Core service
Tree Removal In Tight Spots
The trees nobody else wants to touch: grown into the wires, wedged between two houses, hanging over the roof and the driveway.
Most of the removals we get called for are not the tree standing alone in the middle of a yard. They are the ones with a service drop running through the canopy, a neighbor's siding six feet off the trunk, and a driveway full of cars underneath. That is the work this crew does most.
A tree in that position does not get dropped. It comes down in controlled sections, piece by piece, so nothing swings into a wire, a roofline, or a fence. It is slower than felling, and it is the reason the job gets done without a claim on anybody's homeowner policy.
When the tree is tangled in primary lines — the high wires at the top of the pole — the utility has to de-energize or drop them before anyone goes up. We will tell you that on the estimate rather than after we are on site, and we will tell you who to call.
Not sure it has to come out? Say so when you call. Some of these are a pruning job, and it costs you less and takes us less time.
What the job includes
- Takedown in controlled sections when the drop zone is tight
- Removal of the trunk, limbs and brush from the property
- Cleanup of the work area before we leave — that is the part our reviews talk about
- Stump ground down as an add-on, or left flush cut if you would rather
- An honest read on whether the tree actually needs to come out
Sound familiar?
When to call about this
- Branches are growing through or resting on the wires to your house
- The tree leans over your roof, your neighbor's roof, or where you park
- There is barely a truck-width of space between the trunk and the house
- It dropped a large limb with no storm to blame
- The trunk is hollow, split, or the base is soft and shedding bark
Questions
About Tree Removal
What does tree removal actually cost around here?
Most residential removals in Massachusetts land between $750 and $1,800. HomeAdvisor puts the Brockton average at about $1,145, with a typical range of $651 to $1,592. What moves your number is size, what is underneath the tree, and how far the crew has to carry the wood. A 40-foot pine in an open back yard and a 40-foot pine leaning over a roof between two houses are not the same job. The estimate is free and same-day, so you do not have to guess.
Do you take the wood and the brush with you?
Yes, hauling it out is part of the job unless you tell us you want the wood left for firewood. Cleanup is the thing our customers bring up most, and the standard is that when we pull out you should not be able to tell where we were working except that the tree is gone.
There is a tree touching the power line to my house. Who do I call?
Call your electric utility first — the number is on your bill. Treat any wire the tree is touching as live, including one lying in the grass, and keep people and pets away from it. If the tree is in the primary lines at the top of the pole, the utility has to de-energize or drop them before anyone can work. Once that is handled, or if it turns out to be the service drop to your house, call us and we will take it from there.
Is the stump included in a removal?
It is a separate line, because plenty of people would rather leave a flush-cut stump than pay to grind it. Say up front whether you want it ground and it goes on the estimate. Grinding takes it four to eight inches below grade so you can rake the spot flat and seed it.
Can I just have the tree cut shorter instead of removed?
Sometimes, and it is worth asking. But topping — cutting the leaders off to shorten a tree — is not that. It produces a burst of weak regrowth attached to a wound that does not close, and in five years you have a more dangerous tree than the one you started with. Real alternatives are crown reduction on specific limbs, or taking weight off the side that is over your house.
What if the tree is on the property line?
In Massachusetts you can prune branches and roots that cross onto your property, at your own expense, back to the line — but the tree itself belongs to whoever owns the ground the trunk stands on, and you cannot take it down without them. If the trunk straddles the line it belongs to both of you. The short version: talk to your neighbor before you book the work, and get it in writing if the tree is coming out.
The tree is between the sidewalk and the street. Is that mine?
Probably not. Trees in the strip between the sidewalk and the road are usually public shade trees under Massachusetts law, and removing one takes a hearing with the town tree warden — not a phone call to a tree company. Call your town DPW first. If it turns out to be on your side of the line we can quote it.
Which trees come down first in a storm here?
Eastern white pine, by a wide margin. It is shallow-rooted, it holds its needles all winter so a wet snow or a nor'easter loads the whole crown, and the wood is brittle enough that big limbs snap before the trunk gives. Red maple and red oak with included bark at a main fork are the next most common failures. If you have a white pine leaning toward the house, that is the one to deal with before the season.
Do you work in the winter?
Yes. Winter is often the better time for it — the ground is firm, the leaves are down so we can actually see the structure of the tree, and the lawn takes less of a beating. Dormant pruning is easier on the tree too.
Free same-day estimates
Get an estimate on tree removal
The more you can tell us — how big, how close to the house or the wires, how soon — the closer the number is before anyone drives out.
Rather just call?
(508) 510-2899Call or text. If it is a tree on a wire, call your electric utility first — the number is on your bill.