Possible damage from impact of felling a large tree close to a house.

[Winchman]

A homeowner wants a 24" diameter 70-foot pine several feet from his house removed. The tree is leaning slightly away from the house and there is plenty of clear area to fell the tree. One company offered to do the job for a reasonable price but said he wouldn't be responsible for damage caused by the impact shaking the house. Piecing it down raised the price considerably. Another company wants several times that to remove the tree with a crane. What are the chances of damage caused by the impact so close to the house?

 

[Mick Dempsey!]

I’d say slim to none, but photos would help.

 

[Tom Dunlap]

I’ve never heard of that in all these years

If it was a concern I had one job that gave it a test

House was about 3’ back from a 24”dbh ash or maple. Lots of heavy limbwood. The tree was on the edge of a 2’ tall wall. City sidewalk below wall. Then a15” turf strip

I needed it to jump off the stump and land flat one the sidewalk n street. The stump could not hit the wall or it would cause damage

Winter time. Deep,hard frost in the ground in Minneapolis

We had a pullover rope in the canopy and tied to a truck parked in parking lot

I cut the stump high the rope crew knew that they were to not pull the tree while I was setting up the stump cut.

The tree came down perfect. Jumped out from the wall and hit the frozen street hard

As we were giving our selves accolades a lil ol Lady from next door came out and started hollering. I walked over to talk with her. She said she felt the tree fall and it was going too result in her house and pottery was going to be broken. I gave her a card and told her to call. Never heard from her

Same story for my client. No damage and the frozen ground shook!