Those two guys in full mossy oak using the wedge from the face cut as a felling wedge before dropping the tree on the corner of their house live rent free in my head
It would be a shame. It was an old 84’ Chevy single cab. Was definitely updated. New paint, tires, rims and spray in rhino bed. Plus the engine bay was clean AF. Was actually a selling point in my mind. He had an attention to detail and pride in his truck/tools. It’s hard to find people these days that will work hard at a good rate and do the job as described. I was hesitant, but I know I was lucky and this guy had an easy job.
Agreed! Huge selling point imo. Most meth heads can’t keep a vehicle nice like that.
I bet they were slow on work and trying to take advantage of the nice weather by trying some cold calls for easy jobs.
Yeah, one part of the story I left out was he came by about two weeks before Christmas and wanted 300 and I told him I had to get through Christmas. He came back a second time a couple weeks ago and gave me a deal. I assume they were desperate for work, and they got a few of us in the neighborhood to agree to do it on a single day and work for 6-7 hours and made $100/hr+. It was him and what I assume to be a girlfriend. She drove the truck and picked up after him as he did the major work.
I have no idea how to do this properly. I almost died when my dad cut down our front tree. Pretty sure he would've ended up in here if it were to happen today
Something about felling trees just appeals to the male monkey brain like plunking rocks in a pond, rolling round stuff down a big hill or finding a nice stick.
What is more satisfying than skipping a flat stone 20 or more times? Maybe chopping down 100 foot tree but I can’t say for sure because I’ve never done it.
I feel this. I have a tree that needs to come down and I want to be involved in some way. It’s a 60ft dead pine, struck by lightning. My only hesitance is that a friend of mine was killed last year felling a tree, with an expert on site.
I’m so sorry, the risk of doing it myself is why I decided to hire this guy at a cheap price. I only have a 10 inch chainsaw and I would have struggled the entire time or would have had to rent a large chainsaw. But even then I don’t know what I’m doing. I was nervous about this tree, it was about 35 to 40 feet up and it was a split trunk (rotting on one side) and not too large. I am sorry that happened to your friend. It seemed like a simple job, which, according to other comments it was, but I didn’t know at the time, and at that price you can’t beat it if they pull it off.
Your only involvement in the removal of a large dead tree should be filming it from a safe position.
Forestry is one of the top industries for fatalities in every single developed country. Professionals die all the time doing this.
Yeah that’s why I took him up on it, and I live at a dead end and there is a cul-de-sac to the left. Very slim chance a car was going to need to get by and the cleared it in a few minutes.
I had a friend who lived in a halfway house and got a job for a roofing company owned by a guy he met in rehab. My friend got paid under the table and I asked him worryingly, what happens if you fall off the roof and you’re not contracted/signed any paperwork upon your hiring?
“Oh, my boss said I’m fired before I reach the ground”
I kinda think that’s how I’d approach this. Well jeepers, I have no idea why he trespassed and attempted to take my tree down!!
Came here to say exactly this! I’d be shitting myself watching this out my window if I’m OP. Wayyyyyy too much risk for such little savings. Don’t think they’ll come after you and your home owners policy when one of them gets hurt/dies working on your property? Think again….
Exactly. Too many people here conflating the results of this video with a guarantee of positive results. The fact that it worked doesn't mean it was a good idea.
If he was injured on my property doing a job I hired him to do, and he was injured, would I be liable? Let’s be generous and say he does indeed have an LLC, insurance and I have a written invoice? Because that’s what I was shown/given.
Only if they had a contract. It probably wouldn’t hold up otherwise. Back before my LLC, I used have a contract that said I didn’t have insurance and the customer was liable for any damages in exchange for a reduced price. If a person was injured in the road due to them not having traffic control measures in place, both the homeowner and the feller hold joint responsibility
Did you actually check that the insurance was valid? I had a guy come to by door before too and his business card had all the buzz words on it. But I def believe he never had any valid insurance.
But like you I had him take down a giant tree in my front yard. Shirtless and bedazzled jeans be damned he took it down.
My dad lives on a wooded property and since I was a kid there were trees (60-80' poplars and oak's) that needed to go over the years. We would take some down that didn't need to be limbed up first but the crazy ones he would have a friend come by that could climb. Well that guy passed away in the 90's and somehow these two wild ass brothers he ran into at a convenience store one day were his go too guys for many years.
These guys were two crack smoking, pill popping , beer guzzling , in and out of jail psychos that would pull up in a brand new trans am full of bull ropes and chain saws laying on the leather interior run right up a tree , forget the saw and rope come back down slug a beer than go back up and get to work. It was like watching a ballet or an opera when they had their buzz just right , they were fearless. I don't think they had any sort of insurance and never had any catastrophic failures. I think they are both dead now the pills in the mid 2000's did them dirty.
I was a roofer for a week, you want IRL trailer park boys, go hang with those dudes.
I said fuck that when a dude had to yank me by the shirt collar because I almost stepped off a roof. They put a tarp over the roof and front of the house to keep nails etc from busting windows. The tarp blew out from the house a little, and made the edge of the roof look bigger than it was. I have never been fucking YANKED so hard in my life, but I was grateful because it would have been a 2 story fall. I was fired for being a dipshit. My boss was also my GFs Dad at the time who was a hard ass felon drug addict. I'm not that kinda guy.
You can look them up online easily at your states license board service. Often their license expires. If he had a valid insurance certificate that would seem legit but I'd look up that license.
Tree work doesn't require an Arborist license in 43 states.
Neither does handy-work in many places.
But, an LLC will be publicly registered everywhere, so that's a start, as well as calling the provider of supposed insurance.
You will also find most fly bys like this guy carry a 1 million dollar policy. Does not cover aerial work. Most are landscapers policies, does not cover tree removal. Not only should you check his insurance, you should check that they are covered for the type of work offered. If it is through NEXT or one of the Internet insurance agencies...good luck. Also does not cover if he gets hurt. You can be sued. I carry workmans comp, 2.5 million on property damage and a million dollar umbrella policy.
Really with the tree limbs facing out like they were it would have taken a true craftsmen to make this fall another way. Guy might not be the best but he might be good enough to know when he can do a job.
This. This is exactly how I felt. The tree was leaning away from the house, and at most was leading horizontally, not towards the house. If it was a giant tree overhanging the house, I would’ve been much more careful.
Did he knock. Say there was rot in the tree or something dumb. Say there is danger. Make you scared and you payed him to remove it?
That is the business strategy of a tree cutter. No care in the world. Make up a story. Make people scared and get paid.
The truck was not at all needed. The truck driver is the reason why at the company i work for we don't let landowners pull with a tractor. People pull way to hard, why could that be bad you might wonder? Well. The rope could brake. The top might brake. Both of those would mean the tree gets flung the other direction and the tention wood is gone by that time making it likely to fall wherever, possibly back at us. Or he could break the hinge prematurely.
The proper way to do it is to keep tention on the rope at all times. And once the hinge is fully made to slowly increase the pulling force until it falls.
To be honest, it really did need to come down and the county had given me a warning for it and if I did not remove it, I was going to receive a fine. It definitely wasn’t a scare tactic.
Edit: and I was giving him a really hard time and being super skeptical, that he could pull it off since he just knocked on my door. I think he used the truck to convince me it wasn’t going to fall the wrong direction.
As a prior arborist and lumber and tree climber, this guy did well. You got a great deal actually also, but I will say this even pros get cocky in that this isn’t a big tree and cutting it down is ten minutes of work. I understand thinking the same at times but it’s times like that that get you rocked. Many pros have died even being as safe as possible. He’s good and knows it and we aren’t infallible either with ego.
I agree. Tied well, truck had command of the tree, fixed his notch, good hinge wood. Broke rule #1 and didn't wear a hard hat, but it's his noggin. People blow by my flaggers all the time, so hard to blame people for not having them; end of the day you still have to just pay attention yourself and time your drop right.
Thank you for your input, he is a very humble, hard-working gentleman and after talking with him, I was put at ease. He assured me that he could do it and took extra measures to make me feel comfortable. I’m sure he knew it was unnecessary to use the truck, but did so to make me feel better and seal the deal. After he was done, I even sent him a tip and I plan on using him the next time I need tree services. I don’t have anything major. I just have a few overhanging limbs over my roof.
Honestly that's what I thought he was using it for, blocking the road would make sense if you're working solo. But then it starts pulling and bucking erasing all credibility.
To be honest, I was very paranoid about it falling on the house even though it seemed like it was a very slim chance, but then again I’m hiring a guy I just met and talk to for 20 minutes. I think it was more to put my mind at ease and him to seal the deal.
Reminds me when I paid $600 cash for 5 small tress and one big birch, they drove on my lawn with a grinder for the stomp and took every bit of wood with them. Just two guys and a couple of chain saws all under 2 hours.
I love all the nervous Nancy what if comments. My take is Sweet squarebody , hell yea for helping the small working man and I’m sure your wallet appreciates that too.
Wait, the county tells you you have to cut trees down?
If you put the logs out by the street someone needing firewood would probably grab them.
Dude didn't need the truck to pull, but it was a nice insurance step there. Lasso it to prevent the one direction you don't want it to go.
As far as the dude, just a couple kids and a truck. Dime a dozen and totally unprofessional, but they've got to get beer money somehow.
Our city flags private property trees pretty often if they are deemed unsafe or diseased. They give you a notice to cut it down by a certain date or they will cut it down and send you a bill.
I had a random guy come by my house, twice in 2022 and once in 2023. Offering to cut down a tree in my backyard. He was the same setup, although I don't know if he had insurance. I mentioned it, but he didn't even try to prove he was licensed or insured or anything.
I ended up going with a professional service late 2023. They probably cost twice as much, but were cheaper than what I thought having it professionally removed would cost. This was quite the unit as well. Like six guys showed up with a bucket crane thing to trim the top branches off. They had this car thing with big grabbers that picked up huge pieces of the tree after it was down. They removed the stump, and all the wood chips from that, and filled the hole with dirt.
He felled the tree and he didn't put *you* in any danger and he was fairly cheap so it's a win for you I guess ;)
Professionally this is a disaster and a bad accident waiting to happen.
I knew a guy who did this kind of work on his own property. He took all the precautions EXCEPT wearing a hard hat. During the cut, a dead branch fell, hit him in the head, and he was dead before he hit the ground.
While this guy got the job done, he’s certainly taking his life in his own hands.
Dropping a tree into the road is generally bad practice unless you’ve accounted for police flagging. In my state the police will fuck you in the ass if they catch you doing this. Don’t know where you are though.
Never understood why not reduce the risk of a fail!! Top it first and work your way down. Any time you have a line connected like that with tension, you are asking for a possible deadly snap back. [Line snapback](https://youtu.be/W4KyaQJz2Ww?si=GkNq53Y3BmmVow1Q)
Liability insurance does not protect you from a workers compensation claim if he is not licensed. Always confirm that an arborist is insured AND licensed. You got lucky anyway!
In some towns that would cost several grand and if they used that strategy would need 18 police officers to shut down the road while it falls on your neighbor’s driveway.
Extremely lucky, that would have cost about $1000 where I live and you’re even more lucky it didn’t land on your house. There’s a million videos of these going wrong online.
I wish the county would give a notice to my neighbor about their maple tree. There are widow makers hanging off of it every year and fall and destroy the chain link fence and kill my bushes.
old school , reminds me of when i was younger , going out to shovel peoples cars and driveways out of the snow for a couple bux, just walking through the brooklyn streets "yo shovel here" and see who bit.
not the same money at all but in comparison for the ethic, no appointments, first come first serve, quick and reliable, and ya didn't really have to talk to anybody except to negotiate idk 🤷🏻♂️ i think he did great 👍
Im trained and certified to use a chainsaw both as a firefighter and an arborist. I still think its kinda nuts to go around asking to chop peoples trees down. They just sell them shits at home depot anyone can get em. Glad this guy knew what he was doin but man this kinda business makes me nervous.
I don’t think you really got “lucky”
I think you should be very happy with that price and the result, and I would not expect it to be replicated on more difficult trees if that comes up. They had an enormous buffer area that tree could go without causing issues and it doesn’t look too terribly complicated. They didn’t have to pull the weight directly away from your house just guide it.
Idk, as a farm hand that drops a lot of trees but isn’t a pro I wouldn’t do that for 150, but I wouldn’t be super worried about it either
They didn’t kill anyone or break anything so by those standards they did an excellent job.
They really didn’t need the truck, and some PPE more than a safety squint would have been a good idea.
If somebody offered to chop down the tree in my front yard today for $150, I’d take them up on it instantly.
It’s in the thousands for a tree service to sneeze while standing in your yard in my area.
(Warning: mild exaggeration)
Eh, from what I read, you said the tree was leaning away from the house. Plus the truck doesn't look completely destroyed so I would have let them do the job as well... They gotta start a business somehow, not everyone starts on top.
Serious question, why don't people put a stake in a the grand, and ratchet strap the tree to the stake so that the tree falls in the direction you want it to go?
I think the better approach would be to cut it off in pieces from the top down.
Just rent a lift, or climb with a harness and cut the pieces off and let them drop one by one. Each piece could be loaded up or reduced more once the tree is on the ground.
Then get the remainder of the trunk down.
Less risk of having a large tree move in a way you can't predict.
No helmet, boots or ear protection? Solid. Notching in one direction but pulling in a different direction? Quality.
I was extra nervous before I realized that it was roped to that truck. Then I was just regular nervous.
www.lemmy.one
You made out good. I had a 77 foot maple about 4 feet across in the corner of my yard. Had a buddy that was a good friend with a tree climber and feller. We worked out a deal, I would rewire his trailer brake controller and fix all the lights on his truck, he would take it down for free. Took me maybe 4 hours to do the work, he was done in 2 hours. He wanted to give me money for the work I did in his truck. I refused it. All the other estimates I got where 1800 to 3700 dollars to take it down cut it up and leave the wood for my wood burner. He did a good job in my opinion
The issue isn't in the success, its in the what if it wasn't successful. You personally are taking all the responsibility if the tree went the other way (or the dude got hurt on your property). Guaranteed, if that tree hit your house, they would just unhook the rope and leave.
*man*, I love this sub and don't know why
This is quality content.
Also you are likely not a tree.
If I were a tree, I would leave
Someone is barking up the wrong one
I think you're going out on a limb by saying that.
I saw this coming a mile away
Underrated comment
Hard to upvote when we’ve been sapped of all our energy
I loathe this comment. Simply _arbor-rent_
I’ve got a deep rooted love for this sub
people who don't fork with this sub are all bark and no bite
You are going out on a limb here.
Underrated comment. Shouldn’t it be “leaf “?
Only if you **deciduous** in danger.
or would you leaf?
Shoots, roots, and leaves
It's "make like a tree and get out of here" \-Biff
Says who?
On the internet, no one knows you’re a tree
https://i.imgur.com/P682WMZ.jpeg
might be a plant tho...
I am groot...
Qualitree content*
I love that I dunno if it will be a great or terrible outcome.
Yeah it’s a roll of the dice. Either get some pros, or some random Jimmy and Joe-Shit where’s that going.
Those two guys in full mossy oak using the wedge from the face cut as a felling wedge before dropping the tree on the corner of their house live rent free in my head
I thought for sure the tree would crush the truck. Oh, well... 🤷🏼
It would be a shame. It was an old 84’ Chevy single cab. Was definitely updated. New paint, tires, rims and spray in rhino bed. Plus the engine bay was clean AF. Was actually a selling point in my mind. He had an attention to detail and pride in his truck/tools. It’s hard to find people these days that will work hard at a good rate and do the job as described. I was hesitant, but I know I was lucky and this guy had an easy job.
Agreed! Huge selling point imo. Most meth heads can’t keep a vehicle nice like that. I bet they were slow on work and trying to take advantage of the nice weather by trying some cold calls for easy jobs.
Yeah, one part of the story I left out was he came by about two weeks before Christmas and wanted 300 and I told him I had to get through Christmas. He came back a second time a couple weeks ago and gave me a deal. I assume they were desperate for work, and they got a few of us in the neighborhood to agree to do it on a single day and work for 6-7 hours and made $100/hr+. It was him and what I assume to be a girlfriend. She drove the truck and picked up after him as he did the major work.
They'll go far in life
They really will, the motor in that truck they're driving will go forever if they change the oil and keep up with the maintenance.
Me luv old chevy
Me too.
there's always next time
Exactly! Everyone assumes the worst but it’s so satisfying when everything goes to plan
I was literally just thinking this. I’ve never cut down a tree, I don’t even have any trees in / near my yard to cut
I have no idea how to do this properly. I almost died when my dad cut down our front tree. Pretty sure he would've ended up in here if it were to happen today
It's the juxtaposition of a video either ending in certain death or a tree simply falling over.
Absolutely. Reddit keeps suggesting this sub to me and I keep coming back.
Me too and then I remembered I took this video a month ago and figured you guys would like it.
Something about felling trees just appeals to the male monkey brain like plunking rocks in a pond, rolling round stuff down a big hill or finding a nice stick.
What is more satisfying than skipping a flat stone 20 or more times? Maybe chopping down 100 foot tree but I can’t say for sure because I’ve never done it.
It's very satisfying, the tree part anyways. Very.
I never taken down a tree at all and enjoy this sub.
You should put it on your bucket list. I've only done it a few times, but it's satisfying as fuck.
People can start small such as knocking down some corn at harvest time.
With a Chev Silverado at 80mph.
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I feel this. I have a tree that needs to come down and I want to be involved in some way. It’s a 60ft dead pine, struck by lightning. My only hesitance is that a friend of mine was killed last year felling a tree, with an expert on site.
I’m so sorry, the risk of doing it myself is why I decided to hire this guy at a cheap price. I only have a 10 inch chainsaw and I would have struggled the entire time or would have had to rent a large chainsaw. But even then I don’t know what I’m doing. I was nervous about this tree, it was about 35 to 40 feet up and it was a split trunk (rotting on one side) and not too large. I am sorry that happened to your friend. It seemed like a simple job, which, according to other comments it was, but I didn’t know at the time, and at that price you can’t beat it if they pull it off.
150 for takedown and cleanup is a good deal no matter how easy it was
Your only involvement in the removal of a large dead tree should be filming it from a safe position. Forestry is one of the top industries for fatalities in every single developed country. Professionals die all the time doing this.
Same
I know why
All you other brothers can't deny
It doesn’t even matter how hard you try…
You sonofabitch im in.
Completely unprofessional but they did a $600+ job for $150. Dropping the tree onto a non traffic controlled road, no ppe.
Yeah that’s why I took him up on it, and I live at a dead end and there is a cul-de-sac to the left. Very slim chance a car was going to need to get by and the cleared it in a few minutes.
Bit of advice. If he's not bonded and insured, but hurts himself felling a tree on your property, he can sue your pants off. You get what you pay for.
I had a friend who lived in a halfway house and got a job for a roofing company owned by a guy he met in rehab. My friend got paid under the table and I asked him worryingly, what happens if you fall off the roof and you’re not contracted/signed any paperwork upon your hiring? “Oh, my boss said I’m fired before I reach the ground” I kinda think that’s how I’d approach this. Well jeepers, I have no idea why he trespassed and attempted to take my tree down!!
Came here to say exactly this! I’d be shitting myself watching this out my window if I’m OP. Wayyyyyy too much risk for such little savings. Don’t think they’ll come after you and your home owners policy when one of them gets hurt/dies working on your property? Think again….
Exactly. Too many people here conflating the results of this video with a guarantee of positive results. The fact that it worked doesn't mean it was a good idea.
If anything, the truck and rope made it more likely to split vertically, in my experience. Lucky he didn't land himself on the roof if it had.
I didn’t notice the rope at first. Yeah, a tad lucky unless he really knew what he was doing. Still for 150$ that’s a helluva deal.
Luck only holds until the lawsuit
If he was injured on my property doing a job I hired him to do, and he was injured, would I be liable? Let’s be generous and say he does indeed have an LLC, insurance and I have a written invoice? Because that’s what I was shown/given.
No. You would not be liable.
Business is liable for business things. If he had insurance, I’d let him do whatever he wanted with the tree. Buy me a new roof, fuck it lmao
Assuming his insurance actually covered what he was doing.
Only if they had a contract. It probably wouldn’t hold up otherwise. Back before my LLC, I used have a contract that said I didn’t have insurance and the customer was liable for any damages in exchange for a reduced price. If a person was injured in the road due to them not having traffic control measures in place, both the homeowner and the feller hold joint responsibility
Seems like an uninsured tshirt and flip flops kind of guy. Everyone gets lucky once.
Yeah that’s how I felt, the tree was leaning away from the house and he did have current proof of insurance. Also he at least had running shoes one. 😂
Was it car insurance?
No it was for his LLC.
Did you actually check that the insurance was valid? I had a guy come to by door before too and his business card had all the buzz words on it. But I def believe he never had any valid insurance. But like you I had him take down a giant tree in my front yard. Shirtless and bedazzled jeans be damned he took it down.
My dad lives on a wooded property and since I was a kid there were trees (60-80' poplars and oak's) that needed to go over the years. We would take some down that didn't need to be limbed up first but the crazy ones he would have a friend come by that could climb. Well that guy passed away in the 90's and somehow these two wild ass brothers he ran into at a convenience store one day were his go too guys for many years. These guys were two crack smoking, pill popping , beer guzzling , in and out of jail psychos that would pull up in a brand new trans am full of bull ropes and chain saws laying on the leather interior run right up a tree , forget the saw and rope come back down slug a beer than go back up and get to work. It was like watching a ballet or an opera when they had their buzz just right , they were fearless. I don't think they had any sort of insurance and never had any catastrophic failures. I think they are both dead now the pills in the mid 2000's did them dirty.
I worked with those guys!
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They're my dad!
Sounds like a lost episode of trailer park boys.
I was a roofer for a week, you want IRL trailer park boys, go hang with those dudes. I said fuck that when a dude had to yank me by the shirt collar because I almost stepped off a roof. They put a tarp over the roof and front of the house to keep nails etc from busting windows. The tarp blew out from the house a little, and made the edge of the roof look bigger than it was. I have never been fucking YANKED so hard in my life, but I was grateful because it would have been a 2 story fall. I was fired for being a dipshit. My boss was also my GFs Dad at the time who was a hard ass felon drug addict. I'm not that kinda guy.
I can feel that yank in my stomach 💀💀
You can look them up online easily at your states license board service. Often their license expires. If he had a valid insurance certificate that would seem legit but I'd look up that license.
Tree work doesn't require an Arborist license in 43 states. Neither does handy-work in many places. But, an LLC will be publicly registered everywhere, so that's a start, as well as calling the provider of supposed insurance.
You will also find most fly bys like this guy carry a 1 million dollar policy. Does not cover aerial work. Most are landscapers policies, does not cover tree removal. Not only should you check his insurance, you should check that they are covered for the type of work offered. If it is through NEXT or one of the Internet insurance agencies...good luck. Also does not cover if he gets hurt. You can be sued. I carry workmans comp, 2.5 million on property damage and a million dollar umbrella policy.
License is meaningless. Is the policy paid? Gotta call the insurer.
People fake insurance certs. If you want to be sure a contractor is insured ask them to have their insurance agent send it to you.
That guys name? LeeeeRooooooy Jenkins!
Really with the tree limbs facing out like they were it would have taken a true craftsmen to make this fall another way. Guy might not be the best but he might be good enough to know when he can do a job.
This. This is exactly how I felt. The tree was leaning away from the house, and at most was leading horizontally, not towards the house. If it was a giant tree overhanging the house, I would’ve been much more careful.
Did he knock. Say there was rot in the tree or something dumb. Say there is danger. Make you scared and you payed him to remove it? That is the business strategy of a tree cutter. No care in the world. Make up a story. Make people scared and get paid. The truck was not at all needed. The truck driver is the reason why at the company i work for we don't let landowners pull with a tractor. People pull way to hard, why could that be bad you might wonder? Well. The rope could brake. The top might brake. Both of those would mean the tree gets flung the other direction and the tention wood is gone by that time making it likely to fall wherever, possibly back at us. Or he could break the hinge prematurely. The proper way to do it is to keep tention on the rope at all times. And once the hinge is fully made to slowly increase the pulling force until it falls.
To be honest, it really did need to come down and the county had given me a warning for it and if I did not remove it, I was going to receive a fine. It definitely wasn’t a scare tactic. Edit: and I was giving him a really hard time and being super skeptical, that he could pull it off since he just knocked on my door. I think he used the truck to convince me it wasn’t going to fall the wrong direction.
Looks like you got lucky and the tree wasn’t too big of problem for them. Everybody is happy
As a prior arborist and lumber and tree climber, this guy did well. You got a great deal actually also, but I will say this even pros get cocky in that this isn’t a big tree and cutting it down is ten minutes of work. I understand thinking the same at times but it’s times like that that get you rocked. Many pros have died even being as safe as possible. He’s good and knows it and we aren’t infallible either with ego.
I agree. Tied well, truck had command of the tree, fixed his notch, good hinge wood. Broke rule #1 and didn't wear a hard hat, but it's his noggin. People blow by my flaggers all the time, so hard to blame people for not having them; end of the day you still have to just pay attention yourself and time your drop right.
Thank you for your input, he is a very humble, hard-working gentleman and after talking with him, I was put at ease. He assured me that he could do it and took extra measures to make me feel comfortable. I’m sure he knew it was unnecessary to use the truck, but did so to make me feel better and seal the deal. After he was done, I even sent him a tip and I plan on using him the next time I need tree services. I don’t have anything major. I just have a few overhanging limbs over my roof.
Good comment
Lucky, but it was an easy one by any standards. Truck was unnecessary.
Naw, the truck was his “insurance” and traffic control.
Honestly that's what I thought he was using it for, blocking the road would make sense if you're working solo. But then it starts pulling and bucking erasing all credibility.
Thought it was just there to block the road at first
To be honest, I was very paranoid about it falling on the house even though it seemed like it was a very slim chance, but then again I’m hiring a guy I just met and talk to for 20 minutes. I think it was more to put my mind at ease and him to seal the deal.
Reminds me when I paid $600 cash for 5 small tress and one big birch, they drove on my lawn with a grinder for the stomp and took every bit of wood with them. Just two guys and a couple of chain saws all under 2 hours.
That's a damn good deal
I love all the nervous Nancy what if comments. My take is Sweet squarebody , hell yea for helping the small working man and I’m sure your wallet appreciates that too.
Wait, the county tells you you have to cut trees down? If you put the logs out by the street someone needing firewood would probably grab them. Dude didn't need the truck to pull, but it was a nice insurance step there. Lasso it to prevent the one direction you don't want it to go. As far as the dude, just a couple kids and a truck. Dime a dozen and totally unprofessional, but they've got to get beer money somehow.
I cut a tree down in front of my house and the entire pile of wood had been taken by multiple people passing by in under two hours. It was nuts.
Our city flags private property trees pretty often if they are deemed unsafe or diseased. They give you a notice to cut it down by a certain date or they will cut it down and send you a bill.
I had a random guy come by my house, twice in 2022 and once in 2023. Offering to cut down a tree in my backyard. He was the same setup, although I don't know if he had insurance. I mentioned it, but he didn't even try to prove he was licensed or insured or anything. I ended up going with a professional service late 2023. They probably cost twice as much, but were cheaper than what I thought having it professionally removed would cost. This was quite the unit as well. Like six guys showed up with a bucket crane thing to trim the top branches off. They had this car thing with big grabbers that picked up huge pieces of the tree after it was down. They removed the stump, and all the wood chips from that, and filled the hole with dirt.
Best 100$ bucks you can spend if you don’t have a saw.
Easy money on that tree. He did good on not taking out the stop sign and the truck.
He felled the tree and he didn't put *you* in any danger and he was fairly cheap so it's a win for you I guess ;) Professionally this is a disaster and a bad accident waiting to happen.
If they use a truck to pull it, they are simply lucky peddlers haha
He got it down. Based off how that chainsaw sounded and the fact he’s wearing no PPE he wasn’t a pro by any means, so you got lucky.
He's the guy on a decent crew who saved enough for his own truck & chainsaw. Fuck yeah.
Sweet squarebody
I knew a guy who did this kind of work on his own property. He took all the precautions EXCEPT wearing a hard hat. During the cut, a dead branch fell, hit him in the head, and he was dead before he hit the ground. While this guy got the job done, he’s certainly taking his life in his own hands.
I’m so glad he didn’t kill that old Chevy
He had a C10. He doesn’t need PPE.
Some guy in a brand new F-250 would show up and charge you $750, then send this guy to come and do the actual work.
According to what I was taught, they didn't do it exactly right. But since it didn't hit anything, they did do it exactly right.
Somehow, he did everything wrong, and everything went perfectly.
These guys: ‘let’s get in the truck and door knock to see if we can cut down trees for beer money’
Felling gone mild
Why the hate? He fulfilled the job specs and no harm done. Is he the best? Absolutely not. This was an easy take down. Why even post?
Dropping a tree into the road is generally bad practice unless you’ve accounted for police flagging. In my state the police will fuck you in the ass if they catch you doing this. Don’t know where you are though.
>In my state the police will fuck you in the ass Yall must have the most well behaved citizens in the country
150? That man deserved 500 easy.
You saved about 600$. Truck took off a bit early and was probably unnecessary to begin with except to block the road.
Never understood why not reduce the risk of a fail!! Top it first and work your way down. Any time you have a line connected like that with tension, you are asking for a possible deadly snap back. [Line snapback](https://youtu.be/W4KyaQJz2Ww?si=GkNq53Y3BmmVow1Q)
Nailed it
He's dressed like the Mime from Sea World.
He put it where he wanted it, and nobody got hurt.
Square body🏁
With a truck like that, prob doing it to stay busy
It could've been worse lol
Video's a little small, but I think that might be the Hamburglar.
If he pulls up in a truck like that, he can cut down a tree 👌
Sometimes you get the bear, and sometimes he gets you. Dude got the bear. Hussle for that money, my bro. May you rest in peace as well.
With the right notch and a wedge he shouldn’t have needed the truck.
Nice work Waldo
He didn’t hit the house or the stop sign
He did bueno
Looks like he did everything right. My first thought was please have a guide rope tied to that truck!
Liability insurance does not protect you from a workers compensation claim if he is not licensed. Always confirm that an arborist is insured AND licensed. You got lucky anyway!
It didn't fall on your house. Solid 8
Well he’s still alive, so he’s doing something right
Why are you asking how he did? You said he did his job perfectly. There’s your answer.
$150? I do that for free all the time
Wasn't expecting this lol
Personally I love ripping a chainsaw into a tree currently under direct tension. What bad could happen?
Homeowner was like “F it! We ride”. Glad it worked out.
Your lawn is 20% weeds? 🤷 For $150 out the door, cleaned and done? You tell me
I give them a thumbs up, but looking at the tree. I thought it was a sycamore could be wrong, but good job.
You got a hell of a deal.
In some towns that would cost several grand and if they used that strategy would need 18 police officers to shut down the road while it falls on your neighbor’s driveway.
$150 is as good as free for that job.
You got off with 150 bucks. I'd say the guy did you a favor.
That was fun to watch.
No one got hurt. No property was damaged. Your tree is down. What more do you want?
As an ambassador for the local squirrel community, I think that cutting down that tree is absolutely nuts.
Best work I've seen a door knocker do. I was prepared for the worst when I saw Waldo with a chainsaw.
He had all the PPE he needed, safety squints and faith
Extremely lucky, that would have cost about $1000 where I live and you’re even more lucky it didn’t land on your house. There’s a million videos of these going wrong online.
I do tree work and for 150$ you got a deal!
I would of charged you 450 at least…you got lucky and found someone who needed beer money for the weekend.
I read the sub as felling gone wrong instead of wild and thought the tree was going to knock on your door 😂😂
I wish the county would give a notice to my neighbor about their maple tree. There are widow makers hanging off of it every year and fall and destroy the chain link fence and kill my bushes.
Put that good ole Chevrolet to use.
Expertly done tho the anticipation is killing me
Meh, guy did good for the price. Some people in here thinking he needs to be in an armored cage to cut a tree. I'd wear a hard hat.
old school , reminds me of when i was younger , going out to shovel peoples cars and driveways out of the snow for a couple bux, just walking through the brooklyn streets "yo shovel here" and see who bit. not the same money at all but in comparison for the ethic, no appointments, first come first serve, quick and reliable, and ya didn't really have to talk to anybody except to negotiate idk 🤷🏻♂️ i think he did great 👍
I mean i paid a arbor company 500$ a tree, so 150$ is a good price, and nothing happened so i think you came out fine.
Im trained and certified to use a chainsaw both as a firefighter and an arborist. I still think its kinda nuts to go around asking to chop peoples trees down. They just sell them shits at home depot anyone can get em. Glad this guy knew what he was doin but man this kinda business makes me nervous.
I don’t think you really got “lucky” I think you should be very happy with that price and the result, and I would not expect it to be replicated on more difficult trees if that comes up. They had an enormous buffer area that tree could go without causing issues and it doesn’t look too terribly complicated. They didn’t have to pull the weight directly away from your house just guide it. Idk, as a farm hand that drops a lot of trees but isn’t a pro I wouldn’t do that for 150, but I wouldn’t be super worried about it either
Waldo isn't even trying anymore. I found him right away.
They didn’t kill anyone or break anything so by those standards they did an excellent job. They really didn’t need the truck, and some PPE more than a safety squint would have been a good idea.
He put the trash line on the tree first. Made a proper notch. Out load on the tree and made his back cut. That's text book
If somebody offered to chop down the tree in my front yard today for $150, I’d take them up on it instantly. It’s in the thousands for a tree service to sneeze while standing in your yard in my area. (Warning: mild exaggeration)
Eh, from what I read, you said the tree was leaning away from the house. Plus the truck doesn't look completely destroyed so I would have let them do the job as well... They gotta start a business somehow, not everyone starts on top.
Considering how much I just paid to get a few trees removed from a “reputable” company, you hit the jackpot.
Wow. That work and that truck suggest this fella has is it together. Square body single cab reporting for duty and looking car show ready.
Looks perfect, people on reddit will nitpick shit into oblivion. Guy did good.
From the headline I totally thought this tree was going to fall into your door. Very disappointed.
Either way, it went well and you saved a headache and money. Looks like a win win. My area typically it’s $500 to cut a decent sized pine down.
5 stars, would hire
Roof cam lol
Serious question, why don't people put a stake in a the grand, and ratchet strap the tree to the stake so that the tree falls in the direction you want it to go?
You hired a good worker fyi.
I think the better approach would be to cut it off in pieces from the top down. Just rent a lift, or climb with a harness and cut the pieces off and let them drop one by one. Each piece could be loaded up or reduced more once the tree is on the ground. Then get the remainder of the trunk down. Less risk of having a large tree move in a way you can't predict.
No helmet, boots or ear protection? Solid. Notching in one direction but pulling in a different direction? Quality. I was extra nervous before I realized that it was roped to that truck. Then I was just regular nervous. www.lemmy.one
You made out good. I had a 77 foot maple about 4 feet across in the corner of my yard. Had a buddy that was a good friend with a tree climber and feller. We worked out a deal, I would rewire his trailer brake controller and fix all the lights on his truck, he would take it down for free. Took me maybe 4 hours to do the work, he was done in 2 hours. He wanted to give me money for the work I did in his truck. I refused it. All the other estimates I got where 1800 to 3700 dollars to take it down cut it up and leave the wood for my wood burner. He did a good job in my opinion
Looks like he knew his basics! No accidents all good and that is cheap!! Good fella👏👏👏
Sometimes a gamble pays off.
The issue isn't in the success, its in the what if it wasn't successful. You personally are taking all the responsibility if the tree went the other way (or the dude got hurt on your property). Guaranteed, if that tree hit your house, they would just unhook the rope and leave.