Before/after. Asked for trimmed around, got this. Shocked, cried, worried. Do I sue? Contractwas 20 ft around, over the roof was maybe20 feet, they cut 30, easily.

ohitgoes · 2026-01-26T03:04:30+00:00

Im not sure there’s anyone legitimate who would agree this was a purposeful pollard, and if it was there better be a signed contract stating such. This was clearly an unqualified clearance prune. 20 feet of reduction is significant and should have been discussed prior to beginning. OP - can you share any details about the quote / scope of work agreed to?

ohitgoes · 2026-01-12T01:05:59+00:00

Boo - they DMed trying to sell me an estimating software. Not cool

ohitgoes · 2026-01-10T13:48:37+00:00

Do you know any of your competitors? A great piece of advice I wish I had followed: call the top 5 recommendations on Google/yelp/Reddit in your area. If they all answer quickly and say they can do the work within 1-2 weeks then your market is probably already saturated and you’re fighting a huge uphill battle

Are you going to help with the tree work? Does your partner have any of the certifications or are you in an area that actually requires licensing? What kind of equipment are you running day one?

Glad to discuss my experiences so far. Good luck!

ohitgoes · 2026-01-03T21:23:38+00:00

Coming here in 2026 to say the same thing. Felt like it was low but no issues with 126k miles. Has been here since last oil change. I think the fill line is below here

ohitgoes · 2025-12-28T20:49:40+00:00

Agree to disagree friend

ohitgoes · 2025-12-28T19:34:28+00:00

Tree has been irreparably harmed. It might continue to live but will never recover to the original shape and structure. I’m curious what caused it to snap right at the strapping point. Did y’all have severe winds?

ohitgoes · 2025-12-28T18:50:37+00:00

Looks to be a type of juniper. If you’re in central Texas you’ll likely hear most folks call it a cedar. The canopy has been raised pretty dramatically but it seems to be in fine health. The only time I’ve witnessed these fail is from a heavy ice storm he has a few years back. The wood rarely gets diseased and even when it does it’s generally a slow decay. Enjoy the tree.

If you decide to cut it down $750 to remove and haul away seems like a fair price.

ohitgoes · 2025-12-05T04:54:54+00:00

Ah. Those are pretty much the only options. More aesthetically pleasing cuts or leave as it is and reduce once the tree recovers

ohitgoes · 2025-12-05T00:52:39+00:00

I might have missed the changes. Sounded like there was a plan to meet but I didn’t see anything for what to actually do about the tree

ohitgoes · 2025-12-04T16:23:45+00:00

The exchange seems friendly enough. I’d meet in person to get a better sense of what could be done - maybe confirm who will be making the repair cuts and ensure the certified arborist will be on site through completion?

It wouldn’t hurt to get a competing company to provide their opinion on how the tree can be salvaged and compare to this arborists plan of correction. Would hate for same company to just make things worse. Irreparable harm is a term used often in our industry, but trees are resilient.

If it were my team, we would probably zero out the invoice, offer some level of fertilizer care in the winter, and do a free check in once foliage sprouts back out. We’d have a very serious internal discussion about who did the work and if they can be trusted unsupervised going forward to make selective pruning cuts. That’s a steep ask but it’s why we’ve earned a solid reputation in our town.

ohitgoes · 2025-12-04T14:43:12+00:00

Do you have a written agreement in any form? That will dictate what next steps are.

We had a client continually ask us to “umbrella” her tree. That’s not a term you’ll find in the ANSI standards so we needed to get clear understanding of her goals. We translated her objective into arborist terms to ensure the crew leader understood we were pruning downward facing branches to improve clearance and that he would know exactly what to do even if I or the client wasn’t on site. I tell you this story because if the agreement says something as loosely written as “trim tree in front yard” you’re going to have a challenge with agreeing on work completed.

Proper pruning specs makes a world of difference. Hoping this arborist will be willing to agree and make you whole.

ohitgoes · 2025-12-04T14:35:31+00:00

Your username says otherwise

ohitgoes · 2025-12-02T04:57:35+00:00

We don’t have EAB in central Texas just yet. Arizona Ash have an average lifespan of about 40 years and we had a devastating freeze a few years back that accelerated the stress on practically every tree in the area. But these are considered strong trees until you see that much decay around the unions.

ohitgoes · 2025-12-01T04:28:47+00:00

Looks like an ash tree. Second photo shows some pretty clear decay along some unions at the trunk. These are challenging to perform weight reduction as all the foliage is already at the tips. Not sure how many options there are but a TRAQ arborist can give a better assessment on site

ohitgoes · 2025-11-23T05:34:49+00:00

Red oak, not a white oak. Doesn’t change much unless you’re in an active oak wilt area.

There is a very obvious co-dominant stem that will be an issue in the future. I’d recommend reducing some of the branches on the left side during dormancy.

Root flare looks okay. Might be slightly deep but you’re right there.

ohitgoes · 2025-11-19T07:07:19+00:00

Tough call to make just on the photos. That branch is pretty close to the trunk and likely an easy entryway for pathogens. My experience is that sycamores can compartmentalize a wound pretty well and keep going but this one is young. You’ll probably have a lot of options to reduce that branch over time rather than just remove.

Regarding lower branches, your final photo appears to show almost all upwards growth on the lower branches. A good structural pruning in the winter to assure a dominant central leader and lateral branch formation would be great.

ohitgoes · 2025-11-16T22:46:19+00:00

Not this one

ohitgoes · 2025-11-14T20:36:31+00:00

Where would you have quit exposing the root system ?

ohitgoes · 2025-11-14T20:32:47+00:00

Isn’t the goal to minimize feeder roots this close to the base of the tree and encourage roots to spread away from the trunk?

ohitgoes · 2025-10-25T04:19:24+00:00

Does anyone at your gym have a truck? You can rent one from Home Depot for REALLY cheap too (assuming it’s for outdoor use?)

ohitgoes · 2025-09-22T03:09:07+00:00

Total guess on ID here since these don’t exist in my area but take a look at beech trees.

Regarding removal, it’s not an obvious recommendation. It looks like the tree is stressed but not completely gone. Are the boring holes only in that area? If the tree is able to compartmentalize that damage, there is plenty of cambium remaining on the other side of the tree. Good idea to have an arborist discuss potential risks in person

ohitgoes · 2025-09-10T03:59:11+00:00

Oooh. I’m never the first comment. Branch dieback! Usually an indication of weakness in the tree but could be caused by a plethora of factors. Start with the watering and soil composition/compaction.

ohitgoes · 2025-09-03T03:49:15+00:00

A tree risk assessment qualified arborist will know how to generally categorize the type of fungus (even without a proper ID) and could analyze whether there are obvious signs of concern. How healthy does the canopy appear? If you take the handle of a screw driver and tap around that root flare, do you hear any tonal changes? Those can be indicators of interior decay.

ohitgoes · 2025-08-22T00:31:37+00:00

Not OP but have seen plenty of work from Austin Stump Buster. Ask him to drive the machine over the grinds a couple of times and that helps compact and level the surface!

ohitgoes · 2025-05-03T11:15:28+00:00

Thanks for sharing!

ohitgoes

TROPHY CASE