pays for the diesel. When I worked on the crew, everything but the 'lumber' (oak, cherry, hickory, etc.) was ground up and made into mulch. Whole pine tree's went in one shot when we used the big chipper. Yep, 40' tall pines.... BBBBBRRRRRRRRrrrrrippppp! Gone. 

[Farman]

Holder and Jones in Cleveland. They did 30ish leyland cypress trees for me last fall. cut, remove, stumps ground and cleaned up in 2 days.
Their price was a little more then the cheapest, but a lot less than the most ($9500) expensive.

 

Edited April 18, 2020 by Farman

[GlockSpock]

Lol. Well, I don't know how everyone assumed I was on board with going with someone not insured and bonded. I never considered using that "friend of a friend" one bit.

So, I had the one company quote me $6,000 for the total job. That was roughly 6 trees, 2 of them being "big".

I had someone come out today and quote $1,800 for the same job. Now, it isn't the same level of service. For $6,000, Company A will haul everything off. For $1,800, Company B is going to use a tractor to carry everything into the woods.

This guy swears up and down he is licensed and bonded for $1,000,000. I asked him to send me proof and explained to him that I was advised to check up on it. He swears up and down he encourages people to verify his paperwork.

So I think I will likely go for them. This is the same guy that spent a Saturday a few weeks ago at my neighbor's house. From what I could tell, he seems to do good work.

[DaveTN]

11 minutes ago, GlockSpock said:

Lol. Well, I don't know how everyone assumed I was on board with going with someone not insured and bonded. I never considered using that "friend of a friend" one bit.

So, I had the one company quote me $6,000 for the total job. That was roughly 6 trees, 2 of them being "big".

I had someone come out today and quote $1,800 for the same job. Now, it isn't the same level of service. For $6,000, Company A will haul everything off. For $1,800, Company B is going to use a tractor to carry everything into the woods.

This guy swears up and down he is licensed and bonded for $1,000,000. I asked him to send me proof and explained to him that I was advised to check up on it. He swears up and down he encourages people to verify his paperwork.

So I think I will likely go for them. This is the same guy that spent a Saturday a few weeks ago at my neighbor's house. From what I could tell, he seems to do good work.

$1800 for six trees is a heck of a deal. It’s not a bad deal for 2 big trees. Does that include stump removal or stump grinding?

[GlockSpock]

That just involved cutting trees and throwing them in woods. No grinding, There's only one stump I'd want ground. It's a heck of a deal. I was quoted by company A $1,800 for one tree, and $1,500 for a different tree.

$1,800 sounds great, I'll happily do it, I just wonder if it isn't too cheap.

He did tell me he is going to be doing more work for my neighbor that day.

[DaveTN]

7 minutes ago, GlockSpock said:

I just wonder if it isn't too cheap.

Are they where he can drop them on your house? 

7 minutes ago, GlockSpock said:

He did tell me he is going to be doing more work for my neighbor that day.

He's badazz if he’s going to do them and your neighbor in a day?? 

 

[GlockSpock]

Just now, DaveTN said:

Are they where he can drop them on your house? 

He's badazz if he’s going to do them and your neighbor in a day?? 

Yes, two of them.

Well, I'm not sure "the same day", but he was looking at some of his trees to do sometime soon. So maybe...day 1 and 2?

 

[ReeferMac]

If you trust your neighbor, that's the best endorsement right there. He's hired the contractor, twice. 

Doesn't mean something can't go wrong, $hit happens? Hauling into the woods is a lot easier than chipping, and greatly impacts his cost: he can bring the tractor with a trailer and pickup, climb the tree and drop it safely in the yard with ropes by himself? 2-man crew, no equipment. MUCH cheaper than a couple white guys, 5 mexicans, 2 large commercial trucks, bobcat, stump grinder, chipper... You're looking at $300 in Diesel just to show up with a crew like that. OK, $200 w/ today's fuel prices, but you get the idea? Even a big pine (~40-foot?), can be on the ground in 3-4 cuts. Put a rope on the back of the tractor to pull, could drop it in one if you have the space, cut it in a couple pieces, drag each off into the woods. Done and over in 30-minutes per tree, you can rake the sawdust. Good payday, frankly...

If your neighbor is satisfied, if you can observe the person working and are satisfied with what you see... get a couple copies of their business card. Sounds like you may have found a good one!

[GlockSpock]

I hope he's a good one. Today he provided a Certificate of Liability Insurance. I called Liberty Mutual, they confirmed it is legitimate.

I called my insurance just to generally see what they had to say. She essentially said that if for whatever reason something bad happened and his liability insurance didn't cover it, I could submit a claim to Nationwide and then Nationwide would likely pursue him/his insurance for losses.

He has a $1,000,000 per occurrence, $2,000,000 aggregate.

I had a second company quote today at $3,600. That's a multi person crew, chipping, and hauling. Everyone wants to chip and haul. He said it would be "essentially" the same price with our without.

[ReeferMac]

17 hours ago, GlockSpock said:

He said it would be "essentially" the same price with our without.

 

Of course, he doesn't want to sit half his crew. That's where the other guy is saving the money. You can see it yourself, I'm sure: Medium Tractor fits on a 5th wheel trailer he can haul w/ an F150/250, etc. Saws and such go in the bed of pickup, him and 1 other guy to help w/ the ropes. 

Stump Grinder is it's own trailer, or comes on one. MAYBE you can share the bobcat trailer, if it's a big one.

Chipper is it's own trailer, and weighs 1,000's of lbs. and generates TON's of woodchips you have to haul off. 

You just brought 2 commercial sized trucks to the job, and spent more on diesel fuel than the 2-man crew has invested in the whole job. 

 

[gary_boom]

I have been watching Guilty of Treeson on you tube. Very informative but it would be cheaper to pay someone than end up in the hospital.

[Alleycat72]

Dang! When I cut trees, it's with a bucket truck. We do not play well with others though. If i got $1800 for a few trees, I would have paid cash for the new house.