DIY Tree Removal vs. Hiring a Tree Service: Where to Draw the Line

What can a homeowner reasonably do?

Quite a lot, as long as your feet stay on the ground. Pruning small branches with hand pruners, loppers or a pole pruner is well within reach of most people, and it is how young trees get the early structural pruning that saves money later. So is removing a small ornamental tree or sapling that you could push over by hand once it is cut, in open ground, with nothing nearby to hit. Cutting up limbs that are already down and lying flat, clearing brush, and raking needles all belong on the homeowner's list too.

If you prune a limb of any size, use the three cut method the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) describes: an undercut a foot or so out from the trunk, a second cut from the top slightly farther out to drop the weight, then a final cut just outside the branch collar. It prevents the bark from tearing down the trunk. Our Montana tree pruning calendar covers when to do it.

How dangerous is chainsaw work, really?

Penn State Extension, reporting on a study of national data, says that from 2018 to 2022 nearly 128,000 people were treated in United States emergency departments for chainsaw related injuries, which the article puts at an estimated 70 patients per day. It notes that the number of occupational victims was low relative to the total seen in emergency rooms. Put plainly, most of the people getting hurt are not professionals. The same article calls kickback, which happens when the tip of the bar contacts an object or is suddenly stopped, a leading cause of chainsaw injuries.

Professionals are not immune either. OSHA's guidance for tree care workers states that many workers get hurt or killed from falls, electrocutions or being struck by trees. Those are the three ways tree work goes wrong, and they are the reason the line between homeowner jobs and hired jobs sits where it does.

Why is a ladder plus a chainsaw the line?

Because it combines two of those hazards and removes your ability to get away. OSHA's chainsaw fact sheet tells operators to keep both hands on the handles and maintain secure footing, and not to cut directly overhead. It lists operating a chainsaw above shoulder height or above ground level, such as from a ladder or tree, among the higher risk operations where accidents happen because the task is beyond the operator's training.

On a ladder you cannot do any of what the fact sheet asks. Your footing is a rung, one hand wants to hold on, the cut is usually at or above shoulder height, and when the limb lets go it can swing back into the ladder. ISA draws the same line from the tree owner's side: pruning that involves working above the ground or using power equipment should be done by a professional arborist. If the cut cannot be reached from the ground with a pole tool, it is a hired job.

What makes felling a whole tree different from cutting firewood?

Control of where it lands. OSHA's fact sheet says to plan where the object will fall, make sure the fall area is free of hazards, avoid felling into other objects, and keep other people at least twice as far away as the height of the tree. In a pasture that is achievable. In a yard, twice the height of a mature ponderosa or cottonwood usually takes in the house, the fence, the neighbor's shed and the service line.

The fact sheet also lists the trees that are beyond an occasional user: trees on unstable ground or steep slopes, trees with a heavy lean, trees with stem or root rot, and trees known to split. It tells operators to look up for hangers and widow makers, the loose branches that can dislodge and fall into the work area. Dead trees deserve particular respect on that last point, and beetle killed pine is common here. This is why a tree service takes a yard tree down in pieces on ropes instead of felling it. Our guide to what to expect on tree removal day shows how that works.

Why are trees near power lines never a DIY job?

Because the hazard is invisible and does not forgive. ISA tells tree owners never to attempt to remove branches or any tree part from or near power lines and never to go near downed lines, which may still be conducting electricity. If tree parts are in contact with utility lines, its instruction is to call your local electricity provider. OSHA tells even professional crews to assume all power lines are energized and to keep work at least 10 feet away unless the power company has de-energized and grounded the line.

That includes the service drop running from the pole to your house, which people tend to treat as harmless. Our pages on tree work near power lines and who trims trees near lines in Montana explain who to call first.

What about storm damaged trees?

After a heavy wet snow in May or October, or a summer windstorm, the temptation is to get the saw out and clear it. This is the situation where experienced firewood cutters get hurt. ISA's storm guidance warns that broken limbs hanging overhead and uprooted trees resting in other trees or on roofs may continue to move after the storm has passed, that trees and limbs under tension may react unexpectedly when cut or moved, and that damaged trees may be in contact with electrical wires directly or indirectly. Its advice is headed, in so many words, resist the urge to do it yourself. OSHA's chainsaw sheet says the same thing more briefly: watch for objects under tension.

Wood on the ground with no load on it is yours to cut. A limb bent under another limb, a trunk hung up in a neighboring tree, or anything resting on a structure is not. We run 24 hour emergency tree and storm response for exactly those cases.

What should you check before digging out a stump or roots?

Buried utilities. Montana 811 says it is the homeowner's responsibility to file a locate request at least three business days before beginning any excavation project, and that the request is free. That applies to digging out a stump, renting a grinder or trenching through roots. Montana 811 also cautions that private underground facilities may not be located through its system, so sprinkler lines, yard lighting and anything run to an outbuilding are yours to find. Our comparison of stump grinding and stump removal covers the options.

If you do the work yourself, what does OSHA say to wear and do?

The fact sheet is written for employers, but the list is the right one for anybody. It calls for head protection, hearing protection, eye or face protection, protective footwear, leg protection such as chaps, and work gloves. It says never to work alone, to start the saw on the ground with the brake engaged, to clear your footing and retreat path before cutting, to shut off or brake the saw when carrying it any distance, and to take breaks, because fatigue raises the risk of injury.

How do you decide?

Ask four questions. Can I do all of it with both feet on the ground? Is there anything within twice the tree's height that I cannot afford to hit? Is any wire, of any kind, within reach of the tree or of what I am cutting? Is any of this wood bent, hung up or leaning on something? If the answers are yes, no, no and no, it is probably a reasonable homeowner job. Any other answer is a reason to get a quote, and looking costs you nothing.

Removal, pruning and storm work are all part of our tree services. For more on doing right by your trees, see the Montana Tree Guide.

Call HJ Property Care & Tree Service at (406) 215-7319 or request a tree assessment and an ISA Certified Arborist will look at the tree with you.

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