Crane-Assisted Removal
Crane removal over a two-storey roof
Northwest Hills, Austin
Greater Austin · fixed written pricesStorm line open · answered by a person
Your oak deserves an arborist, not a chainsaw.There is a tree on your house. Start here.
Structural pruning, technical removals, oak wilt work and stump grinding across Greater Austin. Every job quoted tree by tree, in writing, before anyone starts a saw.Four questions, in order, and then the number. We answer around the clock and reach most Austin addresses within two hours for a tree on a structure.
We never top a treeFixed price, in writingCleanup included
Storm triage
Four questions, in this order.
Not everything that falls is an emergency, and treating it as one costs you money. Work down the list and stop at the first one that describes what you are looking at.
01Is anyone underneath it, or is a power line involved?
Get everyone out of those rooms and away from the tree, then call 911 or Austin Energy first. No tree crew may legally work on an energised line — we come in after the utility has made it safe.
02Is it resting on the house, the garage or a vehicle?
Call the storm line now. We stabilise the load before anything is cut, photograph the position of the tree before it moves — which is what your insurer will ask for — and make the structure safe first.
03Is it blocking the drive, a gate or the road?
Still call, but say so: access-only clearances are quicker and we can often slot one between structural jobs. Do not cut a limb that is under tension yourself — a bound limb releases faster than you can move.
04It came down but hit nothing. What now?
It can wait for daylight and a scheduled visit, and it will cost less that way. Photograph it, keep people off it, and book it in the ordinary queue. We will tell you honestly if it is not urgent.
(512) 555-0142
A crew member picks up, not an answering service. After a regional storm every crew in the city is committed at once, so we triage by severity and give you an honest position in the queue rather than an optimistic promise.
The calendar
The pruning window
It is October. Oaks can be pruned now.
You are inside the safe window. This is the right time for structural work on live oaks, post oaks and red oaks in Central Texas, and it runs until the end of January.
- Closed: February to June. Oaks only — everything else can be pruned.
- Open: July to January. The whole crown, structural work included.
- A storm-damaged oak is cut whenever it needs cutting. Every wound gets painted within minutes.
Four rules we will not bend.
Not certificates on a wall — decisions about how the work is done. They are the reason a job here sometimes costs more than the quote down the road, and the reason the tree is still standing in ten years.
No topping. Ever.
Reduction to a lateral, or nothing
Rope and saddle, not spikes
Spikes only on trees coming down
Scope in writing before a saw starts
Fixed price, listed tree by tree
Oak wounds painted within minutes
February to June, without exception
Four numbers worth knowing
These are published facts about trees in this city, not statistics about us. A demonstration business has no job total and no review average to show you, so here is something you can actually use.
- 19"
- Trunk diameter at which the City of Austin protects a tree
- 24"
- Diameter at which a qualifying species becomes a Heritage tree
- 5 months
- February to June: the window in which Central Texas oaks should not be pruned
- 90%
- Share of local oak wilt spread that travels underground through grafted roots
City of Austin tree ordinance
City of Austin tree ordinance
Oak wilt beetle activity
Texas A&M Forest Service
What we actually do
Ten services, all carried out to ANSI A300 standards by climbers who work on rope rather than spikes. Every job quoted as a fixed written price before anyone starts a saw.
The same oak, eight hours apart
A neglected live oak in Hyde Park with the crown pressing on the roofline and nothing growing underneath. Crown raised, deadwood out, structure reduced. Drag the handle, or use the arrow keys.
Before
After
How a job with us actually goes
- STEP 01
Call or request online
Tell us what you are looking at. If it is an emergency we dispatch immediately. If not, we book a free on-site visit, usually within two to three days.
- STEP 02
Walk the property together
An arborist inspects each tree with you, explains what it actually needs, and tells you plainly if the answer is that it needs nothing.
- STEP 03
Get a fixed written price
A written estimate listing every tree and the specific work planned. Fixed price, not an hourly rate, and it does not move unless the scope does.
- STEP 04
We work and clean up
The crew arrives when we said, works to ANSI A300 standards, hauls everything away and walks the finished job with you before the truck leaves.
Nine jobs, nine methods
Every one of these is a different method: rigged, craned, mulched, braced, injected or ground out. The method is chosen by what is underneath the tree, not by what is quickest.
24/7 Emergency
Overnight storm response
Buttercup Creek, Cedar Park
Trimming & Pruning
Structural reduction on a heritage live oak
Travis Heights, Austin
Land & Lot Clearing
Four acres of selective cedar clearing
Belterra, Dripping Springs
Cabling & Bracing
Cable system on a split co-dominant oak
Rough Hollow, Lakeway
Stump Grinding
Below-grade grind ready for sod
Falcon Pointe, Pflugerville
Tree Health
Oak wilt diagnosis and injection
Rollingwood, Austin
Commercial & HOA
Annual contract maintenance, 214 trees
Garlic Creek, Buda
Tree Removal
Rigged removal beside a bedroom wall
Hyde Park, Austin
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Ten cities, one crew
No travel surcharge anywhere in the service area. Every city page covers the local soil, the local species and the local permit rules, because in Central Texas they genuinely differ from one side of Mopac to the other.
Austin
Travis County
Hyde Park, Tarrytown, Travis Heights, Zilker and nearby.
Under 2 hours for emergencies
Round Rock
Williamson County
Forest Creek, Teravista, Brushy Creek, Stone Oak and nearby.
2 to 3 hours for emergencies
Cedar Park
Williamson County
Buttercup Creek, Ranch at Brushy Creek, Cypress Creek, Twin Creeks and nearby.
2 to 3 hours for emergencies
Georgetown
Williamson County
Sun City, Berry Creek, Wolf Ranch, Historic District and nearby.
3 to 4 hours for emergencies
Pflugerville
Travis County
Falcon Pointe, Blackhawk, Highland Park, Springbrook and nearby.
2 to 3 hours for emergencies
Leander
Williamson County
Crystal Falls, Travisso, Bryson, Savanna Ranch and nearby.
3 hours for emergencies
Lakeway
Travis County
Rough Hollow, The Hills, Lakeway Highlands, Flintrock Falls and nearby.
3 to 4 hours for emergencies
Dripping Springs
Hays County
Belterra, Headwaters, Driftwood, Caliterra and nearby.
3 to 4 hours for emergencies
Kyle
Hays County
Plum Creek, Steeplechase, Blanco Vista, Waterleaf and nearby.
3 hours for emergencies
Buda
Hays County
Garlic Creek, Sunfield, Whispering Hollow, Elm Grove and nearby.
2 to 3 hours for emergencies
Questions we get every week
If yours is not here, call and ask. We would rather spend five minutes on the phone than have you guess.
Tree trimming in Austin typically runs $350 to $950 for a mature live oak, tree removal $650 to $3,200, and stump grinding $145 to $600. Price is driven by size, access, and what sits beneath the tree. Summit Tree Care gives fixed written estimates rather than hourly rates, so the number you approve is the number you pay.
Ask for a certificate of insurance sent to you directly by the insurer rather than handed over by the crew, and check it shows workers compensation as well as general liability. Ask whether the climbers are employees or subcontractors. Ask for the scope in writing, tree by tree. And walk away from anyone who offers to top a tree. Note that this is a demonstration website and publishes no insurance details of its own.
No. On-site estimates are free across our entire service area, and there is no travel charge to Round Rock, Cedar Park, Georgetown, Pflugerville, Leander, Lakeway, Dripping Springs, Kyle or Buda. Formal written arborist reports for permits, insurance or litigation are a separate paid service, priced from $275.
Avoid pruning oaks from February through June. That is when the sap-feeding beetles that transmit oak wilt are most active and most attracted to fresh wounds. July through January is the safe window. If a storm forces an emergency cut in spring, every wound needs pruning paint applied within minutes.
Inside Austin city limits, very likely. The City protects trees 19 inches and larger in diameter, and Heritage trees at 24 inches and above for qualifying species. Williamson and Hays County jurisdictions are generally less restrictive, though Georgetown operates its own ordinance and HOA covenants often apply. We check your specific address and file any permit for you.
Scheduled work is typically booked five to eight business days out, longer in the weeks following a major storm when every crew in the region is committed. Emergency calls are handled 24 hours a day, with crews usually reaching a tree on a structure within two to four hours.
Completely, and it is included in every quote. Brush is chipped and hauled, hard surfaces are blown clean, and the crew leader walks the finished work with you before leaving. If you would rather keep the chips as mulch or the wood as firewood, tell us and we will leave it stacked at no charge.
Greater Austin and the surrounding suburbs: Austin, Round Rock, Cedar Park, Georgetown, Pflugerville, Leander, Lakeway, Dripping Springs, Kyle and Buda, plus Bee Cave, Hutto and Manor. All are inside our standard service area with no travel surcharge.
Free on-site visit
Not sure what your tree actually needs?
An arborist walks your property, tells you plainly what each tree needs, and puts a fixed price in writing. If the answer is that it needs nothing, we say that too — and there is no charge for the visit either way.