reasonable hourly rate for extremely large black oak limb removal?

[zoomfactor]

Hello,

I have a Black Oak in my urban back yard with a circumference of 18', height 100'. For 15 years a reputable tree company (all certified arborists) have been maintaining and caring for this tree. It has two lightning rods and five cables to deal with a split in the crotch that occurred two years ago. I have spent thousands and thousands of dollars for their services.

Anyway, I am beginning to wonder if I am getting milked. Today they quoted $1200 to remove one limb (see picture). This limb is 20-30' long and 15-20' off the ground. Meanwhile, my brother in Boston recently had a tree removed and two other trees cabled for $1500 (I live in E. TN). My arborist said it would take six hours to do the job.

Does this seem excessive to other arborists who may be reading this?

I have more pictures if needed. Circled area contains a man climbing the tree, for an idea of scale.

Thanks.

 

[treeseer]

which limb, the lower right one?

i hope the black lines are not the cable locations--and what is the black arrow?

my rate is closer to half that, but my overhead is low, and so is my labor pool.

what is under the tree, a glass menagerie?

were they doing anything else on that proposed visit? were they splitting and leaving firewood, bundled with silver chain?

 

[zoomfactor]

The arrow points to the limb that is to be removed. And yes, those are the cable locations (roughly). I have attached another picture of the tree, taken from my deck. The limb comes toward the house and extends over the deck, but not the house itself. Typically when this company comes to remove limbs, they grind them up right there with their portable grinder. I should also add that this particular company has been very, very busy for the past two weeks due to two tremendous storms (70 mph gusts) that came through, knocking down trees right and left. Half the town (200,000 people) lost their power for 4+ days.

 

[D&B Mack]

I never really comment on companies prices. But i would say to always get at least a second opinion. If they are THAT busy to raise prices, then probably everyone else is as busy as well. They may be compensating for employees on overtime. If the work can wait, give it a little while until their other work dies down.

 

[fffrosty72]

Get more bids!!

6HOURS! shut up.

From curb to curb time on that should be around 2.5-3 hours

He may just not want to do the job and is over bidding for that reason, either he doesn't like the tree anymore or he don't like you anymore?

IMO

 

[zoomfactor]

I hear ya. I'm a consulting engineer, and I wouldn't dis another engineer on a public forum. And I understand the need to use a certified arborist; I am a member of my city's tree board and serve on the state tree council with many arborists whom I greatly respect. Maybe my concern is more about the amount of time they claim it is going to take, after observing the vastly superior productivity of the Boston arborist that worked on my brother's trees. And I have watched unskilled workers take down multiple, enormous trees in my neighborhood in one morning (much to my distress). I will even give them the benefit of the doubt for charging such a high hourly rate. But Would it really take six hours to remove this one limb?

Attached are three more photos. Arrows are pointing to the limb in two of the photos; one photo shows a closeup of the fungus.

 

[zoomfactor]

Fffrosty72, you may have a point! Maybe I am not as much of a pushover as their many wealthy customers (mostly because I am not wealthy!), and they get tired of me micromanaging them. But hell, I love that tree, and I will take a day off of work to make sure I agree with everything they are doing - they HATE that, I know. And of course, they've got work out the wazoo as a result of those storms. I will take that into consideration and get some more estimates... thanks!

 

[Toddppm]

That might be it. Idon't understand why they even gave an estiate of how long it takes? The price is the price whether it takes longer or shorter to get it done. Should be anyways.

 

[Bearcreek]

From what I can see in the pics it should not take anywhere near 6 hours. If climbing maybe 3 hrs, 1 hr with a bucket or lift. It looks like there's good access below the limb for a truck. Nobody would get 1200 for that job in my area but the market varies wildly depending where you are.

 

[indiansprings]

I'm not an arborist, but in my area you would be getting raped. I cannot see that job taking over 2.5 hours max. I've got two relatives in the tree trimming business and I can assure you they would be on and off
site in less than 3 hours including putting up their equipment and cleaning the mess up. Here that would be about a 300.00 to 500.00 job. Their base rate is 750.00 a day, includes them bringing a bucket truck and chipper to your location, if a tree has to be roped down in chunks it runs a little more, but that job is a simple limb drop.

 

[oscar4883]

500-600 in my area most likely. Half an hour away, in a more urban area, I know guys would get close to a grand for that. Prices vary widely. It sounds like you may be a PITA to work for and with the other storm related work going on it may not be worth your guys time. If he wasn't as busy as you say he is things may be different.

 

[treeseer]

thats a lot of wood hangin over a house and no good rigging points nearby for folks here to be going on about how fast they could do it. classic peefest--wait, i started it! :msp_mellow:

the question is, why remove it? the fungus looks like stereum--like eczema-- growing over an old seam, a crack that sealed. yes stress factors, yes needs assessing, no does not need removing, most likely. A cable would be a lot cheaper and conservative of natural resources, and reduction pruning may be all it needs. Have they assessed that area--rubber hammer? probes in that seam? drilling may even be justified to check the wood there, but the first two generally tell a lot.

if you are near knoxville pm me; i will be passin thru this month. meanwhile heres my review of a book your arbos should know for trees like this. the 2nd is on pruning. are your neighbors on your case because of storms?

 

[TreEmergencyB]

Looks like theres plenty of good rigging spots in that tree....you can set a block just about anywhere you can tie a knot or set a loopie. Even false crotch small pieces off its self. Dont look like 6 hours to me

 

[Bearcreek]

That's what I was thinking. Looks like a couple nice big branches above it. Pictures can be deceiving though. Always tough to say without seeing it for real.

 

[VL07]

I bid on a job that looks real close to this one. I bid $500.00. They had someone else to the job for $275.00...that company is no longer in business. Get at least 3 estimates, but don't go by price alone. Alot of bad things can happen doing tree work, make sure they have insurance. Remember, you are responsible for the safety of the workers on your property if they don't have WC.

 

[zoomfactor]

Thanks everyone for your helpful input!

 

[preventec47]

You never clearly stated whether the limb would hit the deck when it fell
if it were whacked off at the tree trunk. If it would not, then
this limb is childs play and we could hire an old lady from the retirement
home for 25 bucks. Aw seriously, though this is home owners DIY
easy and you could buy a new chainsaw and a ladder and get a guy
to go up and cut and you would still be money way ahead. Well
it might be good idea to call insurance agent and spend fifty dollars
to add couple million extra dollars liability onto policy. Still real cheap.

OR round trip bus ticket from Atlanta $100, 5 meals at McDonalds $25
ladder rental at Home Depot $50 estimated ten hours labor at
$50 per hour to chop it all up into rounds and roll em where you want
em and $725 is still a lot less. Or for gas money instead of bus ticket,
I could haul my log splitter up there and knock it out and leave you with
the firewood.that I could not pack onto my truck.
Scott in Atlanta

 

[treeseer]

zoom let us know how that risk assessment by those certified arborists goes, okay? attached is a training article on that; your guys probably know it.


Picture clearly showed limb over house. this does not help the homeowner much:

"buy a new chainsaw and a ladder and get a guy
to go up and cut and you would still be money way ahead. Well
it might be good idea to call insurance agent and spend fifty dollars
to add couple million extra dollars liability onto policy. Still real cheap."

AS all the way. uttahere2:

 

[zoomfactor]

zoom let us know how that risk assessment by those certified arborists goes, okay? attached is a training article on that; your guys probably know it.

Picture clearly showed limb over house.

I'll check back. Thanks for the article - very informative. And yes, the limb is over the deck, but not the house.

 

[ATX]

I wouldn't try to make any sort of assessment of the work involved in a job from a few pictures. Things can be deceiving even in real life from the ground in some situations.
I will say that in Austin Texas the standard rate is $50 per man-hour. A crew should have a minimum of two men so you're looking at a $100 per hour minimum.

But how long it will take versus the price is not something that you as the Home Owner should really be concerned about. You want someone who is not gonna' drop that sucker on your deck or worse, hinge it right through your roof due to haste or inexperience. If they charge a hefty sum and there is no damage/injuries/fatalities (because that can happen when you're dealing with hundreds of pounds of wood) they deserve the pay whether it took them a much shorter time than expected or much longer time than expected. Sometimes you're not just simply paying to have a piece of wood removed, you're paying for years of experience, extreme care, and sound judgement. Get the multiple estimates as suggested earlier and ask insightful questions. You will not only learn a lot and flatter your potential new arborist with your interest in his/her work, but you will be able to get a better understanding of who you are trusting with your beautiful Oak, deck, house, and family. :msp_thumbup:

-Austin