"He Chose Poorly"

Joined
May 26, 2014
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Location
Columbus,Nebraska
Been trying to get three cottonwoods removed from backyard for over a year . First three attempts this summer failed because of weather, equipment unavailable, who knows. Finally found guy from nearby town who uses an electro/hydraulic lift. Fully licensed, permitted and insured No need for bucket truck and mobile crane in yard. Murphy arrived Tuesday morning. Scruffy looking is being kind. Equipment just as bad.One outrigger on lift had taken major hit. Feeling of impending doom continued unabated. Day ended with house still in one piece. Wednesday morning dread. Late start, saws won't run longer than five minutes without fiddling with them. Several large booms as branches came down. And then the big one. Rushed out expecting to see major damage. Missed the roof but damaged gutter. Man said he could bend it out. Nope. This is a new house with seamless gutters. I have a man who can fix it. Nope. Going to use my man. Fifty six feet of gutter replacement, $416.00. This before lunch. Crew goes to lunch and then I see police officer in back yard looking for owner. No city permit. City says his insurance must be checked by city attorney. Going to pull equipment out and come back next week. His truck starts up and a huge ball of smoke envelopes 350 diesel. Returns for equipment Thursday morning.Tell him not to come back. Appointment with our attorney Friday morning. Another tree service found by early afternoon. Work supposed to start next Wednesday. Bucket truck and crane again. Still trying to find our cat who apparently has found a secret compartment to hide in. As the 15th century knight told Indiana, "He Choose Poorly."
 
Those cottonwoods are nasty trees. My dad cut a few down on a property we owned. Had one twist off the cut and that made everyone scatter. The wood is good for nothing except the plywood makers use it for cores. It’s not good for that either. Cut one down that bubbled water out of the stump for about a day.
 
Sounds like a mess.

I had a massive cotton wood professionally cut down about 6yrs ago. The crew underestimated it at first given the height of the tree dwarfed their bucket truck. They had to climb, rope off and drop portions of the tree so it didn't crash onto the neighbor's property. Had to pay flag men and extra crew given the main part had to be dropped across the roadway, which they cleaned up and cleared in just a couple minutes. Even though they made provisions for it, my asphalt driveway still got smashed in, in a small area from the force of the impact of one section. Amazing thing is, based on the growth rings, the stupid thing wasn't even that old! Maybe 30-40yrs with a 6-8ft base. They grow like weeds.
 
Someone in the neighborhood had a really huge cottonwood taken down a few years back.
A crew of three brave and skillful Mexicans did the work using no more than ropes and chainsaws.
Hanging in a tree while dismantling it with a chainsaw requires both skill and confidence in one's abilities.
These guys did the job with no damage to any property or themselves.
 
I had this same thing done with a large silver maple, except it was just two brave and skilled Mexicans. Did a fantastic job including grinding the stump for 500 bucks.
 
As a ten year old I watched this being done. Guy probably 50 feet up cut through his rope and plunged to the ground, landing on his saw. Watching someone die at 10 years old is traumatic. You couldn't pay me enough to do this work.
 
Originally Posted By: Bud
I had this same thing done with a large silver maple, except it was just two brave and skilled Mexicans. Did a fantastic job including grinding the stump for 500 bucks.
I'll have almost eight times that amount by the time job is finished. The thought of lifting those heavy pieces over our house makes me with I had a bottle of Valium. I'd take a few and crush one or two and mix with the cat's food. I hope Indiana's knight doesn't show up again.
 
Originally Posted By: dlayman
As a ten year old I watched this being done. Guy probably 50 feet up cut through his rope and plunged to the ground, landing on his saw. Watching someone die at 10 years old is traumatic. You couldn't pay me enough to do this work.


[censored].
 
Cottonwoods are a PITA here too. Especially when they start releasing their "cotton" in the spring time. Stuff gets on everything.
 
Originally Posted By: Schmoe
Cottonwoods are a PITA here too. Especially when they start releasing their "cotton" in the spring time. Stuff gets on everything. I have to use a screen on the AC condenser to keep the cotton from plugging up the Trane fin-coil design which is ideal for clogging up with cotton.
 
Originally Posted By: HosteenJorje
..I'll have almost eight times that amount by the time job is finished.


Wow that's one expensive cotton wood. I feel for ya. What can you do at this point..

They did mine for $1200 6-7yrs ago which included taking a smaller maple down towards the end of my driveway that the cotton wood would have taken out in the process. The guy that did the estimate admitted he seriously underbid the job.

He dumped trucked and trailered all that junk wood out of my yard to just dump on his own property. Dude lives just a few miles away from me.
 
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Originally Posted By: Chris142
Did you find the cat?
The cat finally showed up. She looks a little bigger. Is that permanent? New tree service will finish job this Thursday using bucket truck and large crane. The crane comes with operator for $180 an hour. I just want the trees out because I don't want to have to worry about an ice storm or high winds bringing something down on our house.Just missed last winter with an ice storm. A little more ice and BOOM.
 
cotton wood trees are natural lighting attractors. The one in the pasture was hit over 5 times before it died that I know about. It was hollow, and full of squirrels. After one hit there were about 10 dead squirrels on the ground under it. worthless otherwise.
 
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