It is a sad day anytime you loose a huge shade tree… but when it’s dead or dying there is really only one thing to do.

Note the entire center of this old girl is bad, she was almost 4 foot across and estimated age of ~50 years. Dead limbs falling out every time the wind blew. One 16" limb was hollow, splitting off and aimed at the house.

Had 33 trees cut and 11 more topped or trimmed in the last week.

Many of those 33 that were removed were Hackberries in the fence row and removed in preperation for a pole barn build.

I'm always sad to lose trees, for whatever the reason. There's something about them that lives in your soul.

Many arborists think topping trees is a bad thing.

https://extension.psu.edu/dont-top-trees

Please tell me that guy in pic #2 is not a professional arborist.

quote:

Originally posted by Jelly:
Please tell me that guy in pic #2 is not a professional arborist.

My thought as well. I cringed....

quote:

Originally posted by chbibc:

quote:

Originally posted by Jelly:
Please tell me that guy in pic #2 is not a professional arborist.

My thought as well. I cringed....

Nope, just one hell of a hard working country boy... but he is licensed and insured, has 15 years in the business he said and is a fraction of the price of an actual trained "professional" arborist. He is booked two months out and has never advertised. You do not need an arborist for what I had done. My wife's nephew is an employee of his.

An arborist quoted $1,400 for the one tree. This guy worked 5 days along with a crew of 4 employees and removed 33 trees and trimmed or topped ~11 more for 5,800 bucks. Some of the trees he removed were Hackberries in the fence row 20 to 30 feet taller than the reach of his 50 foot bucket truck, those got trimmed to lighten the back side and then pulled down via a wrecker cable. Brush and wood was all chipped and or hauled off except for about 2 cords of wood I gave to a neighbor for firewood and 4 loads of chips I kept for mulch or to compost.

By the way, I never ever top a tree unless it is necessary. Bad idea usually.
The ones topped were... 3 fully grown Bradford pears that were beginning to split limbs off yearly so he just lightened them some in an effort to save them for a few more years. Two were corkscrew willows that had been cat headed by a previous owner and had ice storm damage so he cleaned them up. Three more were Box Elders that had some ice damage as well and limbs hanging over the house roof.

He said he could return in two weeks and stump grind (not included in price) if I don't rent one and do it myself.

quote:

You do not need an arborist for what I had done.

I’m gonna guess the point was this guy could be in a Stihl safety video of everything not to do.

Hate to see two nice trees have to come down.

From the view of the base of what that guy is cutting on, I hope a wood turner gets a chance at it.

We have one more about three feet through that is dying as well but in slightly better shape and not endangering anything if it falls.

Hoping to enjoy a few more years out of it.

Remember back in the 50~60s everyone planted maples for fast shade at many new houses. (around here at least). They are already mostly gone and the remaining ones going bad rapidly. Dang shame they didn't use a variety with a longer life span. I see a lot of internet "experts" still recommending them, even silver maples.

I did some tree work around here recently. I had a few Red Pines dead or dying, planted most by me in 1996. I think our soil isn’t the best for them. Evergreens that do well here are Norway Spruce, White Pine, Frazier Fir, etc.. I planted more Norway Spruce & a few others.

I also added two lower maintenance apple trees, mail ordered from Stark Brothers in MO.

I planted a few Sugar Maple trees in the mid 90’s, tapped them for sap last Spring.

I like trees, over the years removed many scrap types, planted better ones.

quote:

Originally posted by Georgeair:
I’m gonna guess the point was this guy could be in a Stihl safety video of everything not to do.

Bingo.
It's a personal decision as to what PPE one wears while using cutting tools. The consequences of errors can be severe.

Three years ago winter/spring storms decimated the forested parts of our ranch. Since then I've been running chainsaws at least 40 days a year. I started working trees decades ago -- just had to up our game.

I've nicked toes of heavy leather boots twice with a running saw. Minimal damage to the boots, but tennis shoes wouldn't have stopped the chain. Nicked my jeans at mid-shin with a running saw maybe a decade ago. The fabric wasn't touching my shin, so it just put a finger-tip sized rip in the jeans. I've used saw safety chaps since then.

Last winter while thinning saplings, I cut into safety chaps for the first time. Holding the saw horizontally, I simultaneously tripped on a sapling stump while the saw kicked. I fell onto the saw as I was going down -- the chain chewed into 3-ish of the 8 layers of the chaps. Without chaps I'd have cut into my left quad muscle. But I only ended up with a slight thigh bruise. Bought another pair of chainsaw chaps from Lowes the next day.

Run a chainsaw long enough, and something will eventually go south. Even in stifling summer heat I wear heavy leather boots, work pants under chaps, long shirt & denim jacket, heavy leather gloves, hard hat with ear muffs and face shield. When I'm cutting overhead, I wear a cut-resistant shirt, which protects upper arms, shoulders, and neck.

****
Losing trees sucks. In the last year I've marked with paint at least 40 mature pine trees that must be felled. Drought and beetles are taking a toll in my neck of the woods. Found 3 trees last weekend. With the middle branches on this dude going yellow, it's not long for this world. Maybe 3' in diameter at the base, probably 70' tall. Likely 150-200 years old.

Look in between the car seats you will be amazed at what you find