How much does it cost to remove a scotch pine?
Removing a scotch pine around Indianapolis typically runs $250 to $1,400, with most jobs near $550. Pine wilt has effectively ended this species in the Midwest — the pinewood nematode, carried tree to tree by pine sawyer beetles, kills a mature Scotch pine within weeks to a few months and there is no cure once it is inside. Extension services across the region no longer recommend planting it anywhere in the Midwest, so in practice nearly every Scotch pine call is a removal call.
Mature size, and the bracket it puts you in
30-50 ft tall by 20-35 ft wide is typical here, with the characteristic leaning crooked trunk and orange upper bark. In Europe it is a 150-300 year tree, but in the Midwest landscape it often does not clear thirty years — and because they die at moderate size right next to houses, removals land mid-bracket, usually pushed higher because dead brittle wood cannot be safely climbed and has to be taken from a lift or crane.
Condition changes the price
Alive it is only moderate under ice — the crooked trunk and heavy divergent limbs leave an old open-grown tree off-balance, and the leaners tend to fail at the root plate rather than snapping mid-trunk. Dead is a different tree entirely: pine-wilt kills dry out fast, and standing dead Scotch pines shed large limbs and go over in ordinary wind, which is the real argument against letting one stand through a season.
Related
- Should I remove or save my scotch pine?→
- When should a scotch pine be pruned?→
- Are scotch pine roots a problem for foundations or pipes?→
- Is my scotch pine dying or just stressed?→
- How does a scotch pine hold up in a storm?→
- How much does it cost to remove an american basswood?→
- Should I remove or save my american basswood?→
- When should an american basswood be pruned?→