Who would you hire?

debodun

debodun

SF VIP
Location
way upstate in New York, USA
I had two tree service contractors come to give me an estimate. One looked like a teenager although he said he was insured. He had trouble finding my house, and had a beat-up jalopy for a car, brought a guy with him that had a baby with him, but his estimate seemed reasonable. The other seemed like a real pro, had a truck with his company info printed on the side panel and was punctual, but his estimate was twice the kid's, although he said getting a cherry picker on my property would be a challenge because of low power lines and high curbs.
 

debodun said:
Oh, another thing, the kid wanted to be paid in cash. The second guy said he's accept a personal check.
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That should tell you all you need to know. Seriously doubt that kid is insured and he's trying to skirt around Uncle Sam. If he ends up getting hurt on your property without insurance, you could get taken to the cleaners. Did you google this kid to find out more?

If the second guy is too high, get another company to give you an estimate.
 
I don't know what is reasonable. I have three HUGE maples, about 70 feet tall that I want the dead branches cut out, the other foliage thinned out. Several medium sized trees that have started to grow along the foundation and a lot of medium sized trees growing alomng the property line I want removed. This is just the back yard and doesn't show the one in the front yard, but it shows how the electric and cable lines go through the trees. You can just see on the left a black walnut that started growing by the back corner of the house, further left from the walnut are three other trees about the same size. On the other side there are two box elders I want the stumps removed.

backyard August 2109.jpg
 
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I would get proof of insurance and references from anyone you are considering. If you go with the first, and the guy with the baby is one of his helpers, you may want to indicate that the child not come when they are at work site. Distracting for worker, and an even bigger insurance risk.
 
I hate to be the harbinger of bad news, but you're going to pay a lot for all that work. I had a dead tree, really nothing but a tall trunk with a bunch of stubby branches and the estimates from three reputable companies to cut it down ran between $1000 and $3000.

Luckily, my wonderful neighbor and his son came over one day while I was taking a nap and had the whole thing cut down and hauled out to the curb in a couple of hours. I woke up to the job completely done.
 
Perhaps @treeguy64 could give you a better idea of how much it should cost. I know out my way it's around $1500-$2000 for a full size tree, depending on the layout of the land.
 
Marie5656 said:
If you go with the first, and the guy with the baby is one of his helpers, you may want to indicate that the child not come when they are at work site. Distracting for worker, and an even bigger insurance risk.
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Years ago, I hired a mason and when he showed up he had a toddler with him and asked if I'd watch the kid while he worked (said his wife was sick and couldn't do it). I am not used to taking care of kids and refused. He got back in his car and left and I consider myself lucky. He didn't offer to reduce his estimate in exchage for baby sitting services, either.
 
debodun said:
Years ago, I hired a mason and when he showed up he had a toddler with him and asked if I'd watch the kid while he worked (said his wife was sick and couldn't do it). I am not used to taking care of kids and refused. He got back in his car and left and I consider myself lucky. He didn't offer to reduce his estimate in exchage for baby sitting services, either.
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Good for you. Good luck finding someone.
 
You might also want to check with your power and cable companies. Around here, if a tree is growing near our lines, and poses a potential hazard to those lines, our local provider will pay a tree service to have the trees trimmed or removed. They figure it is a lot cheaper to be proactive in keeping the lines clear than having to send a crew out in bad weather, etc., to undo a bunch of storm damage, or a tree that has fallen into the lines.

If you have to pay for the job yourself, the "professional" would be a far better choice than some kid. $1200 is a pretty cheap price to clean up all that growth.
 
Insurance is key, you do not want to be sued, I would suggest another estimate from a person with good verifiable references and proof of insurance. We had massive tree work done and it needs to be done by folks with extensive experience as the tree can fall on structures, people, power lines, etc.
 
Don M. said:
You might also want to check with your power and cable companies. Around here, if a tree is growing near our lines, and poses a potential hazard to those lines, our local provider will pay a tree service to have the trees trimmed or removed. They figure it is a lot cheaper to be proactive in keeping the lines clear than having to send a crew out in bad weather, etc., to undo a bunch of storm damage, or a tree that has fallen into the lines.
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I need a lot more done that just the growth near the lines. Might as well hire one service for everything and be done with it. This is an aerial view of my property and I circled the areas that need attention in the way of tree service.

aerial5a.jpg
 
Last summer, I had 2 - 150 foot maple trees that desperately needed taken down completely. The guy took them down, used his chipper & shredded all the tops and branches and hauled it away, cut all the wood into firewood length, so I could split it for firewood, even cut nine other small trees I wanted down and shredded them too, then cleaned up the whole property after he was finished. Took him a week and a half to complete the job, by himself. (Mainly because we had several days of thunderstorms.) Charged me $3600.00. And yes, he showed proof of insurance.

For all what he did, I feel the price was reasonable. I would hire him again and have recommended him to others in my area.

I would make sure, that the person you intend to hire for the job includes in his price, hauling away all the brush, unless you have a way of disposing of it yourself.
 
Gemma said:
I would make sure, that the person you intend to hire for the job includes in his price, hauling away all the brush, unless you have a way of disposing of it yourself.
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I could probably do the saplings myself, but then like you mentioned, what would I do once they're cut. I don't burn wood. These tree guys probably make money twice - once for cutting the tree and then selling the wood.
 
Remember one thing, if anyone is working on your property and is hurt, are liable. Hire the person who you are confident is properly equipped to do the job and is safe doing it.
 
Do you have a Register of Contractors in your State? Or any government entity that lists companies who are licensed and insured? They will also have a list of any complaints against the license. Check with them before hiring anyone.
 
debodun said:
I could probably do the saplings myself, but then like you mentioned, what would I do once they're cut. I don't burn wood. These tree guys probably make money twice - once for cutting the tree and then selling the wood.
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If you don't burn wood, you have no reason to deal with saplings. When they take the branches down, I'm speaking of the tops with leaves, when I spoke about brush. It's best they have a commercial chipper to run everything through, and turn it into chips which is shot right into a truck. So much easier to haul away.

The base of my 2 trees were well over 60" round! I got a lot of firewood out of them. Enough to burn for two years! I even sold a load of wood, not split, to a neighbor for $450.00. So, I re-cooped some of the money I put out for the tree service.
 
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Are there any neighborhood associations you could call? Are there any properties you have noticed that have nicely trimmed trees, ask them who they used. You might check online with Yelp or Amy's List or? If there are any property management companies in the area, they hire contractors for landscaping and tree trimming. There has to be someway to find a reliable, honest, qualified vendor.
 

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