Answer first: A tree that is already on the ground and not touching a structure or line is not an emergency, and you should not pay emergency rates for it. It gets scheduled, usually within days. A tree blocking your only vehicle access gets same-day service. Anything touching a wire waits for SWEPCO (888-216-3523) before any saw starts.
What the job includes
Bucking the trunk into movable sections, cutting up the crown, and either stacking the wood on site or hauling everything away. You choose. Plenty of Gregg County homeowners keep pine rounds for the fire pit and have us haul the brush; plenty want the yard bare by supper. Stump grinding is its own line item, priced by stump width and access, typically in the $100 to $450 range.
Root-plate tip-overs, the classic Longview failure after rain-soaked wind, leave a wall of roots and clay standing on edge. When the trunk is cut away, that plate can slam back into its hole with real force. We cut it so the plate settles controlled, not on someone's boots. If the tree took a fence with it, we cut clear of the fence line so repairs can start immediately.
What it costs in the Longview area
Ground-level cutting and hauling is the most predictable tree work there is. Typical Texas ranges: a small tree under 30 feet runs $300 to $700, a medium tree 30 to 60 feet runs $700 to $1,500, and a big mature pine or oak can pass $1,500 depending on how much wood is on the ground and how far it is from truck access. A tree that is merely down is priced at those scheduled rates, not the storm premium. If someone quotes you double because the storm was this week, get a second number.
The one check worth doing before we leave
When one tree on a lot goes over, we walk the rest. The same saturated clay that let the first root plate roll is under its neighbors, and a lean that was not there last month is worth knowing about while the crew and equipment are already on site. The look costs nothing and it is how you avoid doing this twice in one season.