who does tree jobs on the side?

[husky455rancher]

now i not loking for a feud with arborists here. a guy at work knows i cut alot of trees and he asked me to take a look at his moms house. she has from what hes said is 2 good size areas on an acre of lans she wants cleared out to give her a better view of the lake the house is on.

now i havent been there yet so i cant tell you how big or how many trees there are. but how should i even go about pricing something like this? i already told him that if theres anything that can be hit by the tree then im not touching it. i would imagine id have to get rid of the brush also. i was thinking of maybe having them rent a chipper. im not really sure what way to go. i could have all the wood too. the house is also over an hour away from me.

i know this is a wicked vague description but i honestly have no idea where to begin pricing. do you guys typicly do so much per tree?

 

[Bowtie]

I do sometimes depending on the circumstances. #1 I only remove the tree as a whole, meaning I dont trim trees because I have no arborist training. #2 I have to trust and get a good gut feeling that the customer isnt looking for a lawsuit. I know Im hanging my tail on the line, but I still have old American beliefs of goodness on mankind. #3 It has to be an easy takedown(s). No obstacles that can get anyone hurt, or damage to property. #4 The price I decide on by what I feel is right by a variety of factors. These include observation of their financial stature. If they look like they can afford it, I charge a little more than if they appear to be someone just getting by. Also it depends on what their requirements are like, who takes care of the haul off, stump grinding, dirt work, time requiremants, etc,...

 

[oldirty]

at the very least. get enough to buy that 372 you want with some chain and a bar.

dont waste your time. get something out of it.

 

[Nailsbeats]

Figure how long per tree and count the trees, this will give you the hours to do the job and figure x amount per hour. I don't see how you can go wrong if you estimate halfway well, also you are getting the wood so you really can't get screwed, but you should still get something even if you lowball it. Look what it would cost them to have someone else do it, if you can get some estimates on your own then lowball the piss outa them. Like OD said, get that saw and some wood too.

 

[Wet1]

If it's that big of a job, I'd make sure I made enough off of it that I could buy myself a used chipper out of the deal. You can find something nice for <$5k, use it for this job and then you have it for the future.

 

[husky455rancher]

good points bowtie, old dirty if i cant get at least a 372 im not even gonna bother with it. im considering this cuse its a way for me to get a big saw without using any "bill money"

i can put a tree pretty much where i want im most of the time anyway but im only taking down the easy ones. no way im splitting houses or power lines thats for sure.

 

[oldirty]

g

i can put a tree pretty much where i want im most of the time anyway.

says the guy who bucks 60 inch oak with a 455 rancher.

 

[husky455rancher]

wet1 i dont think its that big of a job but at the very least i wanna get me a big saw so i can theoreticly cut any tree i want. theres been a few times i couldnt take stuff cuse i didnt have a big enought saw.

 

[Wet1]

BTW, where is the job (city/town)?

 

[husky455rancher]

olddirty so what? i still did it i used what i had man whats wrong with that?

 

[oldirty]

olddirty so what? i still did it i used what i had man whats wrong with that?

just having myself a little lol, bud.

i was reading about your self professed felling skills and the image of you killing your saw on that wood popped into my head. thats all.

make sure you make enough on this job to get yourself that 372!

 

[KsWoodsMan]

I don't think there was anything wrong with that huge oak trunk you scored. You run what'cha brung.

You got er done and thats the part that counts as you are filling the stove.

 

[husky455rancher]

lol ok everyone dogs on the 455. i do realized it was waay outmatched there but she still did it. it never even gave me a hint of trouble. after that the saw earned alot of respect from me. i kinda thought i was gonna smoke it doing that bit i went for it anyway and she took it like a champ!


im not syaing im a pro timberfaller by any means lol. but i do ok for a guy who cuts just to heat his house.

 

[cjnspecial]

Find out if you can pile the debris up somewhere close by on their property or if they want it hauled off, etc. Most of your time will be spent dealing with the debris so the less you have to handle it the better. Bobcats/ tractors with grapples on them are well worth what they rent for. Post a pic if you can.

 

[Griffbm3]

First things first. If you think it's going to be easy, and nothing to hit, then let it rip. I wouldn't rent a chipper for the same day as cutting though. I would make sure I organized my cuts, and dragged my brush to make sure that I could chip up all the debris in less than 9 hours (a standard rental on a REAL chipper).

Speaking of chipper. Since you have a 3/4 ton truck, rent a real chipper... Not something too small. Just be careful with it. In my opinion, it's much safer to chip with a 9" or 12" disk chipper with an extremely powerful engine that has been properly maintained, than to try to get by with something cheaper or smaller. With some smaller chippers, you end up getting too close to ground zero, and that's not okay...

Most decent chippers around the Hartford area anyway, 9" and 12" between $300 and $350 a day. Don't put it on your debit card, they usually charge double and subtract the difference. Most commercial rental places will rent to homeowners with a pretty decent rate for the weekend. (like pick it up after 3pm on Friday, and get it back in the AM on Monday) all for a 9 hour rental fee. Add in the price of a saw if you want... If this is just for view though, and nothing that challenging, I would take the primo wood, and chip the rest. Clean up after yourself, and charge enough to cover the chipper, the fuel, and profit. If you need the new saw, then call that your profit.

Since we are touching the $1100 mark here, you might want to figure out what they expect to spend... Good luck, and good score on the oak trunk. One thing though, I NEVER admit to being able to drop trees where I want to. Mr. Murphy and his lovely mistress Ms. Luck have a lot to do with tree dropping... Stay safe.

Jason

 

[Mike Van]

In Ct., if the population of the town is under 5000, you can get a permit & burn the brush - Thats the cheapest way to be rid of it -

 

[avalancher]

In a situation where you have to drop trees in a specific direction, consider cabling them down. Throw a throw line up into the tree, making sure you get 2/3 of the way up the tree. attach a good sturdy rope or cable tothe throw line and pulll it up into the tree and attach it to a tree in the direction that you need the tree to fall and use a winch or come along to pull the tree in the direction that you need. I have done quite a few this way, and have never had a problem. It helps insure that the tree will go the way you want and avoids the problem of, "if it falls this way, great.If it falls this way, I am going to get the house."
A throw line is around 30 bucks with the weight and line, you probably already have a good rope or cable.
As far as pricing, you have had some good suggestions already. I price according to the time involved and what the wood is worth. In all honesty, I have never taken a job where the wood was worthless for firewood, i try and leave that to the pros who are in the business of taking out trees.I am in the firewood end of the deal.

 

[jeeptj19992001]

is she going to want the stumps removed?

 

[Husky137]

Mr. Murphy and his lovely mistress Ms. Luck have a lot to do with tree dropping... Stay safe.

Jason

Really?