Last Wednesday, a couple of men from way out in the country came by to give us a bid on some tree work. We met them when we bought some fruit at a stand on the way back from the Wine Festival. I've posted before about all the fallen trees near the back lot line, which I want cleared away so we can put in a fence.
They told us one of our trees needs to come down - my mother had noticed the rot on it, and I had meant to call someone but it had slipped my mind. They said it was a white oak, and they'd charge $1500 to take it down, if we also paid them $2000 to clear away the dead trees.
I decided to take bids from local companies, and determined from a google search that the top tree people have a certificate from the International Society of Arboroculturalists, so I got a printout of local members of the ISA and called 5 to come by and give us an estimate.
So far two have come by, one says it's a black oak and doesn't need to come down now because the rot isn't bad, although it will have to come down eventually. The other says it's a scarlet oak, and should come down, and they'll do it for $915, including cutting up the wood into firewood length (20 inches) and hauling away the brush.
Neither of these guys think we should haul away the dead trees, they say they are good fertilizer for the other trees, we should just cut a line along the lot line and clear that away. The first guy says we should do that ourselves, it won't be hard, the second says they'll do it for $300.
I am looking forward to the other three opinions. |
