Crane tree removal vs climbing

Climbing: the tree comes down with ropes

A climber goes up the tree with a saw, cuts it from the top down, and lowers each piece on a rope to the ground crew. It works in places nothing else can reach: the back of a yard, behind a fence, under wires, where no truck or crane can set up.

It is slower than the crane, piece by piece, and it needs room on the ground to lower each section.

Crane tree removal: the tree is lifted out

Some trees have nowhere to fall: an oak between the house and the garage, a pine leaning over the neighbor's fence, a tree so big that dropping it in pieces would tear up the whole yard. The crane sets up in the street or the driveway, a climber rigs each section, and the crane lifts it clear of the house and the wires and sets it down where the crew can cut it up. Nothing lands on the roof or the lawn.

A crane removal is faster than taking a tree down piece by piece with ropes, and there is less chance of damage to what is underneath. On a tight lot it is often the only safe way to do the job. After the 2020 storm we were on Ridge Road in North Haven with a 33-ton crane on storm trees.

The third option: the grapple saw

Trees with room around them come down with the truck-mounted grapple saw, which grabs each piece, cuts it, and moves it, with no one in the tree and no crane. Jesse uses it when the tree and the lot allow.

How we choose

Jesse looks at the tree, what is under it, and where a crane could set up. If a climber can do it safely without the crane, we tell you that too. You get the method and the price on the spot, free, before any work starts. We plan the crane's setup spot on the estimate so it stays off anything that could crack or sink.

Either way the same crew does the cleanup, and everything they take down gets chipped or hauled.