Tree service guy want me to give him a quote

[humpysiener]

Tree service guy wants me to give him a quote

I have a pretty simple job in my back yard. Total of 12 Sitka spruce trees to be removed. The biggest two are 24" in dia. maybe 80' tall just enough power lines and houses and sheds that they need to be climbed and blocked down in 10 to 20' chunks, all 12 of them. I live on a small island in alaska, there is only one tree service in town. It is general contractor who picked up a climber with experience doing trees in NC. He is trying to expand his business into tree removal but says he is so new in this game that he feels more comfortable with me giving a quote and us bargaining from there, rather than being upfront. He says it will take 2 - two and a half days with 3 people. About 20 hours times 3 people. I told him I only need the aerial work done. I can do all the clean up and also drop the spars once they are down to 20 - 30 feet. So the questions are is 2 and a half days too much for this job and where do i start the negotiations at?

 

[Blakesmaster]

I have a pretty simple job in my back yard. Total of 12 Sitka spruce trees to be removed. The biggest two are 24" in dia. maybe 80' tall just enough power lines and houses and sheds that they need to be climbed and blocked down in 10 to 20' chunks, all 12 of them. I live in a small island in alaska, this is the only game in town. It is general contractor who picked up a climber with experience doing trees in NC. He is trying to expand his business into tree removal but says he is so new in this game that he feels more comfortable with me giving a quote and us bargaining from there than being upfront. He says it will take 2 - two and a half days with 3 three people. About 20 hours times 3 people. I told him I only need the arial work done. I can do all the clean up and also drop the spars once they are down to 20 - 30 feet. So the questions are is 2 and a half days too much for this job and where do i start the negotiations at?

Based on what you're saying it seems a good climber and ground guy put put those on the ground in 1 day. You'd be looking at about about a grand around here. If your contractor doesn't know how to price the job you shouldn't hire him. I wouldn't hire a mechanic that can't give me a rough idea how much it will cost for an oil change. You need to get his climber over there, size him up, and ask his opinion on the trees. From there a price can be negotiated and a decision can be made whether to include the GC in the project.

 

[lxt]

:agree2:

He`s so new!!!!!! theres a red flag if I ever saw/heard of one!!

Hire a pro!!!




LXT...........

 

[airman]

why not? everyone has to start somewhere.

 

[lxt]

why not? everyone has to start somewhere.

yeah I want them to start on my trees!!!!!

He could start by getting the proper training!!!! I hope this isnt another defend the guy wanting to start a biz & butcher trees thread!!!



LXT................

 

[airman]

a little arrogant on your part

he has an experienced climber, is a general contractor, so he should know business
the only thing it sounds like he doesnt know is pricing

 

[Hillbilly3995]

a little arrogant on your part

he has an experienced climber, is a general contractor, so he should know business
the only thing it sounds like he doesnt know is pricing

I have been in business a long time, knowing your business means just that, all aspects and angles, especially pricing.
That said, this is a very old game, get you to say what you'd be willing to pay, knowing full well you will not start at the top dollar and there is more room ahead. If you agree to his terms I recommend you start with a dollop of vaseline in your crack, you're gonna need it.

If you want to play his game your only hope is lowball (very lowball) him -for example half what the job is worth and go from there, otherwise plan the honeymoon. Good Luck

 

[lxt]

a little arrogant on your part

he has an experienced climber, is a general contractor, so he should know business
the only thing it sounds like he doesnt know is pricing

Not being arrogant, if he has all of what you`re saying & is a General Contractor then he should have a real good idea of cost!! I think he`s fishing for pricing cuz he has no clue & worst yet....he has no experience in this line of work!!!



LXT.............

 

[Rudedog]

I live on a small island in alaska,

Man ........ I envy you. I wish I could come up and block the rest of the job with you. I've been to Norway but I heard Alaska is better.

 

[ThePruner]

Alaska is where it's at. Indeed.

 

[deevo]

I have a pretty simple job in my back yard. Total of 12 Sitka spruce trees to be removed. The biggest two are 24" in dia. maybe 80' tall just enough power lines and houses and sheds that they need to be climbed and blocked down in 10 to 20' chunks, all 12 of them. I live on a small island in alaska, there is only one tree service in town. It is general contractor who picked up a climber with experience doing trees in NC. He is trying to expand his business into tree removal but says he is so new in this game that he feels more comfortable with me giving a quote and us bargaining from there, rather than being upfront. He says it will take 2 - two and a half days with 3 people. About 20 hours times 3 people. I told him I only need the aerial work done. I can do all the clean up and also drop the spars once they are down to 20 - 30 feet. So the questions are is 2 and a half days too much for this job and where do i start the negotiations at?

Got any pictures, some of us here would be able to give you a rough estimate. Like Blakes said most of us would have em on the ground in a day. Let us know

 

[deevo]

Based on what you're saying it seems a good climber and ground guy put put those on the ground in 1 day. You'd be looking at about about a grand around here. If your contractor doesn't know how to price the job you shouldn't hire him. I wouldn't hire a mechanic that can't give me a rough idea how much it will cost for an oil change. You need to get his climber over there, size him up, and ask his opinion on the trees. From there a price can be negotiated and a decision can be made whether to include the GC in the project.

 

[airman]

lxt I guess you never started in tree care, you were born a perfect tree man

 

[ozzy42]

I have a pretty simple job in my back yard. Total of 12 Sitka spruce trees to be removed. The biggest two are 24" in dia. maybe 80' tall just enough power lines and houses and sheds that they need to be climbed and blocked down in 10 to 20' chunks, all 12 of them. I live on a small island in alaska, there is only one tree service in town. It is general contractor who picked up a climber with experience doing trees in NC. He is trying to expand his business into tree removal but says he is so new in this game that he feels more comfortable with me giving a quote and us bargaining from there, rather than being upfront. He says it will take 2 - two and a half days with 3 people. About 20 hours times 3 people. I told him I only need the aerial work done. I can do all the clean up and also drop the spars once they are down to 20 - 30 feet. So the questions are is 2 and a half days too much for this job and where do i start the negotiations at?

Well,,,,,,,,,,If you want to wait just a bit ,I can help you out.
Honeymooned in Anchorage,Denali ,Seward area in july 07.
Absolutely loved it there.

Going back in 2017 for 10 year aniv.
I guess they might be a bit taller than 80 ft by then, eh?




Seriously though,I agree with others here about something being fishy.
Man should be able to give you some kind of price. If not ,why??

Sounds like a green horn with little or no experience.
I have met 100s of guys over the years who claimed they knew how to climb,but turned out they knew, that they might like to try it, because they saw others do it ,and didn't think it looked all that hard.

Ask the contractor for local references of others he has worked for locally.
I would be suspect of any from his home state ,as they may be bogus.
Or you could always hire him for just one tree,and go from there.
Watch him closely on that one and make up your mind if he's the real deal or not.

One last thing. Money paid when job is completed.

 

[treemaninmo]

if you send me and my wife a plane ticket I'll do it for free

im just sayin

 

[fireman]

Im with LXT I just cleaned up somebodys mess cost them About 10g in damages.Make sure he hands you a copy of his insurance that specifies he is covered doing tree work.Becareful........

 

[FanOFatherNash]

he feels more comfortable with me giving a quote and us bargaining from there,

tell him 100 dollars, and bargin from there.

 

[sawinredneck]

Call him back and tell him to send the "experienced climber" out to make a bid. If the climber and he can't come up with a price, neither one of them need to be doing this job! I'm all for starting out and helping a business from the ground floor, but if the climber can't figure out how long it's going to take, he's not that experienced and they need to do some smaller jobs to get their feet wet!

 

[RVALUE]

Not to hijack the thread, but I once had a really dumb person come and ask me to teach him how to estimate.

I asked him how long it would take him to walk across the street. He thought I was kidding, and then he didn't know.

I told him he'd never make it in the contracting business, and that's the same street he needed to head down.

Now back to the problem at hand. (I think you should send the tickets )

 

[itsmyblood]

If you agree to his terms I recommend you start with a dollop of vaseline in your crack, you're gonna need it.

This has got to be the best quote of the day !