Tree Removal
Dead, leaning or too-big trees brought down piece by piece and hauled away.
Macon, Illinois
Tree Service in Macon, IL
For tree service in Macon, IL, Decatur Elite Tree Service handles removals, trimming, stump grinding and storm cleanup for homes in town and farmsteads around it. We're nine miles up US 51, and every job ends the same way: brush chipped, logs hauled or stacked, yard raked.
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Tree Services We Offer in Macon
About half our Macon work is in town and half is out on the farms, and we've done close to 50 jobs around Macon since 2020. People call us for these most:
- Old maples and elms past their prime, see tree removal
- Limbs over the roof, the garage and the drive, see tree trimming
- Windbreak rows and fence lines, see land clearing
- Stumps left from old removals, see stump grinding
- Storm limbs on cars and roofs, see emergency tree service
- Churches, the school grounds and rentals, see commercial tree service
Farmsteads and Windbreaks
Nearly every farmstead around Macon has a windbreak, a row or two of spruce, pine or silver maple on the north and west sides to block winter wind. After 40 or 50 years those rows look like a gap-toothed smile: dead tops, missing trees and a few leaning the wrong way.
We can pull just the dead ones and leave the healthy trees, or clear the whole row and grind the stumps so you can replant or farm through it. Tell us what you want the row to do. In our experience, most folks keep the row and fill the gaps with new spruce.
Contact UsHow Much Does Tree Service Cost in Macon?
Tree service in Macon usually costs $250 to $1,200 to trim one big tree and $400 to $1,900 to remove one in 2026. Clearing a windbreak or fence row runs $1,800 to $5,500 an acre, depending on how thick it is. Prices match Decatur, and there's no charge for the drive.
| Macon job | Typical price |
|---|---|
| Trim a large maple over the house | $450 to $1,200 |
| Remove one dead windbreak spruce | $400 to $900 |
| Remove a big elm or maple in town | $1,200 to $2,400 |
| Grind 3 stumps on one visit | $275 to $650 |
| Clear an overgrown fence row, per acre | $1,800 to $5,500 |
On farm jobs, the price swings on what happens to the wood. If you burn it or have a spot to pile it, we leave the logs and you skip the hauling cost. We've found that alone can knock 20% off a windbreak job. If everything has to go, we chip the brush and haul the logs.
Old Town Lots From the Railroad Days
Macon was laid out in 1856 on Illinois Central Railroad land and became a city in 1869. Some trees on those first streets are close to a hundred years old. Whoever planted them never pictured a two-car garage, an Ameren line and a satellite dish under the branches.
Old silver maples are the ones we keep an eye on. Their wood is brittle, and the big forks where two trunks meet like to crack. Crown thinning, which opens the canopy so wind passes through, can buy a lot of years. A crack running down from that fork, though, usually means the tree's time is up.
Summer Storm Limbs
A storm report out of Macon on June 11, 2026 described limbs blown down onto a vehicle, and that's pretty much the usual summer story here: one heavy limb, not the whole tree, on a car, a roof or a fence. We cut it free, haul it off and take photos you can send your insurer.
Types of Tree Service We Offer in Macon
Tree Removal in Town
Lots in old Macon sit close together. Our climber takes the tree down in sections and lowers each piece on a rope, slow and steady, so the house next door never feels it. It's a bit like pulling a splinter: careful beats fast.
Windbreak and Field Edge Work
We pull dead trees out of windbreak rows, raise limbs over farm lanes so the combine and grain trucks clear, and cut volunteer trees out of fence lines before they get big. Last fall our crew opened up about 400 feet of lane on one farm east of town in a single day.
Stump Grinding
Our tracked grinder handles yard stumps and windbreak stumps the same way. We grind about 8 inches deep and call JULIE before we start. On farms we also ask where the drain tile runs, because JULIE won't mark that and nobody wants a plugged line in May.
Dead Ash Removal
The emerald ash borer turned up in Decatur in 2012 and worked its way through the county. Plenty of dead ash still stand in Macon yards and fence rows, getting more brittle every year, a bit like a dried-out broom handle. We take most of them down from the bucket truck rather than climbing.
Further south on US 51, we serve Moweaqua on the same schedule and at the same prices.
Storm Claim? We Document It
Photos before we cut, a written description of what fell and what it hit, and an itemized invoice your insurer can read.
Contact UsWinter Trimming List
Get on our December to February list. Dormant trees, frozen ground and 10% off trims over $400.
Contact UsQuestions we hear
Tree Service FAQs for Macon
Can you leave the logs on my farm?
Yes, and it knocks the price down. Show us where you want the logs piled, and tell us if you want them cut to firewood length. We still chip the small brush so it isn't lying around the field. In our experience most farm customers keep at least part of the wood.
Should I replace a windbreak or just fix it?
If most of the row is healthy, pull the dead ones and plant into the gaps. If more than about a third is dead or leaning, clearing and replanting usually costs less over time. We'll walk the row with you and count trees before we put a number on paper.
Do you grind stumps near farm drain tile?
Yes, with care. JULIE marks the public utility lines, but nobody marks private field tile. Walk us to where your tile runs, or at least the outlet, and we keep the grinder shallow around it. Roots that have already crept into old tile are a big reason those lines plug up.
Is it worth trimming an old maple instead of removing it?
A lot of the time, yes. If the trunk is solid and the main fork isn't cracked, thinning the crown and shortening the long limbs takes weight off and lets the wind slip through. That can buy a shade tree years. A hollow trunk or a split fork changes the answer, and we'll say so.
How fast can you get to Macon after a storm?
Macon is about 15 minutes down US 51, so storm calls here get worked right alongside our Decatur ones, in order of danger. A limb on a house or a car usually gets a crew that same day. Cleaning up the rest of the yard follows within a few days.
Our Other Tree Services
Tree Trimming
Deadwood out, limbs off the roof, crowns thinned for the next storm.
Stump Grinding
Stumps chewed out below the grass line, ready for seed.
Emergency Tree Service
Storm calls 24/7: trees lifted off roofs, cars and driveways.
Crane Tree Removal
Giant trees over houses lifted out one piece at a time.
Land Clearing
Brushy lots, fence lines and building sites cleared and hauled.
Commercial Tree Service
Trims, removals and storm work for businesses, HOAs and landlords.
Free walk-around
Got a Tree That's Bothering You?
Leave your name, number and a line about the tree. We call back to set up a walk-around, and the written price follows within 48 hours.
- Written price within 48 hours
- 24/7 storm and emergency calls
- Clean-up included in every price