Anyone had trees felled professionally?

[LostGoddess]

Hello all,
We have been househunting the past few days and come across a great property, except that it has too many mature trees in a relatively small area. If we were to buy the place we would have to get alot of trees felled that are approx 20 metres in height, and I wondered if anyone here had experience of this, as we have none!
Any idea of costs? and how to pick a good professional to do the job.
Any advice on whether it is best to do it gradually or have them all felled at once?
Any advice about getting the trunks/roots ground out? (we need the room to cultivate, along the lines of permaculture, with nut and fruit trees)
Any advice at all is very much appreciated!

[Hazel at the Hill]

What sort of trees are they, LG?

And how old are they - they might have tree preservation orders on them.

[LostGoddess]

Thanks for the quick reply Hazel
They are a mixture of conifers, beech and sycamore mostly although there is one oak tree that we would find very difficult to cut down on an emotional level. We don't think there are any preservation orders on them but we are going to find that out for sure next week.
We are just trying to figure out our options at the moment and whether it is worth taking it on as a project... we hate the idea of cutting ANY trees down, although we would be re-planting and regenerating.

[Hazel at the Hill]

If you just cut down the conifers (and Bilbo Waggins is the conifer felling expert round here, so will be able to advise, I'm sure) would you be able to leave the oak/sycamore/beech trees?

[SarzWix]

It cost me £350 to have 2 conifers removed and the rest trimmed, this was just over half a day's work for 2 men.

If you are having anything done that involves any kind of thinking, like "Cut that tree, and that tree down, trim that one and leave the rest alone" you would need to make sure they are absolutely clear which ones are which (maps, tree markings, anything) as once they are cut down/butchered, it's too late to change it...

[amandaandherveg]

We had a conifer felled 2 years ago, would have been around 40 ft-ish. The first chap I called wanted £1000. He said he could do it the next day as he was going on holiday the day after that (I just bet he could). The chap that did it in the end charged £100 for cash.

My neighbour had some tree work done a couple of weeks ago and the chaps charged an hourly rate of £20 each. Another quote I had recenty for tree work was £100 per day, again for cash.

[NOG]

We got quoted £1800 to remove trees and got it done for £200 in the end......Make sure you see their insurance.....also I just got them to fell them and we disposed of them...that saved £400.

Also you need to think about where the roots go...if too close it will cause subsidance to your house.

[jacob marley]

I think that if you want to fell a tree with a trunk of 6 inches or more you need a licence i could be wrong but think that is how it is good luck....jacob

[Hilary B]

It all depends on the soil type and how fast-growing the trees are.
If it is on soil with a clay content, do NOT get everything removed at once.
The roots themselves are rarely the cause of subsidence or heave (the opposite of subsidence). The main cause is change to the water content of a susceptible soil (clay is worst, but several other types CAN be tricky).
Cutting down too many trees too quickly can lead to heave. Having too many fast-growing trees can lead to subsidence. Both are bad for houses built without anticipation of potential problems. A tree which is tall (in shape) will affect the sub-soil for about its height in all directions. A wide-shaped tree will affect the subsoil for a bit more than the spread of its branches (up to 1½ times).
On a sloping site, clearing the ground too much can allow landslip.
Are the conifers the dread leylandii, or 'proper' trees like pine?

Sycamore is one of the few species that MAY directly affect the house if too close.
Thinning is probably a better idea than clearance, and remember that the wood may have some value (but the small branches probably won't) if you can store it for a year.
Trees can also be pruned, if thinning leaves you with trees that you would like if they were a bit smaller. This is even more of an expert job than felling.....

[allotmentlady]

chap ere in chorley is pretty good and felled ours for us and removed tree stump professionally, this is his contact details Sam Croniken 01257 413122

[Lottieval]

Is there space to fell them, i.e. for them to fall over, or would they have to come down a bit at a time? We had an ash tree which had become too big for the garden, but no room to fell it, we had it reduced to about10 -12 ft, basically pollarded, but the guy had to go up the tree and take it out a bit at a time and lower branches to the ground. He was a qualified tree man but it cost us £600 several years ago.

If you can find someone who knows what they are doing and also sells the wood you may be able to do a deal.

[amandaandherveg]

If you can find someone who knows what they are doing and also sells the wood you may be able to do a deal.

I forgot, we did this a couple of weeks ago on the plot that we're about to start building our new house on. I did a deal with a chap in the village that supplies firewood - he took them down and kept them for logs.

[Alice]

There's a lot of variables in there LostGoddess - like how close are they to the house / other properties and what the insurance costs are. Look for a properly qualified tree surgeon and ask to see the insurance - a reputable person will show you the insurance before you have to ask. It can go wrong no matter how skilled they are.

I've had some trees felled - sad, but it had to be done. It can come in at a couple of hundred pounds per tree depending on location, amount of clearing work, insurance risk etc.

Get a reputable tree surgeon to come and advise you before you decide what to do.

[bluemoon]

The roots of a mature ash tree were damaging the steps to our last house. We thought that the insurance company wouldn't pay out, so we had it felled, but hoping that the damage was just wear and tear we called them anyway. A representative from the insurers came and said; 'Yep, tree damage, but you've had it cut down now. If you hadn't we'd have paid for the felling and the repair to the steps, but now we won't pay for anything.'

[rana]

You might want to check that there are no TPO's (tree preservation orders) on the offending trees. If you damage or fell them the fine can be up to £20,000.