Getting trees removed for free

[Bugsinrugs]

PG&E marked two trees in my driveway for removal. I told them not to damage the surrounding trees and haul the wood away. This job in its entirety would probably be 10-15,000 dollars. No cost to me. I wanted to not have them cut down but I was shown the diseased spots and am now glad they are going.

[Bugsinrugs]

[Baz]

I have a stand of Cabbage Palms along my North side street (I'm on a corner lot). There is a power line along that same stand and every other year Asplundh (under contract with the utilities company) comes out and prunes the fronds back. They have a shredder and shred everything they prune off.

I use to prune these myself but now I just let them do it.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Bugsinrugs

PG&E marked two trees in my driveway for removal. I told them not to damage the surrounding trees and haul the wood away. This job in its entirety would probably be 10-15,000 dollars. No cost to me. I wanted to not have them cut down but I was shown the diseased spots and am now glad they are going.

Serious score! Having trees removed is expensive (varies a bit depending upon location of course, but never cheap, and certainly not free.

We've got an oak that is still going, but I think has some beetles or something getting into it. I'll probably have to look into getting it taken down at some point, but I really don't want to.

[juanbenae]

Make sure you get something in writing about hauling the logs away. They will chip the small stuff, <12" or so, but if you look at the fine print, they will leave the logs in like 8' sections. I went through this and luckily the trees were just in my property line, and they could not put them on the adjacent property, nor any reasonably close location on my property.

Go to the PG&E site and look at their tree removal process & procedures. Unless you speak with a higher up and get it "written in" the guy marking trees in the field has no say in the actual work. My two ended up not being removed because the crane operator would not drive down our paved entry road due to the road width v. the crane wheel width. He said the weight at the edges of the road would get broken up with the wide nature of the crane. They ended up offsetting the top of the pole that carries the lines.

[Bugsinrugs]

Yes, I got that same advice before I agreed to give them access to my property. Got their commitment on paper. I also talked to the foreman in charge of removal so hopefully they take the logs. There isn’t a lot of room for the logs from the second tree.

[juanbenae]

So, what I saw after I got assurances the logs would be hauled away on falling day was 2 10-wheel transfer dump trucks and a bobcat with a grappler on it to snatch and load logs. If you don't see equipment to load and haul away logs tie yourself to that tree like a hippie might.

Good luck, and I look forward to hearing on how this ends up in like 6 months... Best case. The paint wears off many trees before they come down on the utilities dime...

[Bugsinrugs]

Your post caused me to wake up in the middle of the night. However, sleeping next to me is the toughest bulldog of a wife you would ever meet. I’ll keep you posted but my money is on my wife. ��

[HobieMarty]

You could always get Alec Baldwin to crash a car into the trees!!!

Sent from my SM-S916U using Tapatalk

[Zeke]

I'd be more concerned about the stumps being left. To me that's half the job. maybe stumps don't bother you at your location. I'm in the city and they are ugly and useless.

[Bugsinrugs]

I can live with the stumps. In 7-8 years they rot out. I had 7 large pines taken down about 5 years ago and the stumps are already crumbling.

[stevej37]

A couple years back, I called my utility co. to ask them about my mature soft maple tree that looked like it was going to split. The split would bring a half of the tree down on the high voltage wires.

A field manager stopped out the same day to look at it. He said they would do nothing about it until it split and took the wires down....then they would cut the branches out enough to restore power. The rest of the removal would be up to me.

I went ahead and hired it done. The wires feed my house and about 100 more downstream.

[berettafan]

Originally Posted by HobieMarty

You could always get Alec Baldwin to crash a car into the trees!!!

Sent from my SM-S916U using Tapatalk

Dammit I came here to do a Baldwin reference!

[Bugsinrugs]

The company that cuts the trees( mountain enterprises) took all the slash and said they would be back to remove the mountain of logs laying near my driveway. Keeping my fingers crossed!

[juanbenae]

Wow, that was quick! I figured they were just in the planning stages of the removal and it can take months before they actually move on the work.

If it were me, I'd put an ad on FB Market Place for free firewood being so close to the paved road cause that's some gravy collection. My neighbor a few properties down did that with a large cedar they removed from his property by simply posting signs for the logs and they were cut up and hauled off within a week or so. Once they leave the site getting them to return is an uphill battle.

Good luck!

[Bugsinrugs]

I had 7 pines taken down maybe 5-6 years ago. They dropped the trees and bucked the logs. I split them all. Got about 22 cords. I gave a bunch away but still have some left. I only burn pine to get my fires going. This pile would be way to much work for an old man like me��

[dad911]

Utility company comes by here every few years to clear an easement. Last time they took every branch off of a tree, leaving the trunk standing. Took months to get a foreman, who said they would drop it but leave it laying.

All so their drones could survey the pipeline.

[juanbenae]

Originally Posted by Bugsinrugs

I had 7 pines taken down maybe 5-6 years ago. They dropped the trees and bucked the logs. I split them all. Got about 22 cords. I gave a bunch away but still have some left. I only burn pine to get my fires going. This pile would be way to much work for an old man like me��

What I meant was see if any locals are interested in taking it off your hands..

[HobieMarty]

Originally Posted by berettafan

Dammit I came here to do a Baldwin reference!

Sent from my SM-S916U using Tapatalk