Taking down a tree in the years with COVID

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Terry

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Taking down a fir tree in the years with COVID. The owner of this home died March 15th 2020. Now it's being worked on with one goal to remove the tree in the picture. This started last Summer and is being done with a sawzall to cut the branches. They don't own a chainsaw. They do have lot's of ladders leaning against the tree. Maybe a pine tree. Not many of those here.

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Instead of undercutting the branches first, and then making the final cut on top, he's just cutting from the top, and the branches are not coming off cleanly. I would guess that the tree has been worked on at least for thirty days, sometimes with flood lights until 5:00 AM in the morning. I tried to figure how many hours are now invested in removing the tree, and it seems like it's become a full time job. What are your feelings, or opinions on what is happening here?


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I'm a bit worried, that I'm going to come home one day and see something really bad has happened on this corner lot.
 
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Sarg

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Beyond my ability to understand ...... but then again almost everything I'm witnessing these days has me stymied.
 

LLigetfa

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I worked as a chainsaw hand in my youth so I'm pretty handy with a chainsaw and do most of my own tree removals. That said, sometimes it takes more than one person so last year I hired a guy for 3 hours at $100 per hour. At that rate, I let him do the climbing and I worked as his ground man. I do have a fall arrest harness with double lanyard for 100% tie-off and lots of rope, pulleys, chokers, come-along, carabiners, etc. but those usually need a ground man.

A Sawzall is fine on small diameter limbs but the stroke is too short to clear the cuttings on larger wood. You end up having to see-saw with it to clear the cuttings so may as well just use a Swede saw. I have a 14 inch cordless chainsaw I take up with me. My big bore saw stays on the ground. I'd like to have a nice light top handle gas chainsaw but would not get enough use out of it to make it worth the price.
 

Fitter30

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I paid this crew to take my tree down. They were fast and fun to watch.
Good sense prevails i wouldn't want the dreams if someone got hurt or dead. How many times does another trade looks easy but its the experience that makes the difference.
 

Terry

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Good sense prevails i wouldn't want the dreams if someone got hurt or dead. How many times does another trade looks easy but its the experience that makes the difference.

The video was my tree. The tree in the picture with the ladder is still there. He doesn't want to pay someone.
 

Dana

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I want to know what his plan is after getting all of the branches cut off...

A cup of gasoline and a match, mayhaps?:confused:

The needle clusters look more like pine than fir, which for most species would mean higher turpene levels, easier to light off.

Leaving the ladders in place creates an "attractive nuisance", which could open up legal liability if some kid (between 8 & 80 years) goes climbing and gets hurt.

Putting on my broke-hillbilly rocket science thinking cap on, are probably starting at the top to be able to utilize the branches as a natural ladder, allowing them to cut back manageable sized sections of the trunk as they go. (Cood bee rong- offen am.)
 

Terry

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Leaving the ladders in place creates an "attractive nuisance", which could open up legal liability if some kid (between 8 & 80 years) goes climbing and gets hurt.

Across the street is the bus stop for school children. My youngest son would have been climbing the ladders, the kids around here, which there are plenty of, don't seem to be into climbing trees. I grew up climbing every tree I could . "attractive nuisance" for sure.
 

WorthFlorida

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The most dangerous person with a chainsaw is the other person. My dad had the chain saw and I wasn't sure if he cut my thumb off. A 1/2 a day in the emergency room one July 4th weekend of 1979. I still have the scars. Until this owner realizes the weight of just a one foot section of a pine, flatten his truck or cuts the house in half, you can't fix stupid.
 

Terry

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You will also notice where the ladder ends, the tree spits in two. There are two vertical trees at that point. Normally if I'm cutting a tree, I'm notching both sides and one side is meant as the pivot. That would make it very difficult to make the last back cut. I can't even imagine how messy that can get and if the top part will spin as it drops, taking out whoever is on the saw.

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Terry

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The latest update. It looks like a tree guy was hired. This guy has a chainsaw, the belt, helmet, eye protection, spikes and is agile.
The tree is finally coming down safely. Follow the rope and you will see him with the helmet just below the top branches.

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And almost there. :)
 

Treeman

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The long needles look to be of a pine species. My best guess is that the owner was trying to reduce the overall cost by doing as much as possible by himself before hiring the pro to come in. There are YouTube videos of some horrendous accidents with weekend warriors attempting this.

I just took down a dozen trees last winter next to my shop building. With some gung-ho college student employees and proper equipment...... it was still nerve racking and anxiety producing.

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Katie Weller

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Terry, sorry to bust in with my own agenda, just a quick question. I too am located in the Bothell area. I've got some huge cedars that are a huge pain. Who would you recommend to fell large trees that is licensed and bonded? Also what does something like this cost on average? I know no one gives estimates without actually seeing a job but I'm just looking for a round about number to see if I can afford to actually have this done without having anyone waste their time looking at the job and writing a proposal. Do they charge by the foot? the hour? Or just give you a bid based on their knowledge and experience? Any info or feedback from your personal experience would be welcomed. Thanks for your time.:rolleyes:
 

Chrissyhool

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Omg, I think it would've been so much easier for them to call a professional local tree surgeon and have them take down the tree within a day. Given the time and the resources they've already spent with no results, I'd think twice whether I should continue if I were them. I had a dried-up tree with a rather big trunk in the corner of my yard and called for a local tree surgeon. They've spent exactly three hours on the entire work process. Judging by the picture, my tree had a thicker trunk, so it would've been easier here. Hopefully, the situation was resolved without accidents.
 
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Fitter30

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Don't care how a tree looks it take a keen eye , experience and insurance to take trees down next to a structure. Pay me now or pay ten + times what i cost.
 

Weekend Handyman

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I took down a maple tree in my yard this year (maybe 20”). One of my neighbours, who used to work with trees, explained the right approach. At one point, I cut 3/4 through a 10 foot section then stood back and pushed it over with a 16’’ 2x4. I will never forget the sound it made when it hit the ground. Taking down tree is serious business.
 

Terry

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When I was about 8, my 18 YO brother Clare decided to take down a fir tree in my parents front yard, about 130 feet tall.
It was about 45" thick at the base. Using an axe, he started chopping the two notches, one on each side. After cutting most of the way through, the tree started to lean toward the neighbors home. The plan had been to drop it in my parents front yard, but now the tree was thinking of dropping the other direction, and if it fell, it was going to ruin their home.

And then my father came home. He was not happy. He had grown up in a logging town, dropped out of junior High to drive logging trucks, and at one point working for the forest service, it had been his job to take down trees as a fire break. My father told me that somethings you could aim them so that the one falling would knock down others. It all seemed pretty dangerous to me. Maybe not as bad as when he was using dynamite to build roads in the mountains above Leavenworth WA and then underwater demolition during wartime in Alaska.

My father wound up hiring a famous logger in Bellevue, Mr. Sears, who climbed the tree using his ropes, and started taking the tree down from the top, working his way down. He also put a rope to it and when it finally came down, there were men on the ground pulling on the rope to make sure it landed in our yard, and not the neighbors.

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Looking at the front yard of my parents from the hill above our home in the back yard.
That really tall tree you see, that was the one my brother Clare decided to take down while my father was at work.

10431-mel-with-axe.jpg


Clare on the left, Randy, my father Melvin and sister Trinda
 
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