We live on a wooded lot. Directly behind our house is (was) an oak tree, which I later estimated to be between 150 to 170 years old, threateningly towering above our house. I have been nervous about it, especially when the wind blows towards us. The threat of Hurricane Florence was the last straw. It had to go! Called my tree guy, and after I got over the shock of his estimate, he and his crew showed up Wednesday morning. He estimated that the tree was at least 100 feet tall, which, if it fell, would have gone right through our master bedroom. So, it was time. Here are the before and after pics, followed by the in-process removal pics. There is NO WAY I would do this job!

 

Another view before removal.

 

Sequential pics of the take-down:

 

The end of a magnificent old oak tree.

 

I only kept about 30% of the wood. The other logs were just too big for me to split. The stump was 3 ft in diameter, BTW.

 

Jerry MA. Guess the bill?

 

^ I'll say $5K. Trees are Val's worry, too. She is contemplating taking down a couple in her yard in SC.

 

I'm really sorry that it came to this for you. It's a very notable reminder that things like cars are replaceable, but a tree like that simply cannot be bought. When my wife and I bought our first house in Austin, Texas the backyard had a number of Hackberry trees. The seller actually offered to have some of them cut down before we moved in, but we wanted the shade. Man was that ever a costly lesson for us, lol.

 

A little high. $3.3K + a couple six packs when they finished!