In article , Tom Miller says...

| 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.

I'm in upstate New York, and the thing I had to learn to my dismay is: to my
mind removing the tree means its stump, and stump-grinding is considered a whole
'nother trade.

Banty