There is no price list, and you should be suspicious of one
Tree work is quoted per job because the same tree on two different blocks is two different jobs. A ten-metre marri in the middle of a cleared paddock and a ten-metre marri wedged between a pool, a limestone wall and a neighbour's patio take different equipment, different time and different numbers of people.
The captured advice on the old version of this site said the range runs from a few hundred dollars to several thousand, and that is true and about as precise as it can honestly be made without seeing the site. What follows is the list of things that push a quote toward one end of that range or the other.
What moves the number
| Factor | Pushes the price down | Pushes the price up |
|---|---|---|
| Access | Truck and chipper within 10–20m, wide gate or driveway | Rear of a battleaxe, 900mm gate, no verge, right-of-way blocked |
| Drop zone | Open ground longer than the tree is tall | Nothing below but pool, paving, glasshouse, neighbour's roof |
| Method | Straight fell, brush straight into the chipper | Climbed and rigged section by section, or elevated work platform |
| Height and trunk size | Small tree, thin stems | Large mature eucalypt, heavy timber, multiple stems |
| Species | Soft, light timber; palms; small exotics | Jarrah and other dense hardwood; big gums with heavy limbs |
| Powerlines | Nothing overhead | Service line or network conductors within the work zone |
| Condition | Sound, predictable tree | Dead, split, storm damaged, unsafe to climb |
| Stump | Left in place | Ground to depth, or fully extracted with spoil carted |
| Debris | Chip left on site as mulch, timber kept | Everything carted away and tipped |
| Soil (for stump work) | Swan Coastal Plain sand | Coastal limestone caprock, or clay over granite on the scarp |
| Council | No approval needed | Application, significant tree register listing, verge tree process |
| Timing | Scheduled in a normal week | After hours, weekend, emergency callout |
| Number of trees | Several in one visit | A single small tree, one trip |
The four questions that make quotes comparable
Most of the confusion between two wildly different numbers disappears once you ask each contractor the same four things:
- Is the stump in or out of this price, and to what depth? Felling and stump work are separate operations with separate machinery.
- Is the debris removed or left? Chip left as mulch is free. Chip carted and tipped is not.
- Is the council application included if one is needed? In much of Perth it is not needed at all, because Western Australia has no statewide tree preservation order — but a significant tree register listing in Melville or Fremantle, or a verge tree in any council, changes that.
- Can I see the certificate of currency? Public liability and workers compensation. This is a referral site and the contractors are independent, so ask them directly, and ask for the document rather than the assurance.
Perth-specific cost effects
Sand makes ground work cheaper. Stump grinding and full extraction both go faster on the Swan Coastal Plain than in clay, and the quote reflects it. This is a genuine regional difference, not a discount.
Limestone and scarp clay do the opposite. Shallow caprock near the coast at Fremantle, Cockburn and Rockingham, or clay over granite up at Armadale and Kalamunda, both slow the machine down.
Light regulation removes a cost most eastern-states owners expect. No statewide tree preservation order means many Perth removals carry no application fee and no arborist report. Do not assume that applies to you without checking your council.
Summer is peak. Limb drop and storm damage fill the calendar from December through February. Preventative pruning booked in late winter is cheaper and easier to schedule than emergency work in January.
What not to buy
The cheapest quote is frequently the one that excludes the stump, leaves the debris, and belongs to someone without workers compensation cover. If a climber is injured on your property and there is no policy behind them, the exposure lands somewhere, and it is unlikely to be where you want it.
For an onsite quote, call (08) 9516 2804 or send through the job details. Background on the services themselves is on the services page.
Frequently asked questions
How much does tree removal cost in Perth?
It depends on the tree and the block, and honest ranges are very wide — from a few hundred dollars for a small tree with clear access up to several thousand for a large one requiring rigging. Any figure quoted over the phone before someone has seen the site is a guess. Onsite quotes are free, so there is no reason to work off a guess.
Why is one quote half the price of another?
Usually because they are not quoting the same job. Check four things in each quote: is the stump included, is the debris and timber removed or left, is the council application handled if one is needed, and is the contractor carrying current public liability and workers compensation. A quote that excludes all four will always look cheaper.
Is it cheaper to remove several trees at once?
Per tree, almost always. Setup, travel and machinery hire are largely fixed for the day, so the second and third tree carry a smaller share of them. If you have work coming up anyway, doing it in one visit is the simplest real saving available.
Does the firewood offset the cost?
Occasionally a little, on a straight jarrah or marri job with good access where the timber has value and can be loaded easily. Do not count on it. Most suburban removals produce mixed timber, a lot of chip and a disposal cost, not a windfall.
What is the cheapest legitimate way to reduce the price?
Clear the access route, move cars and bins, unlock the gates, keep the chip on site as mulch, and take the timber yourself if you have a use for it. Beyond that, book multiple trees in one visit. What is not a saving is dropping the insured contractor for the uninsured one.