Brush pickup? Good business or waste of time?

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BlueRidgeMark

BlueRidgeMark

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http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/grd/1605907894.html

CURBSIDE BRUSH PICKUP: We can haul away down tree's and branches. Low rates if at the curb (we will chip and haul away). Also affordable rates for all tree work. Classic Drainage and Tree Service. Call xxx-xxx-xxxx. Ask for Andrew or Bruce.

Ashburn and surrounding area.
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Just saw this on CL, and wondered what you guys think of it. Good way to diversify? Good advertising for your tree business? Waste of time?

Watcha tink?
 
I see people putting grass clippings & foreign debris in those piles, you would need alot of those type of jobs for it to be worth it, you couldnt let the pile sit there too long.

Id have to say during a storm would be good, other than that a waste of time. jmo




LXT..............
 
kEEP IN MIND, IF YOU ADVERTISE LIKE THAT, THE CHANCES ARE YOU WILL ONLY ATTRACT CHEAP BASSTURD'S
 
Great combination, drainage and trees:confused:

Somebody must have told them how much money tree guys make and they ran out and bought a chipper.


I don't think we've ever done more than a couple chipping only jobs. People just can't believe how much we want to chip just a few sticks that they've been gathering for the last 10 years or piled up willy nilly all different directions.
I do get calls for it but I usually don't even make it to see the job once I throw them a minimum, not that I want them.
 
Total waste of time, and a great way to bog down valuable equipment on low-rate work. Boy, if you think you're bidding against cheap throat slashers now, moving into low-talent work will make you have a stroke.
 
If your hungry and have to do it? Just think how HO is going to stack that pile. No 2 buts in the same direction. Nothing trimmed to chip easy. A fight to pull every criss-crossed piece out. It will be a hard piece of work for a low end return. I wouldn't do it unless I was on the verge of starving, Joe.
 
I do it but with a $400 min.

And I can only do it because I have a root grapple on my skidsteer with a dump trailer and a friend with a large reveine to fill in. I would not consider chipping it up.
And it rare the HO are willing to pay a $400 min.

I don't think I'd run an ad like that because only get the cheap HO's
 
I work in an area where firewood has zero value and mulch sells for $220 per truck load (about 4 1/2 tonne). I imagine that means I make more from chipping brush than most people here and I can honestly say that chipping someone elses stack is a minefield. They leave all sorts of crap in there and swear it is only brush cut yesterday!

That said, we take all the work simply because my experience in this and other industries says that saying yes will win you business in the long run. But chipping crap piles still blows!
 
The only time I will chip a ho brush pile is when I am already on the jobsite cutting a tree and the ( oh...by the way,while you are here bs begins). If I bid a brush pile I hand them a box of matches along with the estimate telling them thats much cheaper than chipping.
 
I had one (way back) where the HO started adding to the pile after I had already bid it. This guy threw all kinds of crap in there. The best part was when we finally got there to chip it he was covered in calamine lotion from head to toe from all the PI he chucked in there after the bid. He was a retired cop too. :)
 
TreeCo said:
Chipping brush is a very low return on equipment and labor. At this time I would not suggest it as a profitable business endeavor. Very little grates my nerves as much as being asked to clean up a brush pile that was created by people that butchered the trees and shrubs that created the pile. I've chipped a few in my day but when the plants are butchered and visible...I ride right by and mumble to myself......$%$## ## $$%^%% $$$ &*(&^^ %(% fools!
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Remembr those huge pile of branches out behing those chicken houses? I know one would not forget that. they must have been 15 feet tall or more. Oh the horror. It was winter, freezing cold, the exhaust fans for the chicken houses were blowing hot chicken air on us. There were like 3 or 4 huge piles and I don't know why they just didn't burn them. Trying to get just one limb out and into the chipper was next to impossible. Chicken bones all over the ground.
I am not really put off by chip piles, in fact, as long as I am getting my money I like it. The thing is to not start the chipper until the pile has been sorted and lined up for chipping. And its not that bad. Some of the bigger ones might take a couple of hours but the chipper only runs for a few minutes.
Now I don't know if I would advertise on CL for this but if you are smart you could make it work. One thing to do is to mark the pile after you give the bid so when they toss more on it while you go get the chipper you know they did it.
I have cleaned up some nasty piles and really don't mind doing it but like I said one has to get his money for it. If you can't get the chipper close to the pile you either charge accordingly or walk away. Most cases they will not mind you driving up to the pile if it saves them the money.
When this snow melts I have to go get that locust Plas put down a few eeks ago for the lesbians on frog hollow, its nothing. I ended up dragging some limbs into the back so they would be out of the way, I just hope the ground will freeze back up.
So yes, I think you can make good on chip piles contrary to what most others say. The last one I did was pretty big and old. I had the Dingo there to load the stuff I wouldn't put through the chipper. Maybe I had about 4 or 5 hours into the job with travel and dumping and I charged 450, I did it by myself. I liked it and was real pleased with the results.
 
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nothing better than showing up to a brush pile the size of a 4 car detached garage, all just thrown in random ways, butt ends pointing every which direction mixed in with leaves and prickers, its like a huge puzzle, then you get to chip it after too!! i dont think anyone who hasnt done it realizes just how horrible brush piles are. id rather carry 100 pound logs on my shoulder all day long, no doubt about it, than chip brush piles
that said, id still do it for money any day of the week.. money is money, and whenever its something horrible, i still look at it as im getting paid to workout for hours
 
Toddppm said:
Great combination, drainage and trees:confused:

Somebody must have told them how much money tree guys make and they ran out and bought a chipper.


I don't think we've ever done more than a couple chipping only jobs. People just can't believe how much we want to chip just a few sticks that they've been gathering for the last 10 years or piled up willy nilly all different directions.
I do get calls for it but I usually don't even make it to see the job once I throw them a minimum, not that I want them.
Click to expand...

Really now, solving some drainage problems is easy enough to. I have done some jobs like installing some underground pipes to the downspouts and stuff like that. In many cases it has a lot to do with the trees as well.
 
You're a closet landscraper aren't you?



Hah, just kidding, we do alot of that stuff too but we ARE a landscape co. too.
This guys main biz is drainage, I've seen his ads many times.

I like the guys that try to list 15 unrelated services together, they might as well just say they'll do anything for $$$$$ whether they know how or not.
 
As long as you restack and only do the jobs on an hourly rate it can be good money and a "in" for other work.

We did a heap yesterday for a local park. Aside from the usual there was one very big dead rat, 2 used condoms and a half dozen beer bottles. This week we have done 6 hours chipping by the hour. Its PITA work when your busy but keeps things ticking when your not.
 

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