Cleveland Tree
Removal Pros (216) 446-8571

Tree Removal in Cleveland, Ohio — Fast, Safe, and Priced Straight

Dead ash tree over the driveway? Silver maple split in the last windstorm? Get a free assessment and a firm price before anyone starts a saw.

  • Fully insured crews on every job
  • Free on-site assessments and written quotes
  • Same-day response for storm damage and hazard trees
  • Serving Cleveland and every surrounding suburb
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  • Fully insured
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  • Same-day response
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Tree Service Built for Cleveland's Trees — and Cleveland's Weather

Cleveland is losing trees faster than most cities its size, and homeowners here already know why. The emerald ash borer killed the great majority of ash trees across Cuyahoga County, and thousands of them are still standing dead in backyards from Old Brooklyn to Collinwood — drying out, getting brittle, and waiting for the next November gale off Lake Erie to bring them down.

Add the giant silver maples planted a century ago in Lakewood, Cleveland Heights, and the other streetcar suburbs — fast-growing, weak-wooded, and now 80 feet tall with split-prone double trunks — and heavy clay soil that lets shallow-rooted trees tip whole root plates out of saturated spring ground, and you have a region where tree removal is rarely optional for long. It's a matter of removing the tree on your schedule, or the storm's.

We handle it start to finish: honest assessment, a firm written price, safe takedown by an insured crew with the right equipment for tight Cleveland lots, and full cleanup. If your tree is actually the city's responsibility — many are — we'll tell you that too, and point you to the right city department instead of charging you for work you don't owe.

Tree Services We Provide in Cleveland

Every service below has its own page with straight answers on process, pricing, and what to expect — because a stump grind and a crane removal are not the same job.

Tree Removal

Complete removal of dead, dying, hazardous, or unwanted trees — from small ornamentals to 80-foot silver maples over the garage. Sectional takedowns, rigging, crane work when the tree calls for it.

Tree removal in Cleveland →

Stump Grinding

Grind that stump 6–12 inches below grade so you can seed, sod, or replant. Priced per stump with volume discounts — bring us the whole yard's worth of old ash stumps at once.

Stump grinding in Cleveland →

Service Areas

Cleveland proper — Tremont, Ohio City, West Park, Old Brooklyn, Collinwood, Edgewater — plus Parma, Cleveland Heights, Lakewood, Euclid, and Garfield Heights.

See all service areas →

What Tree Removal Costs in Cleveland (Real Numbers)

Most tree companies make you chase them for a price. Here's what tree removal actually runs in the Cleveland area, so you can sanity-check any quote — including ours.

Typical Cleveland-area ranges. Access, condition, and what's underneath the tree move the price — a free on-site assessment gets you a firm number.
JobTypical Cleveland range
Small tree removal (under 30 ft)$300 – $700
Medium tree removal (30–60 ft)$700 – $1,500
Large tree removal (60–80 ft)$1,500 – $3,500
Very large / crane-assisted / over structures$3,000 – $6,000+
Dead ash removal (brittle, can't be climbed)Add 20–40% vs. a live tree the same size
Stump grinding$100 – $400 per stump
Emergency / storm responsePremium over standard rates; quoted before work starts

Why the range is wide — and what actually sets your price

Two trees of identical height can differ in price by 3×. The drivers, in rough order: what the tree can hit (open yard vs. leaning over your roofline), access (can a bucket truck or crane get close, or does every piece get roped down by hand in a 30-foot-wide Tremont lot), condition (dead ash is brittle and unpredictable — it can't be safely climbed, which changes the whole method), and haul-away (wood and brush removal vs. leaving rounds stacked for your fireplace, which saves you money).

The honest answer to "what will mine cost?" is a 15-minute look at the tree. That look is free, and the number you get is the number you pay.

Don't pay to remove a tree you don't own. Trees in the tree lawn — the grass strip between the sidewalk and the street — are City of Cleveland trees. The city's Division of Urban Forestry maintains and removes them at no cost to you; report a hazardous street tree through Cleveland 311. If a door-knocker quotes you to take down a tree lawn tree, walk away.

Why Cleveland Trees Fail: A Local Field Guide

The emerald ash borer wiped out Cuyahoga County's ash — and the dead ones are the dangerous ones

The emerald ash borer reached Cuyahoga County in the mid-2000s and did what it did everywhere: killed nearly every untreated ash tree in the county. The killing is mostly over. The falling is not. A dead ash dries and goes brittle within a year or two — limbs snap without warning, the trunk shells out, and the tree becomes too unpredictable for a climber to work safely. That's why dead ash removals often need a bucket truck or crane, and why they cost more than a live tree the same size. If you have a bare-in-July ash standing over anything you care about, it belongs at the top of your list.

Silver maples: the streetcar suburbs' 100-year-old problem

When Lakewood, Cleveland Heights, and Cleveland's early suburbs were built out in the early 1900s, silver maples were the default street and yard tree — cheap, fast, and tolerant of everything. A century later they're 70–90 feet tall with co-dominant trunks, included bark, and brittle wood. Every wind or ice event splits some of them down the middle. Many can be cabled or reduced instead of removed; a good assessment tells you which side of that line yours is on.

Clay soil, shallow roots, and lake-effect weather

Northeast Ohio sits on heavy glacial clay. Roots stay shallow because they can't breathe deeper, and when spring rain saturates that clay, a strong west wind off Lake Erie can tip an entire root plate out of the ground — spruce, willow, and silver maple are the usual victims. Pair that with lake-effect ice loading and the November–April storm season, and "the tree looked fine yesterday" is a sentence we hear every year. Leaning trunks, heaving soil at the root flare, and mushrooms at the base are the tells worth a phone call.

Oak wilt: when NOT to cut

Oaks get their own rule: the sap beetles that spread oak wilt fly from roughly April through July, and fresh pruning wounds are how the fatal fungus gets in. We don't prune oaks in that window except for storm emergencies (and then we seal the cuts). A company willing to trim your red oak in May is telling you something about how much they know.

Whose tree is it? Cleveland's jurisdiction rules, plainly

In the City of Cleveland: trees in the tree lawn (between sidewalk and curb) are city-owned street trees — the Division of Urban Forestry prunes and removes them, and you request that work through Cleveland 311. Removing or pruning a city tree yourself requires a city permit. Trees on your own lot are yours — no city removal permit needed in Cleveland proper, though inner-ring suburbs like Lakewood and Cleveland Heights have their own tree ordinances, so check locally. Not sure whose tree it is? Ask us during the free assessment — we'll tell you straight, even when the answer is "call 311, this one's free."

Serving Cleveland and the Inner-Ring Suburbs

City crews work differently than suburb crews — tight Tremont and Ohio City lots need rigging and small equipment; Parma and Cleveland Heights mean mature 60-year maples and oaks on bigger yards. We cover both, same phone number:

Cleveland neighborhoods: Tremont, Ohio City, West Park, Old Brooklyn, Collinwood, Edgewater, and everywhere in between. Suburbs: Parma, Cleveland Heights, Lakewood, Euclid, Garfield Heights, and neighboring communities.

See what we handle in each area →

Cleveland Tree Removal: Questions Homeowners Actually Ask

How big of a tree costs $1,000 to remove in Cleveland?

In Cleveland, roughly $1,000 typically covers a mid-size tree — about 40 to 60 feet — with reasonable access: think a maple or ash in a front yard a bucket truck can reach. The same tree pinned between houses, leaning over a garage, or needing a crane runs $1,500–$3,000+. Height matters, but access and what the tree can hit matter just as much.

Can you get trees removed for free?

Sometimes — if the tree isn't yours. Tree lawn trees (between sidewalk and street) belong to the City of Cleveland; Urban Forestry removes hazardous ones at no cost — report via 311. Utilities clear trees threatening their lines. But a tree on your own property is your bill; no legitimate crew works free — the equipment, labor, and insurance are real costs. Be wary of anyone offering to "take it for the wood."

What is the average cost of removing a large tree?

In the Cleveland area, a large tree (60–80 ft) typically runs $1,500–$3,500. Very large trees, anything over a structure, and brittle dead ash needing crane or bucket work run $3,000–$6,000+. Stump grinding is usually separate: $100–$400 per stump. Get the price in writing before work starts — we always put ours in writing.

How much of a tree can you remove without killing it?

No more than about 25% of the live canopy in one season — less for mature trees. Over-pruning stresses the tree, invites decay, and forces weak regrowth. "Topping" is never proper pruning; it usually starts a slow decline that ends in removal anyway. And in Ohio, never prune oaks April through July — that's when oak wilt spreads.

Do I need a permit to remove a tree in Cleveland?

On your own private property in Cleveland proper: generally no permit for removal. In the tree lawn or right-of-way: that's a city tree — hands off; the work goes through Urban Forestry. Suburbs differ — Lakewood, Cleveland Heights, and others have their own tree ordinances, so check your city hall. We flag jurisdiction issues during the free assessment.

Who's responsible for the tree between the sidewalk and the street?

The City of Cleveland — that strip is the tree lawn, and its trees are city street trees. If one is dead, dropping limbs, or wrecking the sidewalk, report it through Cleveland 311. Don't hire (or pay) a private company for a city tree; unpermitted work on one can draw a fine.

That Tree Isn't Going to Get Safer on Its Own

One call gets you a free assessment, a straight answer on whether the tree even needs to come down, and a firm written price if it does.

Call (216) 446-8571

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