I recently dropped this tree. It is a white ash with a 4 foot diameter base. My wife asked me what it would have cost to have someone come in to drop and remove it. I figure the best way to find that out is to ask the pro's. The tree stands 20 feet in front of the house. There are overhead power lines in front of the house where I took this picture from. The tree needed to be limbed and dropped in sections. I'm looking at maybe doing some more jobs like this in the future and could use some price advice. TIA JimR.
What would you charge to drop this tree?
- Thread starter JimR
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Lumberjack
Banned
Too many variables, need more pics.
Old Monkey
Addicted to ArboristSite
Pricing is area by area, state by state... In California I'd have charged between $1,800 and $2,000. In Idaho maybe half that amount.
TreeJunkie
ArboristSite Guru
just from what you've shown. In my area; i would charge, $1100 + 150 haul and dump fee.= 1250 total to ground level. Approx 200 to grind the stump, not including hauling off the mulch.
Lumberjack said:
I don't have any other shots except when the tree was down. It stood about 50 feet tall.
Molecule said:
I went up it and dropped all the limbs. Then took the two larger sections down in two pieces. The remaining trunk was dropped using my tractor to push it over once it was nearly cut through.
This is the only other picture that I have of the tree before I took it down. It is the tree on the far left in front of the main part of the house.
Stumper
One Man Band
Mario thinks we shouldn't tell you. Given the nature of your whole post-looking to learn how to price and justifying your work to your spouse-I'm inclined to agree with him but I'm going to play along. In this area-perhaps $800-$1000.The pictures aren't really adequate to judge with certainty.
Thanks for the info. I don't see what is so difficult to judge a price from a picture. To me a tree is a tree as long as you don't need special equipment to take it down. I've been dropping trees since I was 16 for firewood. I never did one for money. My question was to put a price on my work in case I wanted to do this for someone else in the future. I am presently un-employed and looking for ways to make some money part-time while I rebuild that farmhouse in the picture. The only difficult part of this whole job was to pull two branches to the side using my tractor. My daughter was the driver. I didn't ask this question to justify anything to the wife about taking this tree down. This was for my own information should I decide to do something like this again. I figured that if I am going to do this I should at least charge a fair price for the job. I thank you all for the info and will try to charge accordingly.
eyeinstine
ArboristSite Operative
Sooooo, is this going to be a official business with insurance and such??? I think some replys were a little 'testy' because it appears you where asking for pricing, to become a fly by nighter tree cutter.. the Pro's here dont like that, and i dont blame them one bit.. It it is a 1000$ removal, and you do it on the fly, you get to pocket 950 bucks.. You'll lose 50 bucks at most in gas.. If they do it, the have to pay taxes, insurance, employee(s), and they mighnt profit 250$ in the clear.. So i hope you understand, that to them (and myself, and i'm not a tree guy); that it is a bit ballsy to ask for pricing so you can go charge someone else..
that said, i do understand wanting to make some spare bucks, we all have to at times.. I just dont think it is wise to pick the brains of the pro's in open forum..
Good luck, and work safe.. tree work has killed alot of people when not taken seriously.
Ron
that said, i do understand wanting to make some spare bucks, we all have to at times.. I just dont think it is wise to pick the brains of the pro's in open forum..
Good luck, and work safe.. tree work has killed alot of people when not taken seriously.
Ron
Stumper
One Man Band
JimR said:
Because photos are a 2 dimensional representation of a three dimensional setting. Because focal length distorts perception. Because the primary photo you had did not even show the entire tree.
Dadatwins
Addicted to ArboristSite
Stumper said:
Ditto that, You know Stumper, take respectfully out of that comment and it sounds like RJS back from the abyss.
Stumper
One Man Band
Dada, You flatter me.
Ekka
Addicted to ArboristSite
Yeah I would say it was about a $1000 to $1500 Aus
I'll also say that for a novice/backyarder I'm surprised you actually did it. How did you climb the tree?
I'll also say that for a novice/backyarder I'm surprised you actually did it. How did you climb the tree?
unemployed
If you have been taking trees down since you were 16, did you climb most of them? You're 51 now and definitely have the balls to climb. Do you take down/climb trees every year for firewood? I ask because we don't know what you have for climbing equipment. Not many folks here would let you in with a tractor and your daughter. If you don't have the PPE, ins., and equipment to climb that number drops again. That tree was in reasonable shape, are you going to pass on bad ones? Will you know a bad one when you see it? The statement that scares me is that you think a tree's a tree. They're not the same, and they don't come apart the same. Looks like a rural area, have you talked to your ins. guy about ins.? The insurance guy is going to ask how long you've been doing tree work and if you say a tree's a tree Your premium just doubled.
If you have been taking trees down since you were 16, did you climb most of them? You're 51 now and definitely have the balls to climb. Do you take down/climb trees every year for firewood? I ask because we don't know what you have for climbing equipment. Not many folks here would let you in with a tractor and your daughter. If you don't have the PPE, ins., and equipment to climb that number drops again. That tree was in reasonable shape, are you going to pass on bad ones? Will you know a bad one when you see it? The statement that scares me is that you think a tree's a tree. They're not the same, and they don't come apart the same. Looks like a rural area, have you talked to your ins. guy about ins.? The insurance guy is going to ask how long you've been doing tree work and if you say a tree's a tree Your premium just doubled.
eyeinstine said:
Yes, it would be an official business. Thanks for the input and I do understand why some folks like the ones posting below your reply are the way they are. If I wanted to be an Arborist, I'm sure I could be one. I spent 9 years working as a mechanic and 20 years as a machinist on manual and CNC equipment. I worked for 2.5 years as a sales rep for a major gun distributor. I was the general contractor on a $100,000.00 garage/house addition on my house and did all the finish carpentry work, wiring and laying down 1000 board feet of 5" t&g red oak. I also make custom rifle bolt handles for gun collectors and shooters. I am A+ certified in computers and have taken Microsoft's MCSE course. But that market crashed and has not regained momentum around here. So for those folks who feel that I should find another line of work. Geez, I don't know what else I can do.
Here are a few pictures of my latest project that I did. We lost a 36'x24' section of this 1840's 36'x60' barn. I lfted this barn 9 inches in the center and pulled it over 13 inches in the middle using jacks. I hired a qualified guy to rebuild my barn while I worked. Unfortunately a year passed and very little was getting done. So I quit my real job to get the job done. Qualified, yes, I'm qualified to do a lot of things and to get the job done. Tell me again what I shouldn't do. By the way, 38 new floor joists in that barn are from white Ash trees off of my 45 acres of land that were hewn by me to fit the floors.geofore said:
Yes, I have been cutting trees for firewood. I have climbed two years ago using spikes. Climbing with a rope is my next step. I'm 52 years old and have plenty of balls to do almost anything. I also ride and work on motorcycles for friends. I have used ladders to get up 30+ feet to attach cables when needed to pull a tree where I wanted it to go. I only pull them down when there is no other option. I did just get Jepson's book and read half of it yesterday while burning a brush pile. It is a very good book with a lot on info on gear, knots and tecniques. I do not have any climbing equipment except for two sets of spikes and belts. Your right, I never should have said a tree is a tree. Not every tree is the same. There could be serious consequences involved in taking down a bad tree without the proper knowledge. That tree I took down was in real bad condition. I used a 100', 1" rope attached to my tractor to make two branches drop where I wanted them to drop. We were losing branches off of it continously. I see what you mean about the insurance and why the premiums would be so high. No experience means higher prices. I do live in a very rural area.
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Ekka
Addicted to ArboristSite
Hey JimR,
Don't be so defensive, I know where you're coming from.
Tell the knockers to get stuffed, good on ya, some people forget where they came from.
Some of my best fun days were when I didn't have all the reponsibility of running a full blow tree business with its stinking overheads. Just go out and knock over a couple of jobs for the week ... easy, the money you make is yours not the change after everyone else gets in.
You're obviously an intelligent person, bit like the pretender hey, can do anything you put your mind to. Hows your health? Be wary of that one, don't go too hard if your body can't take it.
You did that tree yourself and saved $1000 ... good on you, next thing you know some jerks gonna make a law that you can't do your own gardening.
Have fun, and climb a few trees, it's free.
Don't be so defensive, I know where you're coming from.
Tell the knockers to get stuffed, good on ya, some people forget where they came from.
Some of my best fun days were when I didn't have all the reponsibility of running a full blow tree business with its stinking overheads. Just go out and knock over a couple of jobs for the week ... easy, the money you make is yours not the change after everyone else gets in.
You're obviously an intelligent person, bit like the pretender hey, can do anything you put your mind to. Hows your health? Be wary of that one, don't go too hard if your body can't take it.
You did that tree yourself and saved $1000 ... good on you, next thing you know some jerks gonna make a law that you can't do your own gardening.
Have fun, and climb a few trees, it's free.
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