Low Cost Tree Removal Techniques for Gardeners

Hi everyone, I've been looking into ways to remove a couple of trees from my garden without breaking the bank. I know professional services can be quite expensive, so I'm seeking advice on low-cost methods that are safe and effective. Let's discuss some DIY techniques or affordable alternatives for tree removal in home gardens.

Has anyone successfully used any DIY methods for removing trees from their garden without spending a fortune? I'm particularly interested in hearing about any tools, techniques, or resources that helped keep costs down while ensuring safety and efficiency.

Perhaps find a tree feller that works for a logging company. I've taught myself and have had no incidents for the previous eight years. Although, I don't cut many trees each year. This year will be the most so far, about eight. The early years of experience involved trees that did not represent a hazardous path to drop. No buildings, or possibility of a snag. I began watching youtube videos and that helped a lot. I would recommend them as they provide information you may not considered cause you don't know what you don't know. This particularly applies to tree felling.

Depending on the type of tree involved, and it's lean, or entanglement, cutting trees down can be very dangerous. Anything from an improper cut that causes the tree to split up the middle and whack you in the head with the base, to what is known as a Barber pole where it splits with a twisting motion.

Tools:

Prior to any cutting, check your work area and exit path for debris, fencing, anything that will impede a rapid exit from the area once the tree begins to fall. Be sure to look up into the tree for any dangling branches that may fall when you begin to cut.

I presently use wedges and a 3/4 ton come along when there is only a slight difference between the direction I want the tree to go in, and the direction the tree want to fall. However, since I can't get more than a 10 foot ladder height up to attache the chain, there is not much of a mechanical advantage. Enough though if there is not too much lean.

I would earnestly recommend you find someone affordable to do the work and teach you the basics the first time around. There is a lot to this and I haven't even started on the chainsaw. I'll post more later. For now, here are some videos I've watched:

I guess it depends on the value of your house or outbuildings near the trees, and how well you know the guy (or gal) who is going to do a cash job (or visit a couple of references)
Or, perhaps your trees are close to neighbors' assets...

If my house was worth a lot, I don't think I would want to save money in this. There's a reason they are well paid, and one is that you have checked that they are fully insured and they do a contract or will sign one.

It's been a few months, so maybe you have already gotten the trees removed...

I recently had to get two large (2 foot diameter) trees removed that were leaning over my house and my neighbor's house. They were standing dead, on a hill where they couldn't get a bucket lift close to, and were in close proximity to other things around them. Some suggestions:

1. Get multiple quotes. I got two. One was for half the amount of the other guy. The guy I went with was no less professional or experienced, he just didn't have a lot of machines or a large crew to increase his cost. Different folks have different niches (large jobs, small jobs, road clearing, etc.), so they will quote you differently for your specific job. Some folks also might just have less business at the moment and need a quick job to fill a day.
2. If you are getting a stump ground, ask your tree guy if it would be cheaper to hire that out separately yourself. Some guys don't have a grinder, so they have to rent one which can be expensive, and that cost gets passed on to you. Some guys grind stumps for a living and own a machine, so they will do it for much cheaper. Your tree guy probably doesn't want to grind the stump if he has to deal with renting the equipment. He will just do it for you because that is what folks typically expect.
3. Don't pay the tree guy to remove the debris. We had ours buck it at 16" so that I could maneuver the 100+ pound pieces into an upright position. After the guys left, I spent a few days splitting the rounds into pieces I could carry and stacked them to dry for firewood. I burned a lot of the smaller stuff that couldn't be used for firewood. Having the felled trees removed would have doubled the price! You could also hire out the labor for cheaper after the fact. The guy who climbed our tree was getting paid $100 an hour. No way I would let him stay and move wood when I could hire someone to do that for $15.
4. Work with your tree guy's schedule. Let him do it on a Sunday, three months from now, in the evenings, whenever works best for him. If you say you need the trees removed ASAP or on a specific day that you'll be home, it'll cost more.
5. If possible, hire your tree guy for more work. I had the two trees that I needed taken down soon, but I also had two others that were going to need to be taken down within the next ten years probably. I went ahead and had those taken down as well. It increased the price, but having four trees done all at once is cheaper than having two done now and two done some time down the road. Remember that you're paying the tree guy to drive to and from your property as well.

In the end we had four large, dangerous trees taken down. The cheaper guy I went with was in the area when I called and he asked to come out in an hour and quote me (on a Friday evening after he finished another job). He looked at the trees and asked if it was alright for him to work on Sunday morning. He came out without his crew on Sunday and did the work himself along with a tree climber that he hired separately. The climber climbed the tree and cut it down 16" at a time while the other guy worked on everything on the ground (cutting up smaller stuff, sharpening/gassing tools, etc.). They did all four tree in about 8 hours.

If I remember correctly, it was $1400 for all four trees and then I paid $200 for a stump grinder to come and grind about 10 stumps that I had around my property. Still expensive, but the other quote I got was for $2800. Both are  cheaper than the trees falling on my house or my neighbor's house.

I'm in the forest in Quebec so my situation is a bit different. I had two tall but one only about 20" diameter and a dead 30"

I was lucky to have a neighbor - friend who is a tree climber to do the job cash with a friend. The bigger tree was near the house and I had it truncated to about 20', named the cactus -- I had him leave 1-6 feet on branches of his choice to make it a decent extension cord holder and provide food for the woodpeckers that were using it and also perching space for my flock of meat pigeons.

The other was half of two twin trees one leaning in the direction of my shed. Both had minor beetle disease and I had him include removal which entailed dragging them down the road and burning them about a five minutes walk away.

I paid him $100, and $100 for his chum and the tree removal, Canadian $ -- he didn't want more and everyone was happy, especially the birds