How to remove old trees from your property

Occasionally you will have to say goodbye to a tree in your yard. It can be a tough decision, but sometimes the tree grows too close to the house, gets ill, becomes incurable with infestation, or beomes too large and gets close to an electrical line. If any of these things occur, do the right thing and get rid of the tree. Although you have spent many hours bringing the tree to where it is now, it is dishonorable to the great tree to make it suffer in poor condition.

Once you've made the decision to remove the tree, you need to make a plan. I cannot count the number of broken windows or smashed vehicles as the result of a poor tree removal process and plan. Choose wich irection you want the tree to fall and measure to ensure it lands away from anything it might damage.

After you planned the direction of the fall, climb the tree and tie two ropes close to the top. Put it on the opposite side of the side you you would like the tree to fall. This permits you to change the direction the tree is lowered in case it tips into something that could demolsih it.

Before cutting the tree, put on proper eye and face protection to stop wood chips from getting in your eyes. A friend of ours hurt his eye while cutting down a tree. I hope you don't make the a similar mishap. When using power tools, wear protection for all exposed parts of the body.

Once you take all needed precautions, it's time to start cutting. If you are using a handsaw or axe, think again. Cutting down a tree by hand will take a very long time. On top of that, it isn't quite as accurate as chainsaw would be. If you don't own one, see if your neighbors have one you can borrow. You may also be able to rent one from a local hardware store.

In regard to pruning, you should not slice a straight line through the tree. It is better to cut a "V" on the tree's side. This is because when the straight line is cut, the tree will roll to one side or the other. With a "V" cut, the tree will will the direction you desire. It may be a few feet away due to error during the cutting procedure, but if you have strong helpers pulling the strings you tied, you can realign it to your liking. The enitre process should not take more than one hour.

Removing the stump can be more strenuous. You have a few options; You can rent a stump grinder that will demolish the visible part of the stump. Or you can take hours and hours digging it up. Digging up the stump is the best thing to do, but it takes a long time. If you have children, put them to work. Kids have fun digging and enjoy being outdoors. This is the method I used and I had the entire strain in one week. Note that my stump was about 1 foot in diameter and digging probably won't work for much larger stumps.

After the tree is cut down, your next challenge is gett ride of all the remnants from your property. You can haul the waste away on your own if you have help and proper transport. You may also elect to use a junk removal service near you.