The hardest thing to clean up after an ice storm are the hanging tops and branches that are waiting to fall. We have a few of these hanging hazards around the kids' swing set, barn, deck, and driveway that are too high to reach. The worst is a silver maple branch hanging directly above the front corner of the barn roof, it appears to be holding on by only a few strings of sapwood and the inner bark. The three most affected trees are ones that I've selectively saved because they are mature, well shaped, and provide good shade in the summer. So I called some tree services to get prices for just dropping the immediate hazards in six trees.
After getting a couple of them out here for quotes all I can say is WOW!, there is good money in cutting trees right now. The best quote so far was $700 for one guy with a bucket and saw just to drop the branches and broken leaders, no cleanup or haul away. The outfits are local so travel isn't a cost factor either. Tress are all easily accessible and I'm certain it's less than 2 hours work, maybe closer to one hour. The cost seems to be demand driven right now. One guy told me February before they could schedule chipping and hauling if I was interested in cleanup. So I'm still pondering how to get these hangers down without doing any more damages.
