Tree Trimming Cost

On most properties in Las Vegas, trees are used as ornaments. However, for the trees to be appealing, they need well-shaped crowns, zero dead branches, and limbs that complement the landscape design. Tree trimming helps property owners achieve a good-looking shape on their trees. 

Professional tree trimmers charge $80 to $1000 per tree. Since most homes have medium-sized trees, most tree owners spend $100 to $400 on tree trimming. Tree size is one of the main factors that affect the tree trimming cost – as the trees move from the medium size category to the large category, the tree trimming cost increases from $400 to over $1000. 

Factors Affecting the Tree Trimming Cost in Las Vegas, Nevada 

1. Tree Size 

Both the height and crown size affect the tree trimming cost significantly. Tree height, however, is directly related to crown width, with the crown spread generally increasing with tree height. 

White oaks, for example, grow to a height of about 80 feet and often have a crown spread of 70 feet. Crape myrtles, on the other hand, will mature at 30 feet with a crown width of 20 feet. In this case, the white oak will need more time to trim, compared to the crape myrtle – this forces the tree trimmers to charge a higher cost for the bigger trees. 

Tree height often affects the time needed to get to the tree crown. While a ladder may be enough to reach the crown on a 15-foot tree, a bucket truck – or manual climbing – will be required to reach the crown on a 70-foot tree. 

Below, we have the trimming costs often charged for trees of varying sizes: 

• Small trees – Any tree under 30 feet tall fits in the small tree category. For such a tree, $80 to $400 is generally enough for tree trimming. 
• Medium-sized trees – These trees mature at a height of 30 to 80 feet. To trim medium-sized trees, professionals charge $150 to $875. 
• Large trees – Large trees in Las Vegas have a height of 80 to 150 feet, although it is possible to come across trees taller than 150 feet. Professionals charge $200 to $1000 to trim large trees. 

2. Accessibility 

Trees that have no important structures surrounding them are the easiest to trim. Since there are no utilities that might suffer damage, the professionals do not have to control the cut branches. 

When a tree is growing next to powerlines or your house, the professionals are forced to use ropes to control the branches falling path. The tree trimmers will tie the branches with ropes before cutting them. These ropes – together with machines like cranes – will then be used to lower the branches down slowly. This increases the amount of time needed to complete the trimming procedure, leading to a higher tree trimming cost. 

Accessibility also affects the use of a bucket truck during tree trimming. Bucket trucks increase safety for the tree trimmers, reduce the time needed to reach the tree crown, and ensure flexibility. The use of bucket trucks tends to lower the tree trimming cost. 

Professionals, however, can only use the bucket truck when enough parking space is available near the tree. If there is no parking space, a professional will have to climb the tree manually, which can increase the tree trimming cost by 30% to 40%. 

If you expect to pay $1000 to prune a tree with a bucket truck, this cost will increase to between $1,300 and $1,400 if manual climbing will have to be used during trimming. 

3. Tree Stability 

Tree stability will affect safety when trimming a tree. Putting additional weight on the crown of an unstable tree – that is, the weight of the tree trimmer – can destabilize the tree, which could make it fall. This could cause injuries and leave you with a lot of property damage. 

To avoid injuries and property damage, professionals prefer to stabilize trees before trimming them. This often involves a lot of extra work and can result in a higher tree trimming cost. The extra money you pay, however, can save your home from damage and increase the rate at which the tree regains its natural stability. 

Various conditions often affect tree stability, including: 

• High winds – When high winds get caught in dense tree crowns, they bend the tree beyond its tolerance range. This can break the tree’s trunk or weaken its wood structure, making it unstable. 
• Cracks and cavities – When these appear on the tree trunk, they indicate that the tree has a significant underlying problem. Arborist intervention is often needed to figure out the underlying problem and to provide solutions. This tends to increase the tree trimming cost. 
• Flooding – Floods make the soil around the tree’s base extremely wet, compromising the tree’s anchor points. Strong winds will then have a higher probability of bringing the tree down. 
• Heavy machinery – When heavy machinery turns or operates near the tree’s base, it may inflict too much damage on the tree’s roots. Since the roots serve as the trees anchor point, damaged roots increase the risk of tree falls. 

4. Tree Health 

Unhealthy trees are generally riskier to work on. Diseases weaken the tree’s branches and wood structure – stepping on these branches during trimming means you may end up falling. To avoid falling, the tree trimmers may need to bring more complicated safety gear. 

To improve the health of a pest-infested tree, professionals have to inspect each branch and remove all the limbs that carry a health problem. The extra time spent on inspection increases the tree trimming cost. 

Almost every unhealthy tree needs the intervention of an arborist. The arborist will determine the health problem bothering the tree and also provide the best treatment options. Since the medications/pesticides and the arborist service will have to be paid for separately, they can add $50 to $500 to the quoted tree trimming cost. 

5. Travel Fees 

Tree trimmers will have service areas in which they provide their service. The service providers, however, will still accept invitations to operate on properties outside their normal service zones. 

Whenever they need to travel a significant distance outside their normal service area, the professionals often charge a travel fee of approximately $0.5 per mile or a fixed cost of $50 to $200. The easiest way to avoid the travel fee is to work with a tree service company closest to your home. 

6. Bulk Tree Trimming Cost 

Trimming a group of trees together – instead of one tree at a time – is generally more cost-effective. If trimming one 100-foot tree will cost you $1000, trimming ten 100-foot trees, with the same requirements, may cost you a total of $9000. This means that each tree will cost you $100 less. 

Professionals charge a higher tree trimming cost for one tree because they have to take care of several fixed cost, including fuel costs, machine use, overhead, and insurance. When trimming multiple trees, the overall compensation increases, but the fixed costs do not change – this allows the professionals to charge a lower tree trimming cost. 

Do Professional Tree Trimmers Have Hourly Tree Trimming Costs? 

Professionals tree trimmers prefer fixed costs over hourly charges. This is generally because a wide range of factors – including, the number of workers, years of experience, and how advanced the tools are – affect the tree trimming procedure. While one company may complete the trimming procedure in under an hour, a different team might take more than half a day to trim the same tree. 

In the quoted tree trimming cost, however, most tree trimmers do include an hourly rate for each of their workers. The hourly rate ranges from $25 to $50 for each worker, depending on the number of workers and the level of experience of each worker. 

DIY Vs Hiring Professional Tree Trimmers 

Before deciding to take advantage of DIY tree trimming, you should weigh the risks and costs of DIY against the cost of professional tree trimming: 

Risk Associated with DIY Trimming 

• The cutting tools may cause injuries. 
• Falling from the tree crown may leave you with broken limbs. 
• Dropping branches on utility lines and/or your house could leave you with expensive property repair costs. 
• If you aren’t experienced in tree trimming, you may cause irreversible damage to the tree crown. To restore an attractive curb appeal, you may have to remove and replace the damaged tree. Tree removal and replacement are costlier compared to professional tree trimming.  

DIY Tree Trimming Costs 

To trim a tree, you will need to purchase the following tools: 

• Ladder: $150 to $500 
• Safety gear: $50 to $200+ 
• Heavy-duty gas trimmer: A rental cost of $50/day 
• Hand-held pruner: $30 – $50 

After pruning your tree, you will also need to pay for the transportation of the cut branches – this could set you back an extra $25 to $50. Most dump sites charge an average of $50 to $100. In total, the cleanup cost after tree trimming may be worth a total of $75 to $150. 

Note: If the DIY risks and costs are worth less than hiring professionals, then trimming the trees yourself might be a good idea.