How to price tree removal jobs
Tree removal is priced per tree, then adjusted for the things that actually make it slower or riskier: height, trunk diameter, species, condition, and how hard it is to get gear and drop wood safely. Get the adjustments right and the base rate takes care of itself. This guide walks through the method a working crew uses to put a defensible number on a removal in a few minutes on site.
Published June 8, 2026 / 9 min read
Start with a per-tree base, not an hourly rate
Customers cannot judge how fast your crew works, so an hourly number invites a fight about the clock. A per-tree price they can compare and sign. The base you start from is a function of one thing above all others: height.
Removal price = Base by height × Difficulty factors (diameter, species, condition) × Access & crane factor + Stump & haul add-ons
Below is a starting-point base range by height class. These are national midpoints for a straightforward, open-access removal on a healthy tree. Your market, your gear and your insurance cost will move them, so treat them as a floor to build on, not a quote.
| Height class | Typical base range |
|---|---|
| Small tree, under 30 ft | $300 to $600 |
| Medium tree, 30 to 60 ft | $600 to $1,200 |
| Large tree, 60 to 80 ft | $1,200 to $2,500 |
| Very large tree, over 80 ft | $2,500 to $5,000+ |
Height drives the base because it drives climbing time, the number of rigging points, and the volume of wood that has to come down in a controlled way. A 70 ft oak is not twice the work of a 35 ft one; it is closer to three or four times.
Adjust for trunk diameter
Two trees of the same height can be very different jobs. Diameter at breast height (DBH, measured about 4.5 ft up the trunk) tells you how much wood is in the stem and how long the cutting and the cleanup will take. A tall, slender pine and a squat, heavy hardwood of the same height are not the same removal.
- Under 12 in DBH: no adjustment, the base covers it.
- 12 to 24 in DBH: add 10 to 20 percent for the extra cutting and heavier pieces.
- 24 to 36 in DBH: add 25 to 40 percent, and plan for a loader or extra hands on the wood.
- Over 36 in DBH: price it as its own problem. Big-diameter hardwood may need a crane just to move the rounds.
Adjust for species and wood weight
Dense hardwoods cut slower, dull chains faster, and are far heavier per foot than softwoods, which matters for every piece you rig or carry. Oak, elm, hickory, maple and beech are heavy and slow. Pine, poplar, willow and silver maple are lighter and faster. A dense-hardwood removal can run 15 to 25 percent over the same-size softwood job on cutting and handling time alone.
Species also changes cleanup. Willows and silver maples throw a huge volume of light brush; a big oak produces fewer, heavier pieces. Both eat time, in different ways.
Adjust for condition: dead and hazardous trees cost more, not less
Owners often expect a dead tree to be cheaper because "there are no leaves." The opposite is true. A dead or declining tree is unpredictable: limbs shatter instead of hinge, the wood may not hold a climber's weight, and a rotten stem cannot be climbed at all. Standing dead-wood usually means a bucket truck or crane rather than a climber, and a bigger safety margin.
- Healthy, sound tree: base, no adjustment.
- Declining, minor dead-wood: add 10 to 15 percent.
- Dead or structurally unsound (cavities, fungal brackets, storm damage): add 25 to 50 percent, and reassess whether it can be climbed at all.
Follow current ANSI Z133 safety standards on hazardous removals. If the tree cannot be climbed safely, the job needs a crane or bucket, and the price has to reflect it.
The factor that makes or breaks the job: access
The single most common way a tree removal loses money is under-pricing access. It is not the tree, it is what surrounds it. A 40 ft maple in an open field is a morning. The same maple wedged between a house, a fence and a pool, with no gate wide enough for a chipper, is a full day with hand-carrying every piece to the street.
A simple three-level access adjustment on the whole job subtotal keeps this honest:
| Access level | What it looks like | Adjustment |
|---|---|---|
| Open | Drop zone under the tree, truck and chipper reach it, wood falls and gets processed on the spot. | No change |
| Tight | Fences, structures or beds under the canopy; pieces must be rigged down and carried out. | Add 15% |
| Crane required | No safe drop zone, or the wood cannot be carried out; a crane lifts pieces over the obstacle. | Add 40% (plus crane hire) |
Crane hire is a real cash cost on top of the factor. A crane and operator commonly runs several hundred to over a thousand dollars for a half-day, billed to you, and it belongs as its own line so the customer sees why the number moved.
Add the stump and the haul-away separately
Felling the tree and grinding the stump are two different jobs with two different pieces of equipment. Quote the stump as its own line, priced by diameter (see the stump-grinding guide). The same goes for hauling the wood off site versus leaving it cut and stacked for the customer:
- Chip and haul brush: often included in the base, but state it so there is no dispute.
- Haul the logs off site: add a flat charge; log wood is heavy and fills a truck fast.
- Leave rounds for firewood: a common way to shave the number when the customer burns wood.
- Stump grinding: separate line, priced per inch of diameter.
A worked example
A 55 ft red oak, 28 in DBH, healthy, in a suburban back yard. There is a fence and a shed under one side of the canopy, so pieces on that side must be rigged and carried to the driveway. The customer wants the stump ground and everything hauled.
- Base for a 30 to 60 ft tree, mid-range: $900
- Diameter (28 in DBH), add 30 percent: +$270, subtotal $1,170
- Species (oak, dense hardwood), add 15 percent: +$176, subtotal $1,346
- Access (tight), add 15 percent: +$202, subtotal $1,548
- Haul logs off site: +$150
- Stump grinding, 28 in at $3 per inch, $84 (see stump guide): +$84
- Quote: about $1,780
Notice how much of the number lives in the adjustments, not the base. A crew that quotes the base and forgets the access, the species and the diameter would have named $900 and lost most of a day.
Set a minimum job charge
Rolling a truck, a chipper and two people to a property has a fixed cost whether the tree is 15 ft or 50 ft. Set a minimum, commonly $250 to $400, below which you do not send the crew. If a small removal falls under the minimum, either bundle it with the stump and a trim to clear the floor, or hold the price at the minimum and say so plainly.
What crews get wrong
- Pricing the tree and ignoring the yard. Access is where the day disappears. Walk the drop zone before you name a number.
- Discounting dead trees. Dead-wood is more dangerous and slower, not cheaper. Price the risk.
- Forgetting the stump. It is a separate machine and a separate line. Left off the quote, it becomes an argument at the end.
- Eating the crane cost. If the job needs a crane, that is a cash cost and a line item, not something you absorb to look competitive.
- Quoting round numbers from the truck. A verbal "call it a thousand" leaves money on the table on exactly the hard jobs where you need it.
Send it as a quote, not a text
An itemized estimate that shows the base, the access adjustment, the stump and the haul-away reads as a professional who has thought about the job. A texted number reads as a guess. The TreeWork Pro calculator on the home page takes these inputs, applies your own rates and your access level, and produces a branded PDF you can hand over or email before you leave the property.