Roughly how much does it cost to have a large tree chopped down?

[MuffinMclay]

It is a silver birch. I'm not very good at guessing heights, but it is higher than our (normal height) house and quite wide.

I'm thinking we'd have have it chopped down to ground level, but not have the roots and stump removed (that would involve digging up grass and disrupting a flowerbed).

Any idea how much this might cost. We're in Herts, so south east prices.

If its TPO'd - the fact that it casts a shade will probably not be a valid reason for chopping it down by the way

Summers are getting hotter - you might be glad of the shade in a couple of years.

Do you have a college nearby that offers Arbocultural course?If you have,give them a ring,they often need trees for students to practise on & often don't charge.

We had a hugh 60ft tree fall into our garden in all those winds the other week. A tree surgeon quoted £650 !!!!! to have it removed. Lucky for next door neighbour having a chainsaw

I think we got a big bargain (we're in SE London/N Kent).
We had a very good tree surgeon come and fell four hideous Leylandii destabilised by the gales in January. They were 30-40 feet high and one was leaning on our shed.
We were charged £350. Trees levelled to ground, no stump grinding (cost reasons but also their usual stump grinder was out of commission and their other one too big to get through our side gate), all debris cleared. And they really left barely a shred of foliage, AND swept the top of next door's pergola clear of debris too.
I can totally recommend Keven Watt for anyone in Bexley, Bromley, Dartford, Gravesham etc. Fully insured, bristling with safety equipment including crampons etc, done and dusted in two hours.
I am gobsmacked at reading the prices in some of these posts!

But we'd love a mature silver birch instead of our tatty box alder! Muffin, are you sure you want to chop down a healthy specimen of one of Northern Europe's loveliest trees? They provide such nice dappled shade.

you should really get rid of stump if poss, otherwise it can encourage honey fungus which is a bad bad thing. i have a large lime tree next door which casts most of my little garden into shade and i'd love to get rid of it, but it was £120 just to pollard it (london).

fishie, you sound like you know your stuff. Does honey fungus attack any stump or just certain species? (marina hopes the resinous stench from our stumps would deter even the most aggressive fungi).

rhs advice also you can plant something you like!

Thanks for that link fishie, v helpful.
We were thinking of using a systemic stump killer and then replanting (have heart set on sparrow-friendly beech hedge) but I think we need to save up for grinding from the look of it

i would if i had the money. it is amazing how happy you feel when reclaim teh area occupied by bad plant (well i do anyway )

MM - 'sort of' re electrician! Will explain on Thurs - remind me!

The council won't agree to the tree being removed because it casts some shade.

So fruittea your rule of thumb re trees being thicker than a man's wrist - that only applies to conservation areas? We have an ornamental cherry that is 7yo and significantly thicker than a man's wrist - more like a portly man's thigh - and we are wondering what to do with it.

nab i did not go into much detail there. it is massive lime tree and is about 20' from my (terraced) house and 10' from poor neighbour. it cannot be doing foundations any good and am sure there would be no prob getting permission to have it removed.

muffin -do check that theres no TPO on it, but secretly as they might slap one on then your stuffed.
We have taken down totally out-grown trees in London, in preservation area, as the client was prepared to suffer the fine. The tree was MASSIVLY OUT GROWN for the plot and all the rooms at the front were dank and dingy, because of this....ps this is not my professional advice and strictly off the record.....

Hi Bozza - yes I think so, I assume you can do what you like as long as you don't have a Tree Preservation Order on your trees, or live in a conservation area (which in tree terms just means that they're covered by one big, general TPO).

Hmmm - I'm thinking of the line of massive Lime trees opposite our house. They are protected by a TPo and the Council have refused to let them be felled, despite being approx. 20 ft from our house and 10 feet from the owner's house.
I'm pleased though - I rather love them.

Re: roots and foundations. Unless you can prove that there is tree related subsidence you might be on a sticky wicket.

Crikey FCANN, he must've had deep pockets. Isn't it max fine of £20000 per tree?

pooka i bet you live somewhere a great deal nicer than me - our council would not give a stuff, you should see what has happened to the houses in the conservation area, cladding, pvc windows, bays ripped out... anyway our tree is going nowhere so it is all academic (until house falls down )

Surely we wouldn't have a TPO on a cherry tree that was put in by the builders? House and tree both 7yo. I do think it says in the deeds that it should be replaced with the same tree if it dies but surely that is too ridiculous?

Check with the council, Bozza, they will be able to tell you if there are any issues.

Hmm I think I might, probably better to deal with it at this point than when it gets massively out of hand.

Just had 2 large (30 ft plus)conifers chopped down for £500. With us, it would have been more expensive if the tree surgeon had had to take away the timber so we just burnt it on site.

lol Fishie.
As much as I complain about my council sometimes, they are pretty hot on trees and conservation areas.
Bozza - it's pretty unlikely for fruit trees and the like to be protected trees. PArtly because (and I may be wrong here) they tend to have a relatively short lifespan when compared to more longliving trees like cedars, oaks, limes, horse chestnuts and so on. Also, they tend to be smaller and have as a result a more limited impact on local visual amenity.
In dealing with planning applications I never once had one where the trees officer objected to a development on the grounds of impact on a cherry or an apple tree. But then that's not to say another one wouldn't.