Do I need a permit to remove a tree?

Permit requirements vary widely by municipality in Michigan. Cities like Troy, Birmingham, and Rochester Hills have specific tree preservation ordinances. As your local experts, we can advise you on the necessary steps and help you navigate the permit process before we begin.

Will your equipment damage my lawn or driveway?

Property protection is our top priority. We take every precaution, including using heavy-duty ground protection mats for our machinery, to ensure we leave no ruts in your grass or marks on your concrete.

How much does tree removal cost?

Cost depends on the size, location, and condition of the tree. A dead tree leaning over a house requires more specialized equipment than a small tree in an open field. Call us at 248-672-8058 for a fast, free, and accurate estimate.

Tree removal in Oakland County, Michigan

Reviewed by Robert Burgund, ISA Certified Arborist MI-4857A

Most removals here run $600 to $2,500. Two trees the same height on the same street can be a thousand dollars apart, and the difference is almost never the tree. It is what sits underneath it, and whether our equipment can reach it.

Established 2013
13+ Years Climbing Experience
ISA Certified Arborist MI-4857A
Fully Licensed & Insured

Below is how we price a removal and what is included. There is also one honest question worth asking before you take a mature tree down at all.

What every removal includes

Sectional dismantling where it matters. Anywhere a roof, pool, fence or power line sits below the canopy, the tree comes down a piece at a time. Each section is roped and lowered under control. Nothing free-falls that cannot safely free-fall.
Complete cleanup, spelled out in writing. Brush chipped, trunk wood cut into rounds, the site raked and the driveway swept. The cleanup scope goes in the quote itself, because cleanup is where competing estimates most often turn out to mean different things.
Property protection as a default. Ground protection mats under machinery and plywood over hardscape. Your lawn should not look like a logging road when we pull out.
The permit check, handled. Several Oakland County cities require approval before a removal. We confirm your city’s position before the job goes on the calendar, and there is more on that below.

Arborist lowering a tree section beside a Michigan home, one piece at a time — Sectional removal beside a home, one controlled piece at a time instead of felled.

What actually moves the price

Factor	Why it matters
Access	Can a truck or crane reach the tree, or does every piece leave by hand through a 36-inch gate? This moves the price more than anything else.
What is underneath	A roof, pool, septic field or power line means every section gets roped down instead of dropped. Slower, safer, more expensive.
Species	Oak and hickory are dense, heavy, slow wood. A poplar or willow the same size comes apart in a fraction of the time.
Condition	Rot changes the whole plan. Wood too decayed to trust with a climber can force crane work on an otherwise ordinary tree.
Cleanup scope	Hauling every last stick costs more than leaving rounds stacked for firewood. You choose, and we price it both ways.
Season	Winter genuinely costs less. Frozen ground carries equipment, bare canopies are easier to work, and demand drops off.

When a crane earns its keep

A crane is not for every removal. On the right tree it is both the safer option and the cheaper one.

If a tree is dead, badly decayed, leaning over a structure or simply too big to dismantle from a rope, the crane lifts each section straight up and swings it clear. Nothing gets lowered through the canopy, the climber spends far less time in questionable wood, and nothing swings over your roof.

Crane-assisted removal starts at $3,500. Because the job often goes twice as fast, the total can come in under a conventional rigging job on the same tree.

Crane-assisted tree removal in Oakland County, Michigan — Crane-assisted removal, the answer when a tree is too large or too far gone to climb safely.

The stump comes out too

Standard practice on our removals is to grind the stump well below grade, so you can reseed, replant nearby or pave over the spot.

It is priced by the width of the stump, at $125 per foot of diameter, and booking it alongside the removal avoids a separate trip.

Full stump grinding costs and questions →

Check your city before you cut

Several Oakland County communities require sign-off before a tree comes down. Novi protects trees 36 inches and up anywhere on a property, and anything over 8 inches inside a regulated woodland. Farmington Hills starts at 6 inches, and Rochester Hills from 6. Dead trees are usually exempt, but a parcel inside a mapped woodland can be regulated at any size, in any condition. We make this call to your municipality as part of the free estimate, so you never find out about a rule after the tree is on the ground.

Are you sure it needs to go?

We would genuinely rather tell you the tree can stay. A mature shade tree adds real value to a property and cannot be replaced within your lifetime.

A surprising share of trees that look finished turn out to have a fixable problem.

A trunk flare buried under years of mulch
A girdling root slowly strangling the stem
Plain drought stress

It is also fair to be skeptical when a company that sells removals tells you your tree needs removing. So here is our advice, and it applies to us too. Ask whoever assesses your tree whether they are an ISA Certified Arborist, then look the certification up by name at treesaregood.org.

Notice whether they ever recommend anything smaller than the biggest job on the menu. We do, regularly. It is exactly why people trust us when we say a removal really is the right call.

Get an accurate number for your tree

We cannot price a removal honestly until we have seen what is around the tree. Free on-site estimates across Oakland County, in writing, with the scope spelled out.

Call or Text 248-672-8058 Request a Free Estimate