Top, Drop N Limb, $100?

I have an ash tree out close my house I am NOT comfortable doing it myself. It's about 18' dbh
I had a guy take a look at it today he said he would climb it, top it and drop it, and limb it for a hundred bucks, he even said he would cut it up for me too, but I said that's okay I will do it, I have to have some fun too.
What do you think sounds like a pretty good price to me considering he has to climb

 

Sounds pretty darn good to me. My tree climbing buddy didn't want to charge me for helping with my big leaner, so I tipped him $150 - he wouldn't take any more.

 

you tipped him a hundred and fifty dollars for one tree?

 

Hey HD... is this guy insured? You know... if he drops a section on the house. I always think about that these days. If he's a pro, he prolly is.

 

Or worse yet, he falls out of the tree and lands on your house or ground with major injuries.

 

Sounds like a great price to me. A few weeks ago I did an 18" oak; about 50' tall for a fellow. "Just put it on the ground" was what he wanted. 25-30 minutes and it was horizontal. $100.

 

I was thinking the same thing, for $100 and he's climbing I'd say he's not insured. If he was he's not making an money.
If HD thinks the tree is not as serious as it sounds maybe the $100 is ok.

 

I think $100 is not bad at all. My buddy charges $250 to take down and remove an ash tree. Tree service like any business has overhead and risk. Insurance, repairs, etc. Now, if this is just a dude with a top handle that is fooling around on the weekend, then I can see the price being lower.

One of the bigger challenges of business is convincing people who see a high value to what they do, that your time has value too.

 

Well it was sorta 2 trees, and it wasnt the easiest job. It was a 21" maple windfall snag. He had to spend an hour in the tree it was hung up on. He also had to top a good size black cherry that it was pushing over as well. I don't wanna know what I would have had to pay if I didn't know the guy.

 

The last two spruce near my home that I needed gone were close enough to cause damage if things went wrong and I couldn't be sure which way they wanted to go, so I hired a local college kid who started his own tree business to work his way through college. He grew up helping his father in their family tree removal business on the left coast. He had insurance and what looked like all the right equipment, was $230 for just the trees on the ground. I got to watch him work and the trees taken care of with no damages or injuries, money well spent. I ended up getting a bunch of wood from him, as he got close to graduation he didn't have time to process the trees he was cutting into firewood and he needed to get rid of them.

 

My guy does it as side work, his uninsured rate is $100-$150 per tree. Add $100 to the bottom line if he needs the insurance from his work. Very reasonable when on the side.

 

At that price I would have to think that you are the one that is providing the insurance.

 

I paid $600 to have 2 large trees climbed and dropped next to my house. On the other side of my house, the same guy dropped other trees he could get to with a bucket truck for $100 each. Small, pro company with insurance. I wouldn't let anyone without insurance drop trees next to my house. If they are away from the house then I'll drop them myself, so not an issue.

 

That's so cheap it would make me nervous.

 

I had quotes for topping 2 trees only. I was going to knock them down when they were short enough for me to fit. $500-700 was where they all came in. For that price they're still standing for now.

 

$100 is cheaper than the effort of me trying to do it the wrong way

 

The tree is not leaning toward my house or anything, it can be dropped into the woods, but there are oak trees on both sides with branches up high that are in the way , on top of that there are a bunch of other 5-6" trees ,in the woods ,in the way , so a lot of chances to get hung up, and being a dead tree who knows where the upper branches may fly off to.
Once the tree is toped I could take it down myself ,no problem .

 

Post on craigslist list that you need a professional with a "REAL chainsaw" to come climb your tree by your house top it, drop it and buck the limbs. Then remove all the debris , they can even have the wood if they want and they also needs to grind the stump below ground level or take it with them...ALL FOR FREE!!

People do it all the time so some one must take them up on it.

 

I had a guy drop limbs off 7 dead ash trees that were leaning over my neighbors driveway from my property. He charged me $200, and took care of it during his lunch break in the company's bucket truck.