We’re putting in a new septic system, and need to clear nine big trees 60-100ft (plus some little ones, including a young yew). Mostly grand fir (or white fir or pizz fir, as my septic installer calls it), plus a doug fir or two. They’re all in a dense area so easy for them to get hung up, and all within striking distance of the house or carport or both. Some are between the house and the carport, and one is right up against the carport. Not an easy job. Pretty much all of these trees are coming down, plus a few behind the carport. If you look closely you can see where I season my kindling! Had two arborists come out yesterday, both of whom had done work on the property in the past. Only one bid in so far, for $14k! I thought I’d document progress here.
Smart to get a few quotes. I’ll interested to hear what the other quotes come in at. Definitely good size trees. Are to two between the two structures representative of the size of all 9? What are they, about 20-24” DBH?
Second quote came in around $8-9K. And it’s with a more seasoned guy. I’m not sure yet what I’ll do with the wood. Maybe sell the grand fir to campers in a little business with my kids? Maybe mill the Doug fir to have lumber to make a wood shed? I know a guy with a mobile milling setup. Or at least keep it for firewood…it’s similar to soft maple in terms of BTUs, which is pretty good in these parts. They’re all in cahoots here. The two Doug fir in front are wider and shorter than the others 60 or 70’. I didn’t measure DBH, but it’s at least 20”. Grand firs grow too fast and thin for their own good—it’s not uncommon for their tops to pop off. I know one is 100’…not sure about the others.
The state of Massachusetts is trying to force some newfangled septic on its citizens. $50k and up. Per house. Our town surprisingly forced public hearings to expose it all. Same rules as with Title V - can't sell your house unless 1.) you connect to public sewer (if available), 2.) your current TitleV system is updated, or 3.) money is set aside in an account with the new owners to get 1 or 2 done.
So is the quoted price just for the trees work, getting the trees on the ground, chipping the brush, and leaving all the wood for you? Frustrating when there is such a broad spectrum in pricing….tree work can be one of the worst for this!
Didn’t Mass do something similar a few decades ago? I thought it required a septic replacement at the time of sale. I can’t recall. It didn’t go over well and I believe it was walked back.
There's been a few iterations of Title V, maybe when they required a system test at a home sale ? I think the money set aside in escrow for a failed or failing system may have been a pacifier for that snafu. My sister had to have about $25K put in escrow when she bought her house down the street. The system "failed", but the previous owner was renting to college kids - four bedrooms plus the garage looked like it was being used as a bedroom - and that's a LOT of people flooding a septic system. It passed a year or two later as it was just her, her son and another sister at the time.Son is long gone. They used the escrow to connect to town sewer. They're chasing nitrogen entering watersheds and it doesn't matter if your system actually bleeds off into a local watershed or not . Plus there are worse offenders, so going after ALL homeowners seems a bit absurd.
My guess is homeowners are an easier “target”. If larger offenders are businesses, deeper pockets and campaign money.
Interesting story about 45 minutes east of me. Multigenerational cattle farm spreads wastewater sludge as fertilizer. Later found that the sludge contained hexavalent chromium and both his ground and cattle are polluted. State then issued an advisory about his beef and now nobody will buy his cattle. Then local auto parts manufacturer is found to be dumping hexavalent chromium into the same wastewater system as their PFAS chemicals and testing of the local watershed and the Huron river shows that it is polluted. Well, now the farmer is suing the auto parts manufacturer. Poor farmers just trying to do what his family has done for the last hundred years. Poor guy’ll probably end up losing everything
Sad story. He ought to be suing the wastewater treatment plant as well, they should be testing the stuff and also making a disclaimer that it not be used in the production of food. My guess is that everyone involved will declare bankruptcy and shift the cost burden of the toxic cleanup onto the taxpayers. The farmer will likely end up busted out of the farming business. Sad outcome, but he's not entirely blameless, as it seems like common sense to not spread everyone's chit (not just metaphorically speaking) on your farmland. Keep the human waste stream out of the food supply stream, is the lesson I take from this. I wouldn't use it on my veggie garden, and I don't want it in my beef. I believe the two water treatment plants near me compost the sludge with wood chips then sell it to landscapers and municipalities with the express requirement that it not be used in the food supply stream.
