Typical Price for Dropping Top Part of Snapped Tree?

[Paul Bunions]

I had a leaning oak in my driveway. It was located where it could not fall on anything expensive. It was probably 60 feet tall, and the trunk would have been maybe 20" at chest height.

It snapped about 25 feet up, and the top part fell so it lodged in another tree about 25 feet away from the first tree's base. The lodged part was horizontal.

The ground around the trees was clear. Plenty of access. No obstacles. The ground was flat. A bucket truck could approach either tree from any side.

I needed to have the tree dropped in my yard. No cleanup. No limbing. Just dropped. I needed to have the upright part of the trunk felled. I was going to take care of the rest. No permits needed. It was about a 20-minute job.

I wonder if any of the pros here would like to guess at a ballpark price for this kind of job. I mentioned another quote here, and someone said it sounded too high. I want to pay people fairly, but I don't want to be a sucker.

I was eager to pay a reasonable price, but I wasn't happy with the quotes I got, so I took a fishing pole and cast a line over the horizontal part of the tree. I used the line to put a strap on it, and I attached a chain to the strap. I pulled a couple of times with the tractor, and the tree came down. I cut the stump and put everything on the burn pile by myself. Very easy. Extremely safe.

Can't find any photos.

 

[Paul Bunions]

For what it's worth, I just agreed to shell out $7K for a day and a half with a big crew and some monstrous machines including a big wheel loader. Maybe a dozen big, nasty oaks will be put in three big burn piles. When everyone else in Florida is running to the john every 30 minutes and lying awake during hurricane season, I will be in the tub with the bubble jets running, drinking champagne.