# Removal of Tree's on YOUR property...



## Crane Stoves

Im writing this to enlighten folks about an experience i had years ago when needing to have tree's removed from my property in preparation for a new title 5 system (though this would apply to anyone needing to have tree's removed for any reason).

I learned that tree removal companies get paid twice for a job done once... the way this happens is they charge you money for taking down tree's (which YOU own) and then they sell YOUR tree's to local lumber mills for HUGE money at times (or worst case as firewood).

I discovered this when i watched the removal company cut and stack all the tree's in 16 foot length's only to see another company pick up this pile the next day (the truck that picked it up said "capeway lumber mill" on it), I called them to tell them they left a few branches in the wooded area alongside where these tree's were cut to length's. They proceeded to tell me they simply purchase the logs and have nothing to do with the job which was done for me (say what! o.0) ... I asked how much they purchased this load of tree's for and he said that load was $2,800 because of all the Cedar in it! I paid about $3,000 to have these tree's removed (so the removal company essentially got paid twice!

fast forward a couple years when i needed tree's cleared for side yard... I got the price for removal and after the company came and did the same thing i told them they can leave that stack of 16" trees right their as i wanted to keep it.... i then called called capeway lumber the next day and they sent a nice man down who measured the pile and wrote me a check for $1800 on the spot and picked up the pile that day! (it cost me $1,500 for the removal company hahahaha.... i made $300!)

Lesson learned the hard way but at least learned it in the end!

as a footnote the tree's value is based on the type of wood and the thickness of the trucks as well as the overall board feet which can be obtained from the tree's. Expensive wood like Cedar, Maple, Oak, etc is worth alot more then Pine (but even Pine is valuable if its wide and the trunks are strait and have few branches on the lower half of the tree... far more valuable then mere firewood!) . If you happen to have some old walnut tree's then you will be doing cartwheels down your driveway as the truck leaves i promise! LOL

hope this thread may someday prevent others from the costly mistake i made learning.


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## swagler85

Very good lesson. I learned this while helping my neioghbor take down some trees. He is a logger and I help him every so often and he keeps dropping off firewood fpr me. Most people have no idea what a tree is worth. They just want it gone and the tree service isnt going to say anything casuse that cuts into their profit.


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## woodsmaster

Most saw mills won't buy yard trees. They dont like it when they hit a chunk of steel !  I tried to give my friend a cotten wood for pallet lumber but he wouldn't take it becouse it was in the yard.


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## mainstation

That must have been a big pile of cedar for $2, 800.  Was it western Red?
+1 to mills not buying yard trees.


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## Jack Straw

There have been countless posts on this site of craigslist ads where homeowners want someone to cut down a "valuable" tree  next to their house. They want it done for free and require the person cutting the tree to have insurance. Homeowners thinking they have a bunch of valuable trees seems to be more prevalent than the situation you described.


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## Crane Stoves

well, if you live near south shore in Ma. capeway certainly bought my stuff (the cedars were those giant size with rippling trunks that smell like the stuff they use in old hope chests). I do live on 4 acres of woods so maybe in my case it was not a simple homeowner cutting 1 or 2 trees next to his house (i had full load on these picker trucks and the first one was actually like a load and a half).


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## blades

About 6 years back I had a job clearing an area for new home site, A lot of shagbark hickory some white oak, and a smattering of odds and ends.  Several  log cords of hickory and about one of the oak. Could not get a rise out of any mill/lumber company in the general area unlees it was a minimum 10 cord load. This was off an old farm that the family sold to a developer.  Things have changed now as I see an occasional ad for companies looking to buy standing timber.  Still does not make that walnut tree in your back yard worth anything to anyone else for the reasons stated earlier. Stray metal objects were their main concern.


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## DexterDay

Size and quality plays a part. I have a guy that normally delivers his wood to the mill. Just due to the fact that selling logs for firewood is a Loss for him. I still got him to sell me a load. They are 8"- 18" in diameter and all Ash Trees (one Red Oak, one small Sugar Maple). 

But selling Logs for firewood isnt very lucrative for him. He prefers to sell split. He has a giant firewood processor and a couple dump trucks.  Im one of 2 customers he sells Logs to. But he really doesn't want to 

As for people selling there trees on CL? Lots of posts, where people tell you......  "You can have all the firewood. If you cut down the tree. But you must remove the Brush and not make a mess in the yard. No trucks in the yard and you can make any noise.. If you dont want the Firewood? Then split it and stack it in my frontyard....." Hilarious! !!  Its funny how people think that firewood is worth that much.... Its not even firewood! Its Trees. And Trees require LOTS of work amd processing before its Firewood. Some people have no clue the amount of work it takes to take down a tree and process it. If its on a residential lot.. Forget about it.  

Good tip Doug. Making money on your trees is always nice. Glad it worked out for you. May work for others too. That's something to remember. 


Jack Straw said:


> There have been countless posts on this site of craigslist ads where homeowners want someone to cut down a "valuable" tree  next to their house. They want it done for free and require the person cutting the tree to have insurance. Homeowners thinking they have a bunch of valuable trees seems to be more prevalent than the situation you described.


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## Pat53

We only have 2 tree service removal comapnies in our area and both operate the same. They charge a LOT to just take down a tree. They charge more if you want to keep the wood, less if they take it away. They cut the wood up themselves and sell it for firewood. But thats only if its hardwood. they will not take poplar or softwood. Your on your own with that stuff.


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## Jack Straw

If I had to buy all of the equipment, pay the insurance and risk my life "just to cut a tree down" I would charge what some people consider a lot of money.


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## Backwoods Savage

When I was sawing lumber we refused logs that came from yards or fencerows. Just was not worth the dollars with all the hardware in the wood.


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## Crane Stoves

Pat53 said:


> We only have 2 tree service removal comapnies in our area and both operate the same. They charge a LOT to just take down a tree. They charge more if you want to keep the wood, less if they take it away. They cut the wood up themselves and sell it for firewood. But thats only if its hardwood. they will not take poplar or softwood. Your on your own with that stuff.


 
this sounds like a more reputable way to operate^^^, sorry to say companies around my area do NOT do this... they dont tell you anything about the potential value of the tree's they take to lumber mills (this is why i never said anything about keeping my tree's until they were stacked N racked.


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## TradEddie

Around here, (SE PA), the tree service companies charge extra to remove the wood, at least for oak and hickory. I wish all choices in life were so easy.
TE


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## firebroad

It pays to shop around. About 5 years ago, I had a tree in decline, and got a price of $2000. Called someone else (have to admit it was a friend of a friend, but still a Licenced Tree Removal guy), and he took it for $250. Took every stick, too. I was kind of nieve, and thought he would leave me some, like the utility companies do.


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## TimJ

I have a white oak that a tree man said my portion would be worth $1500
This white oak is a staight up monster with no knots a good ways up and straight as an arrow. That was 3 years ago when the offer was made. Each year after that 30 % of the tree died and this year it is 100% dead. I can see the bark showing signs of stress. I was thinking of calling him and making the following offer. He cuts it down, gives me the top, removes the stump, and pays me $500
Do you think I am living in dreamland ?


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## firebroad

TimJ said:


> I have a white oak that a tree man said my portion would be worth $1500
> This white oak is a staight up monster with no knots a good ways up and straight as an arrow. That was 3 years ago when the offer was made. Each year after that 30 % of the tree died and this year it is 100% dead. I can see the bark showing signs of stress. I was thinking of calling him and making the following offer. He cuts it down, gives me the top, removes the stump, and pays me $500
> Do you think I am living in dreamland ?


Way to go, Tim!!  Do you think your man will go out of his way about three states?


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## nate379

How much is alot to drop a tree?

I paid a guy $200 a few weeks ago to drop one tree.  I thought that was pretty darn expensive considering he dropped it right over the cable for my dog run too.


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## Pallet Pete

A few months ago I had an estimate on a mulberry tree and they said $2800 due to buildings and power lines and would not let me keep the wood if they dropped it ! Granted it was close to buildings and lines but not worth $2800. The tree service guy said well if you want to smash your house go for it but if you want a roof then let us pros do it. My response was you just lost my business. After the tree company left that I said the heck with it and dropped it myself in sections and did not hit a thing as well as got to keep the wood for my stove.

Pete


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## Wood Duck

nate379 said:


> How much is alot to drop a tree?
> 
> I paid a guy $200 a few weeks ago to drop one tree. I thought that was pretty darn expensive considering he dropped it right over the cable for my dog run too.


 
It depends on the position of the tree but around here I think you pay about the same for a guy to drop a tree in a controlled manner. It could be a lot more of the tree is over the house, near wires, etc. and if the job requires climbing, ropes, etc. I bet if the job is very simple you could find somebody to do it for less. Of course dropping a tree on the dog run might not be considered a controlled drop.


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## TradEddie

nate379 said:


> How much is alot to drop a tree?
> 
> I paid a guy $200 a few weeks ago to drop one tree. I thought that was pretty darn expensive considering he dropped it right over the cable for my dog run too.


 
If it's just dropping a tree, into an open space, no climbing, chipping or cleaning up, that still sounds about rock-bottom for any professional to come out to your house to do anything.  Calling Maytag would cost as much.
I've had quotes from about $500 for a controlled drop, chip the brush, and cut into rounds, up to about $1800 for an oak that overhung my house.  Shop around, pick your time, late winter seems to be the best time around here, the snowplow and snowstorm work has dried up, the spring/summer storms haven't started.

TE


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## nate379

Tree was about 80-90 tall, leaning toward my backyard shed, had to get droped between the shed and a woodpile, about 35ft-40ft space.  I figured if I dropped it, it'd fall right on my shed and flatten it.

The total price WAS $500, but after he borrowed my saw to cut it, it turned to $450.  I gave him $200 for dropping the tree and he was supposed to come back a few days later to grind that stump and 8-9 other ones for the remaining $250.  Still hasn't come, that was 2 weeks ago.  I'm just going to rent a grinder and not fight with getting him to come do the work.



TradEddie said:


> If it's just dropping a tree, into an open space, no climbing, chipping or cleaning up, that still sounds about rock-bottom for any professional to come out to your house to do anything. Calling Maytag would cost as much.
> I've had quotes from about $500 for a controlled drop, chip the brush, and cut into rounds, up to about $1800 for an oak that overhung my house. Shop around, pick your time, late winter seems to be the best time around here, the snowplow and snowstorm work has dried up, the spring/summer storms haven't started.
> 
> TE


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## Stevebass4

of course they  make money wherever they can (both cutting it down and removing it) wouldn'd you?? ..

these guys also have BIG insuance payments, BIG equipment  to pay for and the guy i use, has skilled labor.. most folks who dont burn just want the tree down and removed.

my guy just charged me 200 for a load and then 250 to drop / leave the tree - it was an awesome price


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## TradEddie

Since moving onto a wooded lot, in 8 years I've spent at least $6000 on tree services, I don't begrudge them one cent.    It's delicate, dangerous work, requires some expensive equipment, and if not done properly, could flatten my house.  On the other hand, if there's nothing to hit on the way down, I'm just as happy to do it myself, but if it's anything difficult, I'm better off sitting at my desk earning the money to pay for it.
I've been shocked at the variation in quotes for essentially identical work, but some companies will only quote a complete job, so won't give you a discount if you'll do anything yourself.  Finding someone who'll do a tidy job, but leave the work you're prepared to do yourself can be a challenge.


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## Thomas Winfrey

nate379 said:


> How much is alot to drop a tree?
> 
> I paid a guy $200 a few weeks ago to drop one tree.  I thought that was pretty darn expensive considering he dropped it right over the cable for my dog run too.



Yeah. It seems expensive.


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## woodhog73

Thomas Winfrey said:


> Yeah. It seems expensive.



This thread is over 4 years old.

Anyways $200 is most definitely not expensive for an insured, professional tree service, to drop a tree.

I work tree service part time helping someone I know who owns the tree service. We do lots of drop and leave the rest , as well as climb or use bucket truck to piece meal a tree down and leave the rest. $300 is usually the minimum to make it worth the time to bring out a bucket truck, expense associated with it, and 2 guys labor to boot. Assuming it's a easy job in a bucket. If it's tricky then the cost goes up.

Even just dropping the tree, you have to pay your guy his wage, drive there, drive back, etc. Liability insurance costs are very expensive. Maintenance costs on the equipment are always an issue. The list goes on .

Hopefully the person doing the felling is very experienced and doesn't drop the tree incorrectly. So your paying for experience too.

$200 is a good price on a large difficult to drop tree. Assuming it can be dropped in place . Climbing or aeriel lift is a whole different set of costs.

Now with friends and neighbors, dropping a tree can be done for a free case of beer!


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## mike van

I sawed one of those 'prime' white oak logs a few weeks ago - It was a nice one, not a knot showing. 12 footer, 25" big end, 21 on the other. 10 nails in that log, I hit every one of them.  2 blades of mine will never be the same. It just messes them up no matter how you sharpen & set them. 8 of the nails were from long gone "no trespassing" signs, about 10 ft up on the tree. The other 2 were near the ground, no idea what they were from. Clear lumber is stained blue so bad, you'd use it for trailer deck or fence boards.  My 16 ft band blades are 25.00 each, if I was some big mill with a carbide tipped blade costing a few thousand, it would have hurt a lot worse. Yard trees, you'd think I'd know better at my age.


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## HisTreeNut

We had 8 trees taken down this year a little over 2k.  The tree service left the wood because we wanted to keep it and that saved us $$ because they did not have haul it away.
That being said, the service we used doesn't do firewood or lumber mills so they were glad to leave it...and cut it into rounds for us also.


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## Ashful

$500 per man per day is the going rate here, so $200 to drop a tree doesn't sound so bad.  It's going to take one man a half day, by the time they figure travel and set up/clean up.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## woodhog73

HisTreeNut said:


> We had 8 trees taken down this year a little over 2k.  The tree service left the wood because we wanted to keep it and that saved us $$ because they did not have haul it away.
> That being said, the service we used does do firewood or lumber mills so they were glad to leave it...and cut it into rounds for us also.



Same here most tree companies stay busy by working in the cities and will gladly give you much cheaper prices to leave the wood and not have to do clean up.

 They all have to take the wood and chips to the dump anyways. Unless they can find someone to buy it easy enough that it doesn't interfere with production. But most bring it to the dump because they have a schedule to keep and just want it out of the chip truck and clam truck asap so they can move onto the next job


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## Oldman47

I had a 30 inch dbh ash removed from between my house and the neighbor's house a few years back. It set me back about $1200 but I was glad to pay it. The tree service was happy to leave the rounds behind because otherwise he would have had to pay to dump it.
Before





After




It was a climbing job that took over 2 days to get done because he had to piece it out to avoid major damage to my house and the neighbor's house. I did get a quote from my insurance company that unless the tree was gone by a certain date they would cancel my policy.


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## Handsonautotech

I had to have one removed before we could get homeowners insurance on the house we jusr bought. It was a little close to our house and also threatened our sattelite dish. I was not sure who to call and time was a big problem. I asked someone for a auote but they never got back to me. So I bought a saw and some wedges and started learning. practiced on a few in the back yard first (5 acres) then did this :


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