Tree Removal Cost in MA (2026)

Every tree-removal quote starts the same way. The homeowner braces like I'm about to tell them what a new roof costs. Fair enough — nobody calls a tree company hoping for good financial news.

So here is the straight answer. Most tree removals in Massachusetts run $300 to $3,000, and your tree removal cost comes down to three things: size, access, and what the tree is leaning over. I'm Keith McDonald. I have been doing tree work out of Billerica since 1995, and I have quoted enough trees to tell you roughly where yours lands before I finish my coffee. Here is how it breaks down in 2026.

Tree Removal Cost by Size

Size is the biggest lever on the price. Bigger tree, more wood, more time, more truck. Here is how my crew sorts it.

Small Trees (Under 30 Feet) — $300 to $500

Ornamental trees, young pines, fruit trees, anything you can see the top of without doing your neck a favour. Two of us knock most of these out in a morning. If it is already dead and the wood is light, faster still. Crabapples, dogwoods, ornamental cherries, small birch — that is your $300-to-$500 bracket.

Medium Trees (30 to 60 Feet) — $500 to $1,000

This is most of what we do. A 40-foot oak in the back, a 50-foot white pine leaning at the house, a maple that outgrew the lot. Full crew, climbing or a bucket, half a day to a full day. Most of our weekly work in Tewksbury and Wilmington sits right here.

Large Trees (60 Feet and Up) — $1,000 to $3,000+

The big ones. A 70-foot oak over the garage, an 80-foot pine next to the power lines, a maple older than the house. Full-day jobs, experienced climbers, heavy rigging, sometimes a crane. The number climbs when access is tight, the tree is close to the house, or we have to coordinate with the utility.

The Quick Version

• Small tree (under 30 ft): $300 – $500
• Medium tree (30–60 ft): $500 – $1,000
• Large tree (60–80 ft): $1,000 – $2,500
• Very large tree (80+ ft): $2,000 – $3,000+
• Stump grinding add-on: $150 – $300
• Crane-assisted removal: $2,000 – $5,000+

Those are flat, all-in numbers — the price I write down before we start, dump fee and cleanup included. If a quote ever comes back as “starting at” a number, that is not a price. That is bait. A real estimate is one figure, in writing, given after someone has actually looked at the tree.

What Drives Your Tree Removal Cost

Two trees the same height can carry very different price tags. Here is why.

Species and Wood Density

Hardwoods — red oak, white oak, sugar maple — are heavy and slow to cut, rig, and haul. A 50-foot red oak outweighs a 50-foot white pine by a lot. More weight means more labour, more chipper fuel, more trips to empty the truck (physics, not a markup). Softwoods like pine and spruce are lighter and usually run 20 to 30 percent less at the same height.

Location and Access

A tree alone in an open front yard is cheaper than the same tree wedged between your house and the neighbour's fence. In Lowell and Woburn we pull trees out of backyards with six feet of clearance on each side. That is slower, takes more rigging, and asks more of the crew. On the bigger lots in Carlisle and Westford we can often back equipment right up to the trunk, which saves time and saves you money.

What It Is Leaning Over

A tree over your roof, your pool, or the power lines costs more because the margin for error is zero. Every cut is deliberate. Every piece gets rigged down by hand. We have done thousands of these across Billerica, Chelmsford, and Tewksbury, and they always take longer than an open-lot drop.

The Tree's Condition

Here is the one that surprises people: a dead tree often costs more than a live one. Dead wood does not read the plan. Branches snap with no warning, trunks go hollow, and the wood crumbles when the saw touches it. The branch manager, as it were, has already resigned. A healthy tree with solid wood is predictable, and predictable is cheaper.

Emergency vs. Scheduled

A tree on your car at 2am during a nor'easter is a different animal than a removal booked for next Tuesday. Emergency work means after-hours crew, hazardous conditions, and cutting around storm damage — usually 25 to 50 percent more than a scheduled job. We answer at (978) 375-2272 around the clock, because trees have never once waited for business hours.

How Many Trees

More trees, better per-tree price. We are already onsite with the crew and the gear, so the second and third do not carry the same setup cost as the first. We do a lot of multi-tree clears in Dracut where folks are taking down a stand of dead pines at once.

Stump Grinding: The Add-On Everyone Forgets

The tree comes down and you are left with a stump, which most people forget about right up until they mow into it in June. Stump grinding runs $150 to $300 for a typical residential stump, depending on diameter and how far the roots run. If we are already onsite for the removal, we will usually grind it the same day for a bundled price that beats a separate visit.

What moves stump cost:

• Diameter — a 12-inch stump is 15 minutes; a 36-inch oak with roots radiating six feet takes an hour-plus.
• Root spread — Norway and silver maple send roots across the whole yard. Grinding the stump is easy; chasing roots is the work.
• Access — grinder right up to the stump is simple; behind a fence or down a slope means a smaller machine and more time.
• Count — three or more stumps gets package pricing.

Full breakdown in our stump grinding cost guide.

Crane Removal: $2,000 to $5,000+

Some trees cannot come down safely with rope and a climber. Too big, too close to the house, or no clear spot to drop a single piece. That is when we bring a crane and lift the tree out in sections, straight up and over whatever is in the way. As Jaws taught a generation: sometimes you are gonna need a bigger boat.

A crane earns its keep on:

• Large trees directly over a house or garage
• Backyards with no equipment access
• Dead trees too dangerous to climb
• Trees over a pool or patio you would like to keep

We have run crane jobs in tight Burlington neighbourhoods, on Wilmington waterfront, and across the wooded lots in Carlisle. The crane adds $500 to $1,500-plus in setup depending on size and time, but it is often the only safe play — and it actually speeds the job up, since we are lifting big pieces instead of nibbling the tree down one limb at a time.

Do You Need a Permit? What That Runs

On your own private property, in most of our towns, you do not need a permit — unless the tree is near wetlands, in a conservation area, or along a scenic road. A few towns are stricter:

• Lexington needs a permit for any tree over 12 inches in diameter on private property. One of the strictest bylaws in the state.
• Bedford has a Tree Preservation bylaw that can trigger Planning Board review over 10 inches in certain zones.
• Carlisle carries heavy conservation restrictions, and a lot of lots border protected wetlands.
• Every town needs Tree Warden sign-off to remove a public shade tree, under Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 87.

Permit fees, when you need one, run $25 to $100. We handle the paperwork at no charge, and if your tree needs a permit we will tell you before we touch it. Town-by-town detail is in our Massachusetts tree removal permits guide.

How to Spend Less (Honestly)

A few things that actually save money, after thirty years of doing this:

• Book ahead. Scheduled beats emergency every time. If a tree is dying but not dangerous yet, put it on the calendar. Winter is often ideal — frozen ground means less lawn damage, and the schedule is looser.
• Bundle it. Removal, a stump, a couple of prunes — do them in one visit and you only pay to mobilize once.
• Keep the firewood. Wood stove or fire pit? Tell us to leave the trunk wood and we will buck it to length. Saves us the haul and saves you buying a cord.
• Get a few quotes. I tell people this to their face. A good estimate is free, written, and given after someone actually looks at the tree.

And here is the part most tree companies will not put in writing: sometimes you should not hire us at all. A branch you can reach from the ground with a pole saw is a Saturday, not a service call. And if your tree just needs a prune, I will say so — I am not going to talk you into a removal you do not need. A fellow two streets over called me last fall sure his oak had to go, after a door-knocker quoted him a number that nearly doubled mine. I walked the trunk, found sound wood, and told him to keep the tree and prune the deadwood out. He kept the oak and his money. I sleep fine.

Red Flags When You Are Hiring

Not every outfit with a chipper is the real thing. Watch for:

• No proof of insurance. Ask for a certificate showing general liability and workers' comp. Cannot produce one, walk away. An uninsured crew that drops a limb on your roof leaves you holding the bill.
• Door-knocking after a storm. The good crews are too busy at the houses that already called them. They are not cruising your street.
• A quote at half of everyone else's. There is a reason, and it is usually insurance, equipment, or the cleanup you will not see happen.
• Full payment up front. A reasonable deposit is normal. The whole bill before a saw starts is not.

Straight Answers

The questions we get most, answered the way I would answer them in your driveway.

When's the cheapest time of year to remove a tree?

Winter, usually. The ground is frozen so we do less damage to your lawn, and the calendar is quieter than storm season, so there is more give on scheduling. A dying tree that is not an immediate hazard is a great one to hold for a cold, dry week.

Does homeowners insurance cover tree removal?

Usually only when the tree hits something covered — your house, garage, or fence. A healthy tree that falls in the yard and lands on nothing is typically on you. A dead tree you knew about and ignored can be a coverage fight too. Check your policy, or read the Insurance Information Institute's plain-English rundown before you assume.

How can I save money on tree removal?

Schedule ahead instead of calling it an emergency, bundle a few jobs into one visit, and keep the firewood. Those three move the needle most. Getting two or three written quotes does not hurt either.

Can I take the tree down myself?

Small stuff you can reach from the ground, sure. Anything overhead, anything near a wire, anything that needs a ladder and a running chainsaw at the same time — no. That combination sends people to the emergency room every year. Save the DIY for the brush pile.

How long does a tree removal take?

A small tree is a couple of hours. A medium tree is half a day to a full day. A large or crane job is a full day. Tight access and bad weather stretch all of those.

Is a dead tree cheaper to remove?

Often the opposite. Dead wood is brittle and unpredictable, which makes it slower and more dangerous to take down safely. Do not assume a dead tree is the bargain.

Do I need a permit to remove a tree in Massachusetts?

On private property, usually not — unless you are in a town like Lexington or Bedford, near wetlands, or the tree is a public shade tree in the right-of-way. We check before we cut and pull any permit you need.

Get a Free Estimate

McDonald Tree Service has been working out of Billerica since 1995. I answer the phone, I give the estimate, and I am on the job. We are licensed and insured, we show up when we said we would, and we serve 18 towns across Middlesex County and the Merrimack Valley — Billerica, Chelmsford, Lowell, Tewksbury, Wilmington, Burlington, Bedford, Carlisle, Dracut, Westford, Andover, Woburn, and Lexington.

Call (978) 375-2272 and I will come look at the tree and give you an honest number. Worst case, I tell you to keep the tree and you have spent nothing but a phone call. That is the kind of bad-for-business advice we give away for free.