Sudden death of White Oak?

[SidecarFlip]

Think I'd hire it done with a certified and insured arborist with a Hi-Ranger. Much safer that way and have them grind the stump too.

 

[RCW]

I'm willing to bet that there would be few if any mill operators that would take that tree down for just the lumber. I know I wouldn't. To many bad things can happen when taking down yard trees, and a good chance of metal in the tree as well, that a mill operator would want to avoid.

Thanks for that explanation. Except for rare circumstances, mills aren’t interested in yard trees......

....but I have an idea....get someone to put it on the ground and dispatch Magicman from Mississippi. He could be there with his portable mill in a couple days.

Just an attempted joke in a situation that isn’t very fun or funny.

B737 - Here’s a very sincere hope you can get it taken care of for much less than expected. Still a surprise to me in an oak.....

 

[SidecarFlip]

Just had 2 very large popple trees removed and the stumps ground this spring. The tree company charged me 500 bucks for both and my firewood buddy took all the wood and gave me 80 bucks for it. The popples were about 75 feet high and big canopy. Took them about 1 hour on each with their High Ranger. Got to exercise my big 075 Stihl with the 48" bar bucking the trunks. I rarely use it anymore. Sounds like an MX bike when it runs. Main trunks at the bottoms were about 60" across.

He took 5 tandem axle trailer loads of wood, the big rounds I loaded with the M9 loader. Took everything but the small (under 3" stuff and I roasted all that.

Not sure if you can get it done that cheap as I sharpen chipper knives for the company that did mine.

That is most certainly a High Ranger job.

 

[B737]

Just had 2 very large popple trees removed and the stumps ground this spring. The tree company charged me 500 bucks for both and my firewood buddy took all the wood and gave me 80 bucks for it. The popples were about 75 feet high and big canopy. Took them about 1 hour on each with their High Ranger. Got to exercise my big 075 Stihl with the 48" bar bucking the trunks. I rarely use it anymore. Sounds like an MX bike when it runs. Main trunks at the bottoms were about 60" across.

Not sure if you can get it done that cheap as I sharpen chipper knives for the company that did mine.

That is most certainly a High Ranger job.

Unfortunately that is not realistic here in an over crowded, over bloated, nanny state of NJ. A reputable tree company is going to run $2500 a day. You can get cheaper ones to come in for around $1500/day but they are usually (illegally) not licensed and fail to carry insurance.

We are not even allowed to burn here, it’s effing ridiculous. Retirement plan is taking me out to Montana the day after

 

[SidecarFlip]

Unfortunately that is not realistic here in an over crowded, over bloated, nanny state of NJ. A reputable tree company is going to run $2500 a day. You can get cheaper ones to come in for around $1500/day but they are usually (illegally) not licensed and fail to carry insurance.

We are not even allowed to burn here, it’s effing ridiculous. Retirement plan is taking me out to Montana the day after

Why I live in rural America. Not all that fond of Montana either. OK for hunting, but living there, not for me. I'm fine where I'm at actually.

 

[Fordtech86]

Unfortunately that is not realistic here in an over crowded, over bloated, nanny state of NJ. A reputable tree company is going to run $2500 a day. You can get cheaper ones to come in for around $1500/day but they are usually (illegally) not licensed and fail to carry insurance.

We are not even allowed to burn here, it’s effing ridiculous. Retirement plan is taking me out to Montana the day after

Can’t tell from your pics, but where will the tree fall? Your property, neighbor property? I had a dead oak in a similar situation right next to my house and I wasn’t comfortable cutting it. $200 for one cut from a pro to put it on the ground and I took care of it from there.

 

[D2Cat]

In Colorado when the pine trees were being destroyed by nematodes, the forestry guys would cut the trees down and lay the wood in rows (like a bunch of long fence post). They then covered the entire pile with black poly, then sealed the edges with dirt. It cooked the beetles, and the wood was OK to burn the next year.

 

[greg86z28]

Sad to see such a tree die.

We have Oak Wilt here in Wisconsin. We are advised to never prune in specific months (summer).

Hope you get it down safely.

 

[B737]

Can’t tell from your pics, but where will the tree fall? Your property, neighbor property? I had a dead oak in a similar situation right next to my house and I wasn’t comfortable cutting it. $200 for one cut from a pro to put it on the ground and I took care of it from there.

There is a farm next to me, he has a 6' fence between us that was put up before i got here. The posts are made from telephone poles. its about 60' away from the tree. If the tree is dropped from the bottom i believe it will hit his fence. It has a heavy lean in that direction.

the forestry guys would cut the trees down and lay the wood in rows (like a bunch of long fence post). They then covered the entire pile with black poly, then sealed the edges with dirt. It cooked the beetles, and the wood was OK to burn the next year.

it sounds like they take that stuff very seriously out there.
Its a shame to see these trees go, they are so old, getting fewer in number as people keep putting up more plastic houses on cul-de-sacs.

 

[michigander]

2019 I had a 28" white pine die .. I paid $200.00 for the top cut to under power line. I dealt with the rest. Took climber 45 minutes. The best $200.00 I've ever spent

 

[Tornado]

Wow just saw the $2500 to remove that tree. I've seen costs like that to remove trees but it was usually a giant tree like a live oak that sprawled all over roof buildings, across streets and power lines and literally required the crew to take it down piece by piece and lower it down with a rope.

This is just another one of those benefits to living in the country I guess. I can call the rental place just 15 miles away from me and order that man lift, and in a few hours its in my driveway for a weekend, and I pay $400. You could top every single tree in your yard with that thing in one weekend at that price.

Sounds like you need just one good cut about midway up the tree to miss the neighbors fence then u could do the rest based on what you're saying. God Id just hate to pay $2500 for that. Hope you get to Montana soon!

keep us updated on ur project here Im just curious now as to the conclusion of it all

 

[Palmettokat]

It is possible your insurance company might help pay for this. It is also possible if you call them they will give you a time limit to get it down if it threatens your house or a neighbor's due to the liability issue. I would consider asking your company but do not call from your phone. If you know your agent well it would be best to ask them in and not call into the company.

 

[B737]

Unfortunately unless it falls on the house the insurance company doesn’t care.

 

[Palmettokat]

Unfortunately unless it falls on the house the insurance company doesn’t care.

If it falls on the OP's house they have a claim probably. If it falls on another person's house they should have a claim since the tree is dead it is a know risk so the owner has liability and his insurance company covers such.

 

[Daren Todd]

If it falls on the OP's house they have a claim probably. If it falls on another person's house they should have a claim since the tree is dead it is a know risk so the owner has liability and his insurance company covers such.

That's actually not true. At least explained by my insurance company. If my neighbors tree falls and lands on my house. It's on me. Actually had a top come out of the neighbors tree during a storm.

If they cut the tree and damage my property, the liability is on them.

Had a neighbor who was at her brothers house and had a tree land on her vehicle during a storm. Her vehicle insurance had to cover it. Her brother tried to run it through his home owners insurance to help his sister out and the claim was denied.

 

[B737]

If it falls on the OP's house they have a claim probably. If it falls on another person's house they should have a claim since the tree is dead it is a known risk so the owner has liability and his insurance company covers such.

That's actually not true. At least explained by my insurance company. If my neighbors tree falls and lands on my house. It's on me. Actually had a top come out of the neighbors tree during a storm.

If they cut the tree and damage my property, the liability is on them.

you guys are both right.

yes, if it fell out of the blue on the neighbor's property, his insurance takes care of his stuff and the part of the tree over the line.

What is different about this, Palmetto mentioned it, is that I KNOW it's dead, I know it's hazardous. If I LET it fall, and it damages his stuff, then there is liability on ME. How would one prove this? They'd have to find this thread, or some proof that I knew something was wrong ahead of time. I think most people could claim not knowing and just be oblivious. Not sure if my insurance (or umbrella policy) would litigate on my behalf.

Neighbor's house is acres away, the only bit of his property that is near, is his fence. So im safe there. Tree company is coming this week, they are going to remove that oak and two other giant ones that are next to and over my shed. Might as well get it done while they are here. I was just hoping to skip "annual tree company day" this year, but mother nature had other plans. I kind of look at the annual expense as a "safety tax". When I moved in, the tree company was here for 14 days of work, it was crazy. I'm pretty surprised the house was even insured by the insurer in the state that it was back then.

I'll take care of trees that are no threat to property myself, but I know my limits.

 

[sheepfarmer]

If it's any consolation, I seem to have to have an every other year tree company day or days. The big mature trees and their shade is nice, but the maintenance is pretty expensive. I have a barn full of sawed boards when I can't bear to throw out that white oak or black walnut or ash. Probably foolish on my part, since it is hard to get them made and installed into my house as floor and paneling. There was a giant oak about 4 feet from the front door, probably been there since before the house was built that the log had to be lifted over the fence to the road with a crane. It had been hit by lightning twice since I've lived here. My neighbors regrettably wait until their trees fall on something before solving the problem.

 

[B737]

If it's any consolation, I seem to have to have an every other year tree company day or days. The big mature trees and their shade is nice, but the maintenance is pretty expensive. I have a barn full of sawed boards when I can't bear to throw out that white oak or black walnut or ash. Probably foolish on my part, since it is hard to get them made and installed into my house as floor and paneling. There was a giant oak about 4 feet from the front door, probably been there since before the house was built that the log had to be lifted over the fence to the road with a crane. It had been hit by lightning twice since I've lived here. My neighbors regrettably wait until their trees fall on something before solving the problem.

It is of consolation! I’m glad I’m not the only one. I agree too, my neighbors also seem to wait for things to just fall before doing anything. I don’t do well with uncertainty, or the unsightliness.

Sounds like we had similar experiences, when I moved in they had to use cranes to disassemble trees over the house, and hoist many of them over it. Having never seen work like that I gained real appreciation for how technical, dangerous and amount of skill arborists have.

 

[Daren Todd]

If it's any consolation, I seem to have to have an every other year tree company day or days. The big mature trees and their shade is nice, but the maintenance is pretty expensive. I have a barn full of sawed boards when I can't bear to throw out that white oak or black walnut or ash. Probably foolish on my part, since it is hard to get them made and installed into my house as floor and paneling. There was a giant oak about 4 feet from the front door, probably been there since before the house was built that the log had to be lifted over the fence to the road with a crane. It had been hit by lightning twice since I've lived here. My neighbors regrettably wait until their trees fall on something before solving the problem.

When we bought our house we had an oak that was 42" at the base that was less then 1ft from the corner if our garage. They had to take it down in sections with a crane

Tree service had to take down 3 other trees just to get to it with the bucket truck. All three sections of the tree had to be lifted over the house. Then the mess from them took months to clean up.

It would have been $8,000 to get the trees dropped and hauled off. Or $1,600 to have them dropped and I take care of the mess.

 

[Palmettokat]

If you are aware something you own is a liability you most likely will be held liable. I don't know they would have to find such as this thread to prove the owner knew of it. Having a tree that is dead may be proof enough to be liable. I don't know. It might have to be in some state of decay. Not trying to split a hair here. Same thing with an open well with no wall around it or other protection and a person falls in it and drowns. Same thing with swimming pool. If not protected some way or other with fence or such you could very well be liable for saying a child drowning there. One reason not to post beware of dog. You are telling them the dog is dangerous so if they bite someone then court says you knew the dog was dangerous.

Now if your house were in good shape and storm blows the roof off or it were to catch on fire and in process of it burning damages neighbors house most likely you are not responsible.