Cost for tree removal?

[turkletsmom]

I know pricing is regional and depends on the tree type, but we have a tall (maybe 35ft?) tree that is leaning towards our house.  I'm worried that with hurricane season approaching, it could come crashing down on our roof.
I know zero about tree types but it's tall and skinny like a pine tree (but not a pine.  I don't know what it is because there aren't really any branches on it but probably 30" around near the base).

Do you think $1500 is a safe estimate?  Do you think I could also get the stump grinded for that?I'm going to have companies come out, but I'm trying to avoid massive sticker shock.  We have a big yard and no fence or close neighbors, so it won't be a problem to get equipment, etc back there.

Anyone remove a tree recently?

Thanks!

[Susie]

We had a couple removed in April 2012.

When we bought the house the back corner of the yard looked like this:


All the little stuff that could come out with a hand saw, we did ourselves.  That got us this far:





We had an insured professional come in to take down the poplar (right most & leaning in above pic) and a maple (leftmost near fence).

After tree removal, plus some DIY leveling & mulching:

(The bare spots are grass now.)

The tree removal ran us $1,242.  We did not get any of the stumps ground out, just cut off close to the ground.

[nessness]

We recently got two pine trees and a fruit tree cut down for $500, including grinding down the stumps. It was much cheaper than I expected. The pine trees were about the height you describe but not nearly that wide. The width of the trunk seems to be the biggest factor in the price, so I would expect yours to be significantly higher, but it should be much less than $1500.

Get a few quotes, we got three and they varied pretty widely.

[adhdfashion]

This is definitely a regional thing. Here is Washington it cost me $125 to fall a tree in my yard. It was a hard one to because of my shed and garden boxes. Old logger dude dropped that beast exactly where it need to go. I wouldn't have the stump ground down. Just have them cut it down to ground level. Throw some beauty bark over it.

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[turkletsmom]

Thanks! This makes me feel better. I was just hoping it wouldn't be $3k or something for one tree. We're in the South in a L/MCOL. If it's a huge difference for the stump removal I have no problem skipping that. There aren't really any big roots above ground. Our yard is big enough that the stump won't be in the way of anything.

[treedimensional]

Call around and get a few quotes. ALWAYS hire someone who is insured, and tell them to bring proof of insurance when they come to do the estimate.
It might be $1500 but it could be less. It depends a lot on how hard it will be to access the tree and degree of danger (if they can reach it with a bucket, how close it is to the house, etc.). 

[Dumbledork]

I'm getting quotes right now in NC. I have 4 large stumps, 4 small stumps, 2 large tall skinny trees taken down and some extra debris and logs from a tree we fell ourselves all taken away. We've been quoted $2,100 (or 900 by the same company to just limb one of the trees up instead of cutting it down) and $1,600 by another company. The second company actually cut down a few very large, difficult trees for us a few years ago too. One was sandwiched between the house and the fence line and getting dangerously close to power lines. I don't think he quoted us more than $2,500 but I remember the quotes we got then were pretty varied as well.

[nomad100]

In the last year, we have had to have 6 trees taken down and it averaged about $500-600 a tree to have them taken down, including stump grinding. We kept some of the wood and they took some of the wood.

We are in a M/LCOL area.

This is a company that my family has used for years so not sure if that is reflected in the price.

[Deleted]

Sounds like plenty to me. We paid $850 for a big tree, no stump grinding.

[hbomdiggity]

We are paying $300 to have a ginormous bird of paradise removed. There isn't really a stomp but the will make sure the entire bulb is removed.

[Blueper]

I was quoted $1500 by one company to take down a dangerously hollow poplar last summer, I ended up paying $250 to just have it felled by a different company (with insurance) and I hauled it away myself which saved me $200. You can also save money by having the tree wood chipped and left on your yard- free mulch!

[TBM]

We got a quote last night for some tree work, including removal of one tree. The removal was $1500 with a huge upcharge for stump removal, but the high cost for that one is due to the inaccessibility of that part of the yard. Same for two of the trees being trimmed....same work or less than one in the front yard, but because of the difficulty in getting equipment to them, the cost is double.

[lb2006]

we had a large, kudzu-claimed tree taken down right beside our house (we live in NC) - they did not grind the stump (we did), but took the tree out for $500. Money WELL spent. I think your estimate is pretty fair