2 massive trees in a tiny garden

[dojo]

I've got 2 pretty big pines in my garden, within close proximity to the house that I think need to go (potential damage to house, roots structure on house foundation, needles are a hassle, no light in garden and suck all goodness out of soil)

They will need to be felled with ropes and I would say both are in excess of 100feet high and 3foot plus in diameter.

Question 1: what kind of price am I looking at for the removal?

2. Can I offset any of the price by selling the wood etc? I could save it for myself but I simply don't have the room, there is a saw mill up the road.

3. Anything else I need to take in to consideration?

Thanks

[Dr Mike Oxgreen]

Tree removal isn't cheap I'm afraid. When we moved in there was a 50 foot dead willow tree in the middle of the back lawn that was leaning dangerously. Cost about £800 to remove IIRC. we didn't have the stump removed - just left it to rot and provide food for stag beetles, and disguised it with some ornamental grasses.

I shudder to think what two 100 foot pines with three foot trunks are going to cost!

[JulianHJ]

My next door neighbours were in exactly the same position a couple of years ago. I think it cost them in the region of 2.5k. The tree surgeons left 10ft stumps and removed all the wood as well as clearing up the rest.

[V8RX7]

Ask around and see if you have a training college nearby.

I had a couple of Pros quote £1000 for a large Oak to be felled in pieces but a mate put me in touch with a guy who teaches felling at the local college - he came with two students and did it for £250 -
I got the impression the lads were free and glad for the chance to practise.

[daytona365]

I may be wrong, but I thought Pine tree roots went down vertically instead of spreading horizontally and causing havoc, hence they're popular as wind breaks/barriers etc.............But 100 ft ?! That's a BIG tree.

[paul.deitch]

Just been through this malarky in Austria. Quotes ranged from 160 for three big BIG Larches to 800 for one BIG Linden tree. All quotes included felling by climbing and removing about two metres at a time. In the end we took the cheapest quotes for felling and "gave" the timber to someone who would take away all the branches. He will later use the timber for fuel.

Later discovered that if we had done it in Autumn (less sap) then a wood "chipper" company would have brought all their gear, felled and chipped the trees completely, done it for free and taken away the chips in a large trailer.
Doh!

[recordman]

Before you do anything, have you checked that they're not covered by preservation orders?

[dojo]

Ok - thanks for the replies - I've got someone coming out next week so I'll see what they have to say.

Good to know that the roots go down not across but we still have the issue if they come down they will write off the house plus they make the garden unusable and the needles are a pain in the arse!

I've got someone coming to give me a quote next week and I'll see whats what, I don't think they are protected but I will double check. They are massive - easily 70ft plus - be interested to see how high they are exactly.

I was hoping to either chop up the wood and sell it or sell it to the local saw mill to re coup some of the cost - ideally I'd like to burn it over the coming years but I haven't really got the ability to store it, if they offered me a cheaper price to take the wood away I'd prob have to go with that.

Also great great call about students doing the work - there is a big college locally which run a ot of these kind of courses and just seen they do one in Arboriculture and forestry so maybe worth touching base!

[superkartracer]

dojo said:

I was hoping to either chop up the wood and sell it or sell it to the local saw mill to re coup some of the cost - ideally I'd like to burn it over the coming years but I haven't really got the ability to store it, if they offered me a cheaper price to take the wood away I'd prob have to go with that.

This is where people get confused, why would they charge less to remove the wood? , you'll find they want more ££ to remove the wood, not less.

Might be a different story if it was Yew or good Oak, or some other interesting hardwood, even then you would prob still have to pay something.

Processing wood into something of use is very expensive, the gear alone runs into £1000's.

Anyway -

1. Pay professionals to cut the trees down.
2. Ask them to cut into logs you can move/or chip/or split into firewood ( they will charge )
3. Ask them cost for removal ( they will charge )
4. Or stick on EBAY/Pre-loved and sell as firewood logs to process etc , £50 for the lot if you are lucky.
5. If you can split yourself , process and dry them over a year or so, then sell for £60 a bag or something.

Hth

Edited by superkartracer on Thursday 18th June 09:39

[Mr Pointy]

If you do go down the route of using someone from the local college make sure you see their insurance & it covers any potential damage. If the trees are as close to your house as you say then the potential costs of dropping one of them on your house would be very substantial. It's one of the reasons why professionals charge what they do.

[dojo]

superkartracer said:

This is where people get confused, why would they charge less to remove the wood? , you'll find they want more ££ to remove the wood, not less.

I was under the impression they would sell it and make ££ off it, when speaking to my mum who has trees removed in cornwall she mentioned that she always kept the wood which cost her more but as she was burning it worked out cheaper in the long run - maybe she is mistaken.

If it costs more to remove I'll def be keeping it and selling it as fire wood.

Mr Pointy said:

If you do go down the route of using someone from the local college make sure you see their insurance & it covers any potential damage. If the trees are as close to your house as you say then the potential costs of dropping one of them on your house would be very substantial. It's one of the reasons why professionals charge what they do.

Yes - and for this reason I think the Mrs will put lid on it

[superkartracer]

dojo said:

superkartracer said:

This is where people get confused, why would they charge less to remove the wood? , you'll find they want more ££ to remove the wood, not less.

I was under the impression they would sell it and make ££ off it, when speaking to my mum who has trees removed in cornwall she mentioned that she always kept the wood which cost her more but as she was burning it worked out cheaper in the long run - maybe she is mistaken.

If it costs more to remove I'll def be keeping it and selling it as fire wood.


t

See above, added more detail, it's not the fact the woods worth little ( well pine is at the bottom-end ) it's the kit/time/graft you need to factor in.

If it was Yew i'd be over to purchase myself

http://www.treesurgeryshenfield.co.uk/blog/how-muc...

You might be looking at a few k

Edited by superkartracer on Thursday 18th June 09:46

[Muncher]

Tree surgery prices are quite high, it's a proper skill but the cheapest way is going to be to get it down and let others take away the firewood, all of ours was gone within 24 hours of sticking a notice on facebook to friends that the wood was free to whoever would collect it. A lot of the expense is in the tidying up part. Getting rid of the root is also another pain in the backside.

One of my mates took this down on his own in 43 minutes, for beer money.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XP2DLYuo_o

[james12345]

dojo said:

Also great great call about students doing the work - there is a big college locally which run a ot of these kind of courses and just seen they do one in Arboriculture and forestry so maybe worth touching base!

I was just thinking about Merrist Wood College which is fairly close to me - then I clicked your profile!!

[clarkey]

My friendly tree surgeon used to tell me that chopping the thing down was usually less than 25% of the cost... that is the easy bit. The work is trimming off the small branches, shredding it, disposing of chippings and then cutting the valuable stuff into manageable pieces.

It is probably cheaper when it's in a big garden, and I was in Herefordshire, which is cheaper than most places. He cut down a large pine tree for me, with him up the tree and me dealing with ropes on the ground. He only charged me about £200, but processing what was left took me at least a few weekends!!

If access is difficult and you want it to be completely clear afterwards expect it to be expensive.

[juice]

Can't believe some of these prices ! We've got a Scots Pine right next to the house which worries me. It's about 40-50ft and is about 1 metre from the house.

It also sheds cones and needles which block the gutter (as some of the branches go over the roof)...Got quoted 150 to remove it and 30 quid to dispose of the waste

[Brother D]

Have I walked into mumsnet?

What wrong with a few beers, shining up the tree with a rusty petrol chain-saw and doing it yourself? That's what I'd do!










(No I wouldn't).

[RizzoTheRat]

Pine isn't great for firewood, it spits a bit too much for open fires, and it dries out very light. I burned a load last year from a tree that came down locally and ended up burning twice as much of it as I would have done if it had been a harder/heavier wood.


Luckily an Oak came down over the winter so I've got a pile of that drying at the moment.

[anonymous-user]

Brother D said:

Have I walked into mumsnet?

What wrong with a few beers, shining up the tree with a rusty petrol chain-saw and doing it yourself? That's what I'd do!










(No I wouldn't).

My mate advertised a couple of his trees as standing lumber, 3 likely lads turned up armed with chainsaws, a length of scratty looking rope and multiple packs of super strength lager!

It made for a fascinating afternoon entertainment, despite having 999 ready to ring on my phone, it wasn't needed and the 3 lads did a great job.

[p1stonhead]

OP you say there are at risk of damaging your property, have you thought about the possible damage if you actually remove them?

Ground heave can be a problem if you take away 'massive' trees. When you take away a tree which takes in a lot of water, the ground can swell consdiderably because of the water which is no longer being taken away. Severity can range from none to a fair bit depending on what type of tree it is.

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