Tree Service in Pontiac, MI | Dead Ash Removal & Storm Cleanup
- Established 2013
- 13+ Years Climbing Experience
- ISA Certified Arborist MI-4857A
- Fully Licensed & Insured
What tree work looks like in Pontiac
Drive through Pontiac in winter and you can pick out the ash trees without getting out of the car. They are the bare grey ones with no fine twigs left, and there are a lot of them.
The emerald ash borer went through years ago. Trees that were never treated died, and a great many are still standing in back yards because removing them costs money and they have not fallen on anything yet. That is the situation we are called into most often here, and it is one where waiting genuinely costs more.
Good news for most homeowners. Pontiac’s woodlands ordinance (Chapter 130) expressly exempts small tracts with an existing single-family home, so trees inside your own property line are generally your decision. The ordinance does apply on vacant, undeveloped and non-residential land, where trees 6 inches and wider need a permit. And the strip between sidewalk and street holds city trees either way. If you are not sure which side of the line your tree stands on, we establish that during the free estimate. Rules change and depend on the parcel, so this is a starting point, not legal advice.
Why a dead ash gets more expensive every year
This is the single most useful thing we can tell a Pontiac homeowner, so here it is plainly.
A dead ash does not stay the same. The wood dries out and turns brittle, and it happens faster in ash than in almost anything else we work on. While a tree is still sound enough to climb, a person can go up it, rig the limbs and take it down in an orderly way.
Once it is too brittle to trust, nobody is climbing it. It has to come down with a crane or a lift, and that can double the cost of the same tree. The bill for waiting three years is not the same bill you would have paid today.
What we do here
Dead ash removal is most of what we do in Pontiac. On the tighter city lots the tree has to be roped down piece by piece rather than felled, and we grind the stump out while we are there.
Storm cleanup around the clock, photographed and documented for your insurer. And straight answers about which trees actually need to go. A thin canopy is not the same thing as a dead tree.
Tree removal → Emergency response → Is my tree dying? →
The trees you’re working with
Silver and Norway maple, honey locust along the streets, and green ash, most of it dead now. Silver maple is the other one to watch: fast growing, soft, and inclined to drop long limbs onto garages in a summer storm.
What removal costs in Pontiac
Pricing in Pontiac usually runs $600 to $2,500. A dead ash in an open back yard, taken down while it can still be climbed, is usually near the bottom of that. The same tree left another few years until it needs a crane is a different job at a different price.
Common questions
Do I need a permit to remove a tree in Pontiac, MI?
Usually not. Pontiac’s woodlands ordinance (Chapter 130) exempts small tracts with an existing single-family home, so trees inside your property line are generally your decision.
Vacant and non-residential land is treated differently, with a permit needed from 6 inches. And whatever the lot, the strip between sidewalk and street holds city trees.
Will homeowners insurance pay to remove a dead tree?
Generally not. Most policies cover removal after a tree has fallen and caused damage. Not preventative removal of a dead or dying tree, which insurers treat as maintenance.
That is worth knowing before you wait: the dead ash in the yard is your cost either way, and it only goes up. Once something has fallen, photograph everything before it is moved.
Get the dead ash down while it can still be climbed.
Free on-site estimates across Pontiac. Robert will tell you which trees genuinely need to go and which ones do not.
Call or Text 248-672-8058Request a Free Estimate
Written and reviewed by Robert Burgund
ISA CERTIFIED ARBORIST · MI-4857A
Owner of Tree Pros, LLC in Bloomfield Township. Verify the certification by name in ISA’s public directory.