Do you know what the number one question I get asked the most over the phone is?
Yep, you guessed it. “How much does it cost to cut down my tree”? Unfortunately that is not a question that can be answered over the phone, like ever. There are many factors contributing to the proposal making process.
In this article I will list the largest factors that have all the say in how much your tree will cost to remove. To accomplish that task we need to start by understanding what the professionals need answered while we are onsite making the assessment of the requested services.
Location of a Tree
- What’s around it?
- Is there anything that can be moved out of the way to avoid damages?
- Are the plants around the tree sentimental to you?
- Can I fell this tree?
- Does this tree need to be climbed or use a bucket lift?
- Will it need a specialty climb to rope (rig) down?
Type of Tree
- Is this a messy mulberry tree?
- Is this a painful locust tree with spikes?
- Is this a tree containing lots of sticky sap?
- Is there value in the wood?
- How dense is the tree?
Size of Tree
- Is it going to need a crane to remove?
- Does the trunk wood exceed 24’’ Diameters?
- Does the tree have one single trunk or multiple co-dominant stems (several trunks)?
Let’s first go over Location of Tree. What is around the tree? Is it a building that cannot be moved or is it utility lines that can be dropped when we come out to do the job? Maybe this tree is in the middle of your beautiful landscaping you spent so much time beautifying. Whatever the case may be if there are obstacles to work around while safely removing the tree we will need to be a lot more cautious in the way we go about that. Some options offered in such scenarios would be climbing, using a bucket, or possibly even the use of a crane. All three of these options have multiple different strategies needed to execute successfully on. We must decide with the clients’ help how to get the tree down. Are you ok if we drop the branches letting them free fall and impact your yard (in open spaces only) or would you rather opt for a low impact removal (rigging the tree down with rope in pieces). You are all smart and see where I’m going here. The more technical we need to be in the removal process will greatly impact the total on each unique proposal we send over.
Let’s say this tree you want professionally removed is easy to get on the ground, and all we need to do is pull it over. But, you have a fence and lots of other property we need to bob and weave through to get this dropped tree cleaned up. In the case similar to what’s mentioned above more time and technique is needed to get this tree cleaned up. Any time you choose to pick a contractor to make your life easier Time always = Money. So as you are able to see with just the location alone of the tree and how much technique is used to remove it will impact the proposals total. We have not even jumped into what type of tree it is.
In this section let’s clear the air about Type of Tree. Us over here at Buckley’s Best Tree Care would like to state that this section usually has the lowest impact on the proposals we send over. Although it is nice to know what type of tree you want removed or trimmed it is not necessary. The biggest factors in this category of knowing what tree we are working with is what is the Trees defensive system (spines, thorns, or prickles), how dense is the wood, and is there any value in the trunk wood. Those mentioned characteristics are all very helpful to know. Personally, I want to know what type of tree it is so I know how fibrous the tree is. If we are climbing the tree this is especially important to know as it better helps us understand how to make certain cuts while in the tree. As stated above this category does not impact the proposal as strongly as location or size of tree does.
Alright, last but not least Size of Tree. Does this tree reach over the house? Is the trunk wood over 24 inches in diameter 8ft, 16ft, 32ft from the ground? If the tree has several trunks like a Silver Maple (a very common tree in our area) or one single dominant trunk like a Pin Oak, that will have a large effect on the proposal when we have to climb -when the tree is in a location too tight to get a bucket truck back to-. If the tree has a single trunk then climbing is a bit more easy to set a pattern in and move according to the pattern. If the tree has a very large diameter, say 5 feet and larger then we will need to bring in specialty equipment. With this equipment the yard could get a bit damaged as well. So in a situation like this maybe it would be best to trim the tree rather than a full scale removal. It all depends on the condition of the trunk when making decisions like that though. Needless to say if you are unsure what to do with your tree give us a call and we will help you in the decision making process that best benefits your trees.
In conclusion, there are many factors at play when it comes to giving you the best, most accurate cost with tree removal and trimming. You guys have stuck with me all this way. I hope you are able to better understand how we are not able to come up with a total cost until we look at the requested work.
The objective of this article was to better help you know some of the most predominant factors that go into giving accurate costs for tree removal. If this article helped you share it with a friend or give us some feedback on what else you would like to know more about. We greatly look forward to hearing from you!