Check the bulletin boards at local supermarket for tree removal guys who
work on the side and also if you can stop at the local highway department
sSome of these guys also do it part time. You want them insured however.
$2000 seems out of line but without knowing the conditions etc. it is
imposible to gauge.

"Tom Miller" wrote in message
...
| On Thu, 21 Apr 2005 16:35:07 GMT, msterspy
| wrote:
|
| I have 3 oak trees in my yard (way in back) that I would like to get
| removed. The quoted price is a bout $2000/tree. My neigbor some
trees
| removed form his property and spent a fortune. The crew was there for
| about 4 hours and they took down thre trees in his yard. I'm not
sure,
| but I'm guessing it cost him about $6000 and they took the big logs
to
| a saw mill. Is this a resonable price? 25 years ago I had 5 trees
| cut down for $500.00 (one day's work). Why is it so damn expensive
| now? My salary did't go up by a factor of 10 in 25 years.

We are having a large maple removed from our back yard. It's a big old
tree, a very bad "lean," and a somewhat tight spot -- you can't just
drop it. It's also got a badly rotted trunk, so you can't send a guy
up the tree with any degree of safety. If you try to cut a rotted tree
the whipping back and forth when you drop big limbs can crack the
trunk. So it takes a crane and a guy in a bucket lift. Price in
Northern NJ (near New York City) = $950.00. Stump grinding is extra,
and I can't remember what that will cost. I think a couple of hundred.

Hate to lose the tree, as the entire back yard landscaping is built
around it, but it's no longer safe. If it falls it will take out the
back corner of my house, part of the garage, at least one of my cars,
and maybe my neighbor's mud room. We're waiting our turn for the cut,
and every time the wind blows I cringe.

I think $2000/tree is steep, but then I can't see the trees.

Get another bid. Get two or three more.