Homeowners really just need to do some research and stop planting the wrong trees by their houses...especially generic ones just for instant gratification..

"As with many fast growing trees, silver maple has weak brittle branches that are susceptible to breaking in high winds or when coated with ice/snow in winter."

Here is a link that might be useful: Acer saccharinum

This is a view from the ground early last September. Same angle as above. The lead in the upper left corner and the right most are the ones I'm talking about. The crack is pretty apparent.

Oh I know, but I wasn't around years ago to tell them. The whole street is lined with them, or stumps where they used to be...In my area, it used to be a favorite of urban planners because of it's wide canopy and quick growth. After all the elm trees that lined the streets died off, they were replaced with Silver Maples to recreate the canopy, but those two factors combine to make a big weak tree and are what cause it to be a dangerous tree in a suburban setting with close houses and small backyards.

I'd take a big old red oak any day...

^ Exactly...so to "save time"...urban planners just create a bunch of ticking time bombs that are destined to fall or cost $$$ to remove decades later...leaving no canopy again in the process...and right back to square one after 50 years...

Yea, a LOT of time "saved" there!

I'd remove it because 1) it's a silver maple, 2) the obvious inherent weakness probably caused by included bark between the two main trunks and 3) potential property damage. Cabling is worthless here - I'd lay odds that the tree is full of the typical heart rot that silver maples get at that age. I also would get a couple more estimates no matter how many phone calls it would take!
Good luck!

Time to go calling around again I guess. Avoid the cables I agree.

A shame. I actually miss the two rotting silver maples I removed from my yard. Good fall color. Early spring flowers. Neat bark. They just have life expectancies and need planted where they won't fall on anything.

Is it just me or does it seem that even proper cabling is delaying the inevitable since Silver Maples have a tendency to crack and drop limbs?

==>>> you are absolutely.. 100% correct ...

use the 2700 to remove it...

and spend 40 bucks or so.. on a quality tree ... for replacement ...

ken

Thanks all. You are echoing my thought process. It's a shame to lose it as it is the major source of shade for my and several surrounding yards throughout the day. But too much of a risk. Also, one thing I won't miss, gutters overflowing with samaras...this tree could propagate a forest and nothing eats them...

Finally got ahold of a guy yesterday who "should" be coming by this evening to quote.

As a week has gone by, I thought I'd follow-up...the guy never came or they came while no one was home and took one look at the tree and left...

Why is it so hard to cut down a tree?!

Okay T, I'm going to echo the others here-have it removed. First, a little background. I had a silver maple in my back yard for years. Please believe me when I tell you, mine was at least three times the size of the one you're dealing with-a true monster. It was the largest single-stemmed silver in this city. We liked the tree despite all the drawbacks, and lived with it for nearly thirty years. But I finally decided I couldn't live with the risks anymore-like yours, mine was not just hanging over my house, it extended over the houses and garages of the neighbors on either side of us.

Even though I'm a long-time arborist, I'm well past the climbing days, especially of this magnitude. By luck,
I hooked up with a guy who did the work cheap. I helped but he did the main climbing and rigging. I really lucked out on the price-$1500! And as a side note, he and I split 100% of the wood from that giant into firewood! Crazy amount of wood.

Cabling, rodding, etc will not help in your case. Get the thing down by the cheapest guy that has insurance. After all, no fancy arboricultural knowledge is needed to take a tree down, just the ability to do so without injury or damage.

Finally, I always hear people talk about how long it takes to grow a tree. But honestly, even something like your red oak example will grow quickly. You'll eventually be so glad you did what you did. And believe me, there's no bigger tree-hugger around than I. But sometimes, you must remove to improve!!

+om

Oh yeah. No harm as long as you plant a new tree of some kind to replace it.

I honestly don't know why you are not getting estimates. If you have a phonebook have you tried calling the companies with the biggest ads? Figure they at least want business lol.

I got decent prices from the company here that sponsors the big radio station's gardening show and they sure did good work. I thought they would be out of line expensive.