Need Advise on felling tree, Botched Contractor Job

[chuj]

Parents hired a contractor, paid full cash up front - no paper trail. Contractor left job in a ?possibly? hazardous state as a sabotage (see pictures). I think this is sabotage as remaining branches are pointing in direction of power lines (away from fell line), and cuts are made towards the street with fell cut made below the bore Notch cut. Contractor no longer picking up phone.

1) Can you sue someone in this profession without a paper trail?

2) What's the best/safest way to finish felling the tree? SWIM discussion. Need details - my opinion is to go up with a hand saw to remove the two branches pointing at the power lines, then rope, wedge, and cut a new fell line with a chainsaw on the ground.

Thoughts?

 

[J D]

He's made a right mess of that... I wouldn't consider climbing it or you might end up on top of the power lines along with it. Only way I can see to safely remove the upper limbs now is a bit at a time with a bucket truck.
If the area in front of the wedge is clear of power lines etc I would throw a line up through the fork & pull a decent rope up, attach the other end to a decent size vehicle & pull it over towards the road.
Do you know what type of tree it is?

 

[chilipeppermaniac]

CHUJ, I would not GET UP IN That tree with that notch and back cuts. The time to get up in that tree was before the trunk was wedged out.

I'd think the safest method is with a man lift or bucket truck and working the limbs down in smaller pieces till the trunk part is short enough not to hit anything once the felling cuts are made.

I cannot answer about suing without any paper trail. Pics of the crew, truck, Before and after would be the best I could suggest.

 

[chuj]

He's made a right mess of that... I wouldn't consider climbing it or you might end up on top of the power lines along with it. Only way I can see to safely remove the upper limbs now is a bit at a time with a bucket truck.
If the area in front of the wedge is clear of power lines etc I would throw a line up through the fork & pull a decent rope up, attach the other end to a decent size vehicle & pull it over towards the road.
Do you know what type of tree it is?

Bradford Pear

 

[J D]

Well at least there will be some nice wood there when you get it down. Hopefully someone can make more than just Firewood from the trunk

 

[chuj]

Well at least there will be some nice wood there when you get it down. Hopefully someone can make more than just Firewood from the trunk

Ah

I saw the deep color in the opening was thinking the same thing lol.

 

[ATH]

Clearly, someone who doesn't know how to use a saw/fell a tree.

Probably nothing you can do to go after the hack with no paper trail/evidence. Yet another reason to not pay cash, not pay up front.

Might call the power company or city...they may knock it down to save the mess later.

Otherwise, get someone with a bucket truck to blast the top out of it.

In the mean time, put yellow caution tape all around that thing.

 

[capetrees]

That doesn't look like it could be more than 30" tall. Use an extendable pole saw or throw line to get a rope up high as you can and pull it over toward the street, away fro the power lines. It doesn't look like it's going to make the next wind storm so do it quickly.

 

[northmanlogging]

pull line and pull it where there is room, or get a portable man lift, and nibble away at it, taking little bits from top down. I would do what I can to stabalize it quick fast in a hurry, couple of good strong ropes as guy lines could be a life saver at this point.

hard to tell form the pictures, but how much wood is left holding it up?

Could be that you cross your fingers and hope it falls gently on the lines and the the power company cleans it up without charging you.

Who ever did cut this thing, needs to stay a long way away from chainsaws, or maybe take a close look at what a running chain can do to his face...

 

[biggerstaff94]

Im not a professional by any means but ive done alot of stupid stuff in my life. Climbing that is not something i would even consider doing. Looks like itd fall right over with a good push.

 

[Bubster]

I am not a professional arborist or timber faller,but I wouldn't even leave a tree like this in the woods with nobody around for 50 miles.I agree with the others on a bucket truck.For Gods sake,don't climb that thing.

 

[Del_]

Looks like a Bradford pear like mentioned. Do you know how to figure height of a tree using a 45° angle? You start away from the tree and look up at a 45° angle and when the top of the tree is at 45° the tip of the tree top will land where you are standing. You have to draw an imaginary line all the way to the ground behind you, not at your eye level.

I don't think that it is tall enough to reach the power lines on the other side of the street. Of course it could easily tear down the 240v drop shown near to the tree.

My experience is that Bradford pear wood makes for a very poorly holding hinge wood.

I'd get a few estimates and get it down and forget the lawyers, etc. It will tie up a good part of your time and they are going to want up front money that the 'tree guy' probably doesn't have unless he skips paying rent on the mobile home he's already behind his rent on.

Mark it up to a lesson learned. You don't want to spend dollars chasing nickels.

It is good firewood.

That tree needs a good steady pull at about one foot per second with a good stout rope of 10k lbs and a good 4wd vehicle with a very experience person at this kind of thing behind the wheel. I suggest the rope be about 3 ft. above the main crotch on the largest of the two leaders.

I don't think it needs any more cutting. If fact it may fall on it's own tonight! The hinge wood should be about 1.5 inches wide.

Do it tomorrow as you have a very hazardous situation going on there.

These are not instructions meant for you to follow. They are instructions that should be very similar to what you hear from your selected tree experts, so you know what to listen for.

Of course the bucket truck or lift are both excellent options.

.

 

[ROME K/G]

Rent a manlift and start near the top and cut it down.

 

[Sierra_rider]

That's quite the sequence of cuts on that tree. If it was me, I'd throw a pull line in it, and pull it down and away from the lines...like others have already said.

That being said, lot's can go wrong if you're inexperienced and trying to pull a tree. The safest option would be to hire a legit tree service to come and clean it out with a bucket truck.

Either way, that tree is a ticking time bomb. I'd worry about getting it safely down on the ground ASAP rather than worrying about legal retribution.

 

[Captain Bruce]

A

Clearly, someone who doesn't know how to use a saw/fell a tree.

Probably nothing you can do to go after the hack with no paper trail/evidence. Yet another reason to not pay cash, not pay up front.

Might call the power company or city...they may knock it down to save the mess later.

Otherwise, get someone with a bucket truck to blast the top out of it.

In the mean time, put yellow caution tape all around that thing.

Still, at the end of the thread, nobody should leave the ground.
Paying a complete jamoke in cash?? without shacking hands/names/a story/license #??

A 3-way bucket truck would snip that tree like a BoRics scissor cut. Once the crown is down......a real professional arborist, would approach the tree, access the fall, and than, a REAL PRO would show off, by asking for a short log. He'd place it to absorb the trunk landing............and he'd put it there, with 1 saw, no wedges, only a tugging line.

Swing Free; Work Safe

 

[benjo75]

Looks like some of the crap some of the other "tree services" in my area leave. Not sure I would call it sabotage. Looks like they cut what limbs would fall then notched it and back cut ( if you want to call it that) then when it didn't fall on it's own, realizing they were over their heads, got in their truck and left. Probably a (Will beat anyone's price) tree service. No one reputable will ask for money up front. If they're running their business that tight somethings wrong.


Without seeing it in person can't tell if it's safe to pull it over with a rope. Bradford pears have almost zero holding strength. You might get away pulling 180 degrees against the lean but not sideways. Looks like an easy job for the bucket truck but don't attempt climbing or leaning a ladder against it. If it falls and does damage it might be on the homeowner since the hacks can't be located.

 

[angelo c]

No chance I do business with a "cash upfront" contractor ...ever.

 

[chilipeppermaniac]

A

Still, at the end of the thread, nobody should leave the ground.
Paying a complete jamoke in cash?? without shacking hands/names/a story/license #??

A 3-way bucket truck would snip that tree like a BoRics scissor cut. Once the crown is down......a real professional arborist, would approach the tree, access the fall, and than, a REAL PRO would show off, by asking for a short log. He'd place it to absorb the trunk landing............and he'd put it there, with 1 saw, no wedges, only a tugging line.

Swing Free; Work Safe

Looks like some of the crap some of the other "tree services" in my area leave. Not sure I would call it sabotage. Looks like they cut what limbs would fall then notched it and back cut ( if you want to call it that) then when it didn't fall on it's own, realizing they were over their heads, got in their truck and left. Probably a (Will beat anyone's price) tree service. No one reputable will ask for money up front. If they're running their business that tight somethings wrong.


Without seeing it in person can't tell if it's safe to pull it over with a rope. Bradford pears have almost zero holding strength. You might get away pulling 180 degrees against the lean but not sideways. Looks like an easy job for the bucket truck but don't attempt climbing or leaning a ladder against it. If it falls and does damage it might be on the homeowner since the hacks can't be located.

While I am no expert tree feller, I know safe from dangerous. I also know ( sadly so) someone who was killed while in the process of doing tree work. While an assistant was up in a man lift limbing, he was below and had a limb fall on him and end his life.

Having read some comments in addition to the ones I quoted above, I would stress that depending on how deep the back cuts are, this tree should be topped and dropped ASAP so that it does not fall by a strong wind and it any cars, power lines, people and make some irreversible consequences.

 

[lone wolf]

No chance I do business with a "cash upfront" contractor ...ever.

I learned that at 8 years old at summer camp. I gave a kid 50 cents to make my mother a potholder. Never saw it!

 

[chilipeppermaniac]

I learned that at 8 years old at summer camp. I gave a kid 50 cents to make my mother a potholder. Never saw it!

In my initial reading of the OP, I immediately thought his parents may be elderly and got scammed.

In hindsight, they got scammed, elderly or not. Unfortunately the scam left a dangerous condition.