Why Is It So Expensive to Cut Down a Tree?

I struggle with getting good before and after pictures, but the guy I have worked with the longest, John Petersen, considers reduction work and preservation work to be his forte. He almost always calls me in when these big old trees need a climber to get full access, and they are always my favorite trees to work on. I worked with another guy who is also known for doing good quality reduction pruning, though he charges a lot more than Petersen.

The point I'm driving at is that there are plenty of us Mick who do really nice work on our old trees. I live just a few miles away from the forest in which they filmed the 1938 version of Robin Hood with Errol Flynn. We have been in the tree preservation business around here since before there was a formal name for it, and we have trees here older than the US Constitution. I worked on this one cedar that I took a branch off of at about 15m up, and I counted 154 growth rings. The tree was only about 30m tall, had a massive taper. I suspect it grew slowly in the forest for a looong time before the first loggers started cutting timber in that area. I bet that tree sprouted before the Spanish ever set foot in what is now California. Obviously, I wasn't doing a 'reduction' on that one, but I was doing work to preserve the tree- the power company wanted to remove it- and there it stands to this day.

I don't frequent any of the other tree forums, but I know that several among us here have shown good work, so I am wondering @Mick Dempsey! where you got the impression that none of us ever do proper reductions?
 
Matias said:
I struggle with getting good before and after pictures, but the guy I have worked with the longest, John Petersen, considers reduction work and preservation work to be his forte. He almost always calls me in when these big old trees need a climber to get full access, and they are always my favorite trees to work on. I worked with another guy who is also known for doing good quality reduction pruning, though he charges a lot more than Petersen.

The point I'm driving at is that there are plenty of us Mick who do really nice work on our old trees. I live just a few miles away from the forest in which they filmed the 1938 version of Robin Hood with Errol Flynn. We have been in the tree preservation business around here since before there was a formal name for it, and we have trees here older than the US Constitution. I worked on this one cedar that I took a branch off of at about 15m up, and I counted 154 growth rings. The tree was only about 30m tall, had a massive taper. I suspect it grew slowly in the forest for a looong time before the first loggers started cutting timber in that area. I bet that tree sprouted before the Spanish ever set foot in what is now California. Obviously, I wasn't doing a 'reduction' on that one, but I was doing work to preserve the tree- the power company wanted to remove it- and there it stands to this day.

I don't frequent any of the other tree forums, but I know that several among us here have shown good work, so I am wondering @Mick Dempsey! where you got the impression that none of us ever do proper reductions?
Click to expand...
Don’t get the hump, I was only pointing out a general trend in the US as opposed to Europe.
It wasn’t a dig, just observation, a generalisation perhaps, but a correct one I think.

Don’t invade Greenland or anything rash because of it!
 
So much to say here…lots of great points already. I did watch the whole video with time I didn’t really even have, and did my best to catch the major drift.

1) Tree work SHOULD be relatively expensive in order to retain knowledgeable, intentional, and highly skilled talent within all facets of the company, never mind keeping all the wheels greased and in proper working order. The amount of moving parts and consumable wear items in even a small company is staggering!

2) I reduce crowns to retain trees on the regular. It’s been an integral part of my business since the start. I can also recognize when remove-and-replace is more prudent.

3) I mechanized primarily for safety, as the very first machine I ever bought (besides a small chipper) was to safely access hundreds of long standing dead Oaks that nobody else would touch or “could” touch for a reasonable price. Lo and behold, that same aerial lift has allowed me to preserve dozens of White Pines subject to excessive wind load in a manner untouchable on rope, and improve laminar flow around century old Oak shade trees without a dog-ear cut in sight or any risk of damage to vital interior growth.

4) As far as the saw truck goes, there’s too little data to support why companies buy them or why ads are so prevalent. While I admit there may be a lack of tree preservation sauce advertisements, I’m not ready to dig my own rabbit hole to go down on the matter. I actually want a medium sized saw truck for myself! Sure, some people are slaying healthy trees to make a payment, but perhaps these trucks are just allowing companies to catch up to a crumbling pile of neglect a bit quicker with a greater margin of safety.

5) A saw truck in the wrong hands is just as dangerous as a preservationist without knowledge or data. How many trees have been “preserved” in good faith only to cut a house in half following the next wrong breeze? I have no data, but I suspect it has happened.

6) Did TCIA reject an article with data or an op-ed? Not that I completely disagree with where he’s coming from, but maybe a better video would have been: “I’m concerned about our urban canopy. Here’s some information on when and how a tree can be properly and safely preserved“.
 
Mick Dempsey! said:
Don’t get the hump, I was only pointing out a general trend in the US as opposed to Europe.
It wasn’t a dig, just observation, a generalisation perhaps, but a correct one I think.

Don’t invade Greenland or anything rash because of it!
Click to expand...
Y’all didn’t take very good care of the trees on Greenland, so we’re going to have to take it.
 
oceans said:
So much to say here…lots of great points already. I did watch the whole video with time I didn’t really even have, and did my best to catch the major drift.

1) Tree work SHOULD be relatively expensive in order to retain knowledgeable, intentional, and highly skilled talent within all facets of the company, never mind keeping all the wheels greased and in proper working order. The amount of moving parts and consumable wear items in even a small company is staggering!

2) I reduce crowns to retain trees on the regular. It’s been an integral part of my business since the start. I can also recognize when remove-and-replace is more prudent.

3) I mechanized primarily for safety, as the very first machine I ever bought (besides a small chipper) was to safely access hundreds of long standing dead Oaks that nobody else would touch or “could” touch for a reasonable price. Lo and behold, that same aerial lift has allowed me to preserve dozens of White Pines subject to excessive wind load in a manner untouchable on rope, and improve laminar flow around century old Oak shade trees without a dog-ear cut in sight or any risk of damage to vital interior growth.

4) As far as the saw truck goes, there’s too little data to support why companies buy them or why ads are so prevalent. While I admit there may be a lack of tree preservation sauce advertisements, I’m not ready to dig my own rabbit hole to go down on the matter. I actually want a medium sized saw truck for myself! Sure, some people are slaying healthy trees to make a payment, but perhaps these trucks are just allowing companies to catch up to a crumbling pile of neglect a bit quicker with a greater margin of safety.

5) A saw truck in the wrong hands is just as dangerous as a preservationist without knowledge or data. How many trees have been “preserved” in good faith only to cut a house in half following the next wrong breeze? I have no data, but I suspect it has happened.

6) Did TCIA reject an article with data or an op-ed? Not that I completely disagree with where he’s coming from, but maybe a better video would have been: “I’m concerned about our urban canopy. Here’s some information on when and how a tree can be properly and safely preserved“.
Click to expand...
To your #6 point- it seemed the title was purposefully inflammatory, clickbate almost
 
I learned climbing from an Englishman who had moved to Canada, Andy Lake. He was an expert at mature crown reductions, and a great climber in general. Large crown reductions are the most difficult climbing job there is: taking the tops down while preserving all the undergrowth, AND making it all look good, to boot. Being able to see the fractal patterns and maintain the taper so that the finished product looks natural is a real gift. It really is a cultural thing, we do far less of it around here than they do in Europe.
 
Muggs said:
I learned climbing from an Englishman who had moved to Canada, Andy Lake. He was an expert at mature crown reductions, and a great climber in general. Large crown reductions are the most difficult climbing job there is: taking the tops down while preserving all the undergrowth, AND making it all look good, to boot. Being able to see the fractal patterns and maintain the taper so that the finished product looks natural is a real gift. It really is a cultural thing, we do far less of it around here than they do in Europe.
Click to expand...
Agreed, if it’s not the most difficult skill to acquire in the trade, it’s certainly in the top 1.
 
oceans said:
Especially on highly excurrent species. Around here, White Pine and most any Maple present the least options for a natural aesthetic since they often shed a great deal of interior growth on their own.
Click to expand...
OMG dude, people around here and the places they plant REDWOODS!! Reducing a redwood and not having it look stupid is hard work. I hate showing up to find a big fluffy red in between two houses.
 
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