notch and drop......

[budroe69moni]

hey guys,
just put a bid in for removing 2 pine trees.
they're both about 40' tall w/ a dbh of 24".
it's a clean drop, no hazzards to contend w/,
they're sitting in an empty back yard.
what would you charge???? just want to
make sure that i'm in the ballpark.
let me know,
thanks,
budroe

 

[treeclimber165]

Considering your particular situation and overhead, I think you'd be good at about $50 per man hour for time on the job($100 per hour), plus $50 per hour for dump runs, plus dump fee. Add it up and see if you are close.

Have you picked up a medium size saw yet for all that wood?

Unless the trees have a definite lean in the proper direction, I'd definitely set a rope in them for your groundman to pull while you make your drop cut, also.

 

[Kevin]

A good friend of mine had three birch dropped yesterday by a pro and he charged $150 CDN per tree.
Two trees were a real hazard to the cottage and the other wasn`t.
Climb, rig limbs and drop no clean up nothing fancy.
Trees were about 14-16" DBH.

 

[Greg]

I would also set pull lines up in the tree, it is too easy for somthing to go wrong not to spend the extra 10mins it will take to put the lines in place. To put the lines up, drop the tree and cut it into 4ft peices I'd do that for about $130, and it would take about 45 minutes.
To remove the wood from the yard you have to look at how many cuts you'll need to make to get it out, are you going over delicate landscape, can you pull the truck up close, etc... wood removal on an average backyard I would put somewhere near $200 for trees of that size, and I'd expect about 2 hrs.
Greg

 

[budroe69moni]

brian,
i picked up an echo 3450 last month and i just landed a 4400!
that saw rocks!!! can't wait to bust it out on these pines!!!!
as far as the bid, i used your equation and came up w/ the
same amount!!!! should be a nice job for me. it's right next
door to the one i did last week w/ the palms and the laurels.
think i've got a shot to work my way around this whole neighborhood!!!!!! god i love this!!!!
budroe

 

[DDM]

Budroe? did you ever get a truck? or still using the trailer?

 

[treeclimber165]

Originally posted by budroe69moni
it's right next door to the one i did last week w/ the palms and the laurels. think i've got a shot to work my way around this whole neighborhood!!!!!! god i love this!!!!
budroe

Referrals are the absolute BEST way to get business. Glad to hear it.
As for the trailer, you can earn extra money for a long time using it. A buddy of mine (who I took my Certification test with 7 years ago) works for the County and does tree work on the side. Uses a 16' trailer that he pulls behind a Nissan pickup. He's never gotten into really big stuff, and the extra money supports him and his family well. I'd guess he clears an extra $1500-$2000 per month on top of his regular job.

 

[budroe69moni]

ddm,
still using the jeep and trailer. i've got it down to an exact science loadin'er up!!!!!! so far so good (but it's gettin' old watching the big boys pull up next to me after i've been unloading at the landfill for 15-20 minutes and they're in and out in a matter of minutes ) but i keep telling myself that i'm paying my dues and someday i'll be the one w/ the big dumps and the bucket trucks and all the killer gear . all good things in all good time!!!!!! trying to figure out what my next purchase will be.......
budroe

 

[DDM]

Budroe, I think I'd buy a 1 Ton Dump if i were you. Ive purchased 2 of them in Orlanda in the Last 12 Months. There seems to be Great Deals on Trucks in Fl My last was a 90 Ford F-350 Diesel, AC,Cruise, 12' Dump bed for 3000.00
The same Truck Here goes for 8000.00

 

[tshanefreeman]

One must keep in mind that everything costs money............. therefore, if an arborist new to the business world builds up to much overhead before he/she becomes established, they can end up spending far more than they earn.

I too know this feeling. I too have recently started on my own and trust me, there are many things that I would love to buy to make things a little more efficient. But keep in mind, as long as you have something to haul with, climb safely with, and cut with, you WILL make money. And depending on how busy you are or get, you can make a killing. My climbing gear, saws, and pickup are all paid for and therefore, everything (minus my groundies wage) is profit. It doesn't take long to earn enough to be able to buy more gear. I even rent a Rayco Stump Grinder on a bi-weekly basis. This allows me to provide a complete service, but without having to shell out thousands of dollars...............save that for the future!

Toys are really fun (trust me I know), however, they aren't always necessary!

 

[DDM]

I know your not talking about my Skid steer!

 

[tshanefreeman]

Just because I stated that "...they aren't always necessary!", doesn't mean that everything in Sherrill's catologue and the world round isn't practical. It's just that you can usually make due with what you have...............after all ropes and knots are amazing once you know how to use them. Rigging may take longer with limited equipment, but the job can typically still be completed in the same fashion............you know, having the tree in the back of you truck, or in this case, on the back of your trailer, right budroe69moni!

 

[DDM]

LOL But with a Skid steer and a dump Truck Your back sure feels better at 7 pm!

 

[budroe69moni]

ddm,
where in o-town did you pick up that dump????????
let me know.
budroe

 

[coydog]

budroe,
life can really suck without a dump, here's a trick that may or may not work for you, depending on the friendliness of your landfill, Lay a strap down or rope or chain or whatever on the bed of your trailer before you load, load on top of it then cinch the rope over the top of your load, choker sling fashion, you may need extra chain etc. but you get the idea, then see iff one of the dozers at the landfill will hook up to your chain and pull the load off,ala poor man's dump truck. If your trailer has rails they can be a problem, I have a flatbed and that's how I load and unload brush, I pull it off from the side, but I have land and a tractor, so don't have to deal with the landfill, when I used to do roofing though guys that didn't have dumps would lay down chains attached to tire rims at the front of their trailers and get the dozers at the landfill to pull off their tearoff debris that way.

 

[treeclimber165]

That's the way I did it, coydog. Another thing to remember is to try and use a couple wide, spread-out branches on the bottom to help catch all the load when pulling it off. And we ALL have chopped down a load with a chainsaw, just don't chop all the way to the bottom so your bottom branches stay intact.