Hello, at my new house I have a fairly large oak tree about 8 feet from the house. The trunk is about 16" in diameter, the tree is like 40' tall. This is a dumb place to have a tree, a lightning strike would be a problem and the roots could mess up my slab.
Since there's plenty of other trees farther out in the yard I am thinking about removing this one. Would a tree removal service offset the cost of the job by the value of the wood, assuming I let them keep the wood ? I don't need the wood, certainly not the boxcar load this tree represents.
In a word: No. The value of the timber in a small tree like that comes nowhere near the price they will quote for removal. Then the market for a residential tree is generally zip due to probably metal inclusion. It is going to be in the several hundred dollar range and if climbing is required it will really be high.
I had a fir in much the same situation. I tried to deal with them to just fall the tree and take the wood for firewood. I would do the clean up. They only knocked off around $100 on a $500 quote (guestimated prices now, it was years ago). I finally fell it myself.
I got someone to do this for me, however it was a black walnut which is quite valuable. Someone here at work was able to finagle the same deal with an oak, though. Put an ad on the free stuff section of your local craigslist (offer free lumber with the stipulation that the tree must be taken down) and see what happens. Just be sure you check out who's coming to do it, i.e. make sure they're experienced, insured, etc. (Oh, and just ignore the e-mails from sniveling flower children condemning you for wanting to chop down a tree on your own property.)
Lightning strike on your property is going to be a problem anyway. Even if it does not hit your house. If the tree is 16 inches in diameter and 40 feet tall is has already attacked the slab IF it has done so.
If the tree is healthily I would leave it alone and thank the person that planted it.
Probably not. You could almost certainly find a woodworker who'd be willing to do it, though. If you're not willing to let a talented amature do it, you MIGHT be able to find someone who's willing to pay the tree company to take the thing down in return for the wood. This is, of course, more likely if the tree is unusually cool for some reason. If it's infested with carpenter ants and about to come down by itself, you're SOL.
It will be extremely difficult to work out the deal that you want. The average tree removal company in your area does not have crews trained in harvesting lumber. They are trained to get trees down in residential areas quickly and safely. Commercial loggers, on the other hand, can "drop" a 40' tree with one cut in a forest - often with a piece of equipment which grips the tree, cuts it at the base, delimbs it and loads it on a truck.
Commercial lumber companies have no interest in trees on your property. Imagine the cost of repairing a 8' or 16' veneer blade which gets destroyed by a hidden nail. When the tree was 20' tall, did the previous owner correctly remove ALL branches up to 8' high and when the tree was about 30' tall did he remove all branches up to 16' high? This is very important for producing knot-free veneers and lumber.
An individual may be interested in harvesting the lumber from your tree, but he is not going to drop the tree as safely as somebody who is just motivated to remove the tree. He may have little knowledge of bringing down a tree near a house and he will want to bring the tree down in as many huge pieces as possible. Who pays when he drops a large limb through your roof?
My advice? Pay to have the tree brought down professionally, have the wood cut up into appropriate fireplace sizes and line up a buyer for the firewood. Most tree companies would charge you extra to haul off that valuable wood, so you will save the cost of wood removal and you will also get a few dollars from the sale of the firewood. But it will still be an expensive.
Good luck, Gideon
Since there's plenty of other trees farther out in the yard I am thinking about removing this one. Would a tree removal service offset the cost of the job by the value of the wood, assuming I let them keep the wood ? I don't need the wood, certainly not the boxcar load this tree represents.
If they will stack it, you can sell it yourself. But, people who would buy it like it split. If it is not split, it won't sell for as much, as the buyer has to spend time and money splitting it.
You might come out money ahead, but not a lot, IMHO. Still a few cords of oak is worth some $$$ depending on the area. Where I used to live, it was about $130 a cord, and that was 15 years ago.
We don't have a great need for firewood in Florida, and many of the tree trimmers here (including the electric companies) bring a chipper to the job and chip everything up. When that happens somewhere near me, I get them to dump the chips on my lot, and it keeps me in mulch. The neighbor three doors down just had two big oaks removed. The chips were left at my place and (a) I'll have enough mulch for my garden beds for the next year, (b) the arborist doesn't have to pay the county to dump the debris, and (c) none of this desirable material goes into the landfill -- a win-win-win situation. Regards --
Sorry but I disagree. Anyone who thinks that someone 'holding a rope' on a falling tree is good practice is not 'an experienced amateur', he is a dangerous amateur who has no clue about chainsaws, falling etc. The mere fact that you have cut yourself (at least once) shows that. Falling 50 trees in a forest is a far, far different thing than falling one next to a house.
fruitloop advice. this is a huge tree, real close to the house. the OP is a home-owner. not a logger. he will have to pay to get this done safely. cheap considering what his house is worth.
on the other hand, thanks for the OSHA pointer. I cut trees up north at the cottage and I admit I don't know much. But I do it. There's lots of important info at:
My ex-father-in-law was a true blue Louisiana coonass. Came from poor people who made things, and never threw away a nail, but straightened them to reuse. The thing that bothered him most in life was the idea that there was something he could not do. He build drilling derricks, and was the top of his field internationally when it came to climbing and rigging.
There was a branch rubbing on the house. He's going to go up on the roof and cut it off with a chainsaw. My brother in law and I get lawn chairs and a beer and pick a good spot to watch.
First he goes up on the second story roof with a chain saw, which he fires up and waves at the branch.
Can't reach it.
Goes down and gets a milk crate, which, fortunately is the old kind made out of wood with metal edging. Puts the milk crate on the pitched roof, stands on the milk crate, fires up the chainsaw, and waves it at the branch.
Still too short.
He goes back down and gets a piece of cut wood about 14" in diameter and 12" long. Climbs back up and puts this on the milk crate, which is sitting on the pitched roof.
Fires up the chainsaw. Climbs to the top of this Rube Goldberg ladder, which is right at the edge of the roof. Takes a couple of waves at the limb, and down the limb goes.
Not one of the craziest thing I have ever seen him do, but definitely in the top ten.
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