Removing Maple Trees

March 27, 2026

Protecting one's property and maintaining a landscape sometimes means cutting down trees.

Trees are important to our environment - they are the world’s single largest source of breathable oxygen. Trees absorb carbon dioxide and potentially harmful gasses, and they create an ecosystem to provide needed habitat and food for birds and other animals. However, occasionally trees need to be removed. Trees that are dead, diseased, or growing improperly can fall and cause injury and damage. Yesterday, a team from Bizee Bee Tree Service came to take several trees down from an area near my hoop houses.

Here are some photos.

: Do you know what this is? It’s a grapple system attached to a knuckle boom crane truck. It is controlled by computer and an operator on the ground.

: This attachment is crucial for tree care and can save lots of time when removing large trees.

: This is co-owner and operator, Massimo, from Bizee Bee Tree Service in Mahopac, New York. He is holding the computer that controls the knuckle boom and grapple.

: Here is the grapple open and ready to go to work.

: Massimo remains on the ground at all times with his eyes on the grapple and his hands on the portable computer controls.

: The crane truck is equipped with hydraulic stabilizers to keep it secure during use.

: All the trees being cut down are large, dying, and pose a risk of falling. Massimo directs the grapple up to the top of the tree getting cut down.

: The grapple is positioned tightly around the limb as an arborist in the bucket cuts from below using a chainsaw. Every precaution is taken to do this safely and efficiently.

: Once a limb is cut, the grapple carefully lowers the limb to the ground.

: The grapple is able to safely maneuver in tight spaces and carry very heavy loads.

: As branches and limbs are brought down, they are put straight into a chipper, which is a machine used for reducing wood into smaller, more manageable wood chips. The machine consists of a hopper, a collar, and internal blades or cutting teeth.

: Occasionally, long limbs are cut into sections on the ground, so they’re lighter and easier to feed into the chipper.

: This team uses STIHL chainsaws. STIHL offers both gas-powered as well as battery-powered chainsaws. I’ve been using STIHL equipment for many years – they’re dependable and efficient.

: As larger logs are cut, they are gathered in a separate area. Straight logs will be saved for milling at a later time.

: Ronny is an experienced arborist. He works his way down the tree carefully, cutting one section at a time.

: It doesn’t take long before most of the tree is cut down. Massimo controls the grapple very carefully, but also watches that his crew is safe at all times.

: Here is Massimo inspecting the grapple before it goes back to work.

: Here’s the last cut to this maple tree.

: The base is brought to the pile.

: All that’s left is the stump. It is still wet from the recent rains.

: Some of these logs will be great for other projects.

: Bizee Bee uses another grapple attached to a giant dump truck to cart away more than 20 logs to another part of the farm.

: Meanwhile, the grapple system is brought back down for the last time – it has done its job. This piece of equipment is folded safely and returned to the knuckle boom truck and locked into place. It was a good day’s work. Thanks Bizee Bee.