Why is tree service so expensive?

However, we never price gouge our customers and treat every client fairly. In the tree service industry “standard” pricing is not practical, which is why we provide free estimates. There are many variables that affect price; some of them are tree size (height and width), tree location (relative to house, power lines, etc), the health of the tree, mobilization costs such as equipment required and distance to the job location, and naturally, risk.

Legitimate businesses in the tree industry incur high overhead costs. Homeowners should educate themselves on what legitimate business look like. Homeowners should ask for proof of general liability insurance (protects homeowners against property/equipment damage) and workers compensation certification (protects homeowners against personnel injury).

We have a satisfaction guarantee policy/warranty. If you’re not 100% satisfied, we’ll make it right.

The tree service industry is labor intensive, requires high-end equipment, and the insurance coverage to protect the client as well as the business. All of these factors drive a large overhead cost. 3n1 only employ high quality/high character people; this means our payroll costs are higher than average. A typical crew will cost over $100 an hour (includes wage taxes, worker’s compensation, unemployment fees, insurance etc).

Regarding equipment; a stump grinder costs over $15,000, a chipper can cost over $40,000, and a bucket truck can range from $30,000 to $100,000. Overhead is very high for legitimate tree service companies. Worker’s compensation is run by the state of Ohio and the State deems tree work as the most dangerous job/trade in their portfolio. Our worker’s compensation premium is 20% of our payroll; what this means is that for every $1,000 of payroll we expend, we must write the state of Ohio a check for $200.

Many customers have asked us why there is such a wide variance between estimates. The biggest variance stems from the variables listed in the above paragraph. Some companies pay their laborers minimum wage. Trust me, they get what they pay for! Some other companies don’t invest in the proper equipment and the most alarming variable can come from non-insured companies (or underinsured companies).

We never solicit customers by “door knocking”. Most “tree businesses” who solicit by going door-to-door are not insured; or if they say they are insured, will not be able to provide proof.

We have a $2 million liability policy; this protects us and our customers from damage to property and equipment. This is very important for customers, because it protects their house (and other buildings), driveways/sidewalks, power lines, and vehicles. All of our employees are covered by worker’s compensation (run by the state of Ohio). This is very important as well since tree work is so dangerous. Think about what happens if a homeowner hires an uninsured/underinsured company and a tree crew member gets injured (or worse) on their property.