Bartlett

[fishercat]

i am not an arborist.

i never claim to be.i refer folks to Bartlett all the time when they have questions i don't feel comfortable answering.i have called them to my house as well about questions i had about my trees.they seem pretty straight forward and honest here and didn't charge me to come out.i have heard they were expensive for trimming and removals though. i'm sure they have a lot more overhead than i do.

 

[treevet]

Like said earlier they are only as good as their personnel. This can change from office to office. Like any other company you will make more if you are worth more but some of it is going to salesmen. Salesmen don't make much. If you are the foreman i think you can make a decent buck the longer you stay. If you run an office you may be able to raise a family on this job. An entry climber is going to constantly be offered more money and rarely see it until he tires of the empty promises.

Good job to get you through the winter though if you are doing nothing now.

You WILL get a paycheck which may be uncertain working for some unscrupulous companies.

 

[climber338]

i know 3 guys that i work with who have quit from bartlett and now are starting up there own companies. They are the only 3 guys i really know who are in the industry but i gotta say all of them are very professional and know what they are doing. Im going to be up at umass taking arboriculture and my boss/work partner told me to go do my internship with bartlett so i can learn as much as i can from them. They are a good company if your starting to learn but not a good company to work for more than a few year those are the words from my boss.

 

[treevet]

They have very high standards developed over close to a century I think. The yard you work out of may not adhere to those standards but they will soon find out and management will keep changing until they do. I worked for a few yards many years ago. Great place to apprentice.

 

[pavement99]

I think it varies from branch to branch. Like everyone has said: it's about people.

I'm sure some Bartlett offices are awesome and I'm sure there are a few run by jerks.

Overall I've heard good things. I think their focus on safety is laudable.

 

[Mitchell]

Hey Jim how did things work out? Hope all is well. Work is tight I am thankfull I can keep things going basically full time.

Highjack your thread a bit here

I just wrote a big responce here... Lost it

last three times I have been on AS I have lost my responces, thats why I have not posted in so long, that and I work liekj a mad man to keep this business going.

HAs any one here gained ground on bartlett to the point they had to shut down or down size? I might be getting another crew going and it likely would mean going after bartletts closed hand shake municipal deals they acuired from the local company they bought in my area a few years ago. The local municipalities I work in have diligently kept out walmart costco etc to save the ma and pa's but Bartlett has got in the back door. Might be time they at least have to bid on the work...

I have heard here they leveraged there multinational size to kill local companies that won't sell, does any one have insight concerning this?

 

[tomtrees58]

yes ther good tom trees

 

[RedlineIt]

Mitchell,

From what I saw at Bartlett, the were pretty upstanding with the competition. On a bid, they would not badmouth anyone, just play up what they could do. As far as killing local outfits, just by eating your lunch until you starve.

I was a mere employee, so I may not be in on any backroom stuff, but in 3+ years, I cannot recall being sent on a significant contract so underbid that it smelled of collusion or hamstringing a rival, just to get in. In fact the gov't and Quango contracts were fairly creamy.

There's a bit more that I'll send in a PM.

RedlineIt


Mitchell, could not send PM, says your box is full...

 

[lxt]

I have seen their crews around in one of the towns close to mine, their work does not impress me at all, they worked the courthouse in my county seat & most of what they did was lion tail the hell outta the trees.

they incorporated some select limb removal, etc... honestly I dont feel at all threatened by Bartlett, they might be on top of their game in the lab but their field work leaves something to be desired. Davey is more of a threat than Bartlett in my area......all in all I think Davey is the better company.




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

 

[tree MDS]

I have seen bartlett work 3 days, with something like 5 or 6 guys for $2500.This was doing some spruce takedowns. My bid was $3500, with a crane. We would have been gone in a day easy. They even did the stumps - which was not in my bid.

I suspect they did this to push me off the account... long story. I figure they were thinking about all that phc down the line. They do underbid when they have to though, I've seen it.

 

[Mass tree guy]

What is the name of this company?

JK

They are pretty smooth.. Here on the Cape I joined up with them as an irrigation Tech (they have a irrigation division). Was thrown into the tree work and survived...Now I can identify a good amount of shurbs, trees (latin too), plants, fungus, insects...I have stumped air spaded, sprayed, fertilized, cabled, guyed and installed brace rods...

I was told that we are a "learning company", meaning you will constantly keep learning if you choose. I have, there is so much to learn about this part of the Green industry. We have decent benefits and fair pay..

I like the fact we have the Lab.

but hey what do i know, I'm just a ditch digger acting as a tree guy..



:greenchainsaw:

 

[tree MDS]

What is the name of this company?

JK

They are pretty smooth.. Here on the Cape I joined up with them as an irrigation Tech (they have a irrigation division). Was thrown into the tree work and survived...Now I can identify a good amount of shurbs, trees (latin too), plants, fungus, insects...I have stumped air spaded, sprayed, fertilized, cabled, guyed and installed brace rods...

I was told that we are a "learning company", meaning you will constantly keep learning if you choose. I have, there is so much to learn about this part of the Green industry. We have decent benefits and fair pay..

I like the fact we have the Lab.

but hey what do i know, I'm just a ditch digger acting as a tree guy..



:greenchainsaw:

You had better stay there then.

 

[Bowhunter01]

clearance,

If you work for them, don't ever ever EVER sign a no compete contract. Ever!

 

[Mitchell]

Thanks for the thoughts lads. I don't know if it matters really, they can not compete with me on my strengths any more then I can compete with them on their strengths. Just wondering if ex employees had insight into how they operate. If there decent with there employees their probably decent in other matters that would effect me.

 

[treevet]

I am not going to read the whole thread but I worked for 3 different locations back in the early 70's with Bartlett. One was very high level, one mediocre and the third was run by an alcoholic with an alchy foreman and it was a sham. They are as different with different management as any other company is. They have very high standards though and when they find out about substandard op. they take care of it.

 

[lxt]

I have talked to their guys.....& the way they talk is they are there till something better or self employment come along.

heres the skinny: you dont get paid for windshield time! If you are to start at 7 am you will be on the jobsite at 7 am, in between drive time is not paid for.

From my understanding benefits are for full time employees.....field personnel will find it hard to meet the requirements at certain points in the year.

Not too mention they (Bartlett) provided treatment to a grove of Oak Trees (historic in nature) & provided the wrong treatment thus killing all the gentlemans prize oaks.......they still wanted their $18k after the fact. I really felt bad cause there was nothing that could be done, their Lab might be good but their field technicians arent really any better than any one else (small or large company)

The one thing that angers me with this company is their Arborist: he has a section in our local news paper called "ask the Arborist" he has never been in a tree! He is truly a text book arborist (salesman) so when I bid against them this is what I hear: "well the gentlemen from Bartlett was here & he`s a Certified Arborist".......I chuckle & tell them so am I, we obtained our credential from the same place!!!! BUT....I actually can do the work & am at every job site unlike Bartletts Arborist......

From there the conversation goes on & when all is said & done I usually get the job......! They are not my favorite company!!



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

 

[tree MDS]

Its all smoke and mirrors with those people.....

Oh, and mexican line guys hacking up the customers trees once the silver tongued arborist wheels away. lol. ha, ha, ha!

 

[treevet]

"silver tongued arborists".....excellent description

We had a good group of guys, maybe 10 or so, who had a big time partaying back in the day and were all climbers. We could all walk the walk. Management is important of course but personnel can be such a dynamic thing....great at one moment and one or two key guys drop out and all goes to sheeat. Kinda like a sports team.

 

[treeclimber101]

There a good company around here, but I my best friend worked for them in the past ten yrs. and hated it, I believe it truly depends on the manager at the branch.. There prices are right where they should be and it is nice to bid where they bid..It is a company with room for advancement if your lips are supple enough....

 

[BC WetCoast]

heres the skinny: you dont get paid for windshield time! If you are to start at 7 am you will be on the jobsite at 7 am, in between drive time is not paid for.


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

The only comment I'll add here is that this is jurisdiction dependent. Here in BC, you get paid from the time you are told to start at the marshalling point. So, if you marshall at the office and drive to the job site, you get paid for drive time, there and back.

If you marshall at the job site, then that's when your day starts, but getting to the job site is your responsibility.

It depends on how your labour code (if you have one) is written.