Gordonvale to Port Douglas
Tree lopping in Cairns
In the tropics a tree can outgrow a yard in a few wet seasons. Lopping takes the height and spread back to branches that can carry the regrowth.
Tree lopping
What a lopping job covers
People use the word for anything from a trim to taking half a tree away, so the quote says exactly which limbs come off and where they are cut.
Height
The top taken down to a strong side branch, so the tree is shorter without being left as a stump of a trunk.
Spread
Long limbs over the roof, the pool or next door shortened back to where they can be carried.
The timber
Chipped on site or carted away. Contractors pay normal rates at the transfer stations, so cartage is written into the quote.
How it works
From the first message to a written quote
The council question is settled before any price, and nothing is booked until you have said yes to a quote in writing.
- 1
Tell us what the tree is doing
Where it stands, what it hangs over and what you would like done about it.
- 2
A contractor comes to see it
A tree contractor who covers your suburb looks at the tree, the access and what is underneath it.
- 3
The council question is answered
Whether it is pruning council lets you do, or a removal that needs approval, is settled before the price.
- 4
You get it in writing
Scope, timber, stump and date on one page, and nothing is booked until you have said yes.
Lopping questions
Approval, regrowth and timing
Does lopping need council approval?
It depends how much comes off. Removal of deadwood, hazardous limbs, crown lifting and crown thinning are on council's list of work you can do without council approval. Cutting a significant tree down to a stump is a different question.
Will it grow back?
Yes, and quickly in Cairns. Cutting back to a side branch rather than a bare stub keeps the regrowth from being weak and crowded.
When is the best time?
In the dry, before the cyclone season, so heavy limbs are off before the wind arrives.
