Not all lawn care and landscaping jobs are small ones.  Some are quite involved, such as the act of removing a tree from someone’s garden for instance.  If someone asks you to quote for such a job, you will probably wonder how to go about pricing it up.

The truth is that no two tree removal jobs will be exactly the same.  For instance one client may have no more than a tree stump remaining that they would like to be shot of.  Another person could have a twenty foot high tree that needs removing.  Clearly these two jobs will require different tactics to complete them successfully.  One stump is very different from a whole tree.  You also need to consider the actual removal of the tree itself.  You could fit a stump in the back of your truck but with a whole tree you have to bring it down safely and get rid of the whole lot as well.

A good place to start is by thinking about your outgoings for each job.  You will need to have insurance to cover you, so this has to be factored in to the overall work.  Think about the safety issues as well.  For instance if you are going to remove a tree stump, you won’t have to do any climbing.  But what about a sixty foot tree that is right outside a house and has power lines not too far away either?  Clearly these are two very different situations and you would charge more for the latter than you would for the former.

If you do some research online you’ll find that typical prices at the moment run from a little over $100 for a simple and small job to well over $1,400 for a large, live tree in a small area with potential hazards nearby.  Some tree surgeons who work independently estimate their work at around $200 an hour, but again it depends on the individual and it will differ from large companies too.

A good way to get more figures is to call up local companies in the guise of a customer and see whether they have average hourly rates as a rough guide.  As you get more experience in this area you can adjust your prices if you wish; but don’t be afraid to charge what seems like a lot of money.  If you price too low you will end up out of pocket.  Tree removal is not a cheap job to get done if it is for a large tree or complicated area.  Most big name tree removal companies will always charge more than individual operators will and you only need to get some quotes to see how true this is.

Try and estimate for each individual job that comes along.  In the end no two trees are the same so it pays to see the site and the tree before you price up for anything.  This should help you progress with this part of your business.

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