Tree Removal

If a tree needs to be removed, Ravenna Arborists highly skilled staff has the knowledge and training to safely remove any tree.

Removing unwanted or unsafe trees.

Here is a contentious issue: the killing of trees. Ravenna Arborists is not in the tree killing business. We are always sad to see a swath of trees clearcut to make way for a new development.

However, the fact remains that trees and homes are often in direct competition, or trees have either been planted or seeded that are not suitable in their location. Large maturing trees planted underneath power lines, or trees growing to close to the foundation of a house can be a danger.

Ravenna Arborists makes every effort to discourage unnecessary tree removal. That said, when a tree is dead, diseased, or compromised by a storm, it should be removed. Safely.

In the unfortunate event that a tree must be removed it is important it is done correctly with emphasis placed on the safety of workers and property. There are a multitude of hazards involved in removing a tree and only a trained professional should undertake a tree removal. Never attempt to remove a tree by yourself!

An Example Of A Dangerous Tree Removal.

This Big Leaf maple is leaning dangerously over the house below. Not shown in the picture is another Big leaf maple just north of the house that was blown down by high winds weeks before. The owners of this home quickly called for estimates on removing the remaining Maples leaning over their house.

Their worries are well placed.

Not only is this tree leaning over their house, leaving no doubt were it would fall, it is growing into an adjacent tree causing irreversible occluded bark, and rot. With the notorious reputation of Big Leaf Maples to crack, split, lose large branches, and even fail entirely, this situation is a classic example of a dangerous tree removal.

If this tree were in a field or in the forest removing it would be a fairly straightforward task. Determining the lean, making a face cut, then a back cut, and wham, the tree would fall safely on the ground. However this is tree is not in a field, or even an large yard. It is leaning directly over someone's home. How to remove it safely then?

Technical tree removal is a series of steps taken using an Arborists skill, strategy, ropes and coordination with ground workers to safely remove a tree piece by piece.

Step 1: Climber sets his safety line.
Using saddle, spurs, and a flipline, the arborist makes his way to the high central lead in the tall tree. There he sets his climbing line, also known as safety line. This is a rope that will enable the climber to move safely from limb to limb, and up and down the tree. In this picture the climber has set his climb line high in the central lead with a down line installed directly below it on the same lead.

Step 2: Installing the down line.
A down line is a term for a rope that will be used to rig out branches. This rope is controlled by the climbers and the workers on the ground, and using the natural friction of a rope in the crotch of a tree is used to slow the decent of large branches and wood.

Step 3:
Using a down line the climber ties off branches and rigs them out one by one. The groundmen safely lower the branch to the ground below.

Step 4:
The heavy wood of the trunk is rigged out and lowered down as the climber descends.

In this removal Steps 3 and 4 are repeated three times culminating in the removal of the final stem. Typically when this stage is reached the climber will rig the final wood to itself, using the stem he is standing on. In this case an alternate down line was installed in an adjacent tree.

Step 5:
After the tree is safely down the large pieces of wood are cut into firewood length pieces and the branches are chipped up and hauled off.

The removal of a tree is a complicated and dangerous undertaking and should never be attempted without the aid of a licensed and insured tree service.