Tree Removal in Lansing, MI

If you've got a tree that needs to come down in Lansing, you're probably looking at one of three situations. Either it's already dead or dying (most often a victim of Emerald Ash Borer or old age), it's storm-damaged after one of the windstorms that roll across mid-Michigan, or it's grown into a structure or wires and become a liability. Whatever bucket you're in, we can help.

We've been removing trees in the Lansing area for over twenty years. That includes everything from a 25-foot crabapple in a front yard in Holt, to a 90-foot dead red oak hanging over a house off Saginaw Highway, to crews of removals on rural acreage out by Williamston. Different jobs need different gear, and we run the full kit: climbers with throw lines, a 60-foot bucket truck, a 75-ton crane for the heavy stuff, and a chipper that eats brush as fast as we can pile it.

When a Tree Needs to Come Down

Not every problem tree needs removal. Sometimes a good prune or a cabling system buys you another decade. But there are a few signs that almost always mean it's time:

• Major dead wood in the upper canopy. If more than a third of the crown is dead, the tree is in decline and dropping limbs is only a matter of time.
• Trunk cracks or splits. Vertical cracks that go deep into the trunk, especially on a leaning tree, are structural failures waiting to happen.
• Mushroom shelves at the base. Those bracket fungi mean the heartwood is rotted. The tree may look fine on top, but it's hollow.
• Heavy lean toward a target. A new lean (one that wasn't there last year) usually means the root plate is failing.
• Confirmed Emerald Ash Borer with more than 50% canopy loss. Past that point, the tree won't recover and the wood gets brittle fast.

Michigan Trees We Remove Most Often

The Lansing area sits in a hardwood belt, and the trees we cut reflect that. Here's what's been crossing the chipper lately:

Ash (white ash, green ash, black ash). Emerald Ash Borer hit Ingham, Eaton, and Clinton counties hard. We're still removing ash trees that died years ago and were never taken down. Dead ash gets brittle within 18 months, which makes climbing them dangerous. We frequently use a crane on these.

Oak (red, white, bur, pin). Lansing has gorgeous mature oaks, especially in Mason, Okemos, and the older East Lansing neighborhoods. When they need to come down it's usually due to Oak Wilt, age-related decline, or storm damage. Big oaks need careful rigging because the wood is heavy and the crowns are wide.

Maple (silver, red, sugar). Silver maples are the workhorse of older Lansing yards and they're notorious for splitting at the trunk union. We see a lot of half-failed silvers that need full removal. Sugar maples are tougher but susceptible to verticillium wilt.

Elm. Most of the original American elms came down decades ago thanks to Dutch Elm Disease, but you still find survivors in older neighborhoods, plus newer disease-resistant cultivars that get planted and then fail for unrelated reasons.

Pine (white pine, red pine, scotch pine). Pines tend to come down for storm damage, root rot in poorly drained spots, or because they outgrew the spot they were planted in. Scotch pines also hit by zimmerman pine moth and bark beetles.

Basswood and beech. Less common but we get them. Basswood is soft and easy to fell, beech is dense and sometimes hides decay you can't see from the ground.

How We Quote a Removal

We don't quote tree work over the phone. Every quote is on site, and there's a reason. The price of removing a tree depends on more variables than you'd think: tree species, height, diameter at breast height (DBH), lean direction, distance to structures, distance to power lines, ground access for trucks and equipment, condition of the wood, and what you want done with the debris. Photos help, but we still need to walk the site.

What you can expect ballpark: small trees (under 30 ft) typically run $300 to $700. Medium trees (30 to 60 ft) usually $700 to $1,500. Large trees (60 to 90 ft) often $1,500 to $3,500. Hazard removals over structures or with crane work can run higher. Stump grinding is generally separate, billed at roughly $4 to $6 per inch of diameter measured at ground level.

Lansing Permits and the City Forestry Office

Most residential tree removals on private property don't require a permit. There are a few exceptions worth knowing about. If the tree is on the right-of-way (the strip between sidewalk and curb in older Lansing neighborhoods), that's a city tree and removal goes through the Lansing Forestry Division. We've worked with their office plenty of times and we'll handle the paperwork for you. Same goes for properties in historic districts and certain protected easements. If you're in a homeowners association in places like Hawk's Nest in Okemos or some of the newer DeWitt subdivisions, the HOA may have its own rules. Ask us, we've probably dealt with it.

What to Expect on Removal Day

The crew shows up between 7:30 and 9 in the morning unless we've scheduled otherwise. We walk the property with you, confirm the work, and lay out tarps where pieces are going to land. The climber goes up while the ground crew sets up the chipper and rigging. Most residential removals take three to six hours start to finish, including cleanup. Big trees with crane work can run a full day. We rake the lawn, blow off the driveway, and walk the site with you before we leave. If you don't want the wood, we haul it. If you want to keep it for firewood, we leave rounds cut to whatever length you ask for.

Insurance and Liability

Tree work is the most dangerous trade in North America by a wide margin. The insurance to do it right is expensive, and a lot of guys cutting corners don't carry it. We do, and we'll show you the certificate before we start. $2 million general liability and full Michigan workers' compensation. If a piece of your house gets hit, our policy pays. If the homeowner's policy is what gets billed, you're going to have a much worse day. Always ask for a certificate of insurance before you let anybody up a tree on your property.

FAQ: Tree Removal in Lansing