We removed a big oak tree in Rockliffe park that sadly was declining. The owners had done a great job of maintaining the tree as long as possible, and previously had cables installed to prevent the tree from splitting apart, but as time went on the tree was dying and due to its size was posing a hazard.
We obtained the proper permits prior to starting and the city inspector agreed that the tree definitely had to be removed.
The tree was in the back yard and the access was rather tight and narrow. The yard was also beautifully landscaped. In order to make the removal efficient, we wanted to use a crane so that we could cut the tree into large sections, which would be lifted right over the house. To start things off, the climber got a ride in the crane off to his office, better than any amusement park ride, for sure!
The first section was lifted cleanly off and we proceeded, piece by piece, calmly and methodically dismantling the tree.
To make things even more spicy, in the front yard was a tall spruce tree so we had to life the sections right over the spruce tree as well!
Normally we handle smaller jobs, as we don’t have a crane or a crew big enough for this kind of work. But when a bigger job like this comes along, we have relationships with amazing partners that we can take advantage of to get the job done! In this case we worked with our friends at Gardiner crane rental, Capital Timber, and Up There Tree Care. They are all great companies, and while we are business competitors, we are happy to partner up and work together to take on big jobs and I know that I can trust them to be safe and do great work.
In less than four hours, we were done, with the job site all cleaned up and the tree gone. It’s a good thing that we took it down when we did too – the stump was very rotten inside, but the extent of the decay was not visible from the exterior. This is a common situation in oak trees, and one we check for before starting by taking a core sample to examine the integrity of the tree. In another few years this tree would have been a lot more unsafe to work on.
Hello tree Taylor,
I am curious what happens to all the wood. Could you shine a light?
Hello Hans,
In this case the smaller branches were chipped up and the resulting mulch was distributed for free to local gardeners. The larger wood will be processed into boards and lumber, and also used as firewood.