Tree Service in Merkel, TX

Farm Ground, Open Sky and Planted Rows

Tree service in Merkel, TX is farm country work. This is the flatter western end of Taylor County, the ground is open, and most of the trees you see did not get there by accident. Somebody planted them, either around a house for shade or in a line to break the wind, and a lot of those plantings are now old enough to be causing problems instead of solving them.

The upside for anyone paying the bill is that open ground is the cheapest place in the world to take down a tree. When there is nothing under a tree but grass, it can be notched and felled whole, cut up on the ground and loaded. No climbing, no rigging, no lowering pieces by rope past a roofline. That one difference can cut a removal price substantially compared to the same tree in a town yard.

Windbreaks and shelterbelts

Farmstead windbreaks around here were mostly planted with whatever grew fast, which usually meant Siberian elm, Arizona ash, cottonwood, mulberry and a row of cedar. Fast growing trees have short lives. Forty or fifty years on, those rows are full of gaps, dead standing trunks and half-alive trees that drop limbs on whatever is parked under them.

A dead row still does some work, but not much, and it becomes a hazard around buildings and equipment. Windbreak work usually comes down to one of three things. Take out the dead and dying and leave the healthy trees standing. Remove a whole row that is past saving so the ground can be replanted. Or thin and clean up a row that is basically sound but overgrown.

Drought is the story on the rest of the trees

West of Abilene, drought does more damage than storms do. Siberian elm and hackberry hang on through a dry summer and then fail the following year when their roots cannot support the canopy. Mesquite survives almost anything, which is why it keeps taking ground. Pecans without irrigation give up limbs first and then the top.

What We Do Around Merkel

Removal

Where the drop zone is clear, trees come down whole, get bucked into lengths on the ground and loaded out. Where a tree sits close to a house, a barn, a shop, a grain bin or a power drop, it comes apart in sections instead. A farmstead job is often a mix of both on the same visit. The tree removal page covers how the method changes the price.

Trimming

Trimming out here is practical more than cosmetic. Deadwood out of shade trees near the house, clearance over roofs, drives, gates and equipment paths, and reduction on the long limbs that a west wind is working on. See tree trimming for how we make the cuts.

Stump grinding

Open ground is easy grinding, and it matters when the plan is to replant a row or put the area back into mowing. Mesquite in particular needs to be taken below the bud collar under the soil or it comes back as a bush. More on the stump grinding page.

Storm cleanup

Straight line winds are the usual event here, and what they take down tends to land across a fence, a gate or a drive. Clearing access comes first, and the rest follows. See storm cleanup.

Replanting a Windbreak That Has Aged Out

If you are clearing an old row, it is worth thinking about what goes back before the ground is bare. The original mistake in most of these plantings was speed. Fast growers put up a screen in ten years and then start failing at forty. Slower, tougher species take longer to do the job and then keep doing it for a lifetime.

For this area, cedar elm, bur oak and chinquapin oak handle heat, wind and our soils far better than ash or Siberian elm. Eastern red cedar still earns its place in an evergreen row because it holds its lower branches and keeps working in winter, which is when a windbreak matters most. Plant in fall so roots get a head start, space rows wider than feels necessary, and water deeply and infrequently for the first two summers rather than lightly and often.

Wood, Brush and What Happens to It

On farm ground you usually have options that a town lot does not. Trunk wood can be cut to firewood length and stacked where you point instead of hauled off, which saves you money because it saves us trips. Brush can be piled in a corner rather than chipped. If you want everything gone, we chip and haul, and that gets quoted as its own line so you can see what it costs. Nobody should be paying disposal fees they did not know they were agreeing to.

Merkel Local Notes: Bulk Drop Off, Burn Bans and Power Lines

Merkel sits off Interstate 20, seventeen miles west of Abilene in northwestern Taylor County. A few local rules shape how a tree job out here gets planned, and they are worth knowing before anything is cut.

• No monthly bulk pickup. In February 2022 the City of Merkel announced a citywide cleanup twice a year for bulk drop off, in place of its monthly bulk pickup. The June 2026 cleanup ran June 18 to 20 at the City Maintenance Garage on the 500 block of Cherry Street. Between cleanup dates, having brush chipped or hauled as part of the job is usually the simpler route. (City of Merkel notices)
• Check the burn ban before burning brush. The city has posted a Burn Ban Order dated August 11, 2026, along with a link to the current burn ban status by county. Check the status on the day rather than assuming. (City of Merkel)
• Trees in power lines are the utility’s call first. Taylor Electric Cooperative clears its rights of way and takes reports of trees growing into its lines through a Tree Trimming Request Form, with photos so its crews can find the spot. Nobody without utility training should cut near an energized line. (Taylor Electric Cooperative)
• The Abilene Brush Center has rules. The center at 2149 Sandy Street takes limbs 6 to 8 feet long and up to 18 inches across, not larger trunks or root systems, and free disposal requires a driver’s license and a current City of Abilene water bill. Commercial accounts pay fees. (City of Abilene)
• Oaks: no pruning from February through June. Texas A&M AgriLife oak wilt guidance says all wounding of oaks, pruning included, should be avoided from February through June, and that cuts should be painted right away with wound or latex paint. (Texas A&M AgriLife Extension)

Scheduling and Getting Out There

Merkel is a straight run west on I-20 and part of our regular territory, so there is no travel charge. Jobs on this side pair well with work in Tye, which means being flexible on the day can get you scheduled sooner. Larger farmstead jobs are booked as a block of time so we are not leaving half a row standing.

Wind moves our calendar more than anything else. Felling on open ground in a strong crosswind is how trees end up somewhere they were not supposed to go, so if it is blowing hard we will call you and move the day.

Getting a Quote

Photos from a distance work well on open properties because we can see the whole tree, the drop room and how close we can park. Tell us how many trees, whether it is a row or a single, and whether you want the wood left. Estimates are free and there is no obligation, and if a tree is worth keeping we will say so. Use the form above or reach us through the contact page.