Sticker Shock

[moresmoke]

This is the beauty of being resourceful and able to do things for yourself. I bought my house for a fraction of the original list price due to 2 huge cottonwoods that leaned over the garage. Had a big loader tractor available and just enough room to get behind them to push. Waited for the ground to be good and frozen, dropped the trees, cut them up enough to move and then scraped everything into a burn pile across the yard.

 

[DoubleO7]

I tell the guy that as long as it's not two grand, I guess we ought to get it done.

That statement is like telling the used car salesman you are willing to spend $2 grand.

I would get out the stout rope and lasso a limb about half way between a cut and the outer ends.
Tie it to my tractor. Put a bit of tension on it. Make a vertical cut on backside of limb until it just starts to open up.
Then pull it off with the tractor quickly so it does not touch the house when coming down and away.

 

[Fixingfarmer]

Rope trick like above.

Or Harbor freight pole saw and make small enough chunks that even if that one limb of it did fall on the house it doesn't hurt anything.

The amount of fun stuff buried these days I wouldn't let mr 300k mini excavator put a bucket in the ground. He's much closer on the weight than he is the value you can get a 3/4 ton truck over 10k lbs these days.

Stumps don't bother me id cut it myself they will rot away a few years and be easier to deal with. And if all you were really doing was those limbs that's 400 bucks a cut...Give you some time to find somebody else.

 

[Crazy Horse]

Interesting story and same for the replies. The OP's story loses a bit of credibility or sympathy from me just because of his somewhat adolescent name calling. I'm sure the tree contractor has lived with similar comments for many years, I'm glad they were posted here and not directed at the guy.

 

[used red MN]

Interesting story and same for the replies. The OP's story loses a bit of credibility or sympathy from me just because of his somewhat adolescent name calling. I'm sure the tree contractor has lived with similar comments for many years, I'm glad they were posted here and not directed at the guy.

And if you decide to pack some heat I think you are inviting yourself closer to stepping into the hotel where vertical strips impair your view. It definitely raises the stakes on when to say WHEN. Probably crossing into the red letter area now.

 

[cjunrau]

So...............I gotta tree..............

View attachment 109145
View attachment 109147

Something has been killing the Oak trees around here. Is what it is.
This thing is getting ready to fall on the double wide.
The double wide is an extremely expensive trailer I moved onto the place to take care of my parents before they passed.

So...................I call around to see how much it would cost to remove FOUR limbs that are in danger of falling on the roof. Not the whole tree, just the 4 limbs. And I don't need them hauled off..........just lay them down on the ground. Neither dood, that I could get in contact with, would give me a ballpark estimate.

One guy says he can do it today. Says he'll pull his equipment off another job, and hit it on his way home. This is bogus........but we'll get to that later.

I tell the guy that as long as it's not two grand, I guess we ought to get it done. I'm figuring around maybe 600 bucks to lay them down.

Dood shows up, makes a huge production of blocking traffic on the highway to back his trailer in the driveway. I told him to leave it on the highway while we look at the tree. No soap. Tells me about how the stuff on the trailer is worth 300K, and the rig weighs over 30K (I got a Class 8 rig sitting in the yard that moves almost 3 times that) Dood is sorta immature I guess.

We go to look at the tree.

The tub of lard tells me, without blinking................SEVENTEEN HUNDRED DOLLARS TO LAY THE LIMBS DOWN.

Told the dood I can't pay that, and I won't.

Then I spend the NEXT 45 MINUTES LISTENING TO THE MOPE TELL ME THAT I OWE HIM MONEY FOR COMING OUT TO DO THE WORK. TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS TO BE EXACT. Bein' as I didn't accept the bid, I owe him for the estimate.........which he never mentioned on the phone.

It's getting pretty heated. Guy keeps telling me how much his equipment is worth, and how it costs money to move it. NOT MY PROBLEM. Fatso tells me he doesn't get out of bed for 600 bucks.

I carry on my place. This is getting out of hand, he ain't moving his trailer out of the driveway, and I'm thinking about whether the lil' .38 will make a dent in this whale. It's sittin' in my back jeans pocket. This is getting pretty bad.

I finally turn, and walk up back to the house. Next move is his.

This is the sorta stupid crap that gets people killed, and people living a lifetime in jail. This ain't lookin' good.

Porky storms back to his truck, and leaves. I breathe a sigh of relief. I had visions of this loser trying to take me down.

Bein' as this is crap country. lotta ignorant folks....................I call the guy, ask for a mailing address, and tell him I'm gonna mail a check for a hundred bucks to cover his "estimate". I don't care to get burnt out in the middle of the night, and wake up in a burning house.

So...............the mental midget walks away from 600 bucks, which would make a dent in his overhead. I don't feel I share any blame in this. I figured 600 would cover about an hour's worth of work. I guess I'm behind the times. AND THE MORON COULDA TOLD ME A ROUGH FIGURE TO DO THE WORK. We coulda avoided this whole fiasco.

K'kins, and I, are gonna tackle it in the morning I guess.

So..............about the bogus thing in the whole deal. If he did have a job going somewhere else............he woulda have had to pull his equipment. Wind is set to run steady at 20mph tomorrow.........with gusts to 34. Nobody does high work in that kind of weather.

But we willView attachment 109149

Lord...........I miss my loader.

Looking at that tree. I would get a large enough tractor or 4x4 truck. Hook a rope chain whatever to it as high as I could. Then cut as low to ground as possible on the house side keep lots of tension on the top and only cut 3/4 at the bottom and it would pull away and snap the rest. Other than that you would need to stand on the roof and cut small pieces off and let them fall onto a couple sheets of plywood sitting on the roof.

 

[Mobuck]

Two years ago we hired an INSURED(he claimed up to $50K per incident) tree trimmer with a bucket truck to remove four very large dead or dying maple trees that were literally sitting against a shop and pole barn. With a bit of help from us and a JD 4430, the trees came down w/o damaging either of the buildings and the tree trimmer helped block the trunks and branches into pieces small enough for our skidloader and brush grapple to move. Two men and a bucket truck spent 5 hours on the job and we negotiated the price to $2200. Seemed high enough but the $50K insurance would have been invaluable if things had gone poorly.

 

[Brian G. NY]

So...............I gotta tree..............

View attachment 109145
View attachment 109147

Something has been killing the Oak trees around here. Is what it is.
This thing is getting ready to fall on the double wide.
The double wide is an extremely expensive trailer I moved onto the place to take care of my parents before they passed.

So...................I call around to see how much it would cost to remove FOUR limbs that are in danger of falling on the roof. Not the whole tree, just the 4 limbs. And I don't need them hauled off..........just lay them down on the ground. Neither dood, that I could get in contact with, would give me a ballpark estimate.

One guy says he can do it today. Says he'll pull his equipment off another job, and hit it on his way home. This is bogus........but we'll get to that later.

I tell the guy that as long as it's not two grand, I guess we ought to get it done. I'm figuring around maybe 600 bucks to lay them down.

Dood shows up, makes a huge production of blocking traffic on the highway to back his trailer in the driveway. I told him to leave it on the highway while we look at the tree. No soap. Tells me about how the stuff on the trailer is worth 300K, and the rig weighs over 30K (I got a Class 8 rig sitting in the yard that moves almost 3 times that) Dood is sorta immature I guess.

We go to look at the tree.

The tub of lard tells me, without blinking................SEVENTEEN HUNDRED DOLLARS TO LAY THE LIMBS DOWN.

Told the dood I can't pay that, and I won't.

Then I spend the NEXT 45 MINUTES LISTENING TO THE MOPE TELL ME THAT I OWE HIM MONEY FOR COMING OUT TO DO THE WORK. TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS TO BE EXACT. Bein' as I didn't accept the bid, I owe him for the estimate.........which he never mentioned on the phone.

It's getting pretty heated. Guy keeps telling me how much his equipment is worth, and how it costs money to move it. NOT MY PROBLEM. Fatso tells me he doesn't get out of bed for 600 bucks.

I carry on my place. This is getting out of hand, he ain't moving his trailer out of the driveway, and I'm thinking about whether the lil' .38 will make a dent in this whale. It's sittin' in my back jeans pocket. This is getting pretty bad.

I finally turn, and walk up back to the house. Next move is his.

This is the sorta stupid crap that gets people killed, and people living a lifetime in jail. This ain't lookin' good.

Porky storms back to his truck, and leaves. I breathe a sigh of relief. I had visions of this loser trying to take me down.

Bein' as this is crap country. lotta ignorant folks....................I call the guy, ask for a mailing address, and tell him I'm gonna mail a check for a hundred bucks to cover his "estimate". I don't care to get burnt out in the middle of the night, and wake up in a burning house.

So...............the mental midget walks away from 600 bucks, which would make a dent in his overhead. I don't feel I share any blame in this. I figured 600 would cover about an hour's worth of work. I guess I'm behind the times. AND THE MORON COULDA TOLD ME A ROUGH FIGURE TO DO THE WORK. We coulda avoided this whole fiasco.

K'kins, and I, are gonna tackle it in the morning I guess.

So..............about the bogus thing in the whole deal. If he did have a job going somewhere else............he woulda have had to pull his equipment. Wind is set to run steady at 20mph tomorrow.........with gusts to 34. Nobody does high work in that kind of weather.

But we willView attachment 109149

Lord...........I miss my loader.

Not that it matters much but that looks more like an Elm than an Oak.
By the looks of the limb that broke off on the side opposite the building, you had better do something pretty quick, whether it's paying or , as you say: "But...........we ain't payin' it, and we will get the work done in our own way".

 

[560Dennis]

I say pay it to arborist with heavy duty crane , to someone cause , that looks like a trip to the ER , roof job .
Wonder ? Why did you wait so long ?

 

[bradley martin]

Yes, the big mistake was letting it go this long. The longer a dying tree stands, the more dangerous and unpredictable it becomes. Particularly near buildings, get them down as soon as it is evident they are in decline.

 

[showcrop]

That statement is like telling the used car salesman you are willing to spend $2 grand.

I would get out the stout rope and lasso a limb about half way between a cut and the outer ends.
Tie it to my tractor. Put a bit of tension on it. Make a vertical cut on backside of limb until it just starts to open up.
Then pull it off with the tractor quickly so it does not touch the house when coming down and away.

Please put up a video of how you would lasso the limb. I can't figure how to do it.

 

[NY 986]

The going rate around here just to get a tree on the ground and no cut up into firewood size is 400-500 dollars per tree. I had three ash trees that were just about dead taken down not quite two years ago. The company I used was fully insured and the owner was very polite and professional. I had an Amish man look at the job just prior who was recommended. 400 dollars per tree, no insurance, and where the tree fell is where it falls. No guarantee of no damage to building or wires. Nobody is putting a few hours minimum into a job for just a couple of hundred dollars total.

 

[rustred]

i am wondering why u want to fuss around with only cutting 4 limbs off, the tree is dead. im pretty sure during the 45 minutes u guys were haggling i would have had that tree horizontal. and yes i know its leaning into the house. ways to accommodate that also. and im sure Marty Raney would agree also.

 

[johnnmr]

I wanted a generator hook up at my meter for when the electricity goes out. A metal box, double throw switch, and some misc parts. Electrician quoted me 3k beans. Highway robbery!!!!

Or.....

Turns out the power company controls what components are screwed to their poles and they were sending out 2 electricians to make sure the job is completed in 1 day.

In the mean time we had that big winter storm 2 weeks ago. We were w/o electricity for an afteenoon, some places an hour away were w/o for a week. 3k sounds cheaper all the time.

They're scheduled to come do the install tomorrow. Pay the man and move on with life.

Having an oopsie moment cutting that tree down on the cheap will cost you much more than that quote.

 

[dlbuck]

So...............I gotta tree..............

View attachment 109145
View attachment 109147

Something has been killing the Oak trees around here. Is what it is.
This thing is getting ready to fall on the double wide.
The double wide is an extremely expensive trailer I moved onto the place to take care of my parents before they passed.

So...................I call around to see how much it would cost to remove FOUR limbs that are in danger of falling on the roof. Not the whole tree, just the 4 limbs. And I don't need them hauled off..........just lay them down on the ground. Neither dood, that I could get in contact with, would give me a ballpark estimate.

One guy says he can do it today. Says he'll pull his equipment off another job, and hit it on his way home. This is bogus........but we'll get to that later.

I tell the guy that as long as it's not two grand, I guess we ought to get it done. I'm figuring around maybe 600 bucks to lay them down.

Dood shows up, makes a huge production of blocking traffic on the highway to back his trailer in the driveway. I told him to leave it on the highway while we look at the tree. No soap. Tells me about how the stuff on the trailer is worth 300K, and the rig weighs over 30K (I got a Class 8 rig sitting in the yard that moves almost 3 times that) Dood is sorta immature I guess.

We go to look at the tree.

The tub of lard tells me, without blinking................SEVENTEEN HUNDRED DOLLARS TO LAY THE LIMBS DOWN.

Told the dood I can't pay that, and I won't.

Then I spend the NEXT 45 MINUTES LISTENING TO THE MOPE TELL ME THAT I OWE HIM MONEY FOR COMING OUT TO DO THE WORK. TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS TO BE EXACT. Bein' as I didn't accept the bid, I owe him for the estimate.........which he never mentioned on the phone.

It's getting pretty heated. Guy keeps telling me how much his equipment is worth, and how it costs money to move it. NOT MY PROBLEM. Fatso tells me he doesn't get out of bed for 600 bucks.

I carry on my place. This is getting out of hand, he ain't moving his trailer out of the driveway, and I'm thinking about whether the lil' .38 will make a dent in this whale. It's sittin' in my back jeans pocket. This is getting pretty bad.

I finally turn, and walk up back to the house. Next move is his.

This is the sorta stupid crap that gets people killed, and people living a lifetime in jail. This ain't lookin' good.

Porky storms back to his truck, and leaves. I breathe a sigh of relief. I had visions of this loser trying to take me down.

Bein' as this is crap country. lotta ignorant folks....................I call the guy, ask for a mailing address, and tell him I'm gonna mail a check for a hundred bucks to cover his "estimate". I don't care to get burnt out in the middle of the night, and wake up in a burning house.

So...............the mental midget walks away from 600 bucks, which would make a dent in his overhead. I don't feel I share any blame in this. I figured 600 would cover about an hour's worth of work. I guess I'm behind the times. AND THE MORON COULDA TOLD ME A ROUGH FIGURE TO DO THE WORK. We coulda avoided this whole fiasco.

K'kins, and I, are gonna tackle it in the morning I guess.

So..............about the bogus thing in the whole deal. If he did have a job going somewhere else............he woulda have had to pull his equipment. Wind is set to run steady at 20mph tomorrow.........with gusts to 34. Nobody does high work in that kind of weather.

But we willView attachment 109149

Lord...........I miss my loader.

So dood, what's a K'kins?

 

[Mule Meat]

Dead trees/ limbs fall where they want, not where you want.

True.
But you can also make a dead tree fall the way you want with a few tools and manpower.

A rented aerial basket lift and taking it down in short sections that would not damage the roof would be my way of putting it on the ground. Locally a 60' lift cost you only $500 a day.

 

[G1000VISTA]

Everybody is GOUGEING everybody. Since the Ash tree borer is killing Ash trees in Iowa and the price gouging tree services. There are tree services popping up all over our area. Everybody wants the gravey. I bet that when the Ash trees are all cut there will be boom trucks for sale. I dont blame you a bit for standing your ground. I wouldnt take it up the arse either.

So a welding repair shop/ mechanic shop charging 65 an hour is gougeing everybody?? I can tell you from experience because it's my shop that that's not gouging anybody !!! It's tighter then a banjo string sir. Things cost, and tree trimming is a very high risk endevour.

 

[DoubleO7]

Please put up a video of how you would lasso the limb. I can't figure how to do it.

Technically not lasso.
I usually tie a good size rock with end of rope tied around it.
Many times a string tied to a 1 inch hex nut launched with a sling shot. Then use the string to pull up the rope.

 

[used red MN]

K'kins, and I, are gonna tackle it in the morning I guess.

So dood, what's a K'kins?

It is a nickname for his significant other.
…dbuck, you can select the text in a thread that you want a direct response to and it will pop up with “reply” to click to get you a “quote” that you are commenting or asking a question about. Hummm, I wonder if I have told you this before?

 

[farmersamm]

$150..................1 hour and about 45 minutes. This guy is an artist. Did the whole thing with a very long gas powered pole saw, while standing on the roof. For the last North-South long limb (parallel to the house), I hooked 3 cargo straps to his rope, which he'd tied to the tip of the long limb. My end was tied to the bumper on the 1 ton. Put stress on the line, he cut it about maybe 2/3 through, then signaled me to back up. Cleared the doublewide handsomely.

He wanted to down the long limb in the second pic. It was getting late in the day, and was getting dangerous to walk around in all the trash, let alone setting up a ladder. I decided it was a good days work, and paid the guy. We'll get it next time. I have more work for him when he gets caught up on his other stuff. It was doggone decent of him to come over after supper so that we wouldn't be facing dangerous 40-50mph overnite winds with the tree hanging over the house. Besides.......he was wanting to go beyond the original deal. All I'd asked was to remove anything overhanging the roof. Now that all that weight is gone, it's bought us time to get the rest of the tree down.

K'kins told me to call him in the FIRST place. I didn't know he was set up to do this type of work, and called the other guy. This fella does tons of work for her Mother in town.

Moral of the story. There are still people out there that work as hard as I did in my younger years. And get by with the minimum bit of equipment. They make up for it with skill, and smart work practices.

Insurance......................probably doesn't have insurance I'd guess. My risk, which I was willing to take. I have good liability coverage on the farm should somebody get injured. The house........if I'd done the work, any damage would have been on my dime anyway. I call it a wash.

This whole thing brings to mind the last 2 contractors that worked for me. One was a guy with a skid steer, and a Turbo Saw..........hired him to clear Cedars off the pasture. He worked like a slug........slow as molasses......and I caught him sitting staring at his phone a number of times. The second was a fence builder. Kept hitting me up for more money, or he was gonna quit. Ran 'em both off.

I do all my own fence now.............and bought my own Turbo Saw to use with rented skid steers.