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Thread: Saying goodbye to this bad boy tomorrow.

  1. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by Michael Weber View Post
    ... My wife was disappointed in how they took the tree down from top to bottom. She expected people to show up with axes and just drop the whole thing...
    She can come watch the next time I take one down like this. This pine was about 30" in diameter at the base. I first dug a 6' wide hole all around first to cut the roots from the ground.



    Still wish I had a bucket truck! I know a guy who bought a used one for about $6000.

    JKJ

  2. #17
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    They were the low bid but I they certainly seemed to know what they were doing.
    Often the company making the low bid does so because they are the ones knowing what the job requires with the personnel and equipment to do the job.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  3. #18
    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Koepke View Post
    Often the company making the low bid does so because they are the ones knowing what the job requires with the personnel and equipment to do the job.
    They also might be doing so because they’re not paying for insurance, workmen’s comp, etc. In which case _you_ are.
    Last edited by Doug Dawson; 01-23-2021 at 4:03 PM. Reason: This spell checker is really annoying

  4. #19
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    In fairness I didn’t say I was dealing with shylocks. All bids were close and all were long term local businesses, bonded and insured and with good references.
    My three favorite things are the Oxford comma, irony and missed opportunities

    The problem with humanity is: we have paleolithic emotions; medieval institutions; and God-like technology. Edward O. Wilson

  5. #20
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    It was like a sponge at the base. I could almost push my finger in. Full of water.
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    My three favorite things are the Oxford comma, irony and missed opportunities

    The problem with humanity is: we have paleolithic emotions; medieval institutions; and God-like technology. Edward O. Wilson

  6. #21
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Koepke View Post
    Often the company making the low bid does so because they are the ones knowing what the job requires with the personnel and equipment to do the job.
    My self and our HOA have used a company that's about $200 more than lowest.
    A few years ago they took down a 3' dogwood on the park beach.. When done, you wouldn't know they were around.

    2 years ago the HOA hired our lawn cutters to remove a broken trunk on a huge water willow or whatever it is. They used a wheeled bobcat to break the trunk off, stripping the bark to the ground, then cutting it up.
    They destroyed the middle third of the park with the bobcat, and just totally (bad word) everything up.
    All because they SAVED $200. The board knows I'm ticked off about it. I go for my walks there every day.
    Last edited by Myk Rian; 01-23-2021 at 9:03 PM.
    Never, under any circumstances, consume a laxative and sleeping pill, on the same night

  7. #22
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    Quote Originally Posted by Myk Rian View Post
    A few years ago they took down a 3' dogwood on the park beach.
    Well geeze Myk, I could have taken down a 3' dogwood with my pocket knife.

    I know, I know, I'm sorry.

  8. #23
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    Quote Originally Posted by Myk Rian View Post
    A few years ago they took down a 3' dogwood on the park beach.. .
    I would have loved to have seen that tree...3' diameter of that particular species must have been a sight to behold. Around here, it's rare for dogwood to be over 6-8" and that's a very old tree.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  9. #24
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Becker View Post
    I would have loved to have seen that tree...3' diameter of that particular species must have been a sight to behold. Around here, it's rare for dogwood to be over 6-8" and that's a very old tree.
    Same here, although one out in open space can get bigger. Those in the woods grow taller and don't get very large trunks. I got a 1x12 from one from a neighbor's yard. I still have quite a bit of that wood, drying now since 2006.

    I have two flowering dogwood trees on my property that are 12" or larger and several a little smaller, but I have no intention of cutting them! (unless they die)

    I have trouble imagining one 36" in diameter.

  10. #25
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    Apr 2018
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    Cambridge Vermont
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    Quote Originally Posted by John K Jordan View Post
    She can come watch the next time I take one down like this. This pine was about 30" in diameter at the base. I first dug a 6' wide hole all around first to cut the roots from the ground.



    Still wish I had a bucket truck! I know a guy who bought a used one for about $6000.

    JKJ
    I've done the same with my backhoe. But stay safe and make sure there's nothing dead or broken in the canopy. Otherwise it can come down on top of you.

    My neighbor had a cottonwood that must have been at least 6' in diameter taken down. All but the outer 6" was nothing but rot. It was right up against their house and a limb broke off hitting it so it had to come down. It's always a tragic event when something that has been around that long has come to the end of it's life.

  11. #26
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    Quote Originally Posted by Alex Zeller View Post
    I've done the same with my backhoe. But stay safe and make sure there's nothing dead or broken in the canopy. Otherwise it can come down on top of you.
    ...
    I used to use my wheeled skid steer to push trees over but couldn't push as high as I can with the excavator, and of course digging around the roots makes a mess. One nice thing about the skid steer was the extremely strong roof in case of a big falling limb. The excavator puts you further back away from the tree but you still have to be careful - there are a few dead pines on one trail I'm afraid to touch; I'll just wait until they fall. Dead limbs on pine trees are one reason I don't like to drop them with a chainsaw.

    A neighbor here was standing two trees away when his son was dropping a tree. Part of that tree jostled the next tree which knocked a widowmaker out of the third tree. That branch put the guy on the ground and sent him to the hospital for a bunch of stitches in his top of his head.

    I always wear a hard hat, of course, but that's not going to help with something big enough to break your neck. Many of us probably know or know of someone who was killed in a tree-cutting incident. When I started chainsawing I bought the book "The Good Woodcutters Guide" by Dave Johnson. (https://www.amazon.com/Good-Woodcutt.../dp/1890132152) He describes lots of ways to get hurt or killed when felling trees. I did similar research when I bought my tractor and learned some surprising ways to die. Good stuff to know - you can't protect against something you can't imagine.

    Even cleaning up fallen trees can be dangerous. Look at the size of this oak that came down across my fence behind the barn. I counted over 100 years of rings in a branch. A big part of the tree was held up by one small 8" sprung limb that jammed into the ground. I thought long and hard about how to clean up this one.

    tree_down.jpg

    JKJ

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