Just a month ago, I had a tree guy remove the following from my property:

-11 dead ash trees (most of the ashes in my area were stricken with a disease a couple of years ago) - all 11 were still standing.
-2 pine trees
-tons and tons of brush including poison ivy, wild roses and a bunch of other throny stuff.
-Half a tree that was felled a few years ago
- One huge tree that fell a year ago.

All stumps were ground down - the ones in the wooded area were only ground down to the surface due to rocks all around. The stumps up front were ground down below ground level.

All wood was chipped and it's now in my driveway waiting for me to spread it out in the wooded area to keep the weeds down.

Total cost: $3000.00.

Took three guys a good 4 days to do all that work.

If you are in north NJ and need tree removal, then I highly recommend Stinger Tree Service from Bogota, NJ.

Although my dad and I (mostly dad :)) have dropped more huge trees than I can recall, sometimes you need a pro to take them down from the top (either with a bucket, or someone up in the tree with a "swing type apparatus" and crew on the ground w/ ropes). Shop around, anyone using a bucket is going to be higher, and some estimates might be double others. Dad had a 180 year old red oak taken down (hanging over his house) with a bucket, and I once had to have a 75 year old white oak (huge limbs over my house - 4.5' at the base) taken. It was amazing to see the old guy up in my tree swinging from the top, chainsaw in hand, not a job for amateurs imo. Our 20" chainsaws weren't the "right tools for the job" in those two instances. Both trees were dead/dying, and couldn't be saved :(.

Lendaddy, if any of them are within a certain distance of the center (or edge) of the street (you'd have to find out what the ordinance says), the city will come take it/them out if they're dead.

We had a 120'+ pine die on us a few years ago, and the city took care of the whole thing.

Well, more accurately, our city taxes paid for it.

I had 3 taken out for less than 1,200.00 . Had the stumps removed and a quarter acre regraded for about the same.

The tree guy had a big bucket truck, and left the logs on the ground. I cut them to 8 foot lengths, and the excavator moved them to the wood pile area during the stump removal. The excavator also pushed down a couple of trees that were in his way, 30 footers, and the tree guy took down one extra tree that was sickly. The big trees were locust.

I believe my wife looked into this but I'll double check. Thanks/

Len, typical pricing from guys who couldn't run a bidding spreadsheet if their life depended on it. Somebody probably wants to buy an ATV that costs $6,078.

That said tall tree work is not for the amateur- I would get some competitive bids.

Pricing varies greatly from region to region, but I'm just a few miles east of you and that sounds really high. Really high! That being said I haven't seen your site, so there may be factors that make it so much $$$. I would call a few people as the tree guys in my area are fools. One week they want 3K to do a job for me but two weeks later when they are short of work and cash they will do it for 1.5K. Not kidding.

Blocking trees is not for beginners. I've seen bad things happen to even experienced crews. Make sure you have a copy of declarations page for insurance from all who bid.

If this is something that can easily be done later in the season let the contractors know, they might give you a break if they can schedule it to meet their needs. This is oak trimming season so any reputable company is taking care of work they booked during summer.