I am at my daughter's home in Utah at the moment. They have a huge Chinese Elm tree (we think) that has a big, wet area of 'included' bark at a narrow Y where the trunk divides. We noticed it because it is dripping brownish stuff onto the lawn that has killed a patch of grass at the tree's base.

The tree is about 60ft tall and one side leans toward the house. If it fell it would take out the deck and at least a corner of the roof depending on the wind direction.

Getting dark so will post a better pic in the morning. The Y you can see is about 15ft up. Any ideas?

Sorry, after further research the tree is maybe Siberian or Wych Elm.

It looks from what I can see and the description that it may be wetwood aka slime flux. On the first link Figure 4 shows grass killed at the base of the oozing tree:

http://www.ext.colostate.edu/p...

http://extension.psu.edu/pests...

Thanks Sue. That's what we think too.

Now the question is when to remove the tree and how to pay for it. Argh. Huge tree in the back yard with steep access to remove all the pieces.

Gonna be expensive, that's for sure. I've never had to deal with this but the articles suggest trees are only slightly weakened by it. Perhaps have an ISA arborist look at it and make a recommendation as to the level of threat, and whether anything can be done to make it safer? We're losing lots of big beautiful elms around here to Dutch Elm Disease

First estimate is $1800. Very professional guy with a big crane. Yup, its a huge job.

Keep getting estimates and make sure the person/company you select is insured. Safety of your family/house/property is first priority; price is secondary.

The most I ever paid to have a tree taken down was $900 back in 1996; that was a huge 200+ year old oak tree in Connecticut; there were 2 garages very close to the tree - actually under the drip line; it was a really big job. The bottom part of the trunk was at least 10-12 feet in diameter.

Good luck.

I was thinking maybe an arborist could tell whether it actually needed to come down, or maybe brace it in some way to make it safe. There was a situation recently around here where a tree succumbed to the emerald ash borer and they needed to bring in an extra large crane to get it out of the backyard avoiding utility lines. It cost $8,000 according to the CBC TV interview, but that was better than another estimate of $20,000!

Many years ago when I was young, thin and single...a young man that I dated for a while was able to take down a tree without using a crane or other heavy equipment. He would climb the tree and make very specific cuts and would drop the tree somewhat like a Jacob's Ladder toy with the bark and cadmium layers still connected. I don't know the correct terminology for this method of felling a tree.

Hope you appreciate this YouTube video which proves that it is not how professional a person may appear, but their ability that is important.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

Agreed, usually they climb the tree and systematically take off the branches then fell the tree (using more safety equipment than in the video ) The reason for the crane in the local case was because there was no access to the backyard so they had to lift the pieces of the big tree over the roof.

That is exactly our problem here too. That estimate is to use a 180 ton crane to lift the pieces over the house. Luckily the power lines are underground here.

We're convinced the tree needs to go. The rotted wet wood area is right below the Y and is already 3ft long and 18in wide. Sticks out 8in or so from the trunk line. Not worth taking the chance it will split and hit the house or even injure someone.