How'd it go today?

[cory]

Seems that getting work for the winter is pretty difficult, and pretty key. Hard to do without a dedicated salesman, imo.

 

[brendonv]

Lol start building truck bodies, thats what km doing cory.

Actually cutting a tree thursday, big dead elm. Bid it to win it. Local, material stays, should do good. Hope your truck starts, been cold out there.

 

[squisher]

I ate up a pretty good buffer of winter work this year because it barely snowed. Bit if a tough winter here. I'm not whining though. I love being a big time tree service contractor. Lol.

 

[Al Smith]

The eagle has landed .Well not really just swooped down and snatched a squirrel .I saw it a couple weeks ago but Mrs. Smith saw it right in the back yard yesterday .

It wasn't like red tail hawk or a great horned owl that usually ponce on them .Big old eagle just glided in and hooked it with one big old foot and away he went .

 

[RegC]

Raining now. Wonderful. Gonna blow all over my paint

 

[cory]

Actually cutting a tree thursday, big dead elm. Bid it to win it. Local, material stays, should do good. Hope your truck starts, been cold out there.

Come oooooon, it'll start no problem, long as the batts aren't way down from disuse. Oooooor, plug it in, she'll start like summertime.

I love being a big time tree service contractor. Lol.

Ain't it the best!!!

Geez, there is only one possible reason to put up with all this chit, you love it

The eagle has landed .Well not really just swooped down and snatched a squirrel .I saw it a couple weeks ago but Mrs. Smith saw it right in the back yard yesterday .

It wasn't like red tail hawk or a great horned owl that usually ponce on them .Big old eagle just glided in and hooked it with one big old foot and away he went .

That is wild, Al!

 

[brendonv]

Ya batts are weak. Gotaa jump it after long cold spell. They are old.

 

[cory]

Dude my batts are 16 months old, they have to be jumped after sitting for 4 days in the cold

 

[FireFighterZero]

Are you suggesting that this is someplace in central Montana?????

Well, we have nice sand bars along the frozen a## river! But I reckon a cat from Tennessee would seize up! No, I would suggest someplace much more temperate like Wyoming!

 

[SouthSoundTree]

Today I went to help a guy bid a big job on a property that's undergoing a house renovation.
Probably theres 3 days work there, or at least, that's what I advised him to bid. A bunch of removals, including a couple 100ft grand firs which I think I can top at 20 ft to make them fit inside the boundary, and save a lot if time. just hope none of the other bidders see it that way as its all factored into the quote. I hope we get it because I get 2 days chipper hire as well as my normal rate.

Work is still patchy here, a lot of desperate guys around bidding jobs for next to nothing. Only saving grace is the height factor at least keeps a most of the lower skill-set companies out of the running. Hopefully things will pick up in March.

Right now I'm just watching paint dry, literally. Doing some spraying outside and about ready to put on another coat. Just thought I'd check in seems as I'm just stood here

Is that to say you rent out your chipper to them, Reg?

What are you painting? Anything interesting?

Similar here, but building momentum. I don't expect to get any small trees/ open drop-zone jobs, as they are taken cheaply. Height helps. Obstacles help. Unless there is a 'tricky' way to do them, like blow a big top, or zipline instead of an uphill drag, its hard to win the bid for a decent payday.


Finishing a big maple removal tomorrow. Found a log buyer just in time, through my hauler-friend.. Spreading trees are a competitive advantage over some guys. Some guys don't like/ want to do maples or alders as they are concerned about them splitting. They make for a change of pace, and I welcome them. Took on a spreading elm for too little last summer because I wanted a change of pace, and the wood. Milled up into about 3" slabs over at the miller-neighbors. Don't know what it will look like, or what it will become.

We have our annual fruit tree customers, which helps us get seen out and about. Its a part of the package. Normally doesn't pay what other trees do, but easy, low stress, and its annual maintenance during a slow period.

 

[woodworkingboy]

What are you painting? Anything interesting?

Sean, did you read Tom Sawyer?

 

[SouthSoundTree]

ha. try that one time to time. no luck so far.

 

[stig]

I got a nice surprise today.
27 years ago I bought a pair of Zeiss binoculars, birdwatchin fool that I am.
They have seen a LOT of use over the years and a while ago the focusing mechanism broke.
Since there was a 30 year warranty on mechanical parts, I sent then to Zeiss and asked what the cost of fixing them would be.
They gave me a quote os $200 which is a fraction of the price of new ones, so I said go ahead.
Today they called and said that they had opened the binocs and they were very worn out, but could be repaired for 350$.
They didn't feel it was worth it, though.
So they offered to send me a brand new pair for 350$ instead

Only they would start the warranty for those on the day I bought my old ones, meaning 3 years left.
Still a fantastic offer and very, very good service, since a new pair cost a couple of grands.

First Stihl and now Zeiss, guess this is the year where I get great sevice from companies I buy stuff from.

 

[mastermind7864]

That is a good read Stig.....

I love seeing people take what they do, and how they treat their customers seriously.

 

[FireFighterZero]

Very nice. Glad that you have been satisfied.

I keep a Nikon binocular on top of my Birds of the West book next to my chair. I have never looked through a Zeiss or Swarovski. It would be too tough to leave them in the store and I cant afford them!

 

[MasterBlaster]

I emailed Rubbermaid asking them how much a replacement spout was and they said they would send me one free. Sweet!

 

[FireFighterZero]

I have to imagine that companies that do the right thing have higher profits with customer loyalty. Even though Rubbermaid did not charge for that spout I bet you buy another Rubbermaid product in the future, and I bet Stig stays with Zeiss.

I am too stubborn and independent to put up with lousy customer service, even if it is a product that I love.

 

[Husabud]

Very nice Stig! I agree that customer service is the key to future business.
Jim, the Swarovskis are gold! My brother bought a pair after a very profitable job a few yrs back. Amazing optics! One morning while Elk hunting we were sitting side by side looking through the dark pre-sunrise, I said I saw about twenty Elk down low making their way toward us. He said,"Yep, four satellite bulls, the lead bull is a 6x6, and there are 21 cows." When he handed me his optics, I about fell over from the difference they made.

 

[stig]

Yep, with binoculars it is worth paying the extra price if you can afford it.

 

[cory]

I bought a nice pair of Nikon's last summer, they have a lifetime guarantee.

 

[Al Smith]

Warrenties sometimes aren't worth the paper they are printed on .However although I'm so tight it's doubtfull you could pound a flax seed up my butt with a ball peen hammer for the house I spend a little extra .

Case in point is the Kohler faucet in the kitchen sink which is warrenteed for life and originally cost 750 bucks .They had replaced free or charge any part I needed in the past 14 years until the product became obsolete ,no more parts .Would you believe they replaced it with a brushed nickle faucet with a retail price of close to 1400 bucks .Now that's service in my book and worthy of mention .

 

[woodworkingboy]

Who buys $1400.00 faucets not in Saudi Arabia?

 

[Dave Shepard]

I have seen some crazy stuff go through a plumber friends shop. How else are you going to build a $5,000,000 house if you don't use expensive parts?

 

[Tucker943]

Lousy day. Woke up sore from being on the gaffs yesterday after getting out of shape this winter. Fought to get chipper started in the cold. Made it halfway to the job and in my foggy state of mind realized I didn't have hardly any gas in the chip truck. Pulled over and sent the other truck with a 5 gallon jug to go get me gas instead of rolling the dice on running out. Dealt with multiple assholes that battled me because the chip truck took up too much of the street for them to get around me. Yet, I was working on a block, and it was no trouble for anyone to take 30 seconds and go around another way to get to their house. Each insisted I move the trucks. I didn't. Pulled a back leaning ash over with the truck away from a house and into a yard. The back weight wasn't balanced perfectly off the back and as the tree came up and over, the limbs off the back decided to twist the tree on the stump, break the hinge early and land 45 degrees off course and missed all the utility lines by literally, inches. I gasped as the tree was headed over on course and just did a ballerina twirl off the stump and went somewhat sideways.

Oh, and my work was underbid terribly. How I missed the mark on that bid is a mystery to me. Today sucked, as did I. Goodnight.

 

[Al Smith]

Hard water was what started the whole thing .The original faucet Kohler was the only one that warrenteed it to not deteriate and they were right .The original 750 might sound like a lot but what the hey a new American Standard faucet at 150 a pop every three years adds up too .

Even at 1500 which is a lot that's not "top of the line ".The best part it didn't cost me anything .