Should I cut down neighbour's tree?

[Samosamo]

The owner of next door lives 100 miles away. the house was her dad's and he passed way.

There is a (weed) tree that has grown up right by the garden fence at the front, and it's about 25cm from the front wall of our house (close terraced London house). The owner visited recently and said we could cut it down. It is maybe 5 metres tall.

Is this something I should do? Am I opening myself up to problems if I do it?

Is it something I could do, or would I need a tree surgeon?

A chainsaw warmdusher…. That’s a bit overkill. I’d use (and have used) a regular saw and just burnt the waste on guy fawkes night or popped it in the garden bin.

Not really. A chainsaw could do the job in minutes compared with a regular saw. And being able to recycle garden waste rather than burn it or send to to landfill is a definite advantage!

Having looked at the photo it looks like it could be done with a good pruning saw if the OP is up to that.

That looks spindly enough to do yourself.looks like a bird cherry, so if you know anyone with a wood burned or open fire they’d be glad of the logs, it’s a relatively dry wood. Personally I’d not be using a chainsaw for a growing tree unless it was the only way - that one looks puny enough to tackle with a bushman-type manual saw, pruning saw, and loppers.

If you’re worried, take off the side branches first, to give you a clear view, then take it down in stages over the course of the day. Ie take off the top few feet, then the next but all the way to the base.

A good tree surgeon will have a minimum charge as they’ll charge for skilled time, even if they’re not using those skills.

Op why is it a favour to the owner, they will probably sell and you will be stuck with fh tree.

If you want it gone just do it

I've been left with a ghastly tree next to our fence which will over power us and darken our garden, neighbours fucked off and refused to trim more than than one branch back!... I tired to explain how they spring up everywhere and they don't even live here anymore. Incredibly selfish as they I now I love my garden and they did crap all to theirs this tree has sprung up from our trees which I want to replace at some point!

You could easily cut that down with a ladder and a silky ( professional pruning saw). I’ve taken a few down that size with one, no need for a chainsaw. If I lived near you I’d pop round and drop it for £50 and take any decent sized logs too .

Like a previous poster said you just take it down a little bit at a time.

Wait til the leaves are off and do it yourself if you can do it safely.

And definitely do not call your insurance co.

But actually the owner should take responsibility for this.

A garden clearance co would do it in minutes cheaper than a tree surgeon.

If you wanted to do it yourself, you can hire wood chippers for not too much.

As annoying as it is to have to do it yourself i'd do it now before they sell the new house and the new neighbour possibly refuses. Ask them to go half with you for a tree surgeon. It'll help them too when they want to sell

Just cut it down with a saw. You'll be fine. I do it all the time. My garden ends up like a jungle otherwise.

TIMBER!!!!

Such madness on this thread.

4 inches you can just about get through with a pair of anvil loopers.

Worst comes to worst a £10 pruning saw.

The chainsaw and the tree surgeon has given me a good laugh though thank you

Do you have a local library of things? Ours (also London) lends out saws, ladders, safety goggles etc, which would make it doable without spending much money.

@Samosamo

I do have a chainsaw....

Then, what are you waiting for?

Get buzzing!

I’d cut it down and leave the wood, debris etc on their front garden.

You can do that as a DIY if there isn't anything that can be damaged when it falls, (like people or your car) and yesss shouting TIMBERRR is absolutely the rule.

It would be a complete waste not too!

It’s not that big or thick. Personally I’d saw it about 1/4 down from the top to make it smaller and more manageable, then saw down to it half bight, then saw it off at the bottom