I have a very tall , very dead , double trunk Poplar tree in my back yard . It's been shedding limbs and I was worried that one of these Hurricane's was going to hit us and cause some serious issues . We lucked out in that respect . Anyway , I had a guy that was recommended by someone and he came out and said $3000 . Wow . Ok , next . Another guy came , never got back to me . Today , I had a guy from a well respected tree service looked at it and said " No problem . A couple of thousand dollars ." Oh HELL yes . He's a pretty big outfit with a lot of really awesome equipment . I was expecting big numbers . I'll sleep better with that tree down .

Like many things, they charge what people will pay.

I would laugh out loud at someone who quoted me $3000 to drop a tree, but that's just me...with a chainsaw and some experience at dropping trees.

I have 6 trees within 5 ft of my house and 3 other trees in the yard that all MUST come down.
I have already taken 3 out myself and had 2 that were too much for me taken out. The estimates are all over the place depending on demand. I’m finally in a position to have them all taken out but I’m going to wait until early next year because the prices will be better.

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:
Like many things, they charge what people will pay.

I would laugh out loud at someone who quoted me $3000 to drop a tree, but that's just me...with a chainsaw and some experience at dropping trees.

It's going to have to be taken down in pieces . No room to just drop it . Double trunk . 80 feet tall or so . Then hauled off . His quote of 2 thousand is a bargain .

quote:

Originally posted by selogic:
His quote of 2 thousand is a bargain .

I'd have to see its location to be sure, but my gut tells me no...it's not a bargain. I'd happily pay someone (who knows what they're doing) a couple hundred to do that job, but $2000? Nope.

When I bought my house, I had four 100'+ Ponderosa pines within 15' of the house in the yard. Job #1 was getting rid of them. I had a local fella come out with a few helpers and they brought them all down, limbed them, and stacked the logs for me for $500 and lunch...and a few beers. $2-$3000 for one tree? Nope...unless that's your only option. It's robbery IMO.

I think some starts with where the trees are & the hazards nearby when bringing it down. If there are buildings, wires & such near, it’s much more troublesome, and expensive.

Up here, a few advertise taking the trees down, then leave them for homeowner cleanup. If that’s an option, a little cheaper.

I will add, get someone who is bonded/insured and make sure your homeowner's insurance is paid up. Just to be on the safe side.

I asked a local if he cold calls people with offers to remove trees.

He said he makes too much money letting them wait and wait and wait to get it done.

He was charging $900.00 to remove $2,500.00 "today" trees.


It's pretty ludicrous how meticulous people are with their lawns,
But refuse to care for their trees.

Just to safely drop that is way to much if is a do today job..... still possibly to much if to haul away and cleanup depending on size and difficulty in removal........ But also if they are removing the dropped tree what are they going to do with wood?? RE-selling the wood for firewood.... Talk about double dipping. .................................. drill sgt.

I was recently quoted $1,300 just to TRIM a tree

These tree companies are crazy but they have the expertise and the equipment to do it.

I've had 7 large mature oak trees taken down. Don't think I've got over $2000 for all 7 total. Can't sell trees to the mills from homeowners property because they worry about nails, etc. in the wood. However, some local guys will haul and cut for firewood. What they do with it after it's off my property, I don't care.

I paid $5,000 to have a live oak removed, back in 2018 or so. Now, it sat 24" off the back corner of my house. It was massive, very tall, with a truck 5ish feet in diameter and a massive canopy. It was a beautiful tree and I hated to see it go, but it had dropped limbs on my roof so it became a safety issue. The company had to bring in a crane to raise the limbs and trunk over the house for disposal.

As I said , this tree cannot just be dropped . No room for that . It cannot be climbed safely . It will take a crane truck and some careful work . It will have to be hauled away after and it's too rotten to be sold as firewood . I wish it was as easy as ya'll think it is but that's not the case .

It's one of those things you really need to stay ahead of and shop around.

I had a dead ash (ash borers) and a 3 trunk cherry tree that was rotting at the crotch. Due to extreme lean and proximity to things I didn't want destroyed, I hired it out. The first quote was $6k, the second guy came highly recommended but I could never get him to call me back, and the third guy was $1,800. The third guy got the job, and he did a great job.

My neighbor had a giant pine about 80 feet tall right on the property line. It overhung my house, her fence, and her shed. It held all kinds of moisture back there, and carpeted the ground, my roof, and my gutters with needles. I had to get up on the roof 4-5 times a year and rake them off, but eventually it rotted anyway and I had to replace it. Then the damn thing started dropping limbs.

I approached the neighbor and she agreed to go half and half to have it removed. We got a local crew with a good reputation (and insurance) to do it. Cost $2000, with each of us paying $1000. It took a crew of four guys 2 days to get rid of it...they were up there all day with ropes and saws cutting and lowering limbs. They got it done without dropping a single piece on any of our structures.

IMO it was the best $1000 I've ever spent. That area is much healthier now. No more pine needles, the grass has grown back, my new roof is safe from limbs and rot, and the tree went away safely with no drama. There's absolutely zero chance me or my buddies could have done what they did without smashing something or killing ourselves. Sometimes you've gotta pay to get it done right.

I just had a father and son come out and give me a quote. I've worked with them before. They are going to take down a tall locust tree and cherry for me so they won't land on my LP tank. They will shred all the limbs and leave the trunks for me. Then they are going to take down a tall poplar so it won't hit the house. Then shred the limbs and leave the trunk for me. And lastly cut a cherry trunk at ground level since my saw is too short and grind up the remainder. All in at $1750.00

quote:

Originally posted by selogic:
As I said , this tree cannot just be dropped . No room for that . It cannot be climbed safely . It will take a crane truck and some careful work . It will have to be hauled away after and it's too rotten to be sold as firewood . I wish it was as easy as ya'll think it is but that's not the case .

Do YOU know it can't be dropped, has to have a crane, too dangerous to climb, or did the guy asking 2K tell you those things?

Sometimes they work with you, sometimes they don't.

5 years ago, had a 50-60' ash tree with the top of it 20% dead, on a property line (my side), between houses.

knew which of the local operations was best bang for the buck, (had used them before) had him come by to quote. Just lay it down and cut it up, I'll deal with it, whats your best price. if I could wait a couple weeks,I'll have a crane in the area...$900. in & out, 5 guys in about 4 hours, and I spent the next week cleaning it up.

I rented a lift from Sunbelt and took down a couple trees in my yard and saved a couple grand but its a lot of work and after taking the tree down you have to cut it and get rid of the debris also a lot of work but you can save a lot of money so an option if you have time.

10 years ago we had a LARGE silver maple removed (the truck was over 8' in diameter) - 8 main trunks started about 15' up. 20' from our house, 15' from the power lines 30' from the neighbors house. There was no way to drop even one of the main trunks much less the whole tree.

We got 3 quotes (basically all of the tree companies in town). $11k, $8k and $7600. They had to rent an 80 ton crane and pick each piece over the power lines. If they need to pick it then I'd say that price isn't too bad.

They kept the bottom 15' of the trunk as one large piece for some chainsaw carving guy. The choker slipped when it was about 10' off the ground and destroyed the blacktop road when it hit. It then rolled into the flatbed they had to put it on and pushed it about 10' before it came to a stop.