Tree removal in New Jersey

When you need this

• The tree is dead, hollow, or dropping large limbs.
• It leans toward a house, garage, shed or neighbor's property.
• Roots are lifting a driveway or walkway, or reaching a foundation or sewer line.
• It is an ash that died back from emerald ash borer, which has killed many ash across New Jersey.
• You are clearing space for an addition, pool, driveway or solar panels.

What happens

1. Someone looks at the tree, usually before quoting, and you get a written price. Photos sometimes work for an estimate, but a real price usually needs a visit.
2. On the day the crew sets up: they protect or clear the area under the tree and check for wires, fences and anything fragile nearby.
3. A climber (or a bucket truck or crane, if one can reach) takes the tree down in sections, lowering heavy pieces on ropes so they do not land on the house or yard.
4. The crew cuts the trunk into logs and feeds the branches through a chipper. Whether they haul it all away, leave logs, or leave chips depends on what the quote says.
5. The stump stays unless the quote includes grinding it. See stump grinding.

What affects the quote

• Height and trunk width. Every cost guide we read puts size first.
• Whether a crane or bucket truck can reach it, or a climber has to work through a fence and a tight yard.
• How close the tree is to the house, wires and neighboring structures, which forces smaller cuts and more rigging.
• The tree's condition. A dead or storm-damaged tree can be riskier to climb.
• What the quote includes: hauling the wood, chipping the brush, grinding the stump. Many quotes leave some of these out.
• A town permit or replacement-tree requirement, where there is one.

We set no prices. For published national cost ranges and where they come from, see the pricing guide. A real price needs someone to look at the job.

Questions to ask the company

• Is the quote in writing, and does it list hauling, cleanup and stump work as separate lines?
• Can I see a certificate of liability insurance, and proof of workers' compensation coverage for the crew?
• Does the company hold any New Jersey license for tree work, and what is the number?
• Who applies for the town permit if one is needed, and who pays the fee and any replacement tree?
• What happens if the tree is bigger or harder than it looked? Does the price change, and who decides?

We are a referral site, not the tree company, so we cannot answer these for the company that calls you. Ask them.

Permits

Some New Jersey towns require a permit, a fee or a replacement tree before a tree comes down, in some cases even on your own lot. Others may not. We cannot tell you for your address. Each town page has a permit note and, where we found it, a link to the town's own rules. If the tree is dead or dangerous, ask the town whether that changes anything rather than assuming it does.

Choose your town to see its permit note.

Other services

• Tree trimming and pruning
• Stump grinding
• Emergency storm tree work
• Lot clearing