Quote:
Originally Posted by villagetinker
Check with ARC, some areas have restrictions on cutting trees down especially if the trunk is over 4 inches, and Oaks need special permission. A call to Tree Frog may clear this up if you know the type of tree.
You might get more interest if you can provide pictures of the bushes, and the size of the trees.
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One of the trees is a Golden Shower Tree. Pretty, but it attracts hordes of bugs that stain red when squashed. The other is a large, single-trunked Crepe Myrtle.
| Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants | University of Florida, IFAS
To answer the OP, those trees aren’t very big around, wouldn’t offer much firewood, and aren’t the types of trees known for providing top grade firewood. (Most oaks but not the kinds grown in Florida, and also ash, hickory, maple. But there isn’t much of a market for firewood in Florida.
Meanwhile, residents of The Villages don’t look kindly on simply felling trees at the base, possibly damaging driveways and streets, lawns, houses, irrigation systems. That means that the trees are cut and lowered to the ground piece by piece. It’s dangerous and requires skilled workers who can handle the rope systems, have great balance, and can use chain saws high in the air. Then the wood is often picked up by specialized machinery, placed in big trucks, and taken away. Then homeowners expect stumps to be ground down or removed and a thorough cleanup. All that costs money. I’d be surprised if you can find a bonded and licensed arborist to remove those trees for under $1,000. Maybe $2,000. You pay that and you give the company the trees. If there is any wood worth cutting for lumber, it will be sold. If there is any wood worth selling for firewood, it will be sold for splitting and drying. Any soil will be screened and sold. All the branches will be ground up and sold as mulch. Pretty much everything is recycled somehow. The companies that do this need big equipment and lots of room and need to turn a profit.
What We Do | Gaston's Tree Debris Recycling
I used to have a house on 8 acres of mature forest. I once sold off all the trees more than 24” thick at eye level. All desirable straight lumber wood (red oak, white oak, chestnut oak, black oak, tulip poplar, sycamore, maple). As I recall, the company took about sixty trees for lumber and paid me about $6,500. They left the stumps and the crowns and curved limbs behind and deep ruts and trails where the big machines came through.
So, no, you won’t find any company that will cut down those trees in exchange for firewood. Meanwhile, that’s a beautiful crepe myrtle. I’d say, instead of simply cutting it, hire a company to cut the limbs back to a pleasing pattern, taking off twenty feet of growth. And leaving the bare branches that are around 4”. New thinner shoots will grow from those limbs and will be less overwhelming and shorter and will bloom for four months a year. This is much cheaper than removing the tree.