Despite the name, John was quite amicable. He was the only contractor to answer my request for a quote on taking down a 70' cedar that was too close to the house. I had a previous quote from a private, unlicensed individual of $700 using my equipment. I thought it better to get someone with proper insurance, etc, in case the tree fell the wrong way or something, so the quote of $1000 seemed quite reasonable.
He was a little late on the day in question, but had texted to let me know. When he arrived he got right to work sawing some lower branches and climbing up to attach his guide rope to the cedar, and to another tree near my property line for directing the fall path.
Next thing I knew, he made a few cuts on the cedar and down it came, just where intended. (I did get it on video) Now the tedious part began. Even though I'm still recovering from a nasty battle with Covid & pneumonia, I was anxious to try the Ryobi chainsaw I bought last year, so I started trimming one side of tree while he did the other and fed the branches into his chipper.
A few hours of steady work later (from him), the trunk was all cleaned and I had a nice pile of firewood started for our fire pit. He took a couple slices of the larger part of the trunk to make tables, tidied up, and left to dump the clippings, returning later for the balance of his equipment.
I highly recommend John if you need a tree (or six) felled and cut up. read more