A few years back, a pine bark beetle attacked trees in our area
, killing thousands of trees in the Prescott National Forest and on privately owned property.
My daughter and SIL
who live next door, lost five big Ponderosa Pines.
The dead trees were dangerous, but estimates to remove them ranged from $15.000 to $20,000.
They were shopping around for a better deal when...
Enter our son who insisted he could take down the trees if they would rent a lift. It seemed dangerous to the rest of us and they tried to say no, but in the end, he prevailed and they rented a sixty foot lift.
This tree that towered 15 or 20 feet above the 60 foot reach of the lift was first.
A judicious cut, and then it was pulled over landing with an earth shaking crash, exactly where he had planned for it to fall.
( I was wringing my hands and praying at the time, I think that helped)
The rest of the tree came down in sections, logs plopping to earth one by one, not so scary.
He took all five trees down and then popped over to do one at our house and up to some neighbors to do some tree trimming.
An Inconvenient Amendment
15 years ago
8 comments:
Glad you got these dangerous suckers down, and at least they can be used for firewood. Sorry to see them all die though...
I happen to know what an amazing feat this was and truly admire your son's confidence and willingness to take care of this. Tree removal is so expensive but I've never heard prices that high. What did it cost to rent the lift? Anyway, I sure understand your hand wringing.
To write such a lengthy post with pictures and all, I'm assuming you are back among the living. Glad you are better.
Bravo!
WOW good job well done! next time I need some tree trimming, I'll rent those two! Do you think they'd come all the way to canada?
Tombo, it was a relief to get them down! I shudder to think about them in this winter's heavy snow!
GA, I think the price of removal here was driven up by the need. We had a big tree removed here about 15 years ago for $600. The lift was $400 for the weekend.
Changes!:)
Sham, who knows..have lift will travel...catchy:)
Whew! Watching large trees fall is frightening in of itself, but so close to houses? Terrifying.
How amazing that your son and grandson are so talented, brave, strong, and generous, too.
Have they had training in tree removal/cutting? I'm so impressed!
We once had a huge old oak tree in our backyard in SC that became diseased and then was attacked by termites. It cost about $700 to have it cut down. I can't imagine how home owners could afford $15,000. And it's something that is needed for safety. Maybe there should be preventative insurance money available to homeowners to help prevent future catastrophes?
~Lisa
WOW! What an adventure. What a family! Wonderful pictures, too.
Lisa, my son spent a lot of time preparing for this. Although he had no experience, he talked to a number of people who did.
I think the market price for tree cutting was driven up here by need after so many trees died.
My kids found that their insurance would cover if their tree fell on the neighbors house, but not on their own.
Thanks, GJ!
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