Most removals in this area run $500 to $1,200. Here's what drives that number, and how to tell whether your tree actually needs to come down.
| Size | Range |
|---|---|
| Under 25 ftOrnamentals, redbuds, small maples, volunteer trees | $250–500 |
| 25–50 ftThe typical yard tree in most local subdivisions | $500–1,200 |
| 50 ft and upMature pin oak, sycamore, silver maple, cottonwood | $1,200–3,000 |
| Technical removalOver a roof, near a power drop, no equipment access | $2,500–6,000 |
| Stump grinding, added onRoughly $3–5 per inch of diameter | $100–400 |
Height matters less than people expect. What matters is what's underneath and whether we can get to it.
Not every problem tree is a removal. A good company will tell you when trimming solves it. These are the situations where removal is usually the right call:
No leaves in a season when it should have them, bark sloughing off in sheets, mushrooms or conks growing at the base, or limbs dropping on calm days. A dead tree doesn't get safer with time — it gets more brittle and harder to take down, which means it also gets more expensive.
Emerald ash borer has worked through the Kansas City area and killed a large share of the ash out here. If you have a standing dead ash, treat it as a priority. Ash decays fast and becomes genuinely dangerous to climb, and a crew that would have taken it down for $900 two years ago may need a bucket truck now.
Old trees with an established lean are often fine. A lean that appeared after a storm, especially with soil heaving or cracking on the opposite side of the trunk, means the root plate has failed. In this area's clay soils that happens more often than people expect, particularly after a wet spring followed by high wind.
A visible crack running down the trunk, or a V-shaped fork with included bark splitting apart, means the tree can come apart under load. Silver maples and Bradford pears in the newer subdivisions do this constantly, usually during ice.
Sometimes there's nothing wrong with the tree. It's over the septic field, growing into the foundation, blocking where the shop is going, or lifting the driveway. That's a fine reason.
If you're not sure, take a photo and send it. We'll tell you straight if it can be saved with trimming. We'd rather have a customer who trusts us than one removal we talked someone into.
Most residential removals are a half day. Larger ones or anything with tight access can run a full day or two.
No. Removal leaves the stump cut low. Grinding is separate and usually adds $100 to $400 depending on diameter. Most people do both at once since it saves a trip.
For a tree on your own property, generally not in most towns out here. Street trees in the right-of-way are a different question — those are often the city's responsibility and may need approval or may be handled by public works entirely. Call your city hall before touching anything near the curb.
Usually only if the tree has already caused damage or fallen on a structure. Homeowner policies typically don't pay to remove a healthy or even a dead standing tree — that's considered maintenance. If a tree came down on your house, that's a different conversation and worth a call to your carrier.
Heavy equipment on soft ground leaves marks. We use mats and plywood where it matters, but after a wet week some rutting is possible on any job. We'll tell you up front if we think the ground is too soft to work without damage.
Normally one to two weeks. After a significant wind or ice event, longer — everyone in the county calls the same day. Emergencies still get priority.
A photo with something for scale and a note about how close the nearest structure is gets you an estimate within a couple hundred dollars of the real thing.
Storm damage or something hanging over the house? See emergency tree service.