price for dropping two trees

Were you able to watch them do the work @trguitar? It can be really interesting watching professionals do their thing. I hate paying to have anything done that I could do myself, but tree work is one of the areas that I believe in paying pros to do what they do in exchange for not putting myself or property at risk just to save a few bucks.

The other thing you have to consider is that it had to be worth it for them to schedule a job time window to come out with their equipment. If you had more trees to drop, the price per tree likely would have been less expensive.

It's also the same reason it's usually less expensive if you catch a tree service already working in your neighborhood. Dropping two trees if your property is only a few houses away from where they're already working is bonus $$ for them.

You did well, IMO. Keep their business card.

Because insurance in a dangerous profession where nothing ever goes wrong is cheap.


My buddy gave a guy a price to drop a tree in Carlisle. The owner thought it was too much so he did it himself. Spent the rest of his life in a wheelchair.

Always better if it's beyond your skill set to hire it done. Dr Bills are expensive. So are Funeral Home Expenses.

Where you live, that's cheap, you're lucky you found them.

trguitar said:

Update: two guys came this morning and dropped both trees in 45 minutes. I basically paid them each $200/hour. I still feel a little fleeced, but you guys seem to think it was a good deal. If that's what I have to pay, that's what I have to pay. I am glad the broken tree is down.

Now I have to cut them up, and split them!

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Did they drop them from the ground or did they climb them? If they actuall climbed and dropped them, IMHO you got a good deal. But if they quoted/charged as if they were going to have to climb them then they didn't then you have a right to feel fleeced.

bholler said:

How long did it take them to drive there and back? How long did it take the person who came out to give the estimate to drive there look at it and drive back? How much fuel was used in trucks and equipment? How much is their insurance liability auto and workers comp? Those 2 guys got nowhere near 200 an hour there are allot of operating expenses that you don't think of.

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This is all true. There is a cost of doing business. The employees, the equipment, the overhead, and the knowledgeable EXPERIENCE is all costly for the business owner. This is why it is so costly to hire just about anything done. Consider 1 hr for the visit/quote, 1.5 hrs x 2 guys for the time they left the shop to the time they returned, you got 4 hrs of labor for $400. Take your car to the dealership to get work done on it. What is their shop labor rate? $75-125 per hour is fairly standard. The mechanic isn't making that much, trust me. The majority of it goes to cover overhead and cost of doing business.

I happen to work in a job where my time is billed hourly to the customer. My pre-tax pay is about 1/3 of my billable rate. The rest goes to pay overhead and my employer's portion of my benefits etc. My manager doesn't bill directly to the customer; his pay has to come from somewhere.

Back in high school I helped remove a large oak overhanging a house. Still scares me today of all the risks that were taken. We all survived and the house was unharmed but I wouldn't even consider it knowing what I know now.

My take on projects that could lead to significant damage to me personally or property . . .

If there is any doubt, hire it out.

You did well. Now split and stack it

$400 to drop those was a good deal for you and a better deal for him. Unless the photo is misleading, those trees wouln't have a chance of hitting your house. Around here tree fellers won't show up for less than $400.