Tree Removal

[velocityg4]

This year an old oak tree in my yard has finally died. Now it needs to be removed. It seems a shame to call a regular tree removal company whom will ground it into pulp and costly to boot. When it could be useful for lumber, furniture, art projects or even a mast for a small sailing vessel.

I was wondering if anyone here knows of alternatives for selling the tree for these uses. It is about forty to fifty feet tall with a two and a half to three foot diameter base and the trunk is nearly perfectly straight. Given it's size and that it died naturally I'd assume it is old growth.

I'd considered a mobile sawmill. Then you'd have to wait years for the green wood to dry or pay for the use of a kiln and transportation while hoping the boards don't warp. Neither of which are practical as I don't do enough woodworking projects to use all that lumber. Plus I generally prefer maple, pine or exotics when I make my furniture.

If my only alternative is to get it ground up I guess I'll have plenty of ground cover.

 

[GoCubsGo]

They're in the RTP but they offer useful information I think.
http://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/econ/data/prices/wannano.htm

 

[Don't panic]

is it close to the road/easily accessible? can they fall it clean without having to cut it in pieces? that will make a big difference
what did it die of? dead wood will be worth less than a healthy one

if you can't sell it, maybe some craftman will take it down for free if they get to keep it

 

[velocityg4]

is it close to the road/easily accessible? can they fall it clean without having to cut it in pieces? that will make a big difference
what did it die of? dead wood will be worth less than a healthy one

if you can't sell it, maybe some craftman will take it down for free if they get to keep it

It's deep in my yard and surrounded by younger healthy trees. I don't think it can be felled without breaking branches of other trees. Which is why I'm not just cutting it down myself.

I don't own tree climbing gear. Nor am I good enough at felling a tree to climb it and cut it down in sections.

As for what it died of I don't know. I'm guessing old age as it's leaf count has slowly been decreasing over the last few years. The arborist that looked at it said it several years ago said it only had a few years left. I don't recall him mentioning any disease.

 

[Designer Dale]

There are tree removal companies here in Washington State that use cranes to remove trees in areas where they can't be just felled. I don't know the cost and I don't know if it's doable with hardwood.

Dale

 

[balamw]

I don't know the cost and I don't know if it's doable with hardwood.

Not cheap. At least in my area, think $K bucks.

velocityg4 did you ask the arborist for a referral? (Both for the removal and someone to take it off your hands without turning it to pulp).

B

 

[Peewhy]

Nobody is going to take down a tree for free lol

 

[snberk103]

This year an old oak tree in my yard has finally died. ...
... It is about forty to fifty feet tall with a two and a half to three foot diameter base and the trunk is nearly perfectly straight. Given it's size and that it died naturally I'd assume it is old growth.
....

Because of it's location (i.e. you said it is in a grove) and you don't seem to want to damage the other trees, then your options are limited to either paying someone to take it down piece by piece, or paying big bucks to try an remove it whole. I doubt it's old growth. It may have died of natural causes, but that doesn't mean old age. Around here a tree of that size is still considered pretty small and new. But that's here.

I don't think that there is enough demand for wooden masts that your tree is rare enough to merit trying to take it down whole. There are lots of easier to access trees that will fill that demand. Taking it down in chunks - which I think would be your best best in any case because of it's location - might yield wood of high enough quality to interest some wood workers. Contact some bowl turners and other artisans who work with the whorls and patterns in wood grain to see if your tree is of interest. They may have a contact for feller who will take it down in a way that keeps the chunks they want in one piece. If the wood is healthy.

But, you are probably looking at a good pile of firewood, regardless. Wood artisans can only use so much.

Nobody is going to take down a tree for free lol

Depends where you are. Lots of people here will take down trees for free, if they get to keep half the tree to sell as firewood. Even if they have to climb a 20+metre tree and take it down 2 metres at a time, it only takes a couple of hours. Then another couple to buck it up and load the truck. Once it's split it's worth a few hundred dollars that the tax people don't know about. And the home owner gets half a tree bucked, but not split, for burning.

 

[Don't panic]

what kind of oak is it? how large is the trunk? does it look healthy or is it obviously damaged? is it solid or hollow
i think you are unlikely to make money out of it, but you can probably find someone who will do it for the wood, so at least you don't have to pay.

Can you use the trunk to carve out rustic bench/seats to keep in the yard?
you could use the stump as the base of a table, and have seats around it, depending on the look/use of your yard and how handy you are

 

[velocityg4]

what kind of oak is it? how large is the trunk? does it look healthy or is it obviously damaged? is it solid or hollow
i think you are unlikely to make money out of it, but you can probably find someone who will do it for the wood, so at least you don't have to pay.

Can you use the trunk to carve out rustic bench/seats to keep in the yard?
you could use the stump as the base of a table, and have seats around it, depending on the look/use of your yard and how handy you are

Image

That's pretty slick. But I don't think the base is quite thick enough for that. The base is about 3' x 2.5'. Anyways termites, carpenter bees and wood ants would make quick work of that thing.

I just got a quote for $1800 to cut it down and $2500 to haul away.

I'm tempted to spend $600 on tree climbing gear and taking care of it myself. I've cut down several trees already. This one just has some nice healthy ones next to it so it needs to be brought down in sections.

I've been needing the gear anyways to take care of some widow makers in other trees. Which are out of reach of my 30' ladder.

 

[iJohnHenry]

If you do, use a spotter on the ground and a rope tightened around the tree.

Cut the branches, and lower by rope, from the bottom up. Then top it off when feasible, and work your way back down in manageable sections.

And watch out for blood loss.

 

[Don't panic]

That's pretty slick. But I don't think the base is quite thick enough for that. The base is about 3' x 2.5'. Anyways termites, carpenter bees and wood ants would make quick work of that thing.

I just got a quote for $1800 to cut it down and $2500 to haul away.

I'm tempted to spend $600 on tree climbing gear and taking care of it myself. I've cut down several trees already. This one just has some nice healthy ones next to it so it needs to be brought down in sections.

I've been needing the gear anyways to take care of some widow makers in other trees. Which are out of reach of my 30' ladder.

you shouldn't pay extra for hauling it away
you can try to put an announcement in the local small-ads publication and see if someone wants it enough to come and get it even as firewood, i am sure someone will be willing haul it away for free (maybe even taking it down.
do you have a fireplace?

 

[snberk103]

....
I just got a quote for $1800 to cut it down and $2500 to haul away.

I'm tempted to spend $600 on tree climbing gear and taking care of it myself. I've cut down several trees already. This one just has some nice healthy ones next to it so it needs to be brought down in sections.

I've been needing the gear anyways to take care of some widow makers in other trees. Which are out of reach of my 30' ladder.

A good tree feller should be able to drop that oak straight into a gap between the healthy trees, unless they form a continuous ring around the Oak.

It shouldn't cost $1800 to do that, I wouldn't think. It sounds like you can buck it up yourself when it's down. We have a guy come up every fall to take care of any trees that won't survive the winter winds, and that may come down on the house. I watched him drop a tree (a 25metre balsam pine) into a gap 4 metres wide.

I'd send him down to you ... but the airfare makes it a little less economical.

 

[iJohnHenry]

you shouldn't pay extra for hauling it away
you can try to put an announcement in the local small-ads publication and see if someone wants it enough to come and get it even as firewood, i am sure someone will be willing haul it away for free (maybe even taking it down.
do you have a fireplace?

He doesn't say if it's a hardwood or a softwood tree.

For a hardwood tree, I'm sure they would be at his door the minute he finished taking it down.

EDIT: Sorry, missed the Oak. Yes, hardwood should be snapped up quickly.

 

[prostuff1]

I had a neighbor who just had a tree cut down. Yours sounds like it is a similar size as that one was and it cost them about $1200 to have it taken down.

It was also an Oak like yours and the guys with the chain saws wanted to charge them to take it away. I caught them before they could go that route. I rented a splitter for the day and spent the next 6-8 hours splitting the entire tree. The owner who had the tree cut down ended up paying for the splitter and taking a little bit of the wood, but I ended up with 85% of it so I can burn it in my fireplace come winter.

If you get it cut down, you should have no problem getting rid of the hardwood as people that burn wood for heat would love to have it.

 

[snberk103]

I had a neighbor who just had a tree cut down. Yours sounds like it is a similar size as that one was and it cost them about $1200 to have it taken down.

It was also an Oak like yours and the guys with the chain saws ....

I don't know where you are (the OP is in Georgia, if memory serves) - but you all need some real foresters down there. $1200?? I had 3 big cedars (~15 metres each) topped. Which means my fellow climbs up, limbs them and then and takes them down about half way, in 2 metre increments. One really big Balsam near the house so he was really careful was taken down entirely, without hitting the other trees. Limbed and then bucked into 2 to 3 metre lengths, plus cleared a lane for the driveway. Dropped it right into a gap between two nice cedars. And then he took care of nasty hanging pile of windblown hemlock - about 6 or so - that had all snagged on each other. Each one between 10 metres and 20 metres.

And my guy apologized for how expensive it was. At $350. Canadian. And yes, he's insured and bonded and covered by worker's compensation. If I told my guy how much he could make there he'd be off like a shot. I'm keeping my lips sealed!