used it today, big beech pruning. for me it‘s definitly a pruning saw, a very nice one. battery life is‘nt great but it‘s so light, barely noticeable on the harness
O.C.G.D. Thread, part two
- Thread starter Paul B
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SkwerI
Treehouser
Best lightweight climbing saw I've ever used is the Stihl MS150. They get stronger with use, as the engine breaks in and the compression climbs. I think of mine as my 'light saber'.used it today, big beech pruning. for me it‘s definitly a pruning saw, a very nice one. battery life is‘nt great but it‘s so light, barely noticeable on the harness
SkwerI
Treehouser
And as far as cost, all those who think it is too expensive just think about how much a great climbing saw will generate you in income PER DAY and then multiply that out by how many days of service you can expect to get out of a premium saw. The $600 buy in is nothing compared to what it will make for you. The saw pays for itself in 2 days but you will use it for years. As far as those battery saws? Maybe, maybe not.
almost all mine pay for themselves in the first 5 cuts!
saws are CHEAP, $1000 saw can make you $5000 in a day, also why im fine buying lots of "spare" saws, if I ever run one tank of gas through it, its paid for
saws are basically free when you think how much they make
I did the first half of my first ever paid gig with a silky saw... in hickory, that tree would take me 20 minutes now, took me 2 days back a few years ago
SeanKroll
Treehouser
You might need to do some better cost accounting.
A light weight top- handle saves your body and is so worth it.
A light weight top- handle saves your body and is so worth it.
SkwerI
Treehouser
i am not a fan of lithium ion battery technology but there is a big difference between a nice warm summer day, deadwooding some oaks with friends and all of them run 150‘s vs echo 2500t‘s.
it‘s a luxury but a luxury that helps my elbow
it‘s a luxury but a luxury that helps my elbow
SeanKroll
Treehouser
The $1000----> $5000 leap
Kaveman
Treehouser
I was under $400 for my CS-355T. Not only did it pay for itself in the first hour, it blows the competition from Stihl out of the water, power wise. I wasn't expecting it to be quite so good, honestly.
flushcut
TreeHouser
Have Nutball mod you a 2511 and see the lite. No not light but lite.
flushcut
TreeHouser
Come to Wisconsin and deadwood some oaks on a nice frigid winter day. Oak wilt and all. Your friends left you alone in the tree because they got cold. Loli am not a fan of lithium ion battery technology but there is a big difference between a nice warm summer day, deadwooding some oaks with friends and all of them run 150‘s vs echo 2500t‘s.
it‘s a luxury but a luxury that helps my elbow
sorta, usually they only make me about $3000 the first day but its 100% possible to do more or less
some of the big jobs I charge hourly, usually $385, last time I did that was a ~13 hour day, so 5 grand for 1 day
SeanKroll
Treehouser
Making revenue and making profit are different worlds.
13 hours is more like 1.5 -2 days. The next day everyone is only good for half a days' production, I would guess.
Injuries, loss, and breakage go up with 13 hour days, along with overtime.
13 hours is more like 1.5 -2 days. The next day everyone is only good for half a days' production, I would guess.
Injuries, loss, and breakage go up with 13 hour days, along with overtime.
quite common for us to do 3 or 4 12-14 hour days in a row
my "half days" where I dont feel like I even worked are usually 7-8 hours, I just work some crazy hours lol
on those $5000 days, im pocketing around 45-4600 after paying a guy to help, and disposal stuff
also paying $5 over what they ask for, so 25-30/hr and at this rate they only haul equipment and stand there, the machine does all the work besides raking
SeanKroll
Treehouser
Do you own a business?
Is this all done illegally?
You haven't counted insurance, insurance, insurance, accounting, licensing...
Equipment acquisition, repair (how much did you pay yourself for the bucket truck repair and the shop), fuel, consumables, ppe...
Is this all done illegally?
You haven't counted insurance, insurance, insurance, accounting, licensing...
Equipment acquisition, repair (how much did you pay yourself for the bucket truck repair and the shop), fuel, consumables, ppe...
I do have an LLC, $2mil general liability with medical, I handle the accounting
the equipment cost almost nothing to run, about $7 an hour including wear and tear ontop of fuel
go through about a chain a month, haven't bought a saw in close to a year, same with all my other stuff like the GRCS, Rigging rope, etc, haven't needed anything else so acquiring equipment isn't an expense ATM
I do need to pay the insurance company here in 2 weeks for the year, just a little over $3000
my biggest expense is euipment payments right now, I do need to make $2100 a month and its covered, the excavator has already made its first 11 payments and its been to 4 jobs...
we are exempt from workers comp as we do not have 5 or more full time employees so theres no expense there (plus my GL has $5000 in medical, not much but itll cover stitches if I get hit with a silky or something stupid)
insurance and equipment payment, all in cost me $100, when I have help its $25-30/hr, so $300 a day roughly, and $115 dump fee for logs (includes fuel)
on a big job with both trucks, chipper, excavator, and a guy helping, still only cost me $700 a day at most, so on a $5000 job I can pocket $4300, not always by the hour either, sometimes I flat rate a $4500-5000 job and knock it out in half a day if it goes easier than I expected when I bid
the equipment cost almost nothing to run, about $7 an hour including wear and tear ontop of fuel
go through about a chain a month, haven't bought a saw in close to a year, same with all my other stuff like the GRCS, Rigging rope, etc, haven't needed anything else so acquiring equipment isn't an expense ATM
I do need to pay the insurance company here in 2 weeks for the year, just a little over $3000
my biggest expense is euipment payments right now, I do need to make $2100 a month and its covered, the excavator has already made its first 11 payments and its been to 4 jobs...
we are exempt from workers comp as we do not have 5 or more full time employees so theres no expense there (plus my GL has $5000 in medical, not much but itll cover stitches if I get hit with a silky or something stupid)
insurance and equipment payment, all in cost me $100, when I have help its $25-30/hr, so $300 a day roughly, and $115 dump fee for logs (includes fuel)
on a big job with both trucks, chipper, excavator, and a guy helping, still only cost me $700 a day at most, so on a $5000 job I can pocket $4300, not always by the hour either, sometimes I flat rate a $4500-5000 job and knock it out in half a day if it goes easier than I expected when I bid
typically im only 2500-3000 a day, $4000 with a small crane and $5000 with a big crane
as long as I pocket a little over $150/hr/person im happy, thats more than enough to live off and im not looking to have 50K cash sitting on my desk, as nice as it is I have a habbit of spending money if I have it, best for me to not have large sums of money sitting around, I can budget but as soon as I have spending money it just disappears
as long as I pocket a little over $150/hr/person im happy, thats more than enough to live off and im not looking to have 50K cash sitting on my desk, as nice as it is I have a habbit of spending money if I have it, best for me to not have large sums of money sitting around, I can budget but as soon as I have spending money it just disappears
SeanKroll
Treehouser
When you say, "I have an LLC", is that to say you are the one owner, as a minor?
Are you the exclusive loan holder on all this equipment?
Are you managing payroll, doing all the taxes, arranging payments to be paid from the accounts of which you are the sole owner? Are you doing cost accounting on your repair time, accounting time, employee hiring/ firing, etc?
There was a guy here for a while who proved he made $250 (or similar)/ hour, solo , with a small chipper/ dump combo and power wheelbarrow. His paper and pencil showed it on one job, and he suggested that he made that much per hour.
That was his gross revenue, not his net profit?
Are you the exclusive loan holder on all this equipment?
Are you managing payroll, doing all the taxes, arranging payments to be paid from the accounts of which you are the sole owner? Are you doing cost accounting on your repair time, accounting time, employee hiring/ firing, etc?
There was a guy here for a while who proved he made $250 (or similar)/ hour, solo , with a small chipper/ dump combo and power wheelbarrow. His paper and pencil showed it on one job, and he suggested that he made that much per hour.
That was his gross revenue, not his net profit?
technically its in dads name at the moment for insurance reasons, however in about 6 months I am "buying out" the company, I wasn't 18 when we started the company so that threw a wrench in things, I paid for it all still but it couldn't be in my name
the equipment is in the company name, but I am the one managing the payroll, doing the taxes, I am also cost accounting repair time and am in charge of who gets hired/fired
people sometimes find it crazy how much I charge per day, of course theres some jobs that I almost have to pay to do because I underbid, but im also not a one man show, 2-3 guys, 2 trucks, chipper, dump trailer, 2 machines as needed, sometimes a 4th guy or a crane
theres a lot of expense but I bill for that, part in why im so slow right now is the fact I charge so damn much, out of hundreds of tree companies in town, I charge more than probably 80% of them, because theres only 20 or so companies here that are licensed, insured, don't tear lawns up, etc
ive got 2 ehap certified climbers so half my business is stuff that nobody else can legally touch (besides Townsend, davey, and the power company, even they dont show up here)
the equipment is in the company name, but I am the one managing the payroll, doing the taxes, I am also cost accounting repair time and am in charge of who gets hired/fired
people sometimes find it crazy how much I charge per day, of course theres some jobs that I almost have to pay to do because I underbid, but im also not a one man show, 2-3 guys, 2 trucks, chipper, dump trailer, 2 machines as needed, sometimes a 4th guy or a crane
theres a lot of expense but I bill for that, part in why im so slow right now is the fact I charge so damn much, out of hundreds of tree companies in town, I charge more than probably 80% of them, because theres only 20 or so companies here that are licensed, insured, don't tear lawns up, etc
ive got 2 ehap certified climbers so half my business is stuff that nobody else can legally touch (besides Townsend, davey, and the power company, even they dont show up here)
cuz its what I got
itll be replaced with a crane, probably take this boom off and have a mini skid platform on the bucket truck and just ride the ball, the crane im looking at has a short span outrigger setting of 7ft6 and the trucks shorter than my bucket, itll set up anywhere my topkick will
I literally use a bucket maybe once a month at most, and thats just because it cant reach anything we have, the crane will reach 110ft sideways instead of 38ft, or almost 100ft up at 50ft off the side, much, much more useful than this POS bucket
I actually have been toying with the idea of putting a small stand up boom truck crane on the topkick where the bucket currently is, the retracted boom would only be 2ft longer than the current boom, and the pedestal fits where my boom is already, only 66ft tip height but thats still more reach than I have plus it can lift stuff, just worried that the new boom would put me over weight considering its 8000 pounds
basically, for now maybe get an older used national 400B and put it on as a center mount, chip truck crane combo, already have a boomrest, may need to notch the box for the hoist cylinder BUT this boom would drop right onto my truck according the Manitowoc's specs, only concern I have would be where the ball and cable go if im towing the chipper, maybe do the boomrest offset to the side or something so the cable hooks on the corner of the bumper and clears the chipper?
Those numbers are way more than I do usually, with a mint 75' rear mount bucket, mint 18' XP chipper, 25yd chip truck, 75 and 50 hp stumpers, artic loader (in the shop still 
) 46 y of experience, we seem to mostly put in 6 hour days, maybe that's the problem
) 46 y of experience, we seem to mostly put in 6 hour days, maybe that's the problemprobably much rather less money and shorter days reallywe seem to mostly put in 6 hour days, maybe that's the problem
any payments on your stuff? all I have for a monthly payment is kubota, and dump trailer, I suppose you can count insurance too but I pay annually
NICE!
I know this next crane will be probably close to $2000 a month, or I can get a cheap old all terrain for $70K but itll be a worn out pile of crap with no parts availability
trying to get everything paid off before then
I know this next crane will be probably close to $2000 a month, or I can get a cheap old all terrain for $70K but itll be a worn out pile of crap with no parts availability
trying to get everything paid off before then
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