Tree Pruning Cost Factors: Making Sense Of Tree Pruning Pricing.
Trees don’t need any help with making scenic views. Some trees need pruning, especially trees with lots of obstacles underneath the trees. Safety is a benefit to pruning in a high traffic area. This article is a deep dive into the cost factors associated with tree pruning and tree trimming. We will cover cost factors, and different pruning services. This will help a homeowner understand tree pruning and estimating tree pruning.
Understanding The Cost Of Doing Business
Along with all businesses around the world, it costs money to run a business. With tree services, there are a multitude of different costs of running a tree service. Some obvious costs are office expenses, employee payroll, insurance, and workman’s compensation. Other costs are dumping fees at wood recycling facilities and equipment costs. With the internet being the new phone book, marketing expenditures are more common. A good business owner knows all these expenses. Estimators give prices based on business costs and market value. Below will be the cost factors associated with tree pruning.
Tree Pruning Cost Factors
Health: Health of the tree determines what type of pruning needed. For instance, if the tree had pruning done in the past, there would be a few dead limbs throughout the canopy. This will take a climber less time than an unmaintained tree, where there are more cuts to make. There may be a limb that has green on it, but the limb may have a defect which will make it prone to failure. The removal of that limb is necessary. The climber will have to decide on what to prune using his experience and knowledge. Unhealthy trees may take more time to prune which means more money.
Obstacles: Obstacles are always a major factor when dealing with tree pruning pricing. A large tree for instance could have many power lines near or underneath the tree canopy. This means that limbs will need rigging of some sort. A pulley will have to be installed above where the cut will be made. Then the rope inside the pulley holds the weight while on a controlled decent. This procedure will add more to a tree pruning estimate but is necessary to control a branch from freefalling anywhere.
Size: This is an obvious one. A small tree could take mins to prune while one large tree could take all day to prune. Massive Elms are challenging for a climber due to the lack of upright branches to tie into at the top of the canopy. These trees take may more time due to the positioning of the climber. Sometimes a climber may need to double tie to two sides of the tree or even redirect their rope. This allows the climber good access to hard-to-reach limbs. If a climber can access the whole tree canopy easily and safely then less time will be spent on the pruning.
Location: The further away a tree is from the truck the more time it will take the crew to drag limbs. This will take more time than a tree which is close to the chipper and truck. Also, if the tree is at the bottom of a steep hill, expect the time of the job to increase due to the difficulty of walking. If access allows a bucket truck can be used which will speed up the time of accent. Working with bucket trucks can be tricky and requires experience to
Condition: A tree may be healthy but in a poor condition due to limbs that need pruning. If a tree has many dead, deceased and broken branches, it needs maintenance even though it’s green all over. A tree could be overgrown and may need thinning, this will take more time than a standard pruning. A standard pruning is the pruning of dead, broken and diseased branches1-2 inches in diameter.
Types of Tree Pruning:
Tree Trimming – Trimming trees away from structures, lights, other trees and more.
Tree Elevation – Removing Lower limbs to raise the height of the lower canopy.
Tree Maintenance – Standard removal of dead, deceased and broken branches throughout the canopy.
Limb subordination or limb reduction – Reducing the spread of a limb by cutting back to live lateral branches.
Vista Pruning – The removal of select limbs to improve a view of something like a body of water.
Tree Shaping – Shaping upper canopy to get a desired shape.
Crown Reduction – Reduction of the upper canopy to get a desired height by cutting back to live lateral branches.
Tree Thinning – Reducing clusters of growth in the canopy to improve air flow and structural integrity.
Fine Tree Pruning – The pruning of ornamental trees and shrubs. This involves small, precise cuts throughout the canopy of a small decorative tree.
Young Tree Pruning – The pruning of young trees to promote proper branching structure when it comes to future growth.
The importance of tree pruning and safety
Tree pruning is important because of the safety of others who walk under a tree. More than likely dead limbs are the ones to fall on your yard. But during heavy winds it may bring down a green healthy limb. Also, tree thinning improves the airflow of trees so that the limbs don’t have a wind sail effect. As we all know, trees can be tall and dangerous for someone untrained in tree climbing. This is why it’s necessary to hire a reputable company with reviews and testimonials from prior clients.
Tips
· Wait for the winter for your pruning needs because this will give you the best savings because companies are slow at this time.
· Have the tree service prune more than one tree at a time.
· On an Elm tree, only prune deadwood during the heat of summer. Major pruning of live limbs during the summer could make the tree go in decline. This is due to the low water content inside the tree’s wood. Makes it hard to recover after a live pruning cut. The best time to do major pruning is in the winter when trees are dormant.
· Look around on the internet to see if the company has a coupon.
For any company, time is money. For this reason, the more time spent on the job site the more the price will be on the estimate. Tree pruning can go from a company’s minimum price if it’s a small tree. Your pruning may need a crew out there all day which could be anywhere from $2000-$4000 a day. Make sure to pick the right company and not some fly-by-night person to do the tree work. Finding the right tree service can be daunting but with many estimates you will get a gauge of the caliber of the tree service.