man you guys must be a hoot at get togethers. the beer line was a joke.
ddhlakebound..... if you need thousands of dollars in gear to take these trees down then you my freind need to find a different line of work. i have seen climbers work. this is an easy job. i assure you that the fence is not in the line of fire. in fact it would be a benefit to me if it was as it needs to come down anyway. im just waiting for a fat robin to land on it and take it down. also i never said little pay. i said i couldnt pay much. meaning id be more inclined to trade work if i could. and that i dont want to pay some bucket truck punk to come and overcharge me for their lack of experience just because they are part of a company.
i realize its hard to judge the trees just from the pictures.
i also realize its always easier to assume everyone else is just some hick with a saw and that your years of "professional" experience must be superior to everyone elses. i guess in todays world nobody stops to think that hey maybe this guy might have some idea of what hes talking about.
im also not a professional mechanic but i can rebuild your truck engine. im not a professional plumber but i can replace your entire household water system. im not a professional hvac installer but i can replace your furnace. im not a professional machinist but i can turn your steel in a lathe. im not a professional roofer but i can tear off and reroof a house. im not a professional mason but i can lay your patio or pour your basement floor. im not a professional gunsmith but ive sure made a lot of "unfixable" guns go bang again.
just to assume that every other person that posts here is a complete twit is doing yourselves a huge disservice and makes the industry in itself look as if its filled with a bunch of ego laden asses. im not a profesional welder but id like to think i do damn fine welding work when i want to. i have worked with "professionals" who thought they were gods gift to welders and they were a far cry from what they thought they were.
ok rant mode off ..........(for now)........:msp_tongue:
Well, it's pretty obvious that in this case you don't know what you're talking about. I noticed that in your list of things that you can do, you didn't mention that you can do any of them right. Ya know, lots of times there's a difference between done and done right.
Lets take a look at the gear needed to take 'em down. Bare bones, no rigging, just climbing, saws, and a pull line. Also includes no PPE
Saddle $140-$500
Flipline $50-$130
Rope $120 +/-
2 biners or snaps $30-$50
Split tail $6-$25
Spikes $200-$500
3 saws (could get by with 2, but who'd want to?)
Top handle $300-$600
50cc 18" $350-$550
70/80cc 24" $600-$1000
1/2" arborplex pull rope $60
Cost?
$1856 on the low end, very basic gear. Shipping or tax not included
$3585 for nice, reliable pro gear. Shipping or tax not included
By the time you add tax or shipping, PPE, a couple extra chains, saw gas and bar oil, it's easily over $2k on the low end.
But I can tell you're a thrifty do-it-yourselfer, so you can probably get all that stuff at garage sales and pawn shops for less than half price, learn to climb, and take them down yourself for only a little more than my high end estimate. Not counting your labor and risk of course.
Or maybe you're looking for a monkey to tie a rope around his ass for a saddle, with a wild thing clipped to his belt loop.
You can blather on all you want about bucket truck punks, people trying to overcharge you, everything you can do yourself, the high cost of steel and stick and how tree people should work for beer, cause it boils down to:
You aren't willing to do these two trees because of the risk to your house. And ya know what? You're such a multi-talented guy that anything you can't do has gotta be worth something, right?
