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My World: A tree dies

Bob Rogers

New member
We had this tree in our back yard that had to come down. It was about 115 feet tall (35m).

I'll be making most of it into firewood; probably enough to keep us warm for two years.

In the first image, the man is probably 75 feet in the air. The stuff that looks like noise in the second image is sawdust.





Tree
Bob Rogers



Man
Bob Rogers
 

Andrew Stannard

pro member
Hi Bob,

How long did it take to take the whole tree down? Curious.

And also, what of the stump that is left - is this also dug up, or left to rot in the ground? Do roots make good firewood if you do dig it up?

35m sounds like a fairly hefty tree to me - I hope you have some photos of it to serve as a reminder!


Regards,
Andrew.
 

Bob Rogers

New member
They arrived at 8 AM and were finished at 3 PM. Basically three guys did the work. The man in the tree plus two on the ground to control falling parts as necessary. They tie them to a long line and lower them. You can see two lines in the photo. The other line is a safety line that the man is about to attach to himself.

They are supposed to return and use a stump grinder to remove what is left. It's like a giant circular saw that turns the stump into wood chips.

We had an old stump at our last house that I did dig up in parts and burn. It's wood -- it burns ;-) Unfortunately we have another tree that probably needs to come down that's even bigger. It will be our third. They cost about $2,000 each to remove.
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
That's not the death of a tree, it's bloody murder! If it's $2,000 a tree, two things, first it must really be necessary and next, you do not have cheap labor from over the border as we do in California! I hate to see trees cut up like that! Sometimes, I guess it's necessary. I'd prefer they are kept healthy by pruning and not over watering.

Asher
 

Andrew Stannard

pro member
Hi Bob,

Thanks for the info - sounds like an interesting process to watch and photo.

I do find it a shame to see old and stately trees cut down, but can understand the circumstances where it is necessary.

ANdrew.
 

Bob Rogers

New member
That's not the death of a tree, it's bloody murder! If it's $2,000 a tree, two things, first it must really be necessary and next, you do not have cheap labor from over the border as we do in California! I hate to see trees cut up like that! Sometimes, I guess it's necessary. I'd prefer they are kept healthy by pruning and not over watering.

Asher

It was rotting in the middle. The trunk was about 24 inches across, but more than half was rotted. It would have fallen in the next big ice storm.

Big trees are expensive to take down when they are near houses. My boss had one taken down that was the same size for only $300 (by the same company), but then they just to dropped it in the yard and he cleaned it up. Actually I cleaned up most of it to get the wood to burn.
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
It was rotting in the middle. The trunk was about 24 inches across, but more than half was rotted. It would have fallen in the next big ice storm.

Big trees are expensive to take down when they are near houses. My boss had one taken down that was the same size for only $300 (by the same company), but then they just to dropped it in the yard and he cleaned it up. Actually I cleaned up most of it to get the wood to burn.

Bob,

I had a tree die from Dutch Elm Disease. I arranged for guys with a crane and bucket for the men to cut down the tree safely. I watched from the safety of 10 meters under the canopy of my favorite silver birch tree. Then I got a phone call in the house and carried my son inside, when the giant crane suddenly broke loose and crashed down, splitting the silver birch where I had stood and pushing a Ford Explorer SUV two feet deep into the tarmac driveway!

Asher
 

Doug Herr

Member
I had a cottonwood tree removed from my yard after a large limb dropped & damaged my truck. The tree's trunk was about 6' across and as we found later it was rotting on the inside.

L1670582.jpg


L1670583.jpg

I hated to lose the shade but the tree had been dropping limbs for several years and was too dangerous. For several years a pair of Western Screech Owls had nested in one of the tree's cavities so we made sure the nest was not active before we removed the tree.

wsowl01.jpg
 

Doug Kerr

Well-known member
Hi, Doug,

First, welcome to the forum!
I had a cottonwood tree removed from my yard after a large limb dropped & damaged my truck. The tree's trunk was about 6' across and as we found later it was rotting on the inside.

L1670582.jpg
Cottonwoods have a very short service life. My former home in East Dallas originally had three in the front yard, but they all declined and had to be euthanized, one-by-one.

And of course we now live in a town named after cottonwoods (Alamogordo, N.M. - "fat cottonwood(s)"). The one you had certainly fit that moniker!

Best regards,

Doug
 

Doug Kerr

Well-known member
Hi, Cem,

Oh my! Doug Herr! How confusing can it get? What next, Doug Lerr? ;)
PS: welcome Doug H.
So, Francis Sillymuffin appears before a judge to petition for a change of name. He tells the judge that his name is just too embarrassing.

The judge says, "Well, I can understand that", and asks the fellow what new name he would like to adopt.

"Bob Sillymuffin", he replies.

Best regards,

Doug
 
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