We regularly have trees taken down - mostly large white oak trees. The cost is around $800 per tree if the area is easily accessible. We recently had several large trees removed between our house and our neighbors. It was impossible to get the truck back in there, so they used a crane. A guy climbed the tree and attached a rope at the top and attached a hook dangling from the crane overhead. The tree was cut ⅔ the way down and the crane lifted the cut tree way, way up and over the tops of the other trees. It was incredible to watch…that cost about $1200 per tree.
We are fortunate to know a father and son team who only charged us $600 to cut down and remove two 40-foot fir trees this summer. The father climbs right up to the top and goes by the name of “Monkeyman.”
You definitely should wait for a second and third estimate before deciding. We also had to have two main branches removed from a birch tree a year ago after a wind storm split them. One 60-foot branch was resting in a maple tree and overhanging our neighbor’s yard. I worried for days that it would fall on top of someone walking underneath it.
The first estimate was $600 from a tree service, and the Monkeyman did the same job for only $300.
I was recently quoted $2,100 to have 4 enormous live oaks trimmed. The company has great recommendations, insurance, bonds, the works . One of our small town’s claims to fame is our abundance of huge, gorgeous trees. We probably have more tree specialists than most areas so there is some competition.
Tree guy #3 came by today. His off the cuff estimate was $350 plus another $100 for stump grinding. He would forego the permit since they’re small trees and no one ever checks. (!) A very different experience and a bid difference of $1250!
I liked Tree guy #1 a bit better and learned a lot from him as we walked around the yard. But the two guys today were good too and the offer is far more reasonable.
Tree guy #2 comes by tomorrow morning and then we will see how these bids stack up.
The tree guy we use works solely by referrals. He is bonded and insured and understands how to trim and remove trees correctly. He is so busy he has no need to advertise. He is booked about a month to six weeks out. He is worth every cent. We have too many trees that are way too close to our house to take any chances on hiring the cheapest company.
Finally got the tree work done! It turned out that the last estimate I received was $2100. It might be bad, but I went with the cheapest offer. He was busy, I was busy, the holidays happened, but now it’s done.
It took less than 1 1/2 hours for them to do all the work so I think $450 was the appropriate price. Now, should I plant my new trees right away or wait to see what invasive weeds try to come back first?
Reviving this thread because I cant find the thread where I recently chatted with folks about this! The tree guys are here today, working away. Lots to do, and its great to see that we will have some light into our backyard!! There was, however, a hawk flying around who may be not so happy about this
Good luck. We did that a few years back. We now have a full yard of grass and gardens where once there was patchy weeds and hostas. You won’t regret it. It is crazy expensive though!
Thanks, @HRSMom ! I can’t believe how much lighter it is already, and they are halfway done. We may have to bring in a boatload of topsoil because there is a huge tree in our backyard (thats what started all this) and it has foots that stick up out of the soil and permeate much of the yard, which makes it hard to grow or mow grass. We’ve sodded several times in the past, We were better at growing moss.
We just paid to have three neighbor’s trees removed - two smallish Norway maples and a mulberry that was leaning way over and taking down a retaining wall (the wall also isn’t ours though it looks like it is because of where the neighbors have put their fence. It looks like it’s lighter than it was, but we the neighbor with the maples still has an enormous oak tree that will shade most of our yard when it leafs out. The tree guys assure me it’s healthy and will fall on them not us if it ever keels over. (I’m dubious, as I’m pretty sure some of the roof structure is under the garage, but what can you do?)
LOL I wish I could type. It has roots (not foots) that stick up. It looks a whole lot better now, though they forgot to trim some dead branches that I’ll probably just get our landscaper to do. Happy we did this-- long overdue!! Will address topsoil after we get the deckwork done.
Yes, getting rid of vegetation and branches that are ugly or hazardous or a health issue is VERY important! Glad folks are moving forward. H has been trimming neighbor’s tree that overhangs our yard because it’s a rubbish, ugly tree and he doesn’t want it to fall on the nice wooden fence he’s busy reconstructing and have it undo his hard work b
H has also been trimming my folks’ trees because they call him rather than use their yard man because he’s cheaper! They have 3 sons, a bunch of grandsons and other SILs! We are also the tech support.
We just paid $800 to have a huge Cypress tree taken down. I think it took them about 6 hours. Between disease and the drought the tree was dying. We got 2 bids. The other guy was less to remove the tree but he didn’t own a chipper and would have needed to take the tree waste to the dump which would have added up to the same price. I now have three huge piles of wood chips to use around my property. They had to climb the tree and take it down carefully limb by limb due to location. My H was concerned we would lose some privacy but we didn’t. We have other trees near and also a hedge nearby. I think it looks better. We don’t need to do anything where we took the tree out.
