Crane tree removal in Kingsbury, NV

Almost nothing in Kingsbury is flat, and almost nothing is new. The Census Bureau estimates about 68% of homes were built before 1980 and only about 2.5% since 2000. The trees between them are full size.

At a glance

• Highest community we serve, about 7,126 feet
• About 68% of homes built before 1980
• Daggett Pass station: about 21.8 inches of precipitation a year
• About 48 minutes from our Carson City yard without traffic

How do you level a crane on a slope?

With outriggers and a carefully chosen spot. A crane's lifting capacity assumes the machine is level, so on a grade the outriggers are extended and blocked until it is. That takes a patch of ground wide enough for the outriggers and firm enough to carry them. In Kingsbury the candidates are usually a driveway apron, a parking pad or the road edge.

Our team settles this before anything else. Elevation, overhead obstacles and how close the structures are all go into the choice. If the only possible spot is too far from the tree for a safe lift, we say so and plan the removal with a climber.

Uphill tree or downhill tree?

It makes a difference. A tree below the road can often be lifted up to the crane. A tree above the house has gravity pointing at the roof, and that is where holding each section before the cut matters most. On a hillside, a piece that gets away does not stop where it lands. With the crane's line attached first, nothing is in free fall at any point.

Houses, condos and shared slopes

Only about 49% of Kingsbury's roughly 2,000 housing units are detached houses. Most of the rest are attached and multi-unit buildings. Where trees stand on common ground between buildings, they belong to the association, and the board or manager is the one to approve removal and apply for permits. One crane visit can deal with several trees along a shared slope if they are planned together.

What does TRPA require here?

A permit for any live tree over 14 inches in diameter at breast height, measured 4.5 feet up the trunk. A dead tree that could fall on a house needs no TRPA permit. The Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District evaluates properties and issues defensible space tree permits. The USDA Forest Service puts about 53% of Kingsbury's buildings in the direct wildfire exposure class, so a fire district evaluation is a sensible first step. The agency decides what comes out.

When is the window for crane work?

The Daggett Pass weather station, less than a mile from our Kingsbury reference point, averages about 21.8 inches of precipitation a year and a mean temperature of about 43 degrees. At this height winter brings snow and ice, and a steep driveway with ice on it is no place to stand a crane. Plan non-urgent removals for the bare-ground months and get the permit question answered ahead of time. Our tree removal in Kingsbury page covers removals that do not need a crane.