Updated October 22, 2026
This tree service pricing calculator builds a removal or trimming bid from what the climber sees on the walk-around: tree height, trunk diameter, the type of job, what it could hit, how you get to it, your crew and what they cost, the bucket truck or crane days, haul and dump fees and stump grinding by the inch. You get a bid, the crew hours behind it, your rate per crew-hour and the break-even.
Quick answer: Crew hours = height ÷ 10 × your hours per 10 ft × job type × diameter × hazard × access factors, plus setup, cleanup and drive. Bid = (crew hours × crew size × labor cost + crew hours × truck and chipper cost + bucket truck or crane days + haul and dump + stump grinding) ÷ (1 − margin), never less than your minimum.
An estimate from the numbers you entered, not a market price. Put in your own costs for a number you can stand behind.
Home service businesses answer only about half their calls (Invoca, July 2026), and owners spend about 11 to 16 hours/week on admin. Pricing is the easy part; the money leaks out in the calls you can't take, the quotes nobody chases and the invoices that sit unpaid. Unmanually is a 24/7 AI Office Manager for tree service companies that you run by voice from your phone:
Sources: Invoca, July 2026 (52% of home-service calls answered by a person, 60M+ calls); admin hours: Time etc / Censuswide 2023 and Amex SME Barometer 2026.
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work hours = height ÷ 10 × crew hours per 10 ft × job × diameter × hazard × access × wood factors × number of treescrew hours = work hours + setup and cleanup + drive minutes ÷ 60equipment days = crew hours ÷ 8, rounded upbreak-even = crew hours × crew × labor cost × (1 + burden) + crew hours × truck and chipper + bucket or crane day rate × days + stump diameter × cost per inch × trees + haul and dump + permitsbid = max(break-even ÷ (1 − margin) × timing factor, minimum)rate per crew-hour = bid ÷ crew hours
These are assumptions for illustration, not market figures. Swap in your own.
A 60 ft tree, 30 inches in diameter, full removal next to the house with rigging needed, equipment can reach it. Crew of 3 at $28 a person-hour, $45 per crew-hour for truck, chipper and overhead, 0.6 crew hours per 10 ft of height, 1 hour setup and cleanup, 30-minute drive, bucket truck at $350/day, stump grinding at $3 an inch, $120 haul and dump, 30% margin.
Base time is 60 ÷ 10 × 0.6 = 3.6 hours, × 1.3 for diameter and × 1.3 for the house = 6.08 hours on the tree. With setup, cleanup and drive that is 7.58 crew hours. Labor is 7.58 × 3 × $28 = $637.06, truck and chipper $341.28, bucket truck one day $350, stump 30 × $3 = $90, haul and dump $120. Break-even is $1,538.34, and at 30% margin the bid is $2,197.62, or $289.77 per crew-hour.
If the tree is dead and leaning over the roof (×1.6 instead of ×1.3), the work runs to 8.99 crew hours, past one 8-hour day, so the bucket truck is booked for a second day and the bid becomes $2,956.36. Price the risk, not just the wood.
Height gives you the starting point, but diameter, what the tree can land on and how you get the wood out decide the hours. An open-drop pine in a field and the same pine over a garage are different jobs. Keep your factors simple and consistent, then calibrate them from your own job records so two estimators give the same bid. Write the factors on the estimate sheet so the crew leader can see why the job was priced the way it was.
Bucket trucks, cranes and loaders cost money whether they run one hour or eight, so price them per day. When one job uses a crane for two hours, schedule a second crane job the same day if you can; the day rate gets split and both bids get more competitive.
Many homeowners don't realize stump grinding is a separate line. Offer it on every removal, priced by the inch of diameter, with a minimum. Ask about root flares, rocks and buried utilities before you quote, and call in a locate when the rules require it.
Dump fees, trips to the yard and the time to load them are real costs. If you sell firewood or drop chips for gardeners, that lowers disposal, but don't count on it in every bid. Leaving the wood cut to length for the homeowner can lower the price and still save you a trip.
Storms bring emergency calls with trees on roofs, cars and lines. Price emergency work for the risk and the overtime, and photograph everything for the insurance claim. Winter is a good season for removals and pruning many species, and it keeps crews busy when other outdoor trades slow down.
Under the bid the calculator shows the published consumer range for one removal at that height: Housecall Pro tree trimming and removal pricing (2026, from Angi data), checked Oct 26, 2026. Use it as a sanity check, not a price list: a hazardous, crane or storm job should land above it, and a bid well below it usually means hours or costs are missing.
A homeowner with a tree leaning on the roof calls tree services until one answers. Unmanually is an AI Office Manager that works 24/7 and that you run by voice: the AI Office Manager answers, asks the height, what it is near, whether it is dead or damaged and the access, gives your price range, books the estimate or the job and texts the confirmation, then sends the invoice and chases it. See what Unmanually does for tree service companies, or get a free website that calls every new lead back in about a minute.
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Estimate crew hours from height, diameter, hazards and access, multiply by your crew cost, add equipment days, haul and dump and stump grinding, then divide by one minus your margin. The calculator shows each step.
It depends on what it is near and your costs. With the worked example's assumptions (30-inch trunk, next to the house, bucket truck, stump grinding, 30% margin) the bid is about $2,198. Change the hazard or access and it moves a lot.
Many companies price it by the inch of diameter with a minimum per stump. Enter your own cost per inch; the calculator adds it to the removal bid when the box is ticked.
Trimming takes a fraction of the removal time, depending on how much comes out. This calculator uses 0.5 for a heavy trim, 0.35 for a crown clean and 0.2 for light clearance work as starting points.
Trees near lines need rigging, extra care and sometimes a qualified line-clearance crew or the utility. Many tree companies won't work within certain distances of lines without the right qualification. Price the extra time with the hazard factor, and check your local rules.
Price it as a separate rate, not a favor: the wood is unstable, the crew is often working after hours and your schedule gets rearranged. This calculator applies the timing factor you choose (×1.25 for a rush, ×1.5 for storm or after-hours work) to the whole bid. Get written sign-off before cutting, even on an emergency call.
Housecall Pro's 2026 guide, based on Angi consumer data, lists small removals under 30 ft at $150–$450, 30–60 ft at $450–$1,200, 60–80 ft at $800–$1,500 and over 80 ft at $1,000–$2,000+. The calculator shows that range under your bid and flags a single-tree removal priced below it.
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