Tree Removal Question??

[pickwick]

We have to agree with Courtney @ Arbortech. His quote was at least half of what 3 other companies quoted us. Excellent job taking our trees. Very professional and clean!

[Piston]

Standing dead timber is good for wildlife. Standing dead timber next to your house or dock is not good for obvious reasons.

One thing that may or may not help you but would certainly be worth a shot, is contacting the Belknap County Extension office. I have used them before and they are very helpful. The county forester for Belknap is Andy Fast, I have his email if you want it and I will pm it to you.

They can certainly give you some good ideas as to your options.
If the trees are tall and straight with no branches for a while then they could actually be worth some money. Certainly not 1200 per tree but maybe enough to offset some of the cost. People talk about only hardwood being worth money but that is not true, there are a lot of local sawmills that buy nice pine logs for many uses. Timber Framing is big in the northeast and it can be hard to find long straight knot free logs. If they are really 80-100 tall then you could be throwing away a lot of money!
For example, I just milled a 16' 8x12 and multiple 16' long 2x boards from one single log. The 8x12 alone would be just over $100 to buy.

[Merrymeeting]

Piston,

I would have thought that your points are valid too. Even pine lumber is very expensive to buy nowadays. I have 4-5 80+ ft, 3-4' diameter, straight pines that will need to come down someday soon. I would think they are worth something despite what has been posted here.

If anyone wants to contact me to take them, feel free.

[ApS]

Is the major expense in chipping and moving the debris off the island?

Leaving the chips would make a good ground cover.

"Firewood" sold at roadside stands is often dried pine wood such as what you have: it burns readily, and gives off a satisfying ambiance for weekend campers. Sawing burnable pieces to that size could provide firewood for a neighborly campfire—when permitted.

Some could be retained on the island as straight logs for a rustic enclosure—say, for enclosing the neighbors' boats or garbage cans?

Originally Posted by Piston

Standing dead timber is good for wildlife. Standing dead timber next to your house or dock is not good for obvious reasons.

1) I've got a few dead trees standing close to structures, but I'm not too concerned. Most dead trees start their eventual fall starting at the top. When the lowest part falls, it is shorter, not particularly heavy, and has less height to inflict damage.

I've been watching one dead tree out front for eight years. I just tied it loosely to a healthy tree to limit the radius of its fall—should it drop over-winter. (Our steep lot blocks strong winds the rest of the year.)

2) The cutting of trees affects the wind-resistance of its "neighbor trees". It is well known that wind can "take-out" some others—as my abutter discovered. Notice the freshly-cut stumps in my photo.

The two healthy pines "spared" in this photo were shortly uprooted by winds and fell in opposite directions. (These were two of dozens that fell as a direct result of "planned-trimming".)

Your neighbor may want consideration in these decisions!