First quote to crown reduce by 2m a mature sycamore tree …£510 incl VAT, in sth Manchester.

That includes taking away the waste.

It’s a big tree, say 50ft or so.

Does the quote seem reasonable to you?

We kept cost down by doing all the clear up and removal ourselves – this is the time consuming bit.
I paid them to do the dangerous and skilled bit – dropping a single 30m high birch. Cost £300 – which is reasonable for two people for a short morning IMO.

today I’m working at home, as I’ve had the tree surgeons around. Reduce three yews from 40ft to 6ft. And take down a 50ft dead cherry.

£395.

However, i will be getting rid of all the brush. And there’s a lot…he did say if i wasn’t doing it, it would be two men for two days to chip it.

200 quid for a morning’s work (2 ppl for ~3.5 hours including some good aerobatics) to thin the crown of a big beech tree including removal and chipping of what they chopped. West Yorkshire.

Hmm, seems like my quote is on the steep side. I was thinking £300 ish to do work and remove waste.

I had a massive leylandii felled a few years ago and I reckon I was ripped off, I was really angry with myself for letting it happen. Which I think is the reason behind questioning this quote.

I must get a 2nd quote for comparison.

I had two quotes for my work; my usual tree surgeon said four people, all day. £800

And then – as i say – it was £400. Two people though. So (even my addled brain can work out) the price appears £200 a day per person

again, all detritus left.

many years ago when i did a bit of that if we didnt want to do the job we would quote super high and if it was accepted then it made it worth doing.

Naranjada – Member
First quote to crown reduce by 2m a mature sycamore tree …£510 inc VAT

That does sound a bit expensive; however, we have used the same tree-work people for years (family firm who are not cheap).

I always try look at like this:
If their quote is £x.
Real quote = 2/3 £x plus 1/3 extra for having decent people at our / the neighbours’ properties.

There are a lot of ‘do as you likeys’ in this game.

Thanks all!

I have a second quote coming in by mid week so I’ll make a call then.

Cheers

It doesn’t sound too bad depending on how big the job really is. By all means get a second quote and also consider which outfit you’d prefer to use. I paid 1500 for a whole tree felling (big sycamore, counted over 150 rings), which took 8 person-days as they had to do it a slice at a time. And they chipped the brash and left the wood which will heat my house for a few more winters to come. I had a second slightly higher quote, the guy I chose was small enough to be VAT-free which is worth thinking about.

Are there any lamp posts, fences, shrubs, roads, greenhouses etc in the vicinity? There may be rigging and rope work required that the quote is taking into account. Regardless, the quote seems spot on to me.

Can anyone recommend a tree surgeon type near Nottingham? Young Ms M would like a masshoosive pine removed from her garden. Problem – access is restricted to vehicles less than 2.1m high.