Yard work

[Dauphin]

I have eight conifer trees and a laurel (each about 5m tall) in my garden that I need cut down and the roots removed. How much do you think is a fair price to have the work done?

[Dinner]

In Australia? No idea.

[Dauphin]

Thanks.

[H Tower]

Do you have strong beliefs about handing a chainsaw to a 12 year old? They would try to do the job for an ice cream

[pchang]

Cutting the trees down is easy. The hard part is to make sure they don't fall on anything important (if they are close to anything). The really hard part is grinding the stumps. That requires specialized equipment.

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

I once tried clearing a fallen tree using a borrowed chainsaw, a heavy-duty cable, and an old Ford Cortina.

Bad things happened.

[Proteus_MST]

Try to hire a student ...
they will surely do any job for an apple and an egg

[rah]

The really hard part is grinding the stumps. That requires specialized equipment.

Yes, and usually quite expensive. Explosives are a better options depending on local laws, availability and experience level.

[Elok]

If you're willing to wait a while, all you need is a sign that says "Cut your own X-mas tree: $2." That's about half the problem right there, plus you'll be ten bucks richer.

[H Tower]

Yes, and usually quite expensive. Explosives are a better options depending on local laws, availability and experience level.

That reminds me of when my father in law had a gopher problem in his yard. One of his friends mentioned to him how a half gallon of gasoline poured down the gopher hole and then dropping a match in would have the blast scare away the gophers. What was left out was that you were supposed to mix it with 4 gallons of water. The explosion dug a 3 foot hole in the ground and knocked my father in law on his ass.

[Snotty]

Not seeing what needs to be done i can make a guess anyway.

Your big expense is going to be labour, I think 2 motivated guys could do this in 2 8 hour long days, so thats about £800. Add in green waste disposal fee, machine hire if neccesary, then your looking at at least a grand. The labour could drag it out longer of course, or if the trees are old and have been regularly topped then the work will be harder.

As mentioned before its the stump grinding thats a problem, and will drag things onto another day, as the stump grinder cant really work next to where trees are being chopped down. If the stumps are close to walls, or even close to 2 walls, then stump grinding becomes really difficult to do right.

Unless you plan to replant or turf the area immediately you should consider getting the crew to cut a slot in the top of the stump and pour poison in. After a few years the stumps will be rotten enough that most people could smash them apart with a pickaxe, with some effort. A proper 3 man tree team, with chipper, should be able to do this bread and butter chopping and chipping job in a day without stump grinding.

I dont know anyone in your area I can recommend in your area unfortunately. I know one guy who does this kind of work, but Im geographically challenged for trying to get contact with him. I could try, if you wanted me to

[Snotty]

So, was i right?

[Dauphin]

I've had one quote to do the entire garden, trees and pathway. Still waiting on another couple. I was expecting it to come it at around £1,500 for the trees alone, and it looks like that is in line with what it would cost me.

[Ben Kenobi]

Hmm, I guess one of the benefits of growing up in a logging family is that we could do all that for you...

[Imran Siddiqui]

I'm sure you'd know how to make wood disappear