Will any city near Huntsville collect tree company debris?

No. Huntsville excludes contractor debris and land-clearing trimmings, Madison states professional lawn service waste cannot be put out, and Owens Cross Roads excludes debris from paid contractor work.

How much brush will Huntsville take for free?

Up to 10 cubic yards of limbs at no charge, cut to no more than 5 feet, with each additional 5 cubic yards charged at $55 per collection.

Do I need a permit to burn brush?

Above a quarter acre, or within 25 feet of woods or grass, Alabama requires a free Forestry Commission permit obtained by phone on (800) 392‑5679.

Can stump grindings go out with the brush?

Usually not. Grindings carry soil, and Huntsville's collection rules refuse dirt and rock outright.

Huntsville Tree Debris: Who Hauls It | 2026 Local Rules Guide

By the Huntsville Tree Care Guide · Published and fact-checked September 27, 2026 · Independent local guide

The short version: Household brush has a municipal route with real limits. Contractor-cut wood does not, anywhere in this area. Get hauling and disposal written into the quote, or budget separately for moving the volume a mature tree produces.

Why the free allowance disappears

Cities collect yard waste because households generate it in modest amounts. The moment somebody is paid to cut, the material stops being household waste in the eyes of the program and becomes trade waste, which the contract was never priced to absorb. Every jurisdiction here writes that distinction down, in slightly different words.

The practical consequence is simple. A quote that covers only the cutting leaves you holding several cubic yards of wood with no legal municipal destination. A quote that covers hauling costs more and finishes the job. Comparing the two as if they were the same purchase is the most common mistake in this trade.

Huntsville: 5 feet, 10 cubic yards, then a volume charge

The city's curbside collection page sets the household terms. Tree limbs cannot exceed 5 feet in length. Up to 10 cubic yards of limbs is collected at no charge, and each additional 5 cubic yards costs $55 per collection. Loose yard waste that is not containerized carries a published minimum of $45 per cubic yard.

Placement is specified too. Carts go to the curb no later than 7 a.m. on collection day, positioned no more than two feet from the curb and at least five feet away from obstructions such as mailboxes and utility poles, with arrows on the lid pointing toward the street. Bagged items must not weigh more than 50 pounds.

The refusal list is where tree work lands. Dirt, rocks, bricks, cinder blocks, shingles and concrete are all out. So are hazardous materials. And so, explicitly, are contractor debris and land-clearing trimmings. A stump grinding mixed with soil fails on the dirt exclusion even before the contractor question arises.

Madison: 8 feet, bagged clippings, and a written exclusion

Madison contracts its yard debris collection to Republic Services, and the city's published collection guidelines are unusually direct. Limbs must be cut in lengths not exceeding 8 feet, with protruding branches trimmed and the material placed in a neat pile. Leaves, grass clippings and shrubbery clippings must be bagged, because the trucks collect with a claw and loose small waste cannot be picked up.

The allowance is 5 cubic yards per household once a week, which the guidelines describe as about the size of a pickup truck's bed. Put out more and there is no fine: the crew leaves a notice and returns the following week for another 5 cubic yards. Everything must be at the curbside or the edge of the roadway by 6:00 a.m. on the scheduled day.

Then comes the sentence that matters most for tree work. Where commercial workers or professional lawn services are used, the guidelines state they should dispose of the waste they generate and cannot put it out for collection. A separate note adds that a hired contractor is responsible for their own trash disposal. There is no ambiguity to work with.

Madison also tells residents not to place items for collection beneath or next to power or cable lines, low hanging branches, mailboxes, traffic signs, or on top of sewer drains. After pruning, a pile stacked directly under the remaining canopy breaks that rule and blocks the next stage of the work. The city service page lists the hauler and contact details.

Owens Cross Roads: priced by the grapple

Collection in the town runs weekly through Madison County Garbage on (256) 532-3718, with billing handled through Huntsville Utilities alongside electrical service. Accepted yard waste covers grass clippings, leaves and hedge trimmings, bagged and kept under 50 pounds, and tree limbs cannot exceed 8 feet in length.

Volume is judged against a standard pickup truck bed. Anything beyond that counts as an excessive load, and an excessive load carries a published minimum charge of $100 per grapple, with the final cost depending on manpower, equipment and disposal fees, payable before pickup. Because that is a per-grab minimum rather than a flat fee, a mature tree's worth of brush can mean several charges.

The town's service page lists debris from paid contractor work among the material it does not collect, alongside construction and demolition debris and a long hazardous list. Household hazardous material goes instead to the facility at 1055 A Cleaner Way SW in Huntsville, open Monday to Friday from 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on (256) 882-0155.

New Hope: placement rules and a $75 floor

The city's street department publishes the most placement-specific rules in the area. Trash and brush go in two distinct piles. All items sit within 10 feet of the road and preferably not in a ditch. Nothing goes on top of a water meter or a sewer manhole, nothing goes under power lines, and everything stays on your own property. Leaves should be bagged.

Refused material includes paint and chemicals, tires and shingles, and construction or renovation materials. New Hope also states that trash or limbs brought in from another city or county will not be picked up, which rules out hauling a load in from elsewhere. Oversized items are arranged through City Hall on 256-723-2616 extension 213, with a minimum $75 fee.

Burning is regulated, not free

On acreage the obvious answer looks like a bonfire, and it is a permitted activity rather than an unrestricted one. The Alabama Forestry Commission issues burn permits through its dispatch center on (800) 392‑5679, under state law at section 9-13-11. A fire smaller than a quarter acre does not need one.

Above that, or within 25 feet of natural fuels such as woods or grass, a permit is required. Permits are free of charge and take a few minutes over the telephone. The caller gives the location by latitude and longitude, the approximate size, what is being burned and why. Holding the permit means the burner has the manpower and equipment to control the fire and agrees to stay with it until it is out. City and county restrictions apply on top of the state permit, so the local fire department is the second call.

Check the license while you are asking questions

Alabama treats tree surgery as licensed work. The Department of Agriculture and Industries lists Tree Surgery among the Horticulture professional services categories, alongside landscape design, setting of landscape plants, and ornamental and turf pest control. A licensed business needs a certified operator who has passed the commercial applicator examination for the relevant category.

The annual Horticulture professional services license costs $175.00, and the license term begins on October 1 and expires on September 30 each year. That makes the date easy to check: a license should be current for the year in which the work happens.

Leave the power lines to the utility

No disposal discussion covers a tree touching a conductor. Huntsville Utilities runs line clearance on its own system under three published categories: side trim for trees growing along, into or toward lines or utility space; drop crotch for trees directly under and growing into lines; and overhang for limbs above or outside the boundary of utility specifications or the city tree ordinance that could break and fall downward. Its line clearance office answers on 256-535-1224.

The city side is organized too. The Urban Forestry and Horticulture division manages public trees, administers the tree ordinance, and cooperates with the utility on programs including the replacement of street trees removed for power line clearance.

Volume after a storm does not change the rules

North Alabama produces debris events at a scale no collection program absorbs. The Huntsville forecast area recorded 39 tornadoes on April 27, 2011, including three EF-5 and four EF-4, with 92 warnings issued and Madison County struck six times. Nearby, an EF1 track of 14.6 miles with 90 mph winds uprooted large trees and snapped off tree tops.

Special arrangements are sometimes announced after a declared event, but they are announced by the jurisdiction and they are not the standing rule. Plan on the published rules and treat any relaxation as a bonus if it is confirmed.

What to actually do

Establish the jurisdiction for the address, then read its own page rather than a neighbor's. Decide whether this is household pruning you handle within the allowance, or paid work where hauling has to be in the contract. Get the disposal route named in writing, including the stump grindings, which carry soil and fail the dirt exclusion.

Then compare quotes on the same basis. A figure that includes chipping, hauling and tipping is not competing with one that ends at the cut, and knowing that is worth more than any negotiation.

Official sources

All pages read September 27, 2026. Rules and charges change, so confirm with the issuing office before setting anything out.

Who hauls the debris after Huntsville tree work?