Cutting down one or more trees is not really easy. Large trees in particular always represent a challenge that is best left to a specialist company. Here you know your way around and can carry out even difficult felling work without much effort.
In addition, specialist companies have the necessary equipment for felling trees, which you certainly cannot afford as a private individual. Contrary to popular belief, felling trees requires more than one saw. In many cases, lifting platforms, belts and ropes are used, as are appropriate protective clothing and large vehicles that ensure the removal of the felled tree. This can be cut into manageable pieces after felling. But this usually only applies to the tree trunk. The branches must be processed in another way and require appropriate means of transport.
But can you lend a hand yourself? What precautions need to be taken? What are the costs and who will take care of removing the tree? All of these questions should now be answered in more detail.
Lending a hand yourself?
In general, you should only cut down a tree yourself if you can do it. This is only recommended if you not only have the necessary tools and protective clothing, but also the specialist knowledge. Because a tree only falls properly if it has been properly assessed and prepared in advance. For this reason, you should only take action yourself if there are small trees or larger bushes in the way that are easy to handle and can also be shortened or felled by a layperson. Otherwise, we can only recommend entrusting the professionals with this task and looking for a suitable provider.
Search provider
Now it is possible to simply search in the Yellow Pages for a company that offers tree felling work. You then order this and the tree is felled properly. But in your own interest you shouldn't make it that easy. Felling a tree costs money. And this should be spent specifically. In addition, it must always be clarified in advance whether the selected company is even capable of felling the existing tree. Not everyone has the right equipment, for example to fell a particularly large tree with a large crown. For this reason, comparing the individual providers and obtaining a cost estimate are always recommended.
Tip:
If you live in the country and have a good connection with the local volunteer fire department, you can ask them if they will cut down the tree. The comrades see this as practice and usually do it free of charge or for a small donation to the club's coffers. They bring sufficient equipment and knowledge with them. You just have to take care of the removal yourself.
Costs
As with many things, the costs of felling trees cannot be stated in general terms. The trees and the amount of work involved can be too varied to be able to give a fixed price. For this reason, it is always important to get a cost estimate in advance that shows the costs exactly.
If you look at some offers, however, you can say that for large trees you have to expect costs between 500 and 1,000 euros. Smaller trees are significantly cheaper. Here it starts at just 200 euros. If you have several trees to cut down, it will usually be cheaper as a package than if you had them cut down individually. Large shrubs are also offered at a cheaper price. Here it usually starts at 100 euros. If they are removed in combination with a large tree, companies may even remove the shrub at no additional cost.
When it comes to costs, it is always important whether you take care of the removal and disposal of the tree yourself or whether the company does this. If you take care of it yourself, the wood can in many cases be used as firewood. And the branches, which can be chopped into small pieces and used as starting material for composting or as a natural ground cover, are sure to be happy for your own garden or a gardening company, which may even pay a euro or two for it.
Tree felling process
- Pick out trees and large shrubs that need to be cut down
- check whether a permit is required for felling
- Find a suitable provider and inform neighbors if necessary
- Get a cost estimate and make an appointment
- Enclose the property generously on the day of the work so that no one gets hurt
The best time for tree felling work
Since there are clear regulations for all processes and work in Germany, it is only logical that felling trees must also take place according to precise regulations. Tree felling work may not be carried out between March 1st and September 31st. During this time, the trees serve as nesting and breeding places for birds and must not be felled. If you want to fell a tree, you should have done so from October 1st to February 28th at the latest.
Regulations
In order for a tree to be felled safely, the first step must always be to secure the surrounding area. This should be done as widely as possible. Many people underestimate the size of a tree and are surprised when it hits somewhere at an awkward angle. If the tree is very large, it must be shortened in advance. In addition to removing the branches, the tree trunk is also shortened starting from the top so that it cannot hit buildings, fences, power systems or similar when felled. A specialist company should always take on the felling work, especially in residential areas. Not that the tree ends up causing high costs because it falls on an expensive car or damages the facade of the neighboring house.
Tip:
In many cases, permission must be obtained for felling. If it is just a small tree on your own property that is not protected, everything can be done without permission. Larger protected trees that are to be felled outside of a planned development, for example, always require a permit for felling. The relevant forms can be filled out and submitted to the responsible office (usually the parks department). Processing the application costs around 40 euros. However, this can vary from community to community. For approval, it must also be possible to ensure that a replacement tree is planted.
What you should know about tree felling work soon
- Tree felling work is better done by an expert.
- Specialized companies are very familiar with the implementation regulations, legal regulations and safety precautions.
- The municipalities are responsible for the regulations that include the regulations for tree felling work.
- Approval is granted by public order offices and municipalities.
- Tree felling work without permission can be very expensive, fines can be up to 50,000 euros.
- Fruit trees are excluded; the regulations for felling are set out in the allotment garden law nationwide.
- Anyone who wants to obtain a permit should be able to prove that the tree to be felled poses a danger.
- If a felling permit is granted, it is often linked to a certain condition, e.g. the planting of a new tree.
Attention:
In cities or near residential buildings, trees are not felled, but rather sawn down from top to bottom. First twigs and branches, then the trunk.
Once the tree has been felled, the question arises as to how to dispose of it. If the wood is usable, some wood processing companies offer to pick up logs free of charge. If this is not the case, an appropriate removal company must be commissioned.
