How'd it go today?

Those $3000 removals are going for about $2000 in these parts lately. Everybody I know is slow and bidding low just trying to get some work. I did a removal approximately that size today (36"dbh, 75' tall, 6' from the front of the house with power lines along the front of the property). Low dollars so I had to throw some big pieces to get it done quick. Got it done by 1pm.

The new 395XP is earning it's keep. Lots of torque and power for dicing up those big oak logs.
 
I went and looked at a big silver maple today. The tree is about 75-80 ft tall, 50 ft wide, and hangs about 10-15 ft over this guys pool. He wants to stop all the leaves from falling in his pool area.

It's a beautiful tree, he's ready to remove it to keep leaves out of his pool area, but I'd like to find a way I could get him to keep it. Only there's no way you could keep all those maple leaves from falling in there. About 30% of the canopy hangs over the pool area.

If he does want it removed though. ...cash money crane removal! The thing has no access, about 7 leads, and it's over 40 inches DBH.
 
The sub with the chipper didn't show up until about 9:30 today, so they were playing catch-up most of the day. I tried to keep it spread out to reduce tangles and the guy I work for has a Bobcat, so he was keeping stuff halfway organized by separating out the wood and shuffling the brush to the chipper. They were stacking stuff when the chip truck went to dump (two loads of chips) and that gave me time to do the slower work rigging stuff from over the house.

Normally I'll go as fast as the crew can maintain pace. But I'll throw bigger pieces as well as bomb the wood on top of the brush if they have a Bobcat on site to handle the heavy lifting.


Sounds like a nice job, Andrew. Crane work is Da Tits. :thumbup:
 
arborworks1 said:
Brian, in your case does the crew keep up with you. or do you just pile crap up and they play pick up sticks later?
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I don't know about Brian, but in my case every time it's different. One guy likes to stay caught up, another just wants me to get it on the ground ASAP.
 
Andrew, Would a cover on the pool satisfy the guy. They make some pretty slick covers nowadays. He would still have leaves to deal with around the pool, but not in it.
 
On crane days we line up, usually three seperate jobs to spread the cost of the crane. Stack everything up nice and neat and clean up the next day.

That is alot of subbing that guy is doing, Brian. Hard to make money when everyone has a hand in the jar.
 
If you don't have the overhead of a big fulltime crew, you don't need to clear as big of a chunk to turn a profit.

Typical full size oak removal such as today's job:
Rocky the bucket truck sub- $400
Chipper sub- $250
2 laborers/ groundmen- $200
4 dump loads (2 chips, 2 logs)- ??? (many different options here)

Today's tree was probably $2K so he made about half that. Not bad for a guy with a Bobcat and dump truck.
 
Here in Mass, they've screwed up the sub system so bad that you can't hire anyone who does the same kind of work as you. They must be an employee. Too many guys with a skil saw and a cheap liability policy "subbing" to the builders so they don't have to pay comp or do the with holding game.
 
That's why I stick with just subbing myself out doing bucket work. I don't want that much stress either, and I probably come out making better dollars per hour than the contractor on most of my jobs.
 
Dave Shepard said:
Here in Mass, they've screwed up the sub system so bad that you can't hire anyone who does the same kind of work as you. They must be an employee. Too many guys with a skil saw and a cheap liability policy "subbing" to the builders so they don't have to pay comp or do the with holding game.
Click to expand...

Not true necessarily. That kind of "subbing" is not allowed if the so-called sub is only working for one contractor and looks like an employee and acts like an employee with the exception of the liability.
 
That's probably a more accurate assessment. I was told I couldn't hire someone to do the same type of work I did, even it was only for a one time job. I could hire a stump grinder, because I didn't do that, but I couldn't hire a sub to help with a clearing job. Of course, my insurance agent wasn't exactly tuned in to the real world most times.
 
We did a face off over the neighbor's cattle pasture today. Not very exciting. I'm doing a tree of a similar size of Butch's remvoal on Friday for $2500. No house next to it though just lawn in the middle of a park.
 
did a job for a lady a couple weeks ago, threw in a little freebie at time of bid. while we were doing the job she talked me down 75 bucks (job total was 1975.00) we did more pruning than the estimate said. she wanted us to come back and do a little extra so i sent the guys by there on their way to another job and she had them doing all kinds of stuff including digging around a 30" dia stump to cut it lower than agreed upon with to small of a saw (big saws were in other truck) then she comes out and says we i guess ill send you a couple hundred a month. i said well 3-400. i was ticked as i dont do discounts if were financing the job, and we hadnt even talked about payments! so today i heck the mail and theres a check for a hundred bucks! grrrrr. i called and told her voicemail as nice as possible that 100 bucks a month wont work, payments are agreed upon before the job is done and i dont do discounts for jobs that arnt paid upon completion. ill stretch this out 4-5 months max! other than that we had a pretty good day
 
It pisses me off when clients figure we are financing institutions, why the hell should I wait 30 days or more to get paid?
The job is done, PAY UP SUCKA. I aint no bank.

tattoo80.jpg
 
Pauly, I know the feeling when you're used to getting paid promptly, and then the thirty day deal or more comes along. Lately I've ben doing some work for companies, who have a staggered pay schedule. You have to submit the bill by a certain date in the month, then get payed later in the month on a specific day (bank deposit), or even the following month.

i'm getting more used to it, figure it all pretty much works out the same in the end, though it can string me out for finances on occasion. The pay is usually pretty good, so I just delay
the party a bit :|:
 
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