I am getting set to build a detached garage. Two trees must come down, one where the garage slab will be and one where the new asphalt driveway will go. Both trees are over a hundred feet high. The tree service gave me a price to grind the stumps, but I don’t think that will do it. Won’t what’s left of the stumps rot and let the slab/driveway fall in?
Thanks,
Forrest
Replies
Pull 'em or face a sinkhole a few years from now.
Pete
100' trees!!!
FRENCHY, hey FRENCHY, are you listening???
SamT
We just had our 150' tall tulip maple cut down. The poor thing was dead after approximately 150 years of life, according to the arborist. They ground up the stump since pulling the roots really wasn't an option: the tree was at the bottom of a hill and inaccessible by most heavy machinery. I really hadn't thought about rot and the subsequent cavity so I guess my worries aren't oer yet.
Check the below URL for a picture when the tree was healthier. The arborist attributed the death to grading of the lot and the general lack of care by the building crew.
http://chaean.homeip.net/Fun/House/VillageWalk/040402/pages/Exterior%20tree.htm
Our neighbors just tore down their old garage and wanted to put up a new one. It took them 4 contractors before one finally agreed that the 100+ foot tree could stay. They ended up building an L-shaped garage with one 10' corner cut out so the tree could stay.
I was happy.
That niether answered your question or was any help at all, really. But, if these are healthy trees, and if there's any chance you could work around them, it might be worth it. Or...maybe not, of course ;o)
I'd take the stumps all the way out if at all possible.
When the tree company takes 'em down, leave 5 or 6' of trunk. That give the excavator something to work with when he pulls 'em out.
A backhoe can probably do a better job than a bulldozer, and leave a cleaner hole.
Marriage is the mourning after the knot before.
Pull 'em.
Are they conifers? If they are, pushing them over with a cat, before cutting them, may be the easiest way to get the stump out.
Any jackass can kick down a barn, but it takes a carpenter to build one.
Hi Gascap
You don't say in what part of the country in which you live. The roots are there. Sooner or later you will have to deal with them, best before you build. Out west tap roots are shallow allowing a back hoe to pull them over. Back east deeper roots call for another method. Mushrooms buckle driveways!
Mac
Will totally depend on the species of trees you've got. For example Osage Orange and Black Locust are seriously rot resistant (I've seen an Osage Orange that was cut about 20yrs ago and the stump is still orange w/no rot or anything - believe it contains a natural fungicide) so you may be better off grinding the stump. Very soft woods like Willow or Silver Maple seem to disintegrate much more quickly.Life is too short so eat dessert first, especially if it happens to be Cookingmonster's triple cinnamon truffles or her ginger-fig caramels.
Thanks to everyone for the feedback. The trees are a pine and a oak and I am in Maryland. The pine is no big deal to lose, but the oak will be missed. It is right where the new driveway will go and because of setbacks and the house, there is no other option. The lot has plenty of trees still, enough for moss to be growing where I planted grass this Spring. I am going to call back the tree company and find out how much they would charge to pull the stumps, then call the masonary contractor and find out if he is going to bring in a backhoe to dig the footings/foundation and if so, how much he would charge to pull the stumps.
Thanks again for all the feedback!
Forrest
-termites love stumps.
do you really want to leave a big food supply under the new building?
-A friend from Zimbawae (sp) said they always left a lot of the tree trunk, then cut on the roots with axes, then pulled it over with cables - years ago, no machines I guess)
you will get a sinkhole like under a roadway years later if you leave the stump