Tree Lopping & Pruning
Crown reduction, deadwooding and clearance pruning done to keep the tree alive and stable.
Learn more →What a removal actually looks like here
There is rarely room to fell a tree in the Eastern Suburbs. Almost every removal is a dismantle: a climber works up the tree, cuts it down in sections, and each section is lowered on rigging rope into a space that is usually smaller than the piece being lowered. The ground crew processes the wood where it lands, chips what will chip, and carries the rest out.
Where the tree is over a roof, a pool or a neighbour's glasshouse, that rigging is the whole job. Where there is street frontage and enough room for an outrigger, a crane picks whole sections out over the house instead, which is faster and safer but needs a road occupancy permit from the council first.
Before anything is cut
Most mature trees in this area are protected. Waverley, Randwick and Woollahra each run a tree preservation order, and consent is required before a covered tree is removed. That means the sequence is: inspection, an arborist report if the tree is significant, the council application, and only then the booking. The permit guide explains what each council wants to see.
The exceptions worth knowing: trees that are already dead, trees that present an immediate danger, some declared weed species including the cocos palm, and trees below the size thresholds in each council's rules. "Immediate danger" is a narrower category than most people think — a tree that might fail eventually is not the same as a tree that is failing now.
What makes a removal expensive
Height matters less than what is underneath it. The factors that move the price, roughly in order:
- Access — a driveway wide enough for a chipper versus a 700mm side path versus no access at all.
- What the tree is over — open lawn, a roof, a pool, a retaining wall, a neighbour's boundary.
- Species and wood density — a fig is heavy, wet and awkward; a cocos palm is lighter but drops in unbalanced chunks.
- Debris volume and where the truck can park, which on Bondi and Coogee streets is often a block away.
- Whether a crane or an elevated work platform is needed, and the road occupancy approval that comes with it.
The cost guide puts ranges against all of these.
What we will not do
We will not remove a protected tree without consent, whatever the reason given, and we will not write a hazard assessment to suit a removal that is really about a view. Tree vandalism for harbour views is prosecuted in this part of Sydney, and both the property owner and the contractor are exposed.
We also will not quote sight-unseen on anything over about six metres. Photos help, but the access route decides the price and you cannot see a gate width in a photo.
After the tree is gone
Most people follow a removal with stump grinding so the ground can be replanted or paved. If you are keeping the tree instead, reduction pruning is often the better conversation. For a tree that has already come down on its own, go to emergency work.
Call (02) 9538 7842 with the suburb and the rough size, or send photos and the access details through.
More services
Explore our other services
Stump Grinding
Stumps ground below ground level so you can turf, pave or replant over the top.
Learn more →Palm Tree Removal
Cocos, Bangalow and Canary Island date palms cleaned up, reduced or taken out section by section.
Learn more →Emergency & Storm Work
Fallen limbs, split trunks and trees on roofs after a southerly or an east coast low.
Learn more →Arborist Reports
AQF Level 5 reports for council applications, development consent and neighbour disputes.
Learn more →
FAQs
Frequently asked questions
How long does a tree removal take?
A straightforward palm or small garden tree is a half day. A mature gum or fig behind a terrace, dismantled by rope with every piece carried out by hand, is usually a full day and sometimes two. Crane jobs are shorter on site but need a road occupancy approval booked in advance, which adds one to three weeks before the crew arrives.
Will you need to come through my house?
Only where there is genuinely no other route, and only with your agreement beforehand. In parts of Paddington, Woollahra and Bondi the rear courtyard has no gate and no lane, so the debris comes through the hallway on protective sheeting or over the roof by crane. That choice is made at the quote, not on the day.
Do I need an arborist report before removal?
For a protected tree, usually yes. Waverley, Randwick and Woollahra all ask for evidence when a tree covered by their preservation order is proposed for removal, and a report from an AQF Level 5 arborist is the accepted form of evidence. Small exempt trees and declared weed species generally do not need one.
What happens to the roots?
Removal takes the tree to a stump. Roots stay in the ground unless you also book stump grinding, which takes the stump and the main root plate down below surface level. Full root excavation is only done where footings, drainage or a new slab need clear ground, and on sandstone blocks that is often impractical.
Free, no-obligation