Free Tree Service Estimate Template & Generator
Tree work is priced tree by tree, not by the hour, so the estimate has to say which trees. This one tags three of them at a single address, then prices each by what the job actually requires: a crane pick because the red oak leans over the roof and the service drop, a two-person crown reduction on the maple, stump grinding measured at the root flare rather than at breast height, and chip loads hauled off.
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| Description | Qty | Rate | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Large tree removal | 1 | $1,850.00 | $1,850.00 |
| Crown reduction and deadwood | 2 | $620.00 | $1,240.00 |
| Stump grinding | 1 | $325.00 | $325.00 |
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Use-case checklist
What to include in a tree service estimate
An estimate that reads removal, three trees, $6,626 is an invitation to argue about which three. Crews have taken down the wrong maple off a vague description, and there is no version of that conversation that ends in a change order. Tagging each tree with a number, a species, an approximate size, and the exact service keeps the crew and the customer reading the same sheet on a morning when neither of you is standing there. Size and access are the other half of the price. A removal over open lawn and the same removal over a roof with an energized service drop in the drop zone are different jobs with different equipment, different crew sizes, and a schedule that depends on a utility appointment you do not control. If the estimate does not say which one you priced, the customer will assume the cheaper one.
- property and identified trees
- service for each tree
- rigging, equipment, and access assumptions
- wood, debris, and stump handling
- permit, utility, weather, and damage exclusions
Example starting lines
| Description | Qty | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Large tree removal | 1 | $1,850 |
| Crown reduction and deadwood | 2 | $620 |
| Stump grinding | 1 | $325 |
Complete it cleanly
Number or describe each tree, note approximate size and condition, service, cleanup, stump depth, equipment, access, utility coordination, and weather limits. State whether permits or replacement planting are excluded.
How to make a tree service estimate in 6 steps
Open the estimate generator
Start from this page so the estimate opens with fields and sample lines already set up for arborists and tree-care companies. No account is needed to create or preview.
Enter both parties
Add your business name, address and contact details, then the customer name and address exactly as they should appear on the record.
Add the tree service lines
Replace each sample line with the real work or goods. Make sure the document shows property and identified trees, service for each tree, rigging, equipment, and access assumptions.
Check the figures
Totals calculate as you type. Confirm quantities, rates, any tax line and the final total against your own records before you send anything.
Set the reference and dates
Give the estimate a unique number and the correct date so it can be traced later and matched to related documents.
Review and download the PDF
Number or describe each tree, note approximate size and condition, service, cleanup, stump depth, equipment, access, utility coordination, and weather limits. State whether permits or replacement planting are excluded. Preview is free; a PDF download costs $4.99, or is included with Unlimited.
Worked example
Three tagged trees, one of them a crane pick over the service drop
Ironwood Tree Care walked 14 Mallow Lane with the Bergstroms on October 2, 2026 and tagged three trees. T1 is an 82 ft northern red oak leaning toward the roof with the overhead service drop directly under the drop zone. T2 and T3 are a silver maple and a sugar maple stump near the fence line.
- Scope basis: three trees tagged at the Oct 2, 2026 walkthrough, marked with orange ribbon and photographed
- T1, T2, T3
- T1 removal, 82 ft red oak, 34 in DBH: 30-ton crane 4 hr at $385.00, plus a 3-person crew 8 hr at $95.00 per person-hour
- $3,820.00
- T1 stump ground 12 in below grade, 42 in measured across the root flare at $14.00 per inch
- $588.00
- Crane outrigger and turf protection, 8 mats set and pulled
- $420.00
- T2 crown clean and 20% reduction, 40 ft silver maple: 2-person crew, 5 hr on site, 10 person-hours at $95.00
- $950.00
- T3 stump only, 22 in sugar maple stump measured at grade at $14.00 per inch
- $308.00
- Debris: brush chipped and hauled, 3 chip-truck loads at $180.00; oak rounds left stacked at the tree line at the owner's request
- $540.00
- Utility coordination: temporary service-drop disconnect requested by us for the T1 pick day, scheduled and billed by the utility if they charge
- not in total
- Estimate total: no permit fees, no replanting, no grindings removal, no backfill or seeding of the stump holes
- $6,626.00
Stump pricing is the line people get wrong. Bid it off the 34 in trunk measurement and you lose $112 on this tree alone, because the flare at grade is 42 in. Say where you measured, how deep you grind, and who backfills the hole.
When this document is the right choice
Use this estimate to set a realistic expected cost before the final scope is known. An estimate is an informed approximation, not a final invoice. State the assumptions that could move the price and replace it with a quote or invoice once scope is confirmed.
Frequently asked questions
Should stumps be priced by diameter at breast height or at the ground?
Grind price follows the wood you actually have to remove, which is the flare at grade, not the trunk at chest height. The oak in the example is 34 inches at breast height but 42 inches across the flare, an 8 inch difference worth $112 at a $14 per inch rate. State on the estimate which measurement you used and where you took it. Say how deep you grind, too, and what happens to the grindings, since backfill and soil are separate work that customers routinely assume is included.
The oak is over an energized service drop. Who contacts the utility, and how does that change the schedule?
Say explicitly on the estimate who is making the call, because both sides tend to assume the other did. In the example you request the temporary disconnect and the utility schedules it, which means the utility's calendar sets the crane day. Write that the price assumes the drop is de-energized or dropped on the work day, and that a crew arriving to a live drop reschedules rather than improvises. Work near energized conductors carries qualification requirements, so confirm what applies to your crew with your own safety authority.
Weather cancels the crane day. What should the estimate already say?
Put the wind and weather condition on the estimate rather than raising it by phone at 6 a.m. A sentence stating that aerial and crane work stops for high wind, lightning, or ice, that the call belongs to the crew leader, and that a postponed day reschedules without penalty to either side, settles it before it happens. If your crane comes from a subcontractor on a day rate with its own cancellation terms, say whose terms govern and whether a late cancellation by the customer carries a charge.
The tree is the neighbor's but the limbs hang over my customer's roof. Whose estimate is this?
Estimate only what your customer can authorize, and be careful how you describe it. Write the scope as the limbs to be pruned and the property the work is performed from, and never treat a customer's belief about their rights as permission to enter or cut. Ask for written permission from the tree's owner whenever the work touches their property, their trunk, or their roots. Rights over overhanging limbs vary considerably by state and locality, so tell the customer to confirm theirs with their own attorney before you schedule.
A storm leaves me quoting a dozen properties in two days. Is a written estimate still worth the time?
It matters more then, not less. Storm work is where the wrong tree comes down, where a verbal number doubles once the crane shows up, and where an adjuster asks for something itemized weeks after the crew has moved on. Tag the trees, photograph each one against something that identifies the property, and price them individually even when you are moving fast. Write the storm conditions onto the line too, a hanger left in the canopy, a leader under tension, a trunk resting on a fence, because those change the method and the crew size you send, not just the hours. Note who is approving the work as well, since a customer waiting on an insurer is not the same as a customer paying directly, and that decides whose signature you need before you roll.
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