On Mon, 11 Apr 2005 09:50:46 +0100, Cuprager wrote:

Father in law has about 9 of these massive trees in his back garden.
They are a bit taller than his 2 storey house and sit at the back of the
garden... there is a lane behind his garden about a cars width wide.
There is a greenhouse in front of the trees. You know whats coming next,
dont you! He had a quote from a tree surgeon to remove these trees, the
price was about 1k. Quite a lot of cash. The question is, is it a
diy'able job to take these down? The fears that i have are in their
rough order...

1. The height, how do you get 'up' high enough to lop the tops off?
2. Confined space to fell them. Should you rope them into the garden or
the lane... what about the greenhouse!
3. I dont think i would be comfortable with a chainsaw at height. Would
a bow saw or similar be ok?

All comments welcome please!!

We took down eight trees, bit smaller as they were only up to gutter
height.

My advice would be: Do NOT underestimate the scale of the job.

We lopped the top 50% off the trees, then went about disposing of the
bits (Due to a small garden). We were quoted £220 to dispose of these
cuttings alone, so we hired a hi-top transit for the weekend.

Using a B&Q chipper we chipped the small branches and after about two
journeys to the tip we'd got rid of it.

The following year we set about the remaining 50%. Another three trips
to the tip and the cuttings were gone.

I now need someone with a chainsaw to remove the remaining trunks as
they are 10-12" diameter.

s