Poplar Tree Removal Project

Hello All:

Decided to open a new thread on my Poplar Tree Project and possibly get some recommendation from the pro's on this site. Background of the project is covered on this previous thread and I thank all for their valuable input.

http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?t=81117&highlight=bigredd

My neighbor and I decided to tackle the job ourselves. I received two estimates for removal and the cheapest was $4000, both using a crane to shorten the work time. This tree is a double trunk (105 ft) and one leaning toward my neighbor's house. My neighbor had some climbing experience, but not with spurs and working in the tree.

Currently have $1400 invested in climbing and rigging equipment, and training DVD's, and also purchased a used Stihl MS200t for $255 on Ebay. Bought the climbing and rigging kits mostly from Wesspur.com and some from Arboristsite sponsor TreeStuff.com, and training videos from ISA's website.

Attached are some pictures of work done so far. We have been able to free-fall some of the high big limbs and the smaller stuff. However, most that remains will need to be lowered with false crotch and rigging. Not sure our current saws are adequate to remove the lower trunks, which are 25"diameter at 5 ft from ground. Have the MS200t with 14" blade, MS260 w/16", and Husky 350 w/18" blade. Have used only a Fiskers 18" hand saw and pole saw so far, but plan to start using the MS200t soon.

Any suggestions on safely dropping these trees would be helpful. To avoid property damage, most all of the trunks must be lowered piece at at time. May be able to drop some of the right one if real accurate in felling, but would probably destroy a smaller adjacent hickory tree.

Will post more pics as work progresses. Weather has been terrible recently.

Nice pics, stay safe and good luck.

You can do it with your 350. But hey, bigger is better...

Wow. I only have one question.

How did you manage to climb that tree with nads as big as yours? Seems like they would be banging on the trunk and hanging on every stub. LOL Do they have their own climbing rig?

Ian

Haywire Haywood said:

Wow. I only have one question.

How did you manage to climb that tree with nads as big as yours? Seems like they would be banging on the trunk and hanging on every stub. LOL Do they have their own climbing rig?

Ian

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My neighbor is the one with the big nad's. My feet are firmly planted on the groung working the climbing and rigging lines. He's a small fellow, 51 years old, and climbs those trees like a monkey on steroids. Correction, the trunks are 29" dia at 5 ft above ground, instead of 25".

sample removal total time about 3 hrs tom trees

Cheapest estimate for these 2 stems is $4,000 ??? Man I'm operating out of the wrong area. If I could see them in person I could estimate the height and drop zone with the stick trick ,shoot up a tag line and just drop them if I have enough of an opening and there appears to be from the pic if you removed that little fence. If I had to climb,rig down ,chip brush,rake up and leave blocks:3 hrs.

You got the easy stuff. If your man can climb and cut, have him cut firewood and throw it down. Just set up a brush pile or tires to throw it on to minimize ground damage. This will take some time, but it will keep you from having to set up and rig big pieces down, which shouldn't be attempted by novices. This should also keep everything more "controlled" due to the fact that the pieces are small and can be tossed to the drop zone accurately. He did alrght to get where he is, just cut those stubs off on the way up before he puts one through a rib.

I hear ya.........get-r-done.........the person that gave the $4000 price didn't want to do them so they priced high enough that if the guy bit then they could hire a crane........

Thanks for the replys guys. We used an old arborist scope to measure the height at 105 ft. The $4000 included $1650 (tax included) for crane rental and cleanup. Unfortunately there is no really good drop zone without destroying several smaller trees that I want to keep, and removing the fence, which we are trying to avoid. There is a steep incline from the driveway to the fence.

Current plan is remove the remaining tops by free falling the small stuff and rigging for the remainder. Have a 1/2 inch Arbor Plex rope we have been using for natural crotch rigging of smaller limbs, and 5/8 inch HuskyII rope, large port-a-wrap, and 5/8 in Whoopie Sling/block for removing the larger sections. Have not used a false crotch yet. Will also use a tag line to guide pieces to miss the obsticals below.

Another option we are considering is using a zip line to a hickory tree about 30 feet away in the neighbor's back yard. Thanks again for your comments.

Nailsbeats said:

just cut those stubs off on the way up before he puts one through a rib.

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If he slides down and jams one of those up his :censored: he'll be wishing he took your advice.

just cut those stubs off on the way up before he puts one through a rib.

taxmantoo said:

If he slides down and jams one of those up his :censored: he'll be wishing he took your advice.

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I will definitely have my neighbor read your recommendations. He is planning on using those stubs to stand on during removal of the trunk.

bigredd said:

just cut those stubs off on the way up before he puts one through a rib.



I will definitely have my neighbor read your recommendations. He is planning on using those stubs to stand on during removal of the trunk.

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:jawdrop:

hell you could have hired me for 1400.

bigredd said:

Thanks for the replys guys. We used an old arborist scope to measure the height at 105 ft. The $4000 included $1650 (tax included) for crane rental and cleanup. Unfortunately there is no really good drop zone without destroying several smaller trees that I want to keep, and removing the fence, which we are trying to avoid. There is a steep incline from the driveway to the fence.

Current plan is remove the remaining tops by free falling the small stuff and rigging for the remainder. Have a 1/2 inch Arbor Plex rope we have been using for natural crotch rigging of smaller limbs, and 5/8 inch HuskyII rope, large port-a-wrap, and 5/8 in Whoopie Sling/block for removing the larger sections. Have not used a false crotch yet. Will also use a tag line to guide pieces to miss the obsticals below.

Another option we are considering is using a zip line to a hickory tree about 30 feet away in the neighbor's back yard. Thanks again for your comments.

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and i could have come down with my gear and it would have been down in a couple of hours and i could have went and visited my father in Lenoir City while you guys cleaned up the mess.

fishercat said:

and i could have come down with my gear and it would have been down in a couple of hours and i could have went and visited my father in Lenoir City while you guys cleaned up the mess.

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Lenoir City is 5 miles from my house. Perhaps I should have offered this job through this site.

Trust me this looks much more daunting in person than the pictures show. Estimates of 3 hours is not realistic. Just spoke with my neighbor and he is going to try throwing firewood sections of the trunk to the ground, as suggested by Nailsbeats. Also going to remove some of the long stubs on the trunk.

Forgot to mention that we have always been able to use a climbing line through a natural crotch above while climbing and decending. Certainly do not want to do anything that compromises safety.

that tree is a cakewalk.

bigredd said:

Lenoir City is 5 miles from my house. Perhaps I should have offered this job through this site.

Trust me this looks much more daunting in person than the pictures show. Estimates of 3 hours is not realistic. Just spoke with my neighbor and he is going to try throwing firewood sections of the trunk to the ground, as suggested by Nailsbeats. Also going to remove some of the long stubs on the trunk.

Forgot to mention that we have always been able to use a climbing line through a natural crotch above while climbing and decending. Certainly do not want to do anything that compromises safety.

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i'd take that over some our swamp and sugar maples with a trillion small limbs here.

you actually may be closer than you think to my father.he lives in Avalon ,just past Dixie lee Junction.i went to Farragut High school.one of my best friends lives off Smith Rd and here husband works for the town of Farragut.i lived in Maryville before i moved to Connecticut.i know the Knoxville area better than most people who were born and raised there.

i'll be down in the spring if you can wait to finish it.

oh and by the way,

i had every intention of roping it all down.

fishercat said:

i'd take that over some our swamp and sugar maples with a trillion small limbs here.

you actually may be closer than you think to my father.he lives in Avalon ,just past Dixie lee Junction.i went to Farragut High school.one of my best friends lives off Smith Rd and here husband works for the town of Farragut.i lived in Maryville before i moved to Connecticut.i know the Knoxville area better than most people who were born and raised there.

i'll be down in the spring if you can wait to finish it.

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Looks like your father and I are almost neighbors. Live in Sugarwood Subdivision in Farragut, in the older section with the big trees. Wish I had talked to you several weeks ago. Right now I have considerable coin invested with my neighbor doing the job and he's confident of bringing it down safely.

Offered him the used MS200t for safely completing the job, as I already have an MS260 and not physically capable of climbing.

well all i can say is............

at least you appreciate what we do know and what gear cost us if you didn't already.wish you the best of luck.i have some trees to take down in Hickory Woods one of these days.be careful and have a Merry Christmas and a great New Year!

i know Sugarwood well.

the folks that bought my Dad's old hous years ago in Country Manor moved there recently.

that is a nice area but getting a little too crowded for my tastes.i do wish that damn Gander Mountain was there when i lived there.we used to go off roading with our land cruisers where all that Turkey Creek shopping crap is now.those were the good old days for sure.i'll be living there again in 2-5 years.great folks down there.