DIY Tree Removal vs Hiring a Tree Service

For a tree under about 20 feet tall, standing in open ground, with nothing within falling distance, cutting it down yourself costs less than hiring out the job. The money you save is real, but it is not the whole picture. The time, the tools, and the risk of something going wrong all count against the DIY route, and for anything larger or closer to a structure, those costs flip the answer.

Here is the part most people miss: the tree itself is not the main cost driver. Access, lean, species, and what sits under the canopy decide whether a job is a two-hour drop or a full day with rigging. A 60-foot oak leaning toward a roof is not a bigger version of a 20-foot maple in a field. It is a different job with a different set of consequences if the hinge fails.

DIY costs you a chainsaw, safety gear, fuel, disposal, and a full day of your time, plus the risk that a mistake damages property or injures you. Add those up and the savings shrink fast.

Start with the saw. A saw big enough to fell a 20-inch trunk is not the same saw you use for pruning. You need bar length, chain sharpness, and the technique to make a proper notch and back cut. Then there is personal protective equipment: chaps, helmet with face shield, hearing protection, and boots. That is a real outlay if you do not already own it.

Disposal is the next hidden cost. A felled tree leaves brush, limbs, and a trunk that has to go somewhere. In Asheville, yard waste pickup usually will not take a trunk section, and hauling it yourself means a trailer, a saw to buck it down, and a place that accepts it. Brush piles do not disappear on their own.

Time is the cost people undercount. Dropping the tree is the quick part. Bucking it, limbing it, stacking it, and cleaning the site takes several times longer. If you value a weekend at what you earn, the DIY math changes.

Then there is the risk you cannot price. A barber chair, a kickback, a tree that hangs up in another tree, a trunk that splits and kicks back toward you. Those are the moments where DIY stops being cheap.

Stop and call us when the tree is within falling distance of a house, a power line, a fence, or a driveway you cannot block, when the trunk is dead, split, or hollow, when the tree leans more than a few degrees off vertical, or when it is taller than about 20 feet with a canopy over anything you care about. Those are the jobs we take.

Power lines are the clearest line. Anything within ten feet of an energized line is not a homeowner job, and it is not a job for a saw and a ladder either. That work needs coordination with the utility and a crew that understands what happens when a limb under tension releases.

Dead and damaged trees are the second clearest line. A dead trunk can shatter instead of hinging. A split trunk can barber chair. A hollow base can fail before you finish your back cut. You cannot see the inside of a tree from the ground, and neither can we until we are up in it or looking at the cut. The difference is that we plan for that failure and you would be standing under it.

Leaning trees are the third. A lean means the tree already has a direction it wants to go, and it may not be the one you picked. Rigging, a controlled fell, or a climb and section-down are the options. None of them are DIY options.

We look at the tree, the lean, the species, the soil, the targets, and the access, then decide whether to fell it whole, rig it down in sections, or climb and piece it out. The method drives the equipment, the crew size, and the time on site.

On a straightforward drop with a clear fall zone, the work is fast: set the notch, set the hinge, back cut, and let it go. On a tight drop, the work is slower and more deliberate. We may set a pull line, use a rope and friction device to control the fall, or rig limbs down one at a time so nothing lands on the roof.

Then there is the cleanup. We chip the brush, cut the trunk into manageable lengths, and haul what you want gone. If you want the wood left for firewood, we can leave it in rounds. That is a conversation before the work starts, not after.

What you should ask anyone you call, including us:

• How will you bring this tree down, and what happens if it goes wrong?
• What is included in the quote, and what is extra?
• Who is responsible for damage to my house, my fence, or my neighbor's property?
• How will you handle the stump and the brush?
• What do you need from me before you start?

We answer those questions before the saw comes out. If the answer to any of them is vague, that is your signal to keep asking.

The price depends on height, diameter, lean, species, proximity to structures or lines, access for equipment, and how much of the tree has to be rigged rather than dropped. Two trees of the same height can price far apart because one has a clear fall zone and the other sits over a roof.

Access matters more than people expect. A tree in an open backyard where a truck and chipper can reach the work area is faster than a tree behind a fence, up a slope, or surrounded by landscaping that cannot be driven on. When equipment cannot get close, the work turns into carrying and rigging, and that adds time.

Disposal is another driver. Chipping brush and hauling wood is part of the job, and the volume of material matters. A large canopy produces a lot of chips and a lot of trunk. If you keep the wood, the price can come down because we are not hauling it.

Stump grinding is usually separate from removal. The tree comes down, the stump stays, and grinding it out is its own step with its own equipment. Ask whether the quote includes the stump, and ask how deep the grind goes and what happens to the grindings.

No one can give you an accurate number over the phone without seeing the tree. Anyone who does is guessing, and the guess usually changes when the crew arrives. We look at the tree first, then put the quote in writing.

Factor	DIY	Hiring us
Tools needed	Chainsaw sized to the trunk, chaps, helmet, hearing protection, wedges, rope, trailer for hauling	We bring the saws, rigging, chipper, and truck
Time on the job	A full day or more for a medium tree, plus cleanup	Usually a few hours for a straightforward drop, longer for rigging
Disposal	You buck, load, and haul brush and trunk	We chip the brush and haul what you want gone
Risk if it goes wrong	Damage to your house, your neighbor's property, or your body	We plan the fell and carry the risk of the work
When it stops being DIY	Near power lines, over a roof, dead or split trunk, heavy lean	Those are the jobs we take

If the tree is small, healthy, in the open, and you have the saw, the gear, and the time, DIY can save you money. If any of those conditions is missing, the savings disappear and the risk goes up. The honest answer is that the cheap DIY tree is a narrow category, and most trees people ask about are not in it.

Before you decide, walk the tree. Look up for dead limbs. Look at the base for cracks, fungus, or a hollow. Look at the lean. Look at what is within one tree length of the trunk. If anything you see makes you pause, that pause is your answer.

You can call us at the number on this page and describe what you see. We will tell you what the job involves and what it depends on. If it is a tree you can safely handle yourself, we will say so.