Tree Service in Pell City, ALFor St. Clair County homes from Moody and Odenville to Ragland and the Logan Martin Lake shore
Need tree service in Pell City, Alabama? Call or send the short form and say what the tree is doing: an oak resting its limbs on the roof, a pine whose needles have gone rusty brown, a trunk leaning toward the house on a hillside lot, or a tree a storm laid across the yard. Your request is sent to a single independent contractor working in Pell City and around St. Clair County, who comes out, looks at the tree and the ground around it, and puts a price in writing.
- Your details reach one contractor, nobody else
- Pell City, Moody, Odenville, Springville, Riverside, Cropwell
Trees and storms in St. Clair County
If a big tree stands where it could reach the house, the county's storm record is the reason to look at it before the next line of storms rather than after. Alabama Power says more outages come from trees or limbs falling on power lines and poles than from the weather alone (checked Nov 12, 2026). Four entries from damage surveys by the National Weather Service office in Birmingham:
- Apr 27, 2011, about 6:15 a.m.Pell City and Riverside, 80 to 100 mph
Weather Service meteorologists traced a swath of straight-line wind damage from just west of the St. Clair County Courthouse northeast across Pell City, Industrial Park Drive and Interstate 20, and through Riverside. The worst of it was large trees pulled up by the roots onto homes. One person died when a large oak was uprooted and fell on a manufactured home.
- Apr 27, 2011, same morningMoody and the Brompton area
Gusts the survey put at 80 to 100 mph blew down and snapped trees along US-411 in Moody's business district, then across a wooded stretch a couple of miles northeast of the Brompton community. There a tree fell onto a mobile home and fatally injured one of the people inside.
- Apr 27, 2011, eveningEF-4 along Shoal Creek Road
The Argo–Shoal Creek–Ohatchee–Forney tornado had strengthened to EF-4, with 170 mph winds, when it tore along Shoal Creek Road, where the survey counts at least 14 deaths. It describes many thousands of trees "uprooted, snapped, and reduced to spiked stumps."
- Dec 28, 2024, 12:25 a.m.Coosa Island, on Logan Martin
An 85 mph tornado rated EF-0, the weakest rating, still snapped or uprooted numerous trees, and the Weather Service says many of them fell onto homes near Shady Brook Lane. Its figures for that night are marked preliminary.
Sources: NWS Birmingham, Morning Straight Line Wind Damage on April 27, 2011, Argo-Shoal Creek-Ohatchee-Forney Tornado and December 28, 2024 tornadoes; Alabama Power, Trees and Rights of Way. All checked Nov 12, 2026. More in the storm and emergency guide.
From your call to a written price
Say what you're seeing
Call or use the form. Mention what the tree could hit, how steep the yard is, any wires, and whether the lot runs down to Logan Martin.
It goes to one contractor
A single independent contractor who works in St. Clair County receives the request. It isn't passed around to a list of companies.
The tree gets a look
The contractor reaches you the way you asked, walks the lot, and writes down what the job covers and what it costs.
The choice is yours
Whether to hire, when the work happens, who hauls the wood and how payment works are settled between you and the contractor.
Guides for St. Clair County homes
Each guide is written for this county's hillside lots, lake lots and tall pines. Rules come from the city, county, state and Alabama Power, and anything that can change carries the date it was checked.
Tree removal
What a removal includes, how a tall tree comes down above a sloping yard, Alabama Power's 10-foot warning near lines, and why hauling is part of the job: Pell City won't take a tree crew's limbs at the curb (checked Nov 12, 2026).
Tree trimming
Long oak limbs over a ranch roof are the usual call. UF/IFAS hurricane studies give water oak their lowest wind rating, and its heavy side limbs can split away in windstorms. The guide also covers Alabama Power's 30-foot easements.
Stump grinding
Alabama 811 asks for notice at least 2 to 10 full working days before digging and says locate requests are required by law before excavation (checked Nov 12, 2026). Also: rocky clay, pine stumps and prices.
Storm and emergency removal
Wires first, then people, photos and the insurer. The Alabama Department of Insurance says a homeowner's policy generally pays up to $500 toward tree removal per event, not per tree (checked Nov 12, 2026).
Dead or leaning trees
The Alabama Forestry Commission has documented emerald ash borer in St. Clair County (posted June 6, 2025). The guide covers dying ash, oaks leaning over heaved clay, hollow water oaks and lightning-struck trees.
Loblolly pine removal
Loblolly is Alabama's top tree by both count and volume (USDA Forest Service, March 2025) and the southern pine beetle's preferred host. Signs of beetles, lightning damage and windthrow, and how a tall pine comes down.
Before you hire
Pell City tree rules
Whether you need a permit (for an ordinary yard tree, no rule requiring one was found), plus the exceptions: the lake buffer, curbside limbs, roads, burning law and Springville's 2006 tree ordinance.
Logan Martin lake lots
Alabama Power owns the land at the water from full pool at 465 feet up to as high as 473 feet, depending on location, and its 15-foot buffer bars removing trees over 3 inches across without written authorization (checked Nov 12, 2026).
Tree removal cost
HomeGuide's national average for removing one tree is $1,150, with most jobs between $300 and $2,000 (checked Nov 12, 2026). The cost page lists every tier with its source and date.
St. Clair County trees
The county sits at the southern tip of the Appalachians, with limestone soils in the valleys and sandstone on the ridges. How loblolly, water oak, sweetgum, tulip poplar and Bradford pear hold up here.
Hiring a tree service
What the written agreement should spell out, why a large upfront payment deserves care, Alabama's three-day cancel right for sales made at your home, and its price law after a declared emergency.
What a tree job costs here
HomeGuide's tree removal guide puts the national average at $1,150 per tree, with most jobs falling between $300 and $2,000 (checked Nov 12, 2026). By height, it lists $150 to $500 for a tree under 30 feet and $1,200 to $2,700 for one over 80 feet. No price list for Pell City or the Birmingham area could be read for this site, so those are national figures. What you'll actually pay is the figure the contractor puts in writing once the tree has been seen.
In Pell City, hauling belongs in that number. The city's collection service won't take limbs from a tree service, and its 2017 garbage ordinance makes it unlawful for a tree removal contractor to leave them at the curb (checked Nov 12, 2026).
| On your lot | How it changes the job |
|---|---|
| Height | Mature loblolly pines run 90 to 110 feet tall (USDA Forest Service); HomeGuide's tier for trees over 80 feet is $1,200 to $2,700 (checked Nov 12, 2026) |
| A yard that drops away | When a truck or lift can't set up close, more of the tree comes down by climbing and rope |
| The house or a deck below | Pieces get lowered on rope instead of dropped |
| Power lines | Alabama Power warns that anyone not qualified for line work should stay 10 feet from overhead lines below 50,000 volts (checked Nov 12, 2026) |
| The lake | On Alabama Power land within 15 feet of full pool, a tree more than 3 inches across needs its written authorization first (checked Nov 12, 2026) |
| A crane | HomeGuide adds $500 to $2,500 per day (checked Nov 12, 2026) |
| The stump | Grinding the first one runs $120 to $400 nationally (HomeGuide, checked Nov 12, 2026) |
Permits, the lake and the curb, briefly
Most yard trees here can come down without a permit. The lake shore is the big exception, and Pell City is strict about where a tree crew's limbs go. The rules guide has the details and the phone numbers.
A tree in the yard
No rule requiring a homeowner to get a permit to take down a tree on an existing house lot turned up in Pell City's posted zoning ordinance, Moody's and Odenville's codes, or the county's local laws (checked Nov 12, 2026). Springville adopted tree conservation guidelines in 2006 whose text couldn't be read, so ask the city there first.
On the Logan Martin shore
On Alabama Power's land along the lake, a 15-foot natural buffer measured from full pool rules out removing any tree more than 3 inches in diameter without the company's written authorization. Call the Logan Martin Lake Office at 205-472-0481 before anyone cuts (checked Nov 12, 2026).
Limbs at the curb in Pell City
Residents can set out up to 6 cubic yards of brush every other week, in pieces under 5 feet long and 6 inches thick. Material from a tree service isn't collected, and leaving it at the curb is a misdemeanor for the contractor, with fines of $50 to $200 a day (checked Nov 12, 2026).
Towns around Pell City and the lake
St. Clair County had 98,206 people on July 1, 2025, by the Census Bureau's count, up 7.3% from 2020 (checked Nov 12, 2026). About 36% of them live outside any city or town, where county rules alone apply.
Pell City
The county's largest city, at 14,320 people in 2025 and up 10.9% since 2020 (Census Bureau, checked Nov 12, 2026), and one of its two county seats along with Ashville. Its share of Logan Martin's shore falls under Alabama Power's lake rules. City Hall: 205-338-2244 (checked Nov 12, 2026).
Moody, Odenville, Springville and Margaret
Moody had 13,559 people in 2025. The fastest growers since 2020 are Margaret, up 38.1%, Odenville, up 22.3%, and Springville, up 17.2% (Census Bureau, checked Nov 12, 2026). Each town keeps its own code; Springville's 2006 tree ordinance is the one to ask about.
Ashville, Riverside, Ragland and Steele
Ashville holds the County Commission office at 165 5th Avenue (205-594-2100, checked Nov 12, 2026). Riverside sat in the path of the April 2011 wind swath along I-20. Tree rules in these towns weren't researched for this site, so check with town hall before cutting.
Cropwell, Coosa Island and the rest of the lake shore
Cropwell, Wattsville, Branchville, Coosa Island and Chula Vista aren't incorporated, so county rules apply, and lake lots there also fall under Alabama Power's shoreline rules. The lake lot guide covers them.
Pell City tree questions
Does Pell City require a permit to take down a yard tree?
None turned up. The city's posted zoning ordinance, the 2022 update, has no tree removal permit or replacement rule for single-family lots (checked Nov 12, 2026). The exceptions are Alabama Power's land along the lake, work in a county road right-of-way, which has its own county permit form, and any covenants your homeowners association keeps. The city has posted a 2026 draft summary of edits to that ordinance, so if you want to be certain, call City Hall at 205-338-2244 (checked Nov 12, 2026).
Will the city haul away the limbs?
Limbs you cut yourself, yes, within limits: pieces under 5 feet long and under 6 inches thick, up to 6 cubic yards every other week on your garbage day. Anything a tree service cuts, no. The city's solid waste page says it won't take material from a contractor or a tree service (checked Nov 12, 2026), so the contractor's price should include hauling.
Can I cut the trees along my Logan Martin shoreline?
Not inside the buffer without Alabama Power's written say-so. Its guidelines list removing any tree over 3 inches in diameter within 15 feet of full pool as not permitted, and they state no exception for dead trees. Whether the company will authorize removing a hazard tree there is something only the Logan Martin Lake Office (205-472-0481) can tell you (checked Nov 12, 2026).
A tree is down across the road. Who do I call?
If wires are tangled in it, Alabama Power at 1-800-888-2726, and 911 if anyone is hurt or trapped. Otherwise, the sheriff's countywide non-emergency line is 205-884-3333, the county Road Department is 205-594-2190, and Pell City's Street Department is (205) 884-8267 (all checked Nov 12, 2026).
Who comes out to see the tree?
One independent contractor working in St. Clair County. The website forwards your request and that's all; it has no crews or equipment. The price, the schedule, any request to Alabama Power and the cleanup are worked out between you and that contractor.
Got a tree in St. Clair County that needs to come down or be cut back?
Phone the number or fill in the request form. It reaches one independent contractor who works around Pell City, who comes to see the tree in person and puts a price in writing.