Choosing a Tree Service Contractor: How We Scope and Price a Job

Does wet or frozen ground mean the work has to wait?

Sometimes, and soft ground is the usual reason. Winters here are short, wet and very cold, so the soil is often soaked or frozen, and we check how firm it is before we pick a date. The chipper and any stump equipment need steady footing, and we'd rather wait a few days than leave ruts across your lawn.

Summers are warm and humid. That doesn't stop the work, but it means a crew working in the heat, and we plan the day around it. If the tree isn't leaning toward the house and nothing is hanging over a wire, a few days for the ground to firm up costs you nothing.

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One broken limb or the whole tree?

The May storm brought damaging wind and hail, and trees and power lines came down across Washington County, including near Johnson City. When we walk your yard after a storm like that, the first job is sorting out whether the damage stays in one limb.

For a large limb, we make a cut on the underside first. Then a second cut farther out takes the weight off, and the last cut goes at the outer edge of the branch collar. The tree keeps its shape and the wound is where it should be.

When the trunk itself is the problem, we read the lean, how heavy the crown is, which way the wind is pushing, and what's standing close by. The lay of the tree gets picked from that, and the path we'd retreat along is cleared, away from where the trunk will land, before a saw starts.

What does a storm removal add to the bill?

Felling and chipping vary with the tree and what stands near it, so those lines are filled in on site. Two items you can plan around are listed on their own lines: full stump extraction runs $35 to $70 and hauling and disposal runs $20 to $90 when it isn't already in the job.

You don't have to take the stump out the same day the tree comes down. Hauling is the line you can shrink: the less we have to carry off your property, the lower it goes. While the chipper is running, keep kids and pets well back from it. Nobody pushes material into the in-feed chute by hand or foot, and the guards stay on.

What happens when you call?

The call starts with which tree and how close it stands to the house. We'll ask what looks different since the storm or the freeze, and a ballpark range for the work can come over the phone. The firm number comes after a visit to your yard.

Trim or removal isn't something to settle by phone; we sort that out in the yard. The quote we write up lists the options and what would change the price.