Move On Cottage - One Step Forward, One Step Back

When we laid out the house foundation we knew we would have to remove one tree so that the house could be maneuvered into place. BestLoved Hubby spent two hours cleaning and tuning up his chainsaw and headed out to the property to chop down the offending tree. We also considered a couple more trees might be candidates for removal.  Easy, yeah? BLHubby came back home within twenty minutes.  Wow, quick huh? No. The offending tree was MUCH bigger on closer inspection. Hubbs is six foot eight with gorilla arms and he could barely reach around it. The others we were considering removing were much bigger. On reflection (and fear for his life), he decided this was a job for the experts.  A job that we hadn't budgeted for. What might it cost?  BLHubbs just contracted for some tree limb removal and clean-up at his work.  Limb removal on 15 trees cost $3600. Complete removal of bigger trees would cost a lot more. But, he's not an international purchasing agent for nothing.  One of his suppliers is a sawmill and they recommended their best log contractor.  When we met with him he pointed out that most of the hardwood trees on our site were old and diseased or lightning struck.  On a closer look, there was one big one that you could see through!

Peek-a-boo tree! A good wind storm or ice storm and all our work renovating the cottage would be smashed. BLHubby's sawmill friends also coached him in what the business side of getting the trees removed should be. The tree contractor told us the trees were not worth anything except to sell for pulp. (Just what the sawmill said they would.) BLHubby then asked them if they would remove the trees and take the logs for free. They agreed. This was the desired result. The log contractor would get a couple of loads of logs worth about $1000 and we would get the trees safely removed without blocking the road, smashing the storage building or killing anyone. The only "catch" is that the tops and smaller branches as well as the stumps will be our problem.  Here it is, trees removed

Most of the lot covered with a tangle of tree limbs - some of them huge. But, no damage to the shed, foundation, road, or any people (that we know of). Those trees you see are not on our lot. We are about to put some sweat into sweat equity. Stay tuned.