cost to cut down trees

[xli1]

I have to cut down about 10 trees around my house that cause problems to the roof. I have no idea what would be the reasonable cost to do that. Most of the trees are around 16" in diameter, I don't know how tall. I am going to call several local companies to give me an estimate, but I would like to know the ballpark cost before I could bargain with them. Any one out there has some idea about this, please give me a hint. Thanks a lot! BTW, I am living in big boston area, that could cost a little higher.

[jhart]

Two years ago, we had to cut down a large Elm, 36" and about 70-80' tall. Had bids from $2800 - 3500. Did a lot of haggling with one of them who had done some work for me previously and got it done for $2200, plus $200 for stump removal which had not been part of the first quotes.

[Hellrazor]

Depending on how close they are to the house, how tall they are, if they hang towards or away from the house, is there room to out right drop them or must they take them down in sections.... figure about $800-1000/day. Are you sure you need to take down all of the trees. The ideal situation is to take any trees down that impact the sun light from hitting the roof, namely the southern exposure. Then trim up any of the other trees to improve air flow. You shouldn't have any branches lower then 5' above the peak of the roof.

On edit.. what kind of trees are they?

[xli1]

Depending on how close they are to the house, how tall they are, if they hang towards or away from the house, is there room to out right drop them or must they take them down in sections.... figure about $800-1000/day. Are you sure you need to take down all of the trees. The ideal situation is to take any trees down that impact the sun light from hitting the roof, namely the southern exposure. Then trim up any of the other trees to improve air flow. You shouldn't have any branches lower then 5' above the peak of the roof.

On edit.. what kind of trees are they?

We have a lot of trees here, the trees I would like to remove is just a fractioin of them. It is not only causing problems with the roof, but also block the sun light. I can probably reduce one or two if the cost is too high, but still have at least 6-7 need to remove. BTW, these trees are either oak or pine.

[messmaker]

I just contracted to get some work done and it was about $800 per tree and stump. I said I was willing to clean up the small stuff and was OK with the stump cut at ground level. He was more than willing to cut the price to $400. He said he could do it in 1/4 the time and end up making more money.

[mschrank]

I recently got a quote for some tree removal. He initially quoted about $1200 for two trees, but explained that he charges hourly rather than by the tree. I ended up settling on $1500 for the whole day so he could take out another small one and do some limbing of dead bottom branches. This includes stacking firewood size rounds and chipping/removal of debris.

[xli1]

I had a quote from one local tree man, he said my trees are around 12" (I thought was 16" before), and 9 trees for $2,000 without stump removal. He would also cut the trunk into 12' long log for me, and remove rest of them. Sonds reasonable?

[Hellrazor]

We have a lot of trees here, the trees I would like to remove is just a fractioin of them. It is not only causing problems with the roof, but also block the sun light. I can probably reduce one or two if the cost is too high, but still have at least 6-7 need to remove. BTW, these trees are either oak or pine.

I would get rid of the pines first. Pine needles will not blow off a roof, leaves will to a degree. Concentrate on the southern side first and see how much it improves things.

[Hellrazor]

I had a quote from one local tree man, he said my trees are around 12" (I thought was 16" before), and 9 trees for $2,000 without stump removal. He would also cut the trunk into 12' long log for me, and remove rest of them. Sonds reasonable?

That is a decent price. Make sure he has insurance...

[docrowan]

That is a decent price. Make sure he has insurance...

Amen to the insurance. Unless you have very good references from someone you personally know, I would ask to have a copy of his insurance and bonding information. We had an elderly neighbor who contracted with someone to take down a line of about 12 pines that were right on our property line. He offered $100.00 a tree if he could sell the logs to help offset his costs. The neighbor asked if he could fell some of them into our yard so he wouldn't have to take all of them down in pieces, which we agreed to. I asked the neighbor if the contractor had insurance and she said he said he did.

Long story short, he felled the "easy" logs, hauled and sold them, and left the three trees that were close to both houses that had to be taken down in pieces. He also never returned to fix the hurricane fence that he dropped or the limbs that he left in the other neighbors yard. Now she's left with three trees that have to be taken down in pieces, with no "easy" logs for the contractor to sell and offset the cost. The whole reason she wanted to do this to start with is she was worried about the trees falling on either our house or her house during a windstorm, so she still has these worries. All in all, I guess I'm fortunate in that he didn't try to take down the trees that might have landed on our house.

Based on this experience, I'd also suggest calling your city hall or permit office to see if they've heard of the contractor and if there have been any problems with him.

[xli1]

Thanks for the suggestion. I will ask for a copy of insurance, and make sure they finish the work before I pay in full.

[dlminehart]

We had a couple 30' trees taken down about 10 years ago. One was a big monterey pine that was partially overhanging our house and a shed beside it. This took about 1-1/2 days to remove, as the branches had to be let down via ropes and pulleys so they didn't smash into our house or the neighbors about 10 feet away. Watching the guy working up there with a chain saw, no way I would have done it myself! Cost about $1700, plus another $300 for the stump grinding down about 3 feet so we could replant in the area. Also removed a similar pine out by our driveway. No problem with overhanging anything, only took about 4 hours, cost about $750 with the stump grinding. Stump grinding was by a different contractor who specializes in that, and charges about $250/stump for 18" sized stumps.

[JSCOOK]

Our family runs one of the oldest Tree Services in our area.

Some points worth taking note of:

- Make sure the company and operator is FULLY insured

- Check how long the company has been in business, not years of experience.

- Don't go with the lowest bid (get 3+ bids) as the lowest usually never works out to the owners satisfaction ... they'll take short cuts.

-Type of tree, size of tree, height of tree, obstacles, homes, pools, fences, access to the tree(s), hydro lines, workable ground area will definitely impact the price of the trees to be removed.

- Prices differ from city to city, region to region ...

- Dead and dried trees are the most expensive by size and the most dangerous (dealy) to remove ... very brittle and can break or shatter unexpectedly.

- Find out "HOW" he plans to cut down the trees and using what equipment. If accessable, most reputable cutters will use an aerial bucket truck or high ranger (similar to what hydro use to service lines) if the tree can't be felled from the ground ... greatly reduces time and risk of injury.

- What is all included with the price, some options are: just downed and left, downed and bush removed leaving logs, completely cleaned up & logs cut to fireplace lengths, everything removed.

- Ensure that complete clean up includes a through raking of the lawn to pick up sawdust & chips, and neighbours driveways blown clean ...

- Stumps are usually priced as an extra or seperately ... most often will be down at another time as different equipment will be brought in.

- If the stumps are to be removed, is he digging them out (backhoe) or being grind/chipped down?

- If grinded down (chipped) how far below the surface will he do it to? ... most will eliminate the stump and large roots ...but ideal is down as far as possible, minimum of 6-8"

- If dug out you may be responsible (pending area) to have the line locations down prior to having in done.

- Strongly reccommend grinding as it makes the least mess and minimal damage to the lawn and yard.

- Winter is the best time to have any trees removed as if in northern climates the ground is frozen and covered in snow and results in the minimal amount of damage to the lawn and gardens ... fewer pot holes from pieces being dropped or lowered to the ground.

- What is the companies policy as far as lawn repair from damage or fences taken down or broken (some have exculsion policies which your on the hook for fixing or putting back up as with a fence).

-As for references of recent jobs completed by the company ... reputable companies won't hesitate to show off their workmanship ...

I've been around tree removal for about 30 yrs now, I hope this helps ...

[Lee4847]

I just had two huge pine trees taken out this fall. He quoted me $300 each plus $100 each for the stumps. When we asked about a smaller tree the said it would take about an hour so it would be an additional $100. He said he charges $100 per hour but he doesn't tell people that or they freek out! It sounds better when he knows it will take 3 hours and just quotes $300.

[xli1]

Thanks guys for all the informations and tips. I will pay attention to that.