wage vs experience

[Wenthome]

Hello, I'm new here and need some help. I read a while back on this site that experienced climbers make between 25 and 40 dollars an hour, the company that trained me wont pay me 20an hour to come back in march, after 3years with them. The last year using my own gear(rope, saddle, buck strap and hand saw).

When I decided to get into climbing I was working with a climber who said he made between 400 and 1000 a day, and that there weren't many climbers out there.

If I cant find a company to pay 20+ to start then Ill have some 1year old equipment for sale.

So are climbers paid well? or are we a dime a dozen?

 

[TreeClimber57]

Hello, I'm new here and need some help. I read a while back on this site that experienced climbers make between 25 and 40 dollars an hour, the company that trained me wont pay me 20an hour to come back in march, after 3years with them. The last year using my own gear(rope, saddle, buck strap and hand saw).

When I decided to get into climbing I was working with a climber who said he made between 400 and 1000 a day, and that there weren't many climbers out there.

If I cant find a company to pay 20+ to start then Ill have some 1year old equipment for sale.

So are climbers paid well? or are we a dime a dozen?

Well depends on where you are maybe. But with this economy.. I am not sure who is going to pay $40/hr.. but could be wrong I guess.. but I sure am not going to pay that high.

Also depends on how good you are..

But he has to be doing something pretty special to get $1,000 a day.

 

[Shaun Bowler]

Wage vs. experience
Experience is a subjective word.
So is being able to come to work on time, work, and being able to do it day after day.
Sometimes I make $3-400.00 a day, once in awhile $1000.00.
Nevertheless, I have always been greatful to have a job.
The experience that I find most helpful is to learn if you are being taken advantage of.
Using your own chainsaws is a big red flag.

 

[TreeClimber57]

Wage vs. experience
Experience is a subjective word.
So is being able to come to work on time, work, and being able to do it day after day.
Sometimes I make $3-400.00 a day, once in awhile $1000.00.
Nevertheless, I have always been greatful to have a job.
The experience that I find most helpful is to learn if you are being taken advantage of.
Using your own chainsaws is a big red flag.

Well said..

Experience.. what is that
Years worked.. ? Well I have seen guys with 5 years under their belt do as good or better than some with 20. It is the person, their desire to learn, exposure or opportunity they have had, etc.
Showing up to work on time.. big item.. I have had some climbers that did not show until half way through the day.. some not at all certain days. And.. sometimes not bother to tell you.. so you got a job waiting.. trucks running.. and missing climber.
Climbers (or any worker) need to remember that the person hiring them is paying workers comp, insurance, fuel, taxes, maintenance, their salary, etc.. all before they take home a dime themselves. I have had days my climbers made way more than I have taken myself.

 

[Wenthome]

My attendance is almost perfect, and I always did the maintanace to the trucks before I drove, and loaded needed equipment. I was 1 of 3 climbers the first year then for the following 2 years it was just me and the foreman, except for 2 climbers that didnt last 3 months combined. one of them being screwed up and crashing a truck the other walked off.

Im told I was trained to climb old school. Ive climbed big trees with and without spikes, Ive done storm damage, removals, trimming, installing cable(s) and done some work around big wires. and also can do shaping, shrubs, crabs etc. and trimming for fruit. I also have a spray licsense.

I watched the barber chair video then the monster white pine removal in that same link, and can point out a few things that guy was doing wrong. Like leaving all those stubs and not under cutting any of the branches so they land flat, or pulling himself up the tree when hes wearing spikes. and why didnt they show the best part, taking the tops out? Plus his notch looked alittle short.

The only reason I used my own gear was because the saddle didnt fit me and the climbing lines looked pretty old. I never used my own saws.

 

[ducaticorse]

My attendance is almost perfect, and I always did the maintanace to the trucks before I drove, and loaded needed equipment. I was 1 of 3 climbers the first year then for the following 2 years it was just me and the foreman, except for 2 climbers that didnt last 3 months combined. one of them being screwed up and crashing a truck the other walked off.

Im told I was trained to climb old school. Ive climbed big trees with and without spikes, Ive done storm damage, removals, trimming, installing cable(s) and done some work around big wires. and also can do shaping, shrubs, crabs etc. and trimming for fruit. I also have a spray licsense.

I watched the barber chair video then the monster white pine removal in that same link, and can point out a few things that guy was doing wrong. Like leaving all those stubs and not under cutting any of the branches so they land flat, or pulling himself up the tree when hes wearing spikes. and why didnt they show the best part, taking the tops out? Plus his notch looked alittle short.

The only reason I used my own gear was because the saddle didnt fit me and the climbing lines looked pretty old. I never used my own saws.

I'm a small and new company. I'd pay $40 an hour for a producer, and a leader that I could count on. Someone who could climb well, and control the entire site op to boot. I pay $30 an hour now for a climber that ends up aggravating me more than not. Around here, you can't get anything worth working with for less than $25, So what's another $15 for an individual who I can set up on a job site, and can trust to get everything done in the time allotted?

It's also relative to location as TC57 mentioned.

I don't know how anyone would ever fetch a grand a day, seems a bit ridiculous to me.

 

[Shaun Bowler]

WTF?
TCS7 is secret.. code.. for ..what?
I think AS is being used as a conduit

 

[ducaticorse]

WTF?
TCS7 is secret.. code.. for ..what?
I think AS is being used as a conduit

TreeClimber57, he posted on the topic earlier.

 

[TreeClimber57]

I'm a small and new company. I'd pay $40 an hour for a producer, and a leader that I could count on. Someone who could climb well, and control the entire site op to boot. I pay $30 an hour now for a climber that ends up aggravating me more than not. Around here, you can't get anything worth working with for less than $25, So what's another $15 for an individual who I can set up on a job site, and can trust to get everything done in the time allotted?.

Well I would do $25 to $30 if I gotta babysit or have somebody else do it.
Any more and the guy has to have license he can drive anything and everything, have a good enough record so I can insure him without my rates going crazy, is always on time getting to work and works a decent day and be dependable so the work gets completed as per contract with customer, on time, and no complaints from customer that I need to fix later.

I don't know how anyone would ever fetch a grand a day, seems a bit ridiculous to me.

I would think so.. unless he has supernatural powers and a magic wand. Now if somebody is doing storm cleanup, and wants to gouge a bit on the way.. then maybe.

Am I asking too much or dreaming

 

[mpatch]

to the guys paying $40+ an hour I will raise the BS flag. There is no way you can pay a production climber that much as a FULL TIME EMPLOYEE with some bennies and remain profitable unless you are talking about part time/ contract climbers. When I was an independant climber I would make between $250 and $1k a day, but keep in mind the hardest part is keeping busy. Anybody that has been a independant climber (I'm assuming) can vouch for the inconsistancy, that was the only reason I quit doing it. Got tired of making $3k one week and nothing for the next. I work a lot more hours now since I am an hourly employee at a company that keeps me busy but I make about the same per year and I get decent benifits.

 

[ducaticorse]

to the guys paying $40+ an hour I will raise the BS flag. There is no way you can pay a production climber that much as a FULL TIME EMPLOYEE with some bennies and remain profitable unless you are talking about part time/ contract climbers. When I was an independant climber I would make between $250 and $1k a day, but keep in mind the hardest part is keeping busy. Anybody that has been a independant climber (I'm assuming) can vouch for the inconsistancy, that was the only reason I quit doing it. Got tired of making $3k one week and nothing for the next. I work a lot more hours now since I am an hourly employee at a company that keeps me busy but I make about the same per year and I get decent benifits.

You are right about that, if you're are talking about full time with benefits etc. I am still getting off the ground, and I go through spurts of business, and some down time as well. If I was providing a 40 hour work week, with health, and all the other goodies, I'd be topping out at 20-30 doe. These guys have to understand what it costs to pay money to them, and realize the value of the benefits. Every hundred bucks in payroll is $14.5 in WC premium, forget about the taxes and premium for health care.....

 

[mpatch]

Figure wage x 1.5-1.75 to factor in WC, benefits (1/2 of health ins., PTO etc.),taxes, training etc. to come up with actual cost per hour that X employee is costing the company.

 

[ducaticorse]

Figure wage x 1.5-1.75 to factor in WC, benefits (1/2 of health ins., PTO etc.),taxes, training etc. to come up with actual cost per hour that X employee is costing the company.

Tough nut to crack. Something an employee rarely thinks about.

 

[VA-Sawyer]

I figure I'm losing money if I can't bill at least $25 for each $10 paid in wages. And that is for one that isn't breaking everything he touches.

As for climber wages, I have a climber I call in for bigger jobs. I prefer to run the ground ops on bigger jobs as I haven't yet found a GOOD groundie. He is a better climber than me, so it makes a faster job all around. He can count on making $50 - $100 per hour when he works for me. If I had him as a full time employee, I couldn't afford even $25/hr.
Rick

 

[TreeClimber57]

to the guys paying $40+ an hour I will raise the BS flag. There is no way you can pay a production climber that much as a FULL TIME EMPLOYEE with some bennies and remain profitable unless you are talking about part time/ contract climbers. When I was an independant climber I would make between $250 and $1k a day, but keep in mind the hardest part is keeping busy. Anybody that has been a independant climber (I'm assuming) can vouch for the inconsistancy, that was the only reason I quit doing it. Got tired of making $3k one week and nothing for the next. I work a lot more hours now since I am an hourly employee at a company that keeps me busy but I make about the same per year and I get decent benifits.

Agreed.. but then figure on maybe 2 to 3 days a week on regular basis.. and maybe more occasionally. Guys are not going to call you in every day if you are costing that much.

 

[Blakesmaster]

The fact that your gear is only a year old tells me that although you may be good, you're not a top notch climber. ( no offense intended )

Assuming I'm wrong and you are top notch you either gotta find a bigger company to work for or just start contract climbing. I hit the same wall with my old boss last year. He couldn't do more than $20 an hour and I knew I was worth more as a climber. Main issue was, that I wasn't always climbing. Some days I'd run bucket, some days I'd run ground, drive equipment, drag brush, split firewood whatever the day's tasks included.

The guys making 30-50 an hour are with companies running at least 3-4 crews and they're in the tree all day every day while other crews do the easy jobs.

If there are no companies like that in your area then you either gotta move, start contract climbing or start your own business.

 

[Wenthome]

no I wouldnt consider myself the best or top notch, only been doing this for 3 years. and like I said I bought my own gear before the start of the 3rd year after using a saddle that didnt fit me for 2 years. I use a small but was using a medium.

And Blakemaster how many climbers did you work with? I did atleast 50% of the climbing for 2years because it was just me and the foreman climbing. the way the company worked was I drove to the jobs, did the work (climbing or bucket) then did the cleanup. we had a ground man the second year, he didnt get call back because he didnt want to climb.

to clear things up the guy that told me 4 to 1000 a day, that was contract or side jobs.

like I said I saw on this site that someone posted. experienced climbers 2and a half years+ make 25-40 an hour. the high would be for foremans

 

[TreeAce]

hey wenthome...IMHO..do yourself a favor and just get this 400/1000 a day stuff outa your head. I see you are in Michigan so I am thinking your local economy is about as bad as it is near Cleveland where I am. If u have 2 or 3 years and your good or even really good then you "should" be making 17/18 an hour. Thats on the books money. WC is paid,unemployment, ect....I am sure its different in other parts of the country but for where u r at in experiance and geographic then personally I think you have fallen pray to some BS. Maybe bar room talk. I used to know a guy who was a half decent climber in his day and always talked about making 100 an hour. Turns out he made 100 an hour for about 4 days one time back in the freakn mid 90s....But he talked about it like it was so common.... poor guys head just stuck in the past.

 

[treemandan]

I'm a small and new company. I'd pay $40 an hour for a producer, and a leader that I could count on. Someone who could climb well, and control the entire site op to boot. I pay $30 an hour now for a climber that ends up aggravating me more than not. Around here, you can't get anything worth working with for less than $25, So what's another $15 for an individual who I can set up on a job site, and can trust to get everything done in the time allotted?

It's also relative to location as TC57 mentioned.

I don't know how anyone would ever fetch a grand a day, seems a bit ridiculous to me.

Well then learn to climb and control the entire jobsite yourself then you won't have to hire a climber to aggravate you... you will be able to do that yerself.

 

[ducaticorse]

Well then learn to climb and control the entire jobsite yourself then you won't have to hire a climber to aggravate you... you will be able to do that yerself.

I was doing the bucket work for my little biz for the first half of last summer, and soon found out that it was counterproductive to be a "working manager" by being locked onto a jobsite. Around here people want estimates asap, and want to hire asap. So if I get a call, I have to leave, and try an win work. I can't commit to being on the sight all day, not an option.