A customer asked me to 'just cut off the dead branches' on a 200 year old oak last month

I was out in Dayton last month looking at a big old oak tree for a homeowner. She pointed up and said she just wanted the dead stuff gone, no big deal. But when I got up there I saw a huge crack running down the main trunk from an old lightning strike. I had to stop and explain that cutting those few branches could make the whole tree split open in a storm. She was pretty upset at first but then thanked me for not just doing what she asked. Has anyone else had a customer push back when you tried to save their tree instead of just taking their money?

2 comments

2 Comments

hugoh551mo ago

Yep, been there. Homeowners always think dead branches are the only problem until you point out the bigger structural mess. I just tell them straight up this is about splitting your house in half or not. Most come around once you explain it in plain terms about safety.

max_ross1mo ago

My buddy Matt had this happen with a big old maple in Cincinnati. Homeowner just wanted a few low limbs trimmed, but when Matt got up there he saw the whole trunk was hollowed out from old rot. He told the guy he couldn't prune it safely, it needed to come down. Guy got pissed and said he was just trying to upsell him. A month later a wind storm took half that tree onto his garage, and the guy called Matt back to apologize and do the removal.