40 foot Sweet Gum tree feel in my 2 Ac. Pond

brin · Aug 16, 2011

The Mrs. and I went out to our Farm last Saturday ( 5 miles away ) and when we drove back to the Pond, we call it our Lake, my Mrs. was near tears to see a 40 foot sweetgum tree had fallen into the Lake ..it had grown just a few feet from the edge and been there for years, must have been a storm..So now what ? I knew it was above my pay grade...I figured it would cost at least $500.00 to hire someone with a excavator with a grapple to pull it up and out since there was no room for me to maneuver on the bank with my tractor and FEL.

So yesterday I called a Tree man I have done business with over the years for trees I could not handle and he came out this AM ..with just his pick up truck , a block and tackle and a chain saw ..he picked up the key to the gate and headed out. After a few minutes he called me, he was going to call with a quote once he saw if he could do it, so he called and said he would have to cut the tree loose from the bank at the stump and see what he could do before he gave me the quote...

After about 20 min. he called back and said " Well since I fell in the lake and am all wet ..I will go ahead and do this..I will cut you a steal of a deal -- how is $150.oo to take it out an remove it...I said " Done deal..." about 3 hours later he came to the house ..full of mud and soaking wet and I paid him...he had walked out onto the tree to cut it into 10 ft. sections and that is when he fell off the log..the tree was about 18" in dia.

So we laughed...he was happy since he had another job that had cancelled and had nothing else to do and I sure am happy ..but more important ...the Mrs. is really happy ...and when she is happy....well, you guy know the rest..:laughing:

nolefan · Aug 16, 2011

That's too bad about the tree but it sure sounds like you got a great deal on the cleanup.

om21braz · Aug 16, 2011

Seems the storms always get the trees you want to keep. Glad to hear it was an inexpensive job and your tree man is safe!

deepNdirt · Aug 16, 2011

This story would have been much funnier had you atleast told that the man was standing on the side of the log he had cut when falling in,

this reminds me I still have a Darn large oak laying across the stream on our property I need to get removed... can you please send that man to me?

you can tell him the stream is only 2 ft deep

jinman · Aug 16, 2011

Couldn't you have paid him a bit more and got pictures?

:laughing:

I think you got a bargain. You'd expect to pay that much or more for a tree that wasn't surrounded by water. If he had seen snakes, it might have been a little more.

clemsonfor · Aug 16, 2011

The guy walked out on it and cut it a few times and roped it out with his truck. I bet he did it all in a hour or 2 at most. Thats a fair deal, did he leave it onsite? Or take it? Was it not taller than 40ft? Thats not very tall for a 18" diameter tree even if open grown.

bindian · Aug 17, 2011

jinman said:
Couldn't you have paid him a bit more and got pictures?:laughing:

I think you got a bargain. You'd expect to pay that much or more for a tree that wasn't surrounded by water. If he had seen snakes, it might have been a little more.

Too bad about your tree. Like Jim says, to bad you didn't get photos.
hugs, Brandi

brin · Aug 17, 2011

brin said:
The Mrs. and I went out to our Farm last Saturday ( 5 miles away ) and when we drove back to the Pond, we call it our Lake, my Mrs. was near tears to see a 40 foot sweetgum tree had fallen into the Lake ..it had grown just a few feet from the edge and been there for years, must have been a storm..So now what ? I knew it was above my pay grade...I figured it would cost at least $500.00 to hire someone with a excavator with a grapple to pull it up and out since there was no room for me to maneuver on the bank with my tractor and FEL.

So yesterday I called a Tree man I have done business with over the years for trees I could not handle and he came out this AM ..with just his pick up truck , a block and tackle and a chain saw ..he picked up the key to the gate and headed out. After a few minutes he called me, he was going to call with a quote once he saw if he could do it, so he called and said he would have to cut the tree loose from the bank at the stump and see what he could do before he gave me the quote...

After about 20 min. he called back and said " Well since I fell in the lake and am all wet ..I will go ahead and do this..I will cut you a steal of a deal -- how is $150.oo to take it out an remove it...I said " Done deal..." about 3 hours later he came to the house ..full of mud and soaking wet and I paid him...he had walked out onto the tree to cut it into 10 ft. sections and that is when he fell off the log..the tree was about 18" in dia.

So we laughed...he was happy since he had another job that had cancelled and had nothing else to do and I sure am happy ..but more important ...the Mrs. is really happy ...and when she is happy....well, you guy know the rest..:laughing:

nolefan said:
That's too bad about the tree but it sure sounds like you got a great deal on the cleanup.

I thought so...poor guy fell in the lake and I'll bet had he not fallen in he might have just taken a pass on the job , but once he was muddy and wet he did not want to leave without pay..plus he is a friend and has done tree work for me for years...

om21braz said:
Seems the storms always get the trees you want to keep. Glad to hear it was an inexpensive job and your tree man is safe!

My Mrs. loved the way the tree hung over the lake but that ended up being it's undoing...

deepNdirt said:
This story would have been much funnier had you atleast told that the man was standing on the side of the log he had cut when falling in,
this reminds me I still have a Darn large oak laying across the stream on our property I need to get removed... can you please send that man to me?
you can tell him the stream is only 2 ft deep

Deep, he is on the other side of Athens and I'm sure he only gave me that deal because he has done work for me for over 20 yrs. at least..

jinman said:
Couldn't you have paid him a bit more and got pictures?:laughing:

I couldn't go out there with him or I would have taken my camera...it was a big tree for sure and would have been fun to get a pic of him falling in as long as he did not get hurt...LOL

I think you got a bargain. You'd expect to pay that much or more for a tree that wasn't surrounded by water. If he had seen snakes, it might have been a little more.

We have had water moccasins in there...but it has been years..& yeah, I'll bet it would have cost a lot more.

clemsonfor said:
The guy walked out on it and cut it a few times and roped it out with his truck. I bet he did it all in a hour or 2 at most. Thats a fair deal, did he leave it onsite? Or take it? Was it not taller than 40ft? Thats not very tall for a 18" diameter tree even if open grown.

It took him a total of 3 hrs. from the time he left my house until he got back so probably 2 hrs. , as you suggest total time he was working or swimming..LOL - He left the tree but rolled it down the other side of the dam which is just a wildlife nesting area anyway..so it is out of sight and out of the way. You are probably right ..the tree might have been 60+ feet..I am a bad judge of length like that.