Tree on your house, blocking the driveway, or into power lines? Call 612-532-9996 now. · Live answering · Same-day emergency response
Tree on your house, blocking the driveway, or into power lines? Call 612-532-9996 now. · Live answering · Same-day emergency response
Home › Tree Services › Crane Tree Removal
ISA-Certified Arborists · Fully Insured · Serving the Twin Cities Since 2006
When a big tree stands in a tight spot, close to the house, over the fence, near the lines, taking it down by hand means hours of rigging and dragging heavy wood across your yard. A crane lifts each section straight up and out to the truck. It is faster, it is safer, and on hard-access jobs it usually costs less. We will tell you honestly whether your tree is a crane job or not.
You’ll speak with our scheduling team, who will arrange a visit from a certified arborist, not a salesperson.
Send a photo to give our certified arborist the info they need to schedule you for an estimate.
ISA Certified Arborist · TCIA Member · Fully Licensed & Insured · ★ 4.8 / 133 Google Reviews · 1,000+ Removals · Locally owned since 2006
The cost truth
It sounds backwards. A crane looks like the expensive option, so people brace for a huge bill and sometimes hire the cheapest hand-felling crew instead. Here is the truth: on a big tree in a tight yard, the crane is often the lower number, because it turns a two-day rigging job into a few hours and keeps heavy wood from ever touching your lawn, your fence, or your roof.
★★★★★
“We had an enormous silver maple removed via crane assist… The street was marked off ahead of time, so my neighbors knew where not to park… The ease and artistry with which they took out our tree was amazing.”
Toni Chelikowsky
Crane assist
★★★★★
“They’ve taken down some huge trees for me in tight spots without any damage to surrounding baby trees or structures. That takes skill.”
Alex Molldrem
Tight spots
Not sure if your tree is a crane job? That is exactly what the free estimate is for.
What’s included
An ISA-Certified Arborist and the crane operator plan the lift together: reach, load, set-down zone, and every obstacle, before the truck arrives.
Ground mats, a mapped set-up, and a marked-off drop zone. The whole point of a crane is that nothing heavy crosses your yard.
When the lift needs the street, we pull the city permit and mark it off in advance so your neighbours know where not to park.
Sections rigged, cut, and lifted straight up and over the house to the truck, one controlled piece at a time.
Logs, brush, and sawdust gone. We rake and blow the site clean. Every time.
Stump grinding below grade, grindings cleared, grading and resod available so the spot looks like the tree was never there.
How it works
1
A photo of the tree and the yard tells us in seconds whether it is a crane job. Thirty seconds, and it saves a trip.
2
Gabe or Adam checks the tree, the access, the set-up spot, and the power lines, and gives you a written price.
3
Scope, method, crane time, cleanup, stump, schedule, price. In writing, before anyone starts.
4
We protect the property, set the crane, lift the tree out in sections, haul it away, and walk the site with you before we leave.
Permits and street closures, we handle them. When a lift needs the street shut down, we pull the city permit and coordinate it. You do not make a call.
A real Twin Cities crane job
The concern
An enormous silver maple had to come down on a tight residential lot, neighbours close on both sides.
The constraints
No room to drop anything. Cars parked along the street. Stump grinding needed as a follow-up.
The plan
Street marked off in advance so neighbours knew where not to park. Sections craned up and over, hauled out, the site cleaned along the way and not just at the end. Stump ground on a second visit.
The result
Tree out, yard and street cleaned, neighbours warned, nothing damaged.
“The ease and artistry with which they took out our tree was amazing… I got phone calls the day before to remind me… I would highly recommend Gabe and his crew.”
Toni Chelikowsky
Removing the tree
After the lift
Where this fits
This page is the crane specialist. It owns “when a crane is needed and what it costs.” The others own their methods.
Big tree, tight spot. A boom truck lifts sections up and over the house.
You are here
Open access, room to work. Climbed or sectioned down, chipped, hauled.
Tree on the house or into the lines. Same-day response, insurance documented.
Brittle dead ash that cannot be safely climbed. We pick it with the boom truck.
Real pricing
Most crane removals in the Twin Cities run $3,200 to $8,500. These are Gabe’s own confirmed numbers, written down before we start.
| What drives the price | Why it moves the number |
|---|---|
| Crane time | The crane is billed by the day or the port-to-port window. A faster lift is a smaller bill. |
| Tree size and tonnage | Height, spread, and weight set how many lifts it takes. |
| Reach and set-up distance | The farther the crane sits from the tree, the more capacity it costs. |
| Access and obstacles | Where the truck can set up, and what is in the way, drive the plan. |
| Cleanup, stump, restoration | Grinding, grading, and resod are scoped separately so you choose. |
| Permits and street closure | Handled by us, where the job needs them. |
| Job | Typical range |
|---|---|
| The simplest crane removal | From $3,200 |
| Most crane removals (about 90% of jobs) | $3,200 to $8,500 |
| The largest, multi-tree, or hardest access | $15,000+ |
The same tree, four ways, a 45-foot ash
| Scenario | Why | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Front yard, easy access | Truck and chipper reach the tree | $800 to $1,200 |
| Side yard, fences and obstacles | Hand-carry, careful rigging | $1,500 to $4,000 |
| Backyard, no access, felled by hand | Slow, high-risk, piece by piece | $7,000 to $8,000 |
| Backyard, crane-assisted | Crane lifts sections out cleanly | About $3,500 |
Read the last two rows together. On a tight backyard job, the crane is the cheaper option, not the expensive one. A crane usually saves the customer $2,000 or more versus felling a hard-access tree by hand.
The honest close. We are not the cheapest, and a crane is not always the answer. If your tree is an easy front-yard drop, we will tell you and quote the standard removal. When it is a big tree in a tight spot, ask any bidder how they will get the wood out without crossing your lawn. That is the question that matters.
4.8
Based on 133 Google reviews
Big trees, tight spots, no surprises
★★★★★
“These guys were efficient, thorough and professional with my large 70′ ash tree removal project.”
Tom Schibilla
Big trees
★★★★★
“The removal required obtaining permits from the city to close off the street which they took care of… They left a cleaned up yard.”
Scott Belcher · Realtor
Permits and street closure
★★★★★
“They stick to their estimates and there are no surprises… huge trees for me in tight spots without any damage.”
Alex Molldrem
Tight spots, no surprises
Straight answers
Often, yes, on a big tree in a tight spot. A crane turns a long rigging job into a few hours and keeps heavy wood off your yard. Most of our crane jobs save the customer $2,000 or more versus felling by hand. On an easy front-yard tree, a crane is overkill, and we will tell you.
Most crane removals run $3,200 to $8,500, which covers about 90% of jobs. The simplest start around $3,200; the largest or hardest-access jobs can run $15,000 or more. You get a written price before we start.
When the tree is big and the space is tight: close to the house, over a fence or power lines, or too dead and brittle to climb, and when there is no way to get equipment in except over the top. If a standard crew can drop it safely, you do not need one.
It is usually the safest option in tight quarters, because the load is controlled the whole way up instead of dropped. We plan the lift, the set-up, and line clearance before the truck arrives, and coordinate with the utility when needed.
The opposite. The point of a crane is that heavy wood never crosses your lawn. We set ground mats, mark a drop zone, and lift sections straight to the truck.
Sometimes, for the set-up and the lift. When we do, we pull the city permit and mark it off in advance so your neighbours know where not to park. We handle it.
Yes, and it is often the only safe way. Dead ash turns brittle and cannot be safely climbed, so we pick it with the boom truck instead. Emerald ash borer removal.
Planned crane jobs are usually scheduled within days to a couple of weeks depending on crane availability and the season. For a tree that is an active hazard, call 612-532-9996 and we respond same-day. Emergency tree removal.
One straight answer
A certified arborist will look at the tree, the access, and the power lines, and tell you honestly whether it is a crane job, what it will take, and what it will cost. Written estimate. No pressure.
Ask your neighbour, then call.
Crane tree removal across Minneapolis, St. Paul, Maple Grove, Plymouth, Brooklyn Park, Blaine, Coon Rapids, Edina, Roseville, and the Twin Cities metro. Emergency crane response across Hennepin, Anoka, Sherburne, and Wright counties.
A 30 foot green ash out of a Blaine back yard, first week of August. Every frame below is that one job, in order: the branch over the driveway, the crane staged from the street, the climber flown in, four lifts including the pick past the chimney, and the grapple clearing as we go. A crane is usually the cheaper option on a job like this, because the tree leaves in pieces that are carried, not dropped.
A certified arborist will come out, look at it, and tell you honestly whether it needs to come down, and if it does, exactly what it’ll take and what it’ll cost. Written estimate. No pressure. No surprises.
We read every one of these. If your tree is a hazard right now, call instead: 612-532-9996.
