House Maintenance

How much it Costs to Remove a Tree

What is the Cost to Remove a Tree?

There can be many reasons in which a land and/or homeowner might wish to remove a tree from their property. The tree could be blocking sunlight or producing excessive leaves or pine needles that require consistent maintenance. The tree may have become unsightly as a result of it being struck by lightning in a storm, being overrun by insects such as hornets, bees or wasp or has long since died and begun to deteriorate and become unsafe due to falling limbs. The homeowner may worry the tree itself might fall on its own and damage automobiles, the home or even worse, injure someone.

Regardless of the reason, there are several things you should be aware of when determining how much it costs to remove a tree. One of the most important of these is no matter how much you hope to save by attempting to remove the tree yourself, unless you are extremely experienced and equipped with the proper tools and machinery. You could be held liable for property damage, injuries or even death if you were to make the slightest error or mistake. It is strongly advised you leave the tree removal to experienced and qualified professionals.

Determining How Much it Costs to Remove a Tree

The first thing you should do is carefully investigate the exact location of the tree. You need to be absolutely positive the tree is on your property only and not a neighbor or adjoining landowner. If the tree is near a sidewalk, city-street or utility services, you should call and ensure the tree isn’t “protected” in anyway, as well as the possibility it might be their responsibility to have it safely removed and not yours.

If the tree is on your property and is indeed, your responsibility, then you should call several different tree removal services and allow them to come look at it and give you a fair estimate. After speaking with a few separate services, you should have an idea of which company is offering you the fairest price.

Most tree removal companies group trees into three separate categories:

Small:

• 25ft tall or less
• 3  inches – 1ft thick
• $8.00 – $10.00 per foot

 Medium:

• 25ft – 50ft tall
• 1ft – 2ft thick
• $9.00 – $11.00 per foot

 Large:

• 50ft – 90ft tall
• 2ft – 4ft thick
• $10.00 – $15.00 per foot

Additional Fees

Although these numbers reflect an average cost of removing a tree by most companies, it is important to understand that there are still other factors involved that may impact tree removal fees. For instance, if the tree is more than 90ft tall and extremely thick, you could easily pay anywhere between $1,300 and $1,600 to have it removed.

You can also expect to pay additional fees if the tree is in a difficult location to get to, if the tree is near other homes, buildings or utility lines and additional services that may or may not be included in the company’s initial price. If the price given by the tree service does not include “complete removal” of tree, trunk, limbs and stump, you could have to pay additional fees for these services:

Tree Stump

Because special equipment, such as grinding machines that grind stumps into wood dust, the fees for complete removal of tree stumps are typically left up to the land or homeowner. If you want the stump completely removed and the removal service doesn’t include this, you could pay;

• Small: $70 – $80
• Med: $140 – $160
• Large: $275 – $325

Chipping Services (to chip limbs/braches)

• $65 – $150 per hour

Tree removal services might also charge you more if the tree is dead, insect infested or requires special equipment or skills due to it being overrun by hornets or bees.

Other Things to be Aware of

When finding out costs of removing a tree and interviewing potential tree removal services, always ensure to ask if the company has an up to date license and is adequately insured. If not, you could be liable for any damage or injuries that occur as a result of their error or an employee getting hurt. If the tree removal company offers you a rate which is considerably lower than the other companies, this is likely the reason.