We contracted with Four Brothers Tree Service to clear and chip Juniper and dead Pine trees on our 20 acre property. We chose Four Brothers primarily because of their 5 star rating on Google maps.
I met with an estimator from Four Brothers and we walked the property while I told him what I wanted done. He marked trees occasionally to tell the work crew where to clear out trees. My general instructions were:
1. Cut down and chip all small diameter Juniper. Limb up larger Juniper.
2. Cut down any larger diameter Juniper with 25' to 30' of healthy Ponderosa Pines. Chip the branches and leave the trunks on the ground for firewood.
3. Cut down and remove all dead Ponderosa Pine trees.
The estimator led me to believe that the work could all be done in 3 days for a price of $9,600. Unfortunately, that is not what happened. The work was schedule for November 2023.
Communication between the estimator and the work crew was poor. The work crew chipped at least two large diameter Juniper (one of which probably should have been left alone) before I noticed and told them to leave the trunks on the ground. They left some large diameter dead Juniper untouched.
After two days (the 3 man crew worked about 6-7 hours per day), the work was only about half done. In particular, none of the dead pine had been cut down.
I agreed with the work crew that on the third day they should concentrate on removing the dead pine (branches and all) - I asked them to haul and stack the trunks at a neighbors, which they did. But, at least one good pine was cut down and branches of two other dead pine were not hauled away.
As for the other 50% of the property, I asked them to cut down smaller Juniper and leave them on the ground - I would chip them later. They cut down a lot more Juniper than I expected. I'm going to have to hire help to chip the branches before summer fire season.
I put most of the responsibility for the mess on the estimator, not on the work crew - although I did expect a full 8 hour work day
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