85-Foot Dead Cottonwood Removed at Little Crow Golf Course

An 85-foot dead cottonwood is not your average removal. Trees like this demand the right equipment, a solid plan, and a crew that's done it before - because there's no room for error at that scale, especially on a golf course property where the surrounding landscape has to stay intact.

We brought in our 72HD spider lift for this one. If you haven't seen one of these machines work, it's worth knowing why it matters. The tracked lift can access tight or delicate ground without tearing things up, and it puts the operator right where they need to be on a massive tree - safely and with full control. That's what made clean, section-by-section removal possible here instead of a risky free-fall situation.

Once the tree was down, the work didn't stop. Our grapple truck handled debris loading while the Carlton stump grinder got to work on the root system below grade. What you end up with is a completely cleared site - no jagged stump left behind, no mess left for someone else to deal with.

Dead trees this size don't get safer with time. They dry out, become brittle, and turn into a serious liability - especially in high-traffic areas. Getting ahead of it before it becomes an emergency is always the smarter call.

Big removals done right aren't about brute force. They're about using the right tools, working methodically, and cleaning up completely when it's done. That's the standard we hold ourselves to on every job, whether it's a backyard removal or a large-scale commercial site like this one.