How to Negotiate Tree Removal (Best Tips)?

Tree removal can end up costing a lot especially if you have to remove a large tree or if your tree is in a hazardous location. You can negotiate the cost of your tree removal to reduce the prices and to get a better deal. Let’s take a look at some of the tips for negotiating and reducing the cost of your tree removal.

1. Enquiring about the price from a number of services
2. Hire an arborist to find out the species and the condition of your tree.
3. Take care of some of the pre-and post-removal work to drive down the prices.
4. Get the tree removed during the off-season (Winter)
5. Look out for combo deals

What Factors Determine the Cost of Tree Removal?

Some of the factors which determine the cost of tree removal include the size of the tree and its location. If your tree is really large or if it is located in a difficult-to-reach place, the cost of tree removal can increase dramatically. Sadly, these are some of the factors which you cannot control.

There are some aspects which you can control to get yourself a better deal like the time of the year you want to remove the tree, any additional service which you want to avail like stump removal, post-removal cleanup, or cutting down the wood into firewood.

How Can You Negotiate the Cost of Tree Removal?

The first step in negotiating the cost of tree removal is to check how you can reduce the efforts of the professional service.

Stump Removal

Stump removal can end up costing you an extra $100 or $2-3 per inch of the diameter. This can total up to $300 if you are dealing with a large tree.

You can ask the professional service to leave the stump and you can remove it yourself by either renting a stump grinder or removing it by hand if possible. Renting stump grinders can cost you between $100-150 per day which turns out to be cheaper when compared to the rates provided by the service.

Getting Rid of Obstacles

Removing any obstacles in the area will also make the job easier for the service, which will lead to a reduction in the overall cost.

You can also do some of the cleanups beforehand and post-removal to negotiate a better price. Cleaning up any debris from the area or pruning some of the branches yourself can reduce the efforts of the service provider a lot. After removing the debris and the branches, most tree removal services can also get you a better deal.

Getting an Expert Opinion

You can also hire an arborist individually to get a better understanding of the kind of tree you are dealing with. Knowing whether your species is easier or difficult to remove will give you some negotiating power. This way you can confidently tell the service that your species is not that hard to handle and therefore they should reduce the prices.

Using Timber for Firewood

Removing the logs from your area can also end up costing extra, you can negotiate with the company to leave the logs so you can use them as firewood. Either you can cut up the large timber yourself or let them do it but reduce their transportation costs.

Approach Numerous Services

Another tip is to get quotes from as many services in your area as possible. This can give you a large negotiating advantage as you will have a better idea about the average tree removal cost. Asking quotes from smaller companies will also get you a better deal as they usually charge less to get new consumers.

Ask for Combo Deals

You can also ask for some combo deals if you have to remove multiple trees. This will reduce your per tree removal cost as most services can give you a 20-30% discount if you hire them for a bigger project.

Select the Off-Season

You can also schedule the tree removal during the off-season (the winter season is usually the cheapest time of the year). This can automatically reduce the removal cost, but you can also negotiate further knowing that the service is not getting that much demand.

Of course, this won’t be possible if you have to get rid of the tree due to some emergency.

Check on Craigslist

If your tree is not very large, then you can also check for individual contractors on websites like craigslist. They usually charge less than large companies and can get the job done pretty efficiently, especially if you are dealing with a medium to small size tree.

Always check their experience levels and it is always recommended to go with a professional service if you have to remove a really large tree.

Get Cost Estimates Divided into Different Components

You can always ask the professional service to break down their costs into different components like cleanup cost, stump removal, etc. This way you can figure out how to offset some of the costs by doing some of the work yourself.

What Is the Average Cost of Tree Removal?

Tree removal costs can range anywhere from $200 to $2000 depending on the size, area, species, and condition of your tree. Small tree removal can cost between $200-500, while medium tree removal can cost between $400-1000.

Similarly, large tree removal can cost anywhere from less than $1000 to more than $2000. Fallen tree removal on the other hand can cost between $75-300 while tree stump removal can cost between $100-1000 if your stump belongs to a gigantic tree.

Conclusion

You can negotiate the tree removal cost by asking for quotes from numerous local services as well as going for the off-season and hiring an arborist to find out the condition and species of the tree you have to remove. You can also do some of the pre-and post-removal work to reduce the workload for the service providers as well as ask for combo deals to reduce the prices.