Tree Lopping and Pruning
Crown thinning, deadwooding and clearance pruning that keeps the tree stable through a southerly.
Learn more →When a tree has to come out
Some trees are genuinely finished. A camphor laurel with a hollow butt and fungal brackets at the base, a eucalypt that has shed two large limbs in successive summers, a fig whose roots have lifted a slab and cracked a stormwater line. Others come out because the block is being built on, or because the canopy has simply outgrown the setback it was planted in forty years ago.
Removal is the irreversible option, so it is worth being sure. On a quote visit we will say plainly if the tree can be kept with a decent pruning programme instead. Plenty can.
How the job actually runs
Very few Illawarra removals involve dropping a tree in one piece. There is rarely the room. The standard method is sectional dismantling: a climber works up through the crown on rope and harness, or an elevated work platform sets up where the driveway allows, and the tree comes apart from the top down.
Small offcuts get dropped into a cleared zone. Anything heavy enough to damage what is underneath gets rigged — tied off, cut, and lowered under control on a friction device. On blocks where there is no safe drop zone at all, which is common in the older parts of Wollongong where houses sit close together, a crane parks on the street and lifts each section out over the roofline.
Steep sites under the escarpment change the calculation again. On the slopes below Mount Keira and around the Bulli and Thirroul benches, the truck often cannot get past the front boundary. That means either a longer climb-and-carry job, or a crane reaching in from the road. The crane usually wins on cost once the carting is priced honestly.
Council approval before the saw starts
Wollongong City Council, Shellharbour City Council and Kiama Municipal Council all control the removal of protected trees. Approval is normally required in writing before work begins, with exemptions covering declared weed species, trees under the protected size thresholds, and genuine emergencies where a tree presents an immediate risk.
Camphor laurel and large-leaved privet are common exemptions in practice because they are recognised environmental weeds through the Illawarra. A mature blackbutt, turpentine or fig is a different conversation and may need an arborist report supporting the application. We will tell you which situation you are in before you commit to anything, and we will not remove a protected tree on a verbal assurance that it is fine.
What is included and what is not
A removal quote covers the takedown, cutting the material down, chipping the brush, and raking the work area clean. Timber is left in firewood lengths if you want it. Chip goes back onto garden beds at no charge or gets carted at a tipping cost.
It does not automatically include stump grinding, which is priced by stump diameter and access, and it does not include repairs to lawn or driveway surfaces where heavy machinery has been used with your agreement. For anything urgent — a tree already down, a limb hanging over a bedroom — go straight to emergency and storm work rather than waiting for a scheduled quote.
Call (02) 4214 8006, or check the cost guide to understand what will move the number up or down on your block.
More services
Explore our other services
Stump Grinding
Grinding stumps and surface roots below ground level so you can turf, pave or replant.
Learn more →Emergency and Storm Damage
After-hours response for trees on roofs, split limbs and blocked driveways after an east coast low.
Learn more →Land Clearing and Mulching
Clearing building envelopes, fence lines and overgrown acreage, with the debris chipped into mulch.
Learn more →
FAQs
Frequently asked questions
How is a tree removed when there is no room to fell it?
Almost every suburban removal in the Illawarra is sectional. A climber or an elevated work platform takes the tree down in pieces from the top, with each piece either dropped into a cleared zone or rigged and lowered on ropes. Where the drop zone is a roof, a pool or a neighbour's glasshouse, a crane lifts each section clear instead.
Will the crew get into my backyard?
Access is the first thing assessed on a quote visit. Side gates under a metre wide, split-level blocks and shared driveways all change the method and the price. If machinery cannot reach the tree, the work becomes climb-and-carry, which takes longer. Crane access from the street is often cheaper than two extra days of hand carting.
Do you remove the roots as well?
Removal leaves a stump at ground level unless you ask for more. Grinding takes the stump and the major surface roots down below turf or paving level. Full root excavation is a different job again, usually only needed before footings or a pool, and it needs the ground opened up with an excavator.
What if the tree is on the boundary or the neighbour's side?
A tree whose trunk sits on your neighbour's land is their tree, even if most of the canopy is over your fence. You can generally prune back to the boundary line but you cannot remove it. Where a trunk straddles the boundary, both owners need to agree. We will not start a removal without written confirmation from whoever owns the trunk.
Free, no-obligation