R2's tracked spider lift beside a cabin in Calistoga while a telehandler lowers a section of a big fir

Case Study: Four Big Trees Beside a Cabin in Calistoga

Two trees close to the house and one growing up through the deck. R2 took all four down in pieces from the spider lift, with no damage to the home or the deck.

Call or text, any hour(707) 928-8082 5.0 out of 5 stars,44 Google reviews

Where: Calistoga, Napa County, about 40 minutes from Cobb
The job: Four very old, large trees on one property
The hard part: Two close to the house, one coming up through the deck
Equipment: Tracked spider lift and a telehandler
Result: No damage to the home or deck, and a five-star review

The Problem

The owners had four very old, large trees on their Calistoga property. Two stood close to the house, and one was growing right up through the deck. A tall fir stood against the cabin itself. None of them could be dropped whole: there was nowhere for them to land.

A limbed fir trunk standing right against a cabin deck, with a crew member at the base

Tall firs and redwoods against a blue sky

R2's tracked spider lift and a telehandler working on a tall fir beside a cabin in Calistoga

The Plan

Instead of felling, the crew took each tree down from the top. The tracked spider lift walked in on its own tracks and set up beside the cabin. The crew limbed the fir first, then cut the trunk in sections from the lift basket, while a telehandler held each heavy piece and set it down clear of the roof.

Two R2 crew in the lift basket cutting the top of a fir trunk, with the valley behind

Watch the Job

Robert’s own videos from the Calistoga job: the spider lift up in the redwoods and firs beside the cabin, a section coming down on a rope, the deck covered before the work started, and the telehandler setting a big piece of trunk down next to the cut rounds. More on how we take trees down.

What the Cut Showed

When the trunk came down, the cross section showed a crack running through the inside of the tree that could not be seen from the outside. Robert’s own label on the photo: “Wind check crack confirmed, assessment correct.”

Cross-section of the cut fir showing the internal crack found in the assessment

The Result

The house and the deck came through without a mark. The deck is still there, with a round opening where the fir used to stand, and the yard was cleaned up before the crew left.

The deck after the fir came out: table and benches around the round opening where the tree stood

What the Owner Said

“Robert and the entire R2 team did an amazing job removing 4 very old and large trees from our property in Calistoga. Two were located very close to the house and one was coming through a deck. His team painstakingly removed the tree with no damage to our home or deck. It was amazing. They left the property as they found it, clean and perfect. We could not be happier!”

Monika K., Calistoga, October 2026, on Google

Have a Big Tree Close to the House?

Call or text (707) 928-8082 with a photo. Robert will look at it with you and give you a price before any work starts. See tree removal and tree service in Calistoga.