Forest keepers overview
An “overview” of Forest Keepers Tree Care on a recent job, with a hired crane and a done video + tree climber’s helmet camera — for a first-hand point of view from the treetops!
Recent tree jobs
This was a recent disaster cleanup job in North Kansas City. During a recent storm, a large Siberian Elm tree had fallen into a nearby elm and was tangled up. We had to climb the standing elm and safely remove the entangled branches, dropping them without damaging the house, deck, or the neighboring fence.
A large silver maple (5′ diameter trunk) presented quite a challenge to fell, requiring our largest chainsaw, multiple felling wedges, a directional winch cable, and our GRCS [Good Rigging Control System] tree limb lowering device. All that goes to uphold the old maxim: ”The bigger they are, the harder they fall!”
Twin ash trees in Kansas City, KS needed to be removed, unfortunate victims of Ash Borer. Even in clear front yards, we like to retain control of the tree with a ground line, directed by a ground man or the brush chipper’s winch. Enjoy a little “free climb” by a Forest Keeper as he secures the rope.
80 foot tall Oak tree in Overland Park, KS. The tree was unfortunately planted 5 feet from the front of the house and was messing up the foundation. Forest Keepers was called in to fell it, which we accomplished without damage to the house, driveway, or sidewalk.
The homeowner asked us to prune a large oak over the driveway and a large hackberry in the backyard. He also wanted 3 other trees felled and he would cut them up for firewood. Watch us drop a 40′ oak with the F-150 pickup assisting via direct pull. Most of the challenge that day was due to extreme wind gusting, but we still operated safely without issue.
The homeowner wanted a large silver maple behind her house removed. It was weakened by insects and threatened both her house and the neighbor’s. Our tree climber spiked up, tied in, and began piecing out branches, which we lowered with our GRCS lowering device so as to minimize the risks to either house or the fence between. Then we pulled through a redirect from our chipper’s winch line… and down it fell!
The homeowners wanted an elm, locust, cottonwood, and cedar removed from around their back deck. Here we use a redirect pulley and our winch line to pull over both the mighty locust and the slender, towering cottonwood.
The homeowner wanted a series of trees to be be removed and stump ground along his property line. We were glad to oblige!
The customer had one large ash tree that needed to be removed due to ash borer, as well as three other ashes along the driveway needing trimming back, as well as a silver maple out front that was pruned. Watch as our grapple truck assists in the ash removal.
We were called in to remove an Ash tree in Prairie Village, KS. It was growing near the house and over the power lines and was losing integrity, becoming dangerous. So after lowering down the limbs, our climber had a moment of fun on the way down!
After climbing the trees and removing all overhanging limbs, we performed two grapple-assisted removals of two dying Siberian Elms along a busy roadway in Roeland Park, KS. We managed the traffic and removals smoothly, without any property damage or problems.
We still work over the winter — no stopping our crew despite the weather! Watch as we take down an icy Siberian Elm in Grandview, MO. When the tree hit the ground, icicles went flying everywhere!
A sweet gum tree in Kansas City, MO was beginning to push up the sewer lines & driveway and needed to go. Plus, the owner was sick of raking up gum balls. Wait for the gum ball explosion as it hits the pavement! (We wound up raking up over three 55 gallon barrels of gum balls!)
Time to lay a dying ash tree to rest (another victim of Emerald Ash Borer). Shawnee, KS.
A mid-winter ice encrusted Siberian elm removal in Raytown, MO.
This was a large scale removal and land clearing job in Tonganoxie in the dead of winter (over the 3 coldest days of year). We used a track Bobcat with grapple bucket to assist in the removals. But this one was pure skill: the new house owner gave us permission to damage the deck if need be since they planned to replace it anyway. But we avoid property damage as a general hard rule, so we didn’t want to take him up on it. Instead, we laid the tree down right between the wrought iron railings, in the gateway & down the stairs.
A point of view through the windshield as we are pulling down a silver maple with a Ford 4×4 truck.
Our biggest removal of the year so far — a 100-year-old silver maple with multiple major co-dominant leaders and a 5′ x 8′ diameter stump (before root flare). An 80-year-old neighbor came by during the removal, saddened by the loss, still bearing memories of it being a large tree already when he was a boy. Two major leaders had failed, were hollow and even had fire damage from some kids lighting fireworks in them! It was up against a picket fence on one side, a barbed wire cattle fence on the back side, and power lines overhead. We craned out the leaders with our log truck’s grapple with slings. Then we felled it with the log truck assisting in pulling it over. We wound up with over 50,000 lbs. of logs and 70 cubic yards of chips. What a tree, what a day — whew!