Tree Removal in Dayton, OH

Tree removal in Dayton rarely means a single cut at the base. On most city and inner-suburb lots, a mature tree has a roof, a garage, a fence or a neighbor's yard within reach, so it comes down from the top. A climber or a lift takes off the limbs first, then the trunk in sections, and any piece too heavy to drop safely is lowered on a rope. Height matters, but access, what lies underneath and the condition of the wood usually decide how long the job takes and what it costs.

Signs a tree should come out

Some removals are obvious: a dead tree, a trunk split from a storm, a large cavity or shelf fungus at the base, or a tree that has started to lean with the soil heaved up on one side. Others are judgment calls. A silver maple dropping big limbs on the house every year, a Callery pear that has already lost one of its main leaders, or a healthy tree that has simply outgrown its spot can all be candidates. We tell you what we see, and if pruning would solve the problem instead, we say that too.

Dead trees and the clock

A dead tree gets harder to remove the longer it stands. As the wood dries and decays, branches snap unpredictably and a climber can no longer trust the tree to hold rigging. That is especially true of ash killed by emerald ash borer, which has left dead and dying ash in yards and along back fence lines all over the Miami Valley. A tree that could be climbed and sectioned one year may need a lift or a crane two or three years later, which costs more.

Heavy clay and wet ground

Dayton sits in Ohio's glaciated till plains, and the soils formed in that glacial till are often dense, clay-rich and slow to drain. After a week of spring rain, lawns stay soft and heavy equipment can leave ruts. We plan the route in, lay mats or plywood where a machine has to cross a lawn, and sometimes schedule the removal for drier ground when the tree is not an immediate danger.

Before you schedule a removal

Check whether the tree is yours. In Dayton, trees in the street right-of-way, which usually includes the strip between the sidewalk and the curb, need written approval from the Department of Public Works before removal, and the city expects a replacement tree of a size and species it approves. A tree on a property line may be shared with a neighbor. If an AES Ohio line runs through the canopy, the utility may need to make it safe first. We point these things out at the estimate so the job can go ahead without trouble.