# Any help on what to expect for tree removal costs



## NJMedic (Jul 28, 2006)

Ok, so long and short loking at wildly various quotes for tree removal in northern nj. Tree is a biggie, a 100" circumfrence maple bout 20' behind home and a rough guess of 60-70' tall. Ive attached a few pics and would be gratefull if anyonce cna offer their 02c as to what I should fairly expect.

Behnid the home is an uphill slope but about 200' thats getting cleared so the tree could be dropped there.Thanks in advance,

--C

Also if any of yall, insured arborists, work around the clifton, nj are and are interested please let me know. (chrism @ ugo . com)


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## Stumper (Jul 29, 2006)

I suspect that most guys are hesitant to respond because A. we know how easy it is to miss things in pictures that we would see and allow for on a walk around inspections and B. prices are all over the place. Prices vary greatly depending onthe bidder in just about every locale and average prices vary enormously from region to region.

Throwing out a range for you...there are spots in the USA where that tree might cost $800 to remove others where $2000 would be a very reasonable bid. Hope that helps at least a little.


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## Fireaxman (Jul 31, 2006)

Amen to TreeCo. Looks like a really nice tree. Down here that tree would be highly valued for the shade it provides to the kennel and the house, keeping the air conditioning expense down, except for a few who would want to remove it for the hurricane damage threat. Those few have not seen this summer's electricity bill yet, and they still have to pay the 60% increase in Allstate inurance, regardless of the trees they remove. Then figure the annual Return On Investment of at least a couple thousand dollars at 5% minimum (1 year CD at Fidelity). Thats another $100. Thin it, keep it, and invest the savings.:biggrinbounce2:


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## rfwoodvt (Aug 2, 2006)

Hey there,

I guess the first question I would ask is what is you end goal, does that truly require having the tree removed or are there other options.

That said, if the goal does dictate removal then yes, you can expect a wide range of quotes.

Some of these variables have to do with differences in what the cutters propose. For example:

Flop and drop....Cutter A will put the tree on the ground, maybe cut it up (he really doesn't say) and walk away for $250. You'd have to clean up the mess

Flop, Drop and Block...Cutter B will do what A does but he specifies that he'll cut the wood to stove lenght. He wants $350

Takedown....Cutter C will take down the tree for $600. Maybe he specifies more cleanup, maybe he doesn't but you have no idea why he wants twice as much. 

Total removal Arborist D will remove the whole tree and leave the stump and bids $2500

So, right off you can see there would be differences just due to the amount of work each bidder sees as included in the job.

Differences could also be explained because one might see something that make the job look more difficult to him. 

Could be that he is booked solid, doesn't need the work right now or considers the job to have a high hassle factor. In such cases I have known many people, just about anyone who does contract work from trees to construction, to highball a bid rather than tell the customer they really don't want to bid on the job. In some ways this proves that everyone has thier price.

When the bids have essentially the same work specified, differences can be simply from estimating formulas or techniques.

And, lastly, it can simply mean that the higher bidder can actually command the higher price.

However, I have often found that those that can command a higher price are usually so busy that they A) don't have time to do quotes and B) thier customers hire them without getting a quote first.

I too, just from the pics, could guess that you could get that tree dropped (on the ground no other work) for as little as a couple hundred$$ and you could expect a full removal for as much as a couple to several thousand$$

I would expect the NJ market to run on the higher side than say East Overshoe Maine. Prices seem to be higher the closer to urban regions one gets.


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## beowulf343 (Aug 2, 2006)

rfwoodvt said:


> Total removal Arborist D will remove the whole tree and leave the stump and bids $2500


Whoa Whoa!! Watch how you use that "a" word. I am a takedown man but have no desire to be known as an arborist (personal reasons.) Besides, on this site the "arborists" will all tell someone to not take the tree down but just have it trimmed year after year, thus putting more money into an arborist's pocket over the long run. :biggrinbounce2: 

Besides, a total removal would include the stump grinding(at least it does at my company.)


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## clearance (Aug 2, 2006)

beowulf343 said:


> Whoa Whoa!! Watch how you use that "a" word. I am a takedown man but have no desire to be known as an arborist (personal reasons.) Besides, on this site the "arborists" will all tell someone to not take the tree down but just have it trimmed year after year, thus putting more money into an arborist's pocket over the long run. :biggrinbounce2:
> 
> Besides, a total removal would include the stump grinding(at least it does at my company.)


Ha, ha ,ha, the "a" word, don't call me that either. Hey Treeco and Fireaxe, the guy isn't asking if it should be cut down or not, he wants it gone. The land behind the tree is being cleared, pull it over into the clearing and clean up the branches and tops at the same time, save money and effort. Tie a bull rope to the machine thats landclearing and yard it over, on the ground, bucked into firewood, shouldn't take much more than an hour. Like RFWood says a few hundred bucks, do not pay more, if an arborist starts up with the "have you considered having your tree deadwooded and cleaned up to preserve its.....", set your dog on him.


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