Reducing height of a tree

[Covenant]

A neighbour has moaned about a willow in my garden blocking his tv reception. It has got a bit tall recently. Got a quote for reducing it in height by about a third-£320!
Is that about the right price? :mental:

[Audio Al]

blocking his tv reception:scratch::scratch: Err


Normal to get 3 quotes then choose

[Covenant]

That's what the neighbour said. Not easy getting 3 quotes, I have exhausted the local rag.

[Tarzan]

Jerry, l will do it for £310.

[DaveK]

Visit the local tool hire place and come out with a long enough ladder and a chain saw would be my advice :) . I'm sure neighbour would be happy to assist by holding ladder an catching falling branches ;)
My Sky signal is restricted by very large 'conker' tree that is the responsibility of local (disinterested) council.
Presumably your tree is not covered by a protection order?
Dave.

[Covenant]

Very tempted to do it myself Dave, I sawed off a lower branch last weekend without any problem. Getting rid of the wood is an issue-the experts use a chipper.
I dont fancy hanging off a ladder with a chain saw but a big bow saw would be ok.
I will have a think about it.
No protection order-I checked.

[StanleyB]

A neighbour has moaned about a willow in my garden blocking his tv reception.
Agree with him to share the cost 50/50. And if it is not the tree then he pays the whole lot. It is none of your business if his TV reception is poor. His TV aerial might not be properly aligned or of the incorrect type for the local digital TV transmission. I used to design TV aerials and my former employers are one of the largest TV aerial and TV aerial amplifier suppliers. You might have heard of Labgear?

[UV101]

Got be honest and say I don't really think its your problem. As Stan said it could be any 1 of a number of issues. A landscape change anywhere between him and the transmitter! Having cut my electronics teeth at a TV repair shop who also installed aerials and early sat systems (pre sky !!!!!!!) I've seen this sort of thing before. Is his aerial inside his loft or is it mounted on his chimney? Height is your friend and even moving from one corner of the chimney to another can make all the difference.

Right now, I'd not be surprised if you chop the tree height and it makes no difference whatsoever......

[Thing Fish]

I got the local venture scout group to do mine for 1/4 of the price I was originally quoted.

They came round with all the correct gear and even took all the cut wood away for their camp fire.

They were safe, professional and had the correct insurance cover as well.

To them it was not about profit but money towards one of their group excursions.

[Rare Bird]

Jerry:
Sorry but i don't buy this reception lark! & why on earth are you remo'telly' bothered about his reception?

[Covenant]

Jerry:
Sorry but i don't buy this reception lark! & why on earth are you remo'telly' bothered about his reception?

Because I like being a good neighbour and if I can help them I will. What goes around comes around.

[Rare Bird]

:lolsign: Yeh right i bet he'd do the same for you.

[Covenant]

We have nice neighbours, my daughter gets £40-£50 a night for babysitting!

[synsei]

Willow eh? That's a lot of cricket bats.... :)

[walpurgis]

Assuming there is a possibilty that your tree is the reason for your neighbour's poor reception. Having a tree lopped for £320 sounds very reasonable to me. Many arboricultural contractors would charge a lot more.

[The Grand Wazoo]

PLEASE - Don't hire a chainsaw unless you know what you are doing.

When I say 'know what you are doing', I mean you should had have proper training. You don't cut yourself with a chainsaw - you remove a strip of flesh a quarter inch in width - IF YOU ARE LUCKY. If you are an average casualty, this will be on your leg around about the knee where the bone is close to the surface. If you are a little unlucky it will be on your face.

Please, please, please, if you never take any other advice in your life, take heed of this.

And never ever use one up a ladder

[keiths]

Just had a tree lopped here. It is in the corner of my garden overhanging two neighbouring gardens and one of the neighbours was concerned it was getting too big. Both my neighbours agreed to share the cost with me - total bill from local tree surgeon was £280.

[synsei]

PLEASE - Don't hire a chainsaw unless you know what you are doing.

When I say 'know what you are doing', I mean you should had have proper training. You don't cut yourself with a chainsaw - you remove a strip of flesh a quarter inch in width - IF YOU ARE LUCKY. If you are an average casualty, this will be on your leg around about the knee where the bone is close to the surface. If you are a little unlucky it will be on your face.

Please, please, please, if you never take any other advice in your life, take heed of this.

And never ever use one up a ladder

Oh that brings back some memories Chris, sounds just like me old gaffer. Very, very sound advice though... :respect:

[Effem]

Willows don't mind being Pollarded quite heavily and soon grow plenty of new shoots near the bared ends. They sometimes respond with additional new shoots up the trunk too, so you end up with a tree three or four times as bushy :lol:

I can testify just how dangerous a chain saw is from one minor slip even. I spent over 5 years of my youth doctoring and felling trees and saw a couple of guys dig neat and very bloody trenches in limbs and bodies from a quick 'dab' with a running chainsaw. I saw one kick back and make a nasty mess of one chap's face after colliding with barbed wire :eek:

[Covenant]

Thanks chaps. I have no intention of using a chain saw, tbh I am scared of them.
Going to get a few more quotes as honourable son cannot be bribed to give me a hand with it.
I reckon its 8 metres tall by the way.

[Thing Fish]

You could always pepper the trunk 2/3 way up with an elephant gun?

That way you haven't got to leave the ground...:)

Assuming that is you have one lying about and are a good enough shot...:D

[Rare Bird]

Get him to fit the TV ariel to the top of the tree :eyebrows:

[walpurgis]

I wouldn't use a chainsaw. A circular saw blade in a big handheld angle grinder is far more fun!

[The Grand Wazoo]

The tool to use if you don't have the skill to use a chainsaw is a Silky Fox (http://www.silkyfox.co.uk/) pruning saw. They are astonishingly good tools. The cut is made with a pull-stroke as opposed to a the push of a woodworking saw and they have 2 parallel rows of amazingly sharp teeth - razor sharp in fact (no exaggeration). For a single cut through anything under about three inches in diameter, a good operator can have the job done before many people could even start a chainsaw.
The cut they make will leave a better finish than most woodwork saws - we have two of the 30 cm Gomtaro models around the house and they get a lot of use. They are not cheap but they are worth every penny - don't be convinced by cheap alternatives.

http://www.silkyfox.co.uk/sheathed/Resources/gomtaro.jpg

[Alex_UK]

we have two of the 30 cm Gomtaro models around the house and they get a lot of use.

Crikey, and I was scared with the chainsaw stories! :eek:

Note to self: Politely decline any invites to a bakeoff at Wazoo Towers... ;)

Joking aside, Chris is the expert here, so I would heed his good advice on both counts. :)

[The Grand Wazoo]

Note to self: Politely decline any invites to a bakeoff at Wazoo Towers... ;)


Ha! Not even for a Sunday dinner? My carving style is well rehearsed (paraphrased FZ quote of the day)

[Alex_UK]

Ha! Not even for a Sunday dinner? My carving style is well rehearsed (paraphrased FZ quote of the day)

Will there be fava beans and a nice Chianti?

Sorry, AoS thread drift at its best! - back to lopping tress. Ahem.

[The Grand Wazoo]

Now we've dealt with your safety, let's go back to the original question. I'd also question the TV reception thing. Have you considered doing something other than a crown height reduction? I can't tell what's going on at the bottom of the tree but it's either been heavily pruned before or it is naturally multiple-stemmed. You could consider removing some of the stems to thin it out and make the crown less dense.
As mentioned before by someone else, pruning will stimulate bushier regrowth, so it's only a temporary measure. Two other things to bear in mind - that any sort of pruning will allow a means for airborne fungal spores to attack your tree, which is never a good thing and this is just about the worst possible time of the tree's annual growth cycle to do any pruning.
My own field of expertise is not really the treatment of individual trees - in my job, if the odd one dies, it's no big deal because there are usually several thousand others nearby(!) but I do know the fundamentals and my preference is usually to avoid pruning where possible - I would actually consider felling the tree and allowing it to grow back from the rootstock, which allows you to select from several new stems. You'd be amazed how quickly a willow will grow back.

One last thing (& you'll proably know the answers already), but make sure there is no Tree Preservation Order on it and check that you're not in a Conservation Area. Otherwise, you could be presented with a fine!

[hal55]

ONLY EVER USE A CHAINSAW ON A LADDER IF IT'S ON AN EXTENDER POLE SO THE BLADE IS WELL AWAY FROM YOU.
Hire stores here in Oz do have such things, I paid $113 for a days hire and saved a couple of hundred dollars at least. Plus, being on an extension rod, a lot of stuff no longer needs to be done on a ladder anyway.


Hal55

[Covenant]

Thanks again for the advice. Chris, a couple more photos attached. There is no TPO, I have checked. Don't fancy taking it right down as lots of local wild life including woodpeckers and squirrels use it.

[Clive]

It's hard to tell from the pics but there don't look to be many trees around the locality. Can't the dish be moved?

edit - the original pics shows more trees but even so, wouldn't it be cheaper to move the dish? Unless you neighbour has another agenda...some people just don't like trees.

[Covenant]

According to my neighbour the dish has been moved as far as possible. They are concerned about the tree coming down in high winds. It's a fair point as another willow (not in a garden) has come down recently.
Reducing the height is the best solution, it's just me being tight. I would much rather spend £320 on hifi :).

[Clive]

According to my neighbour the dish has been moved as far as possible. They are concerned about the tree coming down in high winds. It's a fair point as another willow (not in a garden) has come down recently.
Reducing the height is the best solution, it's just me being tight. I would much rather spend £320 on hifi :).
A multi-stemmed tree is more likely to shed a limb but it's sounds to me that the main worry is tree falling, not the dish. Because one willow has fallen does this mean they all will....no. My wife is part of our local conservation group and has dealt with trees for the last 10 years, yes she's untrained but 10 years working with the council teaches you a few things. - especially about people!

[Effem]

Judging by the photos of the tree it hasn't been Pollarded before and is quite healthy so it will tolerate having it's crown reduced right down to the first limb junctions. This time of year to do the job is not good though as the sap will be rushing upwards for leaf growth. The cuts will be rich in fresh sap and a haven for bacteria, so autumn or winter would be better for that. You could do an interim crown thin out by up to 50% which MAY help with TV reception and it will at least still look like a tree.