cost of cutting down a tree?

Hi everyone

we have a very large tree out the front of our house which we would like removed.My question is does anyone have an idea of what it should cost.
We have had quotes ranging from either around $1200 or around $4000 nothing in between (we've had about 6 quotes) and it seems the dearer ones are trying to quote themselves out of the job because they say they don't want to do it.
The cheaper one didn't turn up 4 times.

The tree is growing beside powerlines & is only a couple of metres from the house. i've attached a picture & the house is highset(doesn't show in the picture)

If anyone knows a treelopper in the Ipswich area or western suburbs of brisbane
who would be prepared to do the job at a reasonable price please let me know
i'll get a better picture if needed

thanks

Well I don't know how it works in Brisbane, but if you cut a tree down in Sydney without Councli approval, it can be VERY expensive.

Have you talked to you local Council?

From th pic it looks like an inapropriately planted tree to me so I wouldn't think you'd have a problem getting a tick.

Best to check first though.

i've checked with Ipswich city council & they said i was allowed to cut down any trees on my property

Have you tried Energex?

They'll give anything a lusty old haircut if it looks like it could damage a powerline in a storm.

Once severely lopped, you might find the costs go down a bit??

Cheers,

P ;)

yes i've tried Energex & all they ever do is cut 1 or 2 branches off
apparently as long as there are no branches within 2 metres or so of the powerlines its safe.
doesn't matter how many are above the lines though
apparently if they come off they don't fall down
i've tried everything to get rid of this tree over the last couple of years short of trying to do it myself
but being inexperienced i don't think thats a very good option

Update your insurance.
Three sticks of gele.
Very, very long fuse.
Two tickets to Tibet.
Taxi waiting.
Light fuse and GO :D

Cheers
Richard

That looks like crane work given the site of the tree.

If I'm right then $1200 is an absolute bargain because the crane will take up about half of that quote.

I recently had a tree cut down in the Council setback area with the same problem. They couldn't cut it down because of power lines and my fence. The loppers like to cut it down whole then cut it up. Thats the easy way. The crane job is the hard way (and slower- one chainsaw at a time).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by reybec

i've checked with Ipswich city council & they said i was allowed to cut down any trees on my property

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Really? ANY trees? Are you sure?

I didn't think that you were THAT neanderthal in Brisbane.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by craigb

Really? ANY trees? Are you sure?

I didn't think that you were THAT neanderthal in Brisbane.

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i think in Brisbane you can't

but out in Ipswich you can according to the treeloppers & the person i spoke to in council

i wont tell you what they say about us Ipswich people:D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by reybec

ibut out in Ipswich you can according to the treeloppers & the person i spoke to in council

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The person on the council was probably the tree lopper's brother :eek: :rolleyes:

Is Ipswich closer to Kingaroy or Brisbane? :confused:

its closer to Brisbane
in fact its the city next to Brisbanes west

Quote:

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Originally Posted by reybec

its closer to Brisbane
in fact its the city next to Brisbanes west

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Geographically perhaps.

Alas, it sound like its soul is closer to Kingaroy (Joh Country)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Reybec

in Ipswich you can according to the treeloppers & the person i spoke to in council

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Do you have that on paper in black and white... it could be hearsay.

We had some treeloppers call around some years ago to quote on removing two tree's, $600 and claimed that they would be the cheapest by far, a local bloke was dioing some work in the street and I approached him.
He had a look said $100 cash and he would do it straight away.
Took about 15 minutes and he cut it off in 1 metre sections and lowered it on a rope, he left me about 2 metres poking out of the ground to do myself.
Tree's were about 10 metres high and about 1 metres at the base.
Shop around a bit more.

Hi Reybec

$1200 is a bargain. To do a tree like that is a real ba$tard. You need to be VERY careful around power lines When I was a tree lopper I had a couple of very close calls with them.

The tree either needs to be climbed and cut down bit-by-bit or use a cherry picker.

Climbing the tree and cutting it down is time consuming and relatively dangerous whilst hiring a cherry picker can get expensive but is MUCH safer.

The cheapest way would have been to offer the SEQEB boys a couple of hundred dollars to complete the job for you. This may still be an option. :)

There is a man in Brisbane (Frank Kingman) (he lives at Rochedale) used to work with me in the bad old days. He is very good. Look up his number and give him a ring. Mention my name. :)

The main cost of removal of the tree is actually taking everything to the dump to get rid of it. If you can do this bit yourself then you could save heaps.