In loving memory of Kenis D. Keathley 6/4/81 - 3/27/22 Loving father, husband, brother, friend and firewood hoarder Rest in peace, Dexterday

Anyone ever ask landowners about dead trees?

Discussion in 'The Wood Pile' started by Yawner, Aug 26, 2019.

  1. Yawner

    Yawner

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    Who looks at trees as you drive? I do, lol. Some trees die, it's just the way it is. I got a neighbor just up the road that has two pecans and an oak that are dying. I wonder what happened, that seems odd. But the leaves are brown as can be. I doubt those trees will come back. This happens quite often when I drive around, I will think, I should knock on those people's door and offer to take them down and get the wood. And if the falling is not real safe, I wouldn't fall it if it could hit their house. I might could strike a deal and let them 'hire' a faller other than me and then I go from there. I don't like knocking on doors these days but there really is no other way. Do you think one would 'need' to clean it up perfectly or just take the big stuff and let them deal with the slash? I am all for being neighborly, lol, but that sure makes for a lot more work to clean it up perfectly. And if they hire somebody to take those trees out would cost a lot! I bet it would cost $200 to $400 for a 'local' and even more for an out of town professional tree service to take down a single tree. I live in a small town.
     
  2. buZZsaw BRAD

    buZZsaw BRAD

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    I had someone wanton me to tell two dead yard trees last Winter. A bit too dangerous for me as close enough to house and service lines. He had them felled only. I cut up the wood and cleaned up the brush. I will post the link to the thread I posted when I get my netbook back from the shop.
     
  3. jrider

    jrider

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    I won’t cut trees down for free unless they are a close friend. Too much work involved just to get “free” wood.
     
  4. mrfancyplants

    mrfancyplants

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    I cleaned up some deceased flowering cherries for a neighbor. I had to knock on the door several times to get a hold of the parents and then the dad, but they were grateful, and so were their neighbors. The trees had been an eye sore for a few years. The four trees ranged from a little to very hollow, but I definitely got some good wood and will stash some chunks for throwing in the Webber grill.

    Standing flowering cherries

    I’m keeping an eye out for dead dogwood as they would have a lot of btu for the effort and aren’t much of a project to tackle, and seem to die periodically from some sort of fungal issue. Usually in the front yard too.
     
  5. MikeInMa

    MikeInMa

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    If it were me, I'd go and talk with them. Get a good close look at the trees and discuss with them how/where to fell them, if safe to do so.

    I'd also offer to cut brush into manageable size and hope there's someplace on site to pile it. I wouldn't feel right leaving a mess. Who knows, maybe there's other trees that'll die off. I'd want to feel comfortable going back and ask again. Maybe they have a fireplace or outside fire pit. If so, I'd offer to stack some of the smaller stuff where they could use it. Neighbors with trees are good to have!
     
  6. Yawner

    Yawner

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    Another neighbor has two dead dogwoods, it's right across the street. I offered to take them and they said yes. The good news is their burn pile is only about 20 ft away from the dogwoods. The bad news is... that huge burn pile is what killed the dogwoods. I couldn't believe they were so dumb!
     
  7. Yawner

    Yawner

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    I certainly thought about whether I should clean it all up but my only counter to cleaning it up perfectly is, again, what I said about what it would cost them to hire somebody to take it all away and clean it up -- hundreds of dollars. Probably for three trees, $1,000, at least! And I would take away all the big stuff and leave only slash for nothing? Anyone could deal with the slash I would leave. Even the widow women that live around here, I see them piling up limbs that fall in their yards.

    Another idea I had was to actually charge them to do this work, and then hire somebody to clean up the slash. But finding anyone to work around here is difficult! I tell ya, times have changed, hard to find workers around here. Beyond that, I thought, for liability reasons, IF I could find someone to clean it up, I wouldn't hire them, I would just have the neighbor hire them and I am not in the loop. Or less, anyway. I actually thought quite a bit about this lately because I see a LOT of dead trees and I like falling trees that are not dangerous, and then cutting them up. Love running a chainsaw, lol! Another thought I had was to have a contract with the landowner. Something 'short and sweet.' I've never done anything like that, I'm more 'good ol' boy' handshake type, but heck, people are nuts these days, suing people over all kinds of nonsense.

    Another way to do it would be to actually charge people to take it all off and clean it up perfectly, just a lot less than a tree service would do. Those guys are high! But, heck, they come in with a fleet of equipment that cost megabux and workers and they have costly insurance. If I did it, I'd get the wood and have a little money for the chainsaw addiction/maintenance. It also keeps me active and outdoors and at 65, that's good.
     
  8. The Wood Wolverine

    The Wood Wolverine

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    I’m scoping out dead standing all the time, everywhere I go. :loco: :crazy:

    I live in the country so it wouldn’t be a stretch to fell some near fields. Cleanup wouldn’t be so bad but I have yet to approach a land owner. There’s dead ash all over the place around here.

    I’ve been rather lucky finding all I need on cl and now fb marketplace. If the goin gets rough, I may have to resort to knocking on doors.
     
  9. buZZsaw BRAD

    buZZsaw BRAD

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    I look at trees constantly. Im on vacation sitting by the pool this afternoon and staring at the trees over the fence instead of bikinis!
    The thread i posted about felling/cutting someone elses trees Yawner
    if i have these trees cut down, you can have the wood! Oakee dokee!!! The guy has more trees for me to fell. Fall time. I have to call/text him. Red oak and red maple.
    I agree with jrider about doing it for free, unless good friend/family.
     
  10. basod

    basod

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    I’ve cut trees for neighbors that are easily accessible and not hazards to structures.
    There is a liability waiver form in the useful info section of the website you can use to indemnify the landowner.

    On the cleanup front I’d ne upfront and ask them what they want done with it- pile for burning or hauled off- the cleanup is what costs money on a tree drop job.
     
  11. Yawner

    Yawner

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    I have been thinking about this quite a bit and how much it costs to get trees removed by tree services -- LOTS. My neighbor had a big oak in her front yard. It was not threatening anything, just big, dead. Would you believe three grand? She is 101 years old. Holy smokes! Now, it was big, yes, but they did it in one day. That is the most I have heard of. Granted, some trees really are a PITA to remove but that was not one of them.

    If you told someone you would do it for $50 to $100 per tree, that would be a steal for them, and you'd have some coin for your chainsaw/equipment. Anything to do with this stuff is expensive. Think about...

    chainsaws (plural!)
    maintenance
    bar/chains
    sharpening chains
    axe
    hatchet
    pole saw
    machete
    cant
    tongs
    rakes
    truck
    trailer
    fuel
    safety chaps
    safety helmet
    safety gloves
    safety glasses
    first aid kit
    hydration
    etc!

    I dunno... I just can't stand to see trees go to waste and most do. They just take them to the dump and they get burned! I am able to 'harvest' some that go up there but some, you can't get to them because they are stacked so tightly with slash, it's impossible, plus, they push them up onto the burn pile. I just have to get lucky with timing before they get burned.

    I've also thought about... what if you had a dump trailer and you made a deal with tree services to load YOUR trailer with logs and big limbs and the slash could go into their trailer. When they cut, they just throw it in in the order it comes off the tree and it makes for one helluva stuck-together stack when they slide it out with their dump trailer. I understand they don't want to slow down their work but it might be that it would NOT slow down their work. You might could even pay them a little bit. I also understand that these days, liability enters the mind of many/most business owners, and I don't know if they would do it. The alternative is to make a deal with the guy and say, "Hey, could you bring that load to my house?" I hit up a tree service worker recently for that very thing and he would not do it; they took the giant hedge tree to a mulch operation. Now that hurt! What incredible firewood that would have been! Said they have a deal to take all their trees there. I dunno, maybe they get paid.
     
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  12. brenndatomu

    brenndatomu

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    OK, I've thought you aren't quite right for a while now...but now I know you aren't right! :whistle: ;) :p :rofl: :lol:
     
  13. buZZsaw BRAD

    buZZsaw BRAD

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    Never been quite right and don't plan on it anytime soon!!!
    Normal is boring. Besides if you saw some of the women wearing them, you'd be looking at trees too!
     
  14. Loon

    Loon

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    'Would you believe three grand? She is 101 years old'.

    Those guys were dicks charging her that much.:zip:
     
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  15. Mag Craft

    Mag Craft

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    I have a older woman who owns a ranch out here that I am cutting down dead trees for. I told her let me have the wood and I would cut the trees down. I always take my wife with me when interacting with her to make sure everything is more comfortable.
     
  16. Sandhillbilly

    Sandhillbilly

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    I’m constantly checking out dead trees in my travels, both locally and on more distant trips. When I spot one locally that I would like to have I’m definitely not afraid to ask the owner. I have lived in this sparsely populated area for over 27 years and pretty much everybody knows everybody so getting permission usually isn’t a problem. Sometimes somebody will have beat me to it or I find out they burn wood themselves, but more often than not it results in a score. Cleanup is just part of the game , Sometimes it’s pretty simple, sometimes it’s more involved. In this part of the world suitable firewood trees are much harder to come by then most areas so I try not to let them slip by
     
  17. Sandhillbilly

    Sandhillbilly

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    In South East Wyoming you probably have about the same difficulties I do having to find suitable firewood trees
     
  18. Mag Craft

    Mag Craft

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    Yep you take what you can get.
     
  19. The Wood Wolverine

    The Wood Wolverine

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    Except elm and gum... :whistle:
     
  20. Backwoods Savage

    Backwoods Savage Moderator

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    If I were cutting trees in someone's yard there is no way I could leave them a mess to clean up. Now if they offered it, I'd happily take it but it just would not seem right to me to leave them a mess after getting some free wood. I would not even ask a fee for felling the trees; be neighborly.

    If the trees were in the woods then I would not hesitate to not clean up but would somewhat stack the brush.
     
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