Cutting down tree limbs

Anyone have a ball park figure as to how much it costs to have someone come in and cut down tree limbs?

The huge tree next to my house has some large dead limbs that overhang the house. I really should do something about them before the next storm or snowfall sends them crashing down into my (new) roof. That's probably more important than new furniture right now. (Sigh.)

Inch by inch everything is a cinch. Don't worry about the things that can be done later. Don't you have insurance. Use the money for the other landscaping projects that you get from the person who owns the tree. Pain and suffering, roof loss and home dammage. Always put off other peoples liabilities. Focus on your garden. LOL

*I* own the tree. And I don't want pain and suffering, roof loss (NEW roof!), and home damage.

Oh well then get a good bonded tree man/woman to do it. Not very expensive and worth the free info you can get on the trees health. Arborist cost me $60 for tree evaluation and I did the work. Additional 200- 300 bucks.

OK, and without any more spiders entering the picture (I promise!), it varies a LOT from place to place and even from season to season. During "slow" periods some arborists will give you a break just to keep their crews working, and during busy times you might not hear back from them for months. But be sure your arborist is qualified and insured. If you haven't has any storms or disease/insect outbreaks out there for a while you might be in luck.

Guy S.

The town size also plays a role in it. If you live in a small town you can probably find a local tree trimmer to do it for not much money. However if you live near a larger size city the price usually goes up.

The only drawback of waiting for the slow period, is if weather becomes bad that year and fills their schedules.

If your own tree suffers more damage, and you compete with other customers for services, the prices can soar in fall to winter also.

Usually, the best time to do it, is when you need it. Often, that's right now.

If the limbs are over the house and need to be lowered with a rope, it's a bit more.

If you don't want your trees climbed with spikes, it may be a bit more.

It sounds like a several hundred dollar adventure, give or take, unless these are huge limbs, like 8" in diameter.

Estimates are generally free, so your best information will be gained by calling for an estimate.

I'm sunk. There's no way I can afford several hundred dollars to get a tree limb cut down.

Then at least have the situation evaluated. Some tree species, especially in dry climates, can hang onto dead limbs for decades. It's not the best approach and not recommended, but if you want to gamble and the conditions are in your favor maybe you can ignore them until you save up some dough. And I would echo Mdvaden's concern about avoiding gaffs (climbing spikes) unless you are taking the tree down.
Guy S.

I agree with Guy, if you can get someone out to evaluate the situation I would do that--if the limb is in immediate danger of falling off the tree and hitting your house during the first storm, I'm sure your insurance deductible is probably higher than the cost of getting the limb cut down. But if the experts think it's likely to stay put, then you can feel better about waiting until you can save the money.

Being practical and cheap I do all of my own limbing. Stay off the branch and get on the house and cut away at it piece by piece until it is an easy cut down from the tree. Show us a picture so we can help you WH.

Thanks all for your input. I'm not good with heights, but it's only one story up. I can do as you suggest and saw off branches in "chewable" portions. I guess if I can brave Arachnophobia outtakes I can climb a ladder.

They have long handled loppers and long handled saws, too. I might think about that. I always thought that pruning a tree was an art, though, and you have to worry about the health and the appearance of the tree. You don't just hack away.

I might also ask at the dojo if anyone wants to do it for a small fee or as a favor. The only thing I'd worry about there is liability.

And you know those people who promised to help me move and then didn't show up? They're young, strong, higher rank martial artists. Hmmm.

I took another look at the branches. The one over the roof that I thought was dead actually has leaves near the tip. It just has a lot of smaller dead side branches. So a long-handled lopper or saw might be able to take care of them. The branch over the yard is bigger, and rather high up, but if it breaks it won't hurt anything (unless I'm under it).

So I'm going to hold off on professional tree pruning for the moment.

You might be surprised at what your homeowner's insurance will do. They'd rather pay to avoid a more costly claim in the future, the smart ones anyway. Take pictures and make sure they know about it at least, that way in the future they can't say you didn't warn them.

If it's only one story up, and if the limbs are small, it may not be much at all.

Maybe get your own stuff. I use pro equipment. My pole pruning setup is 6' to 8' fiberglass poles that cost $35 each, which snap one into the other. With three 6' sections (and I'm over 6' tall) I can reach 24' without a ladder. With a 10' ladder, I can reach 35', although I don't cut anything over about 1" diameter at that height so that heavy missiles don't come down. The heavy stuff at that height should be roped down.

good idea on the insurance co but they won't pay for the trim only exclude coverage if they are aware of it and the owner does nothing. No heart in insurance. I would not notify them of it. but I am a critical thinker.

Sofer may be right about the insurance, it's not usually a good idea to bring things to their attention--if you show them the tree branch and then this winter it comes crashing down and ruins your house and you go to them and try to say you warned them, they're going to tell you that you should have taken care of it since you knew it was a problem and therefore they won't want to cover the damage it caused. Even if they would agree to cover removing the branch proactively, your deductible is probably the same or more than it would cost you to get it trimmed on your own without insurance, so it's hardly worth considering. It's also not a good idea to make claims for relatively small stuff because it can have a negative impact on your rates, your ability to get/keep homeowner's insurance, and the ability of future owners of your house to get coverage if you were to sell it for some reason in the next couple years. Claims for water/mold are the most problematic, but I would try to avoid any sort of claims for small stuff, it's better to cover those yourself out of pocket.