Frequently Asked Questions

Every tree is different, so A&O prices each job after looking at it. The biggest factors are the size and species of the tree, how close it is to a house, driveway, fence, or power line, how much room the crew has to work and drop wood, whether a bucket truck or crane can reach it, and how much cleanup and hauling you want included. A dead or leaning tree over a roof takes more rigging and time than the same tree standing alone in an open field. Estimates are free, so the fastest way to get a real number is to call or text 334-332-3873 or send a few photos through the estimate form.

Yes. A&O provides free estimates with no obligation. Call or text 334-332-3873, or fill out the estimate form and include your location and a short description of the tree work you need. Photos help a lot and often let us give you a closer number before we ever come out.

Yes. A&O Tree Service LLC is licensed and insured. Tree work puts heavy wood in the air near roofs, vehicles, and utilities, and you should never let anyone work on your property without coverage. If you would like to see proof of insurance before the crew starts, just ask and we will provide it.

A&O Tree Service is owned and operated by James Gates and is based out of Notasulga, Alabama. It is a locally owned company with more than 20 years of experience in difficult tree work, and it is rated 4.9 stars across 59 Google reviews from customers around East Central Alabama.

A&O works throughout East Central Alabama from its base in Notasulga. That includes Auburn, Opelika, Tuskegee, Tallassee, Dadeville, the Lake Martin area, Montgomery, and the surrounding communities. If you are not sure whether you are in range, call or text 334-332-3873 and ask - we will tell you straight either way.

Yes. A&O offers emergency tree service for trees that have already fallen or are about to. That covers trees down on a house or outbuilding, limbs hanging over a roof after a storm, trees blocking a driveway or road, and trees leaning hard enough that they are no longer safe to leave alone. An emergency is an emergency here - when you call, we move on it. How fast we can be standing in your yard depends on how severe it is and what else is already active, and after a bad storm every phone in the county is ringing at once. Call 334-332-3873 rather than using the web form; for anything active, calling gets a faster answer.

Lead time moves with the season. Storm season and the busy stretches fill up fast, and a run of severe weather pushes routine work back while emergency calls take priority; quieter parts of the year turn around much quicker. Rather than quote you a number that will not hold, A&O will tell you the real window when you call for your estimate.

Usually not, as long as the crew has clear access to the tree and you have already agreed on the scope of work. Many customers walk the property with us during the estimate, approve the plan, and then go on with their day. For jobs with tight access, gates, pets, or anything the crew needs pointed out, it helps to have someone there at the start.

Tree work is weather dependent. Wet ground, lightning, and high wind all make rigging and climbing more dangerous, and heavy equipment does more damage to soft ground. If conditions are not safe or would tear up your yard, A&O will call you and reschedule rather than push through and make a mess.

Yes - that is the core of what A&O does. Trees close to a structure come down in controlled pieces rather than being felled in one drop. Depending on the site, the crew uses a bucket truck, a crane or spider lift, and rigging lines to lower limbs and sections under control instead of letting them fall. Tight removals near roofs, fences, decks, and driveways are routine work here.

It depends on which line. A&O can work around the service drop that runs from the pole to your house, and will assess the job on site. Primary utility lines are a different matter - those belong to the power company, and the safe and legal path is to have the utility de-energize, cover, or temporarily drop the line before any work starts. Never assume a line is dead, and never let anyone cut near one without that call being made first. A&O will tell you if the utility needs to be involved before we quote the job.

Stump grinding is available and can be added to any removal. It is quoted separately from the removal itself, because some customers want the stump ground flush for mowing and landscaping while others are fine leaving it. If you want the area usable again afterward, grinding is worth including - a leftover stump gets in the way of mowing, drainage, and anything you want to plant or build there later.

Yes. A&O handles cleanup, brush removal, and hauling as part of the job, and the crew chips and removes limbs and debris rather than leaving a pile behind. How much gets hauled is set in the estimate, so tell us up front how clean you want the site left and we will price it that way.

Protecting the property is part of the plan, not an afterthought. A&O uses turf protection, plans access routes around soft ground and drainage, and pays attention to washouts, septic fields, irrigation, and landscaping before driving anything heavy across a lawn. On wet ground or a delicate site, the crew will use a smaller machine, work from a different approach, or wait for the ground to dry rather than rut up your yard.

Both. Along with full removals, A&O handles limb removal, canopy work, and pruning - taking deadwood out of an otherwise healthy tree, clearing limbs off a roof or driveway, and cutting back growth that is crowding a structure. Removing a hazard does not always mean removing the whole tree.

That depends entirely on where the tree is, and the answer is not the same from one city or neighborhood to the next. Requirements vary by municipality, HOAs and neighborhood covenants sometimes restrict removals, and a tree standing in a right-of-way or easement may not be yours to cut. Check with your city and your HOA before scheduling anything you are unsure about, and if the tree sits near a property line, talk to your neighbor first. A&O will flag it if something looks like it needs a call before we start.

Some warning signs are easy to spot from the ground. Look for large dead limbs still hanging in the canopy, bark falling off in sheets, mushrooms or conks growing at the base or on the trunk, a hollow or soft spot you can push a screwdriver into, cracks running down the trunk, and roots lifting the soil on one side. A tree that has suddenly started leaning, or one with fresh soil heaving near the base, needs attention right away. If a tree is close enough to reach your house if it came down, it is worth having someone look at it.

Stay away from anything touching a power line and assume every downed line is live. Keep people and vehicles out from under hanging limbs - a limb caught in a canopy can drop hours or days later with no warning. Take photos before anything is moved, since your insurance company will want them. Then call for help rather than getting under it with a chainsaw yourself; storm-damaged wood is under tension and does not cut predictably.

A dead or dangerous tree should come down whenever you find it - waiting for a better season is how trees end up on roofs. For non-urgent work, late fall through winter is a good window in Alabama: the canopy is bare, the crew can see the structure of the tree clearly, the ground is often firmer, and there is less landscaping underneath to protect. That said, A&O works year round.

A tree that is genuinely dead cannot be brought back. But not every struggling tree is a lost cause - storm damage, a few dead limbs, or one bad-looking side does not always mean the whole tree has to go. A&O will tell you honestly if selective pruning would solve the problem, and will not talk you into removing a tree that does not need to come down.