Question
Jim, I am planning on having several trees removed from my property and just having some dead branches removed on a few of the large oaks[15" dia.]. Here is my concern. Only a very few of the tree removal companies have a boom truck which would mean they could remove the dead branches on the oaks without having to use spikes to climb the trees. The other companies, which could be substantially less $, are insured etc. and do fine work but use spikes to climb. I have heard that going up trees with spikes could transfer or provide an opening for disease. Is there enough concern to warrant paying a substantially higher price? Thanks, JackB

Answer
I would not worry about the spikes IF you are talking about just going up and down a minimum of times. Spikes will hurt trees and lower the timber value but you are not concerned about this. I would however require the tree company to sterilize the spikes before they climb each tree to keep any disease from spreading from one tree to another (this can be done by pouring rubbubg alcohol on the spikes before climbing.