What is the Value of 2 Ton Live Oak Tree ???

[tallbm]

Hi everyone.

I have run into a situation where I have a Live Oak tree (as in not living but the type is "Live" rather than Red, or Post, etc.) that should be removed from my front yard should I ever want any grass to grow in the front yard.

The tree is a Live Oak and not what I would call a large one. I am assuming it is a minimum of 2 tons and is not lumber worthy.

I believe the quote for having it removed and hauled off is like $700.

With all of that said what is the value of this wood so I can determine if I want to try and have someone else buy the tree and haul it off to hopefully break even on the cost of removal.

I have no experience in this area and it may be an impractical idea in the first place but I am just trying to gather as much info as I can and hopefully end up with as little cost to myself as I can.

I'm all ears

 

[Preacher Man]

I'm just spitballing here, but I'd figure 2 tons of oak would translate into somewhere around 3/4 cord of wood. I don't live in Texas, but I have a buddy that lives south of the DFW area and he paid $275 for a seasoned and split cord of oak this past fall.

If you're having someone come to your yard, buck it themselves, split it themselves, and season it themselves...my guess is that you can expect $150 at the most, probably less. I would probably do it for $150, but I'm desperate for oak wood up here in the pacific northwest. I'm pretty sure it's not too hard to come by in Texas.

 

[chef jimmyj]

Unfortunately, there may be no value to anyone as smoke wood. Hickory, Maple or Fruit wood are more desired for their flavor. Most parts of the country, you can't walk 2 feet into a wooded area without running into an Oak Tree. Why would I pay for Oak?
Now my Brother is a City Boy with a Fire Pit on his Patio. He Buys bundles of Oak splits to burn on that. He pays around $.50 a pound. Or folks with Fireplaces buy hard wood for them. Locally it's $300 a full Cord, delivered and stacked...JJ

 

[flatbroke]

What does a cord of wood go for in your area? 2 ton is a bit less than 1 cord of spilt oak (approximately 8/10ths of a cord). I sell a cord of it for $400 a cord. if you cut it and split it, you have to deal with the mess of the brush, bark, saw dust, misc pieces

 

[chopsaw]

700 seems fair to make it go away . He might be subtracting part of the price to take it because of resale on his end .

 

[tallbm]

Thanks for all of the great info guys, I knew I could count on SMF!!!

I do not have the time, tools, or space to cut, split, or mess with the tree.
It sounds like the idea of keeping the tree and selling it would NOT be cost effective by any means.

I think the best situation is to let the tree removal people cut and grind the tree down 6 inches below grade and be done with it.

My other alternative approach would be to keep the tree, say to hell with grass growing, and attempt some sort of "desert" landscape type approach... and be the only house without a grass lawn in the neighborhood hahahah

 

[flatbroke]

Thanks for all of the great info guys, I knew I could count on SMF!!!

I do not have the time, tools, or space to cut, split, or mess with the tree.
It sounds like the idea of keeping the tree and selling it would NOT be cost effective by any means.

I think the best situation is to let the tree removal people cut and grind the tree down 6 inches below grade and be done with it.

My other alternative approach would be to keep the tree, say to hell with grass growing, and attempt some sort of "desert" landscape type approach... and be the only house without a grass lawn in the neighborhood hahahah

the desert is over rated. getting that stump ground down will be a nice thing

 

[tallbm]

the desert is over rated. getting that stump ground down will be a nice thing

Yeah I don't know how I would feel about the desert landscape. Maybe there are some other alternative landscapes that would be a better fit and low maintenance but I'll check into those situations should the HOA give me any crap about removing a bad tree

 

[flatbroke]

Yeah I don't know how I would feel about the desert landscape. Maybe there are some other alternative landscapes that would be a better fit and low maintenance but I'll check into those situations should the HOA give me any crap about removing a bad tree

onces it is lopped off not much they can do lmao.

 

[tallbm]

onces it is lopped off not much they can do lmao.

Yeah. So far they aren't a bad HOA, BUT there is a clause that says there must be 3 trees present in the front of every property and the trees must be on the list of approved trees. I'm going to play nice and hope they don't give me crap about removing the tree and then don't give me crap about planting a new one.

Living in TX with it being tornado season 1 of 2 I could always just wake up one morning after a storm to find the tree blown over

 

[flatbroke]

Yeah. So far they aren't a bad HOA, BUT there is a clause that says there must be 3 trees present in the front of every property and the trees must be on the list of approved trees. I'm going to play nice and hope they don't give me crap about removing the tree and then don't give me crap about planting a new one.

Living in TX with it being tornado season 1 of 2 I could always just wake up one morning after a storm to find the tree blown over

small tree and round up

 

[tallbm]

small tree and round up

Yeah I would go with a small crepe myrtle and just have it cut to where it didn't have hardly any foliage at all and tell them to enjoy the view. I think they look cool when cut like that. Like deer antlers or something hahaha.

 

[tallbm]

We just bought about sixty 6 x 6 x 12 rough cut white oak timbers for cribbing. Price per timber was $21 and some of the wetter ones weighted in at over 250lbs each.

Cut/split cord wood around here is 150 to 250 delivered depending on if you get it ranked. A small live oak tree is most likely worthless. While the trunk and some of the larger branches are good for fire wood the labor to clean up and deal with the top will offset and financial gain from the trunk.

Even if it was a large veneer grade tree in a residential setting no saw mill will touch it because of the potential chance of nails, staple and other things driven into the tree over its life span that will ruin saw blades in short order.

Blowing $700 on getting the tree removed sucks but the beauty is you leave for work and the tree is there when you get home the tree is gone everything cleaned up and hopefully the stump ground down. All you have to do is add in a bit of starter fertilizer and then some grass seed.

Thanks for the info Holly.
I am in agreement with you. This company I called was highly recommended and has a 5 star rating so I hope the service is much like you describe. I want t come home and have a ground down tree with just basically a hole and a yard ready to turn into something other than dirt hahahaha.
Why is there no such thing as a nice pretty acceptable weed that I could substitute for grass and then I could be done with it all :P

 

[chef jimmyj]

I am so glad I live in the sticks. I asked the real estate lawyer about local ordinances for out builds, Chicken coops,etc. He said do what ever you want. It would be polite to ask your neighbor if they have issues but pretty much it's your choice. My neighbor is our mechanic and friend so anything goes and he's willing to help. I will NEVER live in a development or Kow-Tow to a snotty HOA again...JJ

 

[flatbroke]

I am so glad I live in the sticks. I asked the real estate lawyer about local ordinances for out builds, Chicken coops,etc. He said do what ever you want. It would be polite to ask your neighbor if they have issues but pretty much it's your choice. My neighbor is our mechanic and friend so I anything goes and he's willing to help. I will NEVER live in a development or cow tow to a snotty HOA again...JJ

that is handy. thanks for sharing

 

[pineywoods]

You could always plant Azaleas around the tree they love acid soils. There are some other plants that like the acid soil as well like Camelia's, and Gardenia's and others. It could make a pretty landscape and not be hard to maintain

 

[Murray]

We had 7 Spruce trees cut down, too many buildings and a power line in the way for me to do it. It cost me $1095 and I did all the clean up. Expensive firewood but they had to come down before the wind blew them onto the cottage or power line. Took the 2 man crew just over 3 hours with a 45’ bucket truck.