Tree Removal
Whole trees taken down, from a backyard camphor laurel to a spotted gum leaning over a Merewether roofline.
Learn more →What the weather does here
The Hunter's tree damage arrives in two distinct patterns.
Southerly busters hit in the warmer months: a hot northwesterly all day, then a wind change that arrives within minutes and can gust well over 80 km/h. Those snap limbs. Spotted gum, blackbutt, forest red gum and the brittle exotics like liquidambar and jacaranda shed branches, and the failures are usually at a tight fork or where a limb was already carrying deadwood.
East coast lows are the other pattern, mostly autumn and winter. They rain for a day or two first, saturate the soil, and then blow. That combination takes whole trees over at the root plate, because the soil is no longer gripping. Newcastle has seen it repeatedly — the June 2007 storm being the one everyone still measures against — and it is why a tree that has stood for thirty years can fail in a wind it would normally shrug off.
The first half hour
Get everyone away from the tree and from anything it could still fall onto. Stay out of the room under a limb that is on the roof.
If wires are involved, call Ausgrid and keep well clear. Treat every downed line as live.
If the house is structurally damaged or anyone is hurt, call triple zero. The NSW SES takes storm-damage calls on 132 500 for immediate threats to life and property.
Then photograph everything from several angles before anything is moved. Insurers ask, and memory is not evidence.
Then ring (02) 4071 2525.
How the job runs
The first visit is about making the site safe, not tidying up. A hung-up limb gets brought down under control. A trunk across the driveway gets cut into moveable sections. A tree resting on a roof is usually taken off in pieces with rigging so the load comes off gradually rather than all at once, because dragging it can cause more damage than the fall did.
Full removal, chipping, stump grinding and clean-up normally follow as a second, scheduled visit. That split matters for insurance: making safe is urgent and usually uncontroversial, while the rest may need an assessor to see it first.
Where crews come from
The same network that covers routine work: Newcastle city and the coastal suburbs, across Lake Macquarie, north through Maitland, Raymond Terrace and Port Stephens, and west to Cessnock and the Hunter Valley. In a widespread event everyone is busy at once and calls get triaged by risk rather than by who rang first. A tree through a bedroom ceiling goes ahead of a fence.
Before the next one
Most storm failures are not surprises. Standing deadwood in the upper crown, a split or included fork, a cavity at the base, fungal brackets on the trunk, or a lean that has changed are all visible from the ground. Getting that looked at through pruning and deadwooding before spring is cheaper than an after-hours callout, and a tree already past saving is better handled as a planned removal than an emergency one.
More services
Explore our other services
Tree Lopping and Pruning
Deadwooding, crown thinning and clearance work that leaves a eucalypt stable instead of shocked into regrowth.
Learn more →Stump Grinding
Stumps and surface roots taken below grade so you can turf, pave or plant over the top of them.
Learn more →Stump Removal
Full excavation where grinding is not enough — footings, pools, drainage and new builds over the old root plate.
Learn more →
FAQs
Frequently asked questions
What counts as an emergency?
Anything where the damage is still happening or still possible. A tree or limb on a roof, a trunk across a driveway or footpath, a branch hung up in a canopy above where people walk, a tree leaning further than it was, or roots lifting out of saturated ground. A branch already on the lawn with nothing under it is a next-day job, not an emergency.
Who do I call first if a tree is on powerlines?
Ausgrid, and then triple zero if there is fire or immediate danger to people. Nobody should approach a tree in contact with conductors, and no arborist will start work until the network has made the site safe. Once it is de-energised or the tree is clear of the lines, the tree work can begin.
Will insurance cover storm tree damage?
Often, but it depends on your policy and on whether the tree was already in poor condition. Photograph everything before it is moved, keep the written quote and the invoice, and tell your insurer before work beyond making the site safe is done. Making a site safe is normally allowed immediately; full clean-up may need their sign-off first.
Should I get a deposit request in writing?
Be careful with anyone doorknocking with a chainsaw after a storm and asking for cash up front. Get a written quote identifying the trees, the method and what happens to the debris, and ask to see their insurance. This site is a referral service and does not verify contractors' documents, so that check is yours to make.
Free, no-obligation