Tree felling & Hedge trimming time & costs?

Hi Everyone. My first post is a personal one.In our garden we have a 30ft ish Cedrus Deodora. a 35ft Laurel, a 40ft Eucalyputus and a 30ft Elder. I have asked a couple of local gardeners/ tree surgeons to take a look at them for me.All bar the Laurel I want taken out (stumps can be left) and the Laurel I would like pruning to 8ft.I haven't had a price but I am being told conflicting time scales, one has told me 3 days, another just one day (both are teams of 2 men) It involves getting rid of the waste.The garden has good access, but both the eucalyptus and Cedar will have to be taken down in at least 2 parts.I know it is hard to judge without seeing but how long do you think it will take?ThanksRachel

Thanks Mark, yes access is good and the trees are easy to climb. I have been told by both parties that the waste would be removed as it is (no chipping) one of the guys told me they would keep the cedar for burning on his open fire at home :) I thought maybe a day and a half if I hacked at it myself LOL! One day for hacking, half for tidying! I have just had the first quote in for £600.

Mark said:

Really difficult to judge without seeing...in fact I'd go as far to say as almost impossible to quote blind...but if assuming you could get a vehicle close to the site to process the waste ie chip the brash and load logs etc and two trees are a straight forward felling and two to be climbed I would say the two to be felled could be done in a morning easily , the two to be climbed will take as long as required but maybe able to complete in a day maybe more..

The equipment they use will also dertermine how fast they can process the trees, climbing can't be rushed and if pretuding limbs need to be delt with it can easily douple the time taken ?

Anyway I guess a couple of days
Regards
Mark

Replies

Mark September 26, 2010 at 5:48pm

Really difficult to judge without seeing...in fact I'd go as far to say as almost impossible to quote blind...but if assuming you could get a vehicle close to the site to process the waste ie chip the brash and load logs etc and two trees are a straight forward felling and two to be climbed I would say the two to be felled could be done in a morning easily , the two to be climbed will take as long as required but maybe able to complete in a day maybe more..

The equipment they use will also dertermine how fast they can process the trees, climbing can't be rushed and if pretuding limbs need to be delt with it can easily douple the time taken ?

Anyway I guess a couple of days
Regards
Mark
Rachel Sobiechowski September 26, 2010 at 6:26pm

Thanks Mark, yes access is good and the trees are easy to climb. I have been told by both parties that the waste would be removed as it is (no chipping) one of the guys told me they would keep the cedar for burning on his open fire at home :) I thought maybe a day and a half if I hacked at it myself LOL! One day for hacking, half for tidying! I have just had the first quote in for £600.

Mark said:
Really difficult to judge without seeing...in fact I'd go as far to say as almost impossible to quote blind...but if assuming you could get a vehicle close to the site to process the waste ie chip the brash and load logs etc and two trees are a straight forward felling and two to be climbed I would say the two to be felled could be done in a morning easily , the two to be climbed will take as long as required but maybe able to complete in a day maybe more..

The equipment they use will also dertermine how fast they can process the trees, climbing can't be rushed and if pretuding limbs need to be delt with it can easily douple the time taken ?

Anyway I guess a couple of days
Regards
Mark
Andy Thorne September 26, 2010 at 6:34pm

To be honest Rachel I wouldn't worry much about the time taken.
The most important factors surely are that they are a good outfit and the price of course!

On those trees there will be a fair quantity of brash (unuseable small diameter material) that would be much easier and faster cleared with a chipper.

If I were you I would get a price from a dedicated tree surgeon with chipper. They, by the sounds of it would get the job done in under a day and may well charge less as they will charge more per hour but work much faster/efficiently.

Hope that makes sense!
Rachel Sobiechowski September 26, 2010 at 6:39pm

thanks for your reply, I thought 3 days was excessive, but not sure if one was enough (for this time of year anyway).

Pro Gard said:
Very hard to guesstimate but IMO about 1.5 - 2 days ish 2 men 3 days sounds excessive IMO.

You say good access but even then the actual time will depend on the distance the brash and timber need to be carried to the van and chipper.

1 day is probably possible if the trees are straightforward and the drag distance small. Without seeing the trees, branch form etc it is hard to give any degree of accuracy.
Jason Felstead September 26, 2010 at 6:52pm

Hi, as already mentioned, it is hard to judge, if there are no targets for the climbers, ie fences, green house as this will also determin the length of time taken. again if its a short drag and you can get the wagon close to the access point. But from what you have mentioned it would probably take 2 days inc clearing. just make sure they are reputable tree surgeons and they know what they are doing.