Walked From the Job

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The smart man knows when to walk away, to live and fight another day. :)

It's times like this that the most foolish thing you can do is worry about what anyone else is going to think about you. That sort of foolishness should have died in us before we leave our teens...
 
There is nothing wrong with making a mistake unless you don't learn anything from it... Then it is a wasted opportunity...

the number one thing to learn is to keep your prices high... This work is hard and dangerous... We all deserve to get paid well...

From the sound of your prices and situation you might well be able to double your prices... do half the work (or more) with less time and expense and make just as much or more $... Think $65-100/man/hour when bidding and even if you slightly underestimate the time you should be making $50/m/h.... If not... stay home with your family...

You might be surprised that clients may even have more respect for you when you when you keep your prices high...

I used to have a reputation for being the lowbidder on just about every job years ago... Now I smile and congratulate myself when I overbid the big boys with their shiny trucks... Soimetimes by plenty...

But that's hard to do with Big Jon's comapany... NFW is that a $3K tree.... No way in the real world..... but BJ's company has a unique reputation and clientelle which commands a hefty premium... He told me yesterday that they have to put plywood down on driveways before putting their under CDL chip truck on them (sometimes).... Not a speck of cereal for my dog... But still not $3K and done by 10 AM...

Also I wouldn't worry about backing out of the deal... Not the highest integrity thing to do, but certainly acceptable by most in todays world... I've had a number of clients back out of stump jobs in Fl, even after signing contracts.... That doesn't make me feel all warm and fuzzy, but that's OK... I accept it.... And I believe they have the legal right to do so... Just don't try not paying me once I've done the job!
 
Originally posted by murphy4trees
the number one thing to learn is to keep your prices high... This work is hard and dangerous... We all deserve to get paid well...
Amen and Glory Hallelujah! Say on, Brother!
 
Right there, treeCo, is where I lack integrity. I may defer my lesser jobs, and opt in for one with more meat, slotting someone who's been waiting a week over someone who's been waiting 4 or 5.

I'm also lame in that I'll wake up, have coffeee, and see what kind of 'mood' I'm in. I'll almost always go for a job that has some hairy scary aspect to the climb.

Then there's days when I just feel artsy phartzy, the day is peaceful and I don't feel like any noise. I go work out with the Silkys and pole pruner.

Then there's the weather, choosing your next job by how the skies look.

Sometimes I'll choose one over another because it's closer to home.

Wayyyyy down the list of factors is how long someone's been waiting.

Elizabeth thinks I should do them in the order in which they've called, and mebbe she's right. But I'm terribly spoiled and I like the liberty of choice I have.
 
moody man

I'm pretty much always in a good mood; just have to determine if its a big canopy good mood, or a takedown good mood or an ornamental pruning good mood.

Shipments from Sherrill always puts me in a new-gear good mood, which means I'll choose a job based on where I can burn-in the new tools.

I'm perpetually in the mood for something that imvolves a climb, unless its raining lightly, and then the pole pruners tend to work better, keep my ropes out of the filth.

In our business, no towo trees alike, and there's a tree for every mood.
 
New gear should put ANYONE in a good mood!

It's like xmas every delivery. :D
 
getting off-topic.....

OK, back to Chucky's takedown. I stretched here to learn some photoshop methods to do a virtual takedown.

A couple things must be established, I will do this tree in my normal modus operundi, which is to do it without any ground help, and we'll go SRT, for no other reason than I'm in the mood to do SRT today. I will be using spikes on this job.

The fridge is not in my way, but if someone's around meebbe we'll wrassle it away. If the car had to be there, it wouldn't be a big deal either. The kill zone will be to the street side of the trunk.
 
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And finally....

After a bite to eat, and make sure the 395 is sharp, head back up, and it's all dice-a-roni from here.
 
the key element

It woulda taken most of a day, but it would have been a thousand and some change, so I don't care if it takes til dark.

The firewood guy was the key element in this scenario.
 
Another semi-technical

Here's one, very similar. I have a 6" capacity chipper, so often there's no sense in droppping stuff during phase one over 6" diameter, otherwise I'll have to cut it up on the ground, and I try to minimize that.

With this tree I used the Bigshot, as a way of answering my clients' question about how do I set a rope if I can't climb it up there with spikes. Instead of putting on spurs, I set the rope as per the images, and ascended up spikeless and took out the crown.

Then I came down and called the firewood guy to see what he'd be doing a couple hours from now.
 
TM I'm curious in phase one of chuckys problem... why you would strip out the crown of the lead you are tying into first? I tend to leave it, particularily limbs on it untill the end. I tend to be a believer in the "mass dampening" camp, so that is the main reason why I prefer some "stuff" on my lead. If you don't mind, I might start a thread/poll on this as I see alot of advantage in leaving some brush on your TIP...
 
FWIW, I agree with that, and would go a step further to say it also dampens rigging points, too.
 
Youse guys make it look complicated. And, I almost had a flashback on one of TreeMachine's attachments.
aaf_dur.gif
 
Edit: MB beat me to puch on the reply

Yeah for sure...

Granted In TM's plan he wasn't rigging at all, but the spar would get a bit bouncy moving around...

I have gotten to the point were I ensure there is brush on the spar if I have to rig it out while tied in to itself, particularily when tipping over the top.. feels far less shaky, even if you have a good smooth rope runner.

Threadjacking for sure, but this could be a good cause for thought, debate....
 
The intent is not to threadjack, or draw attention to myself, or preach some superior way. I'm merely trying to show the newbies that you don't have to rig every big limb down with ropes.

I like rigging down limbs, but I've found it is faster and takes half the manpower doing it dice-a-roni.

If I had a 12" diameter chipper, my approach would be so very different.

This job was $1,650, I did it alone, except for the firewood guy taking away two loads. One day, Half tank of gas in the 346, 2 tanks in the 395, half hour of chipping. Probably 3 or 4 dollars in gas.

Just something to think about.

I strip the spire I'm tying into to lessen the chances of my rope hanging up, and that the brush is going to have to come off regardless. I'm not going to climb 'through' it to achieve some insignificant damping effect. In the chess game, I had planned to swing over from middle stem to the street stem, and then back all the way across to the stem on the car side. To do this, your rope needs to have a clear line, no obstructions.

I know what you mean, dampening, but my 165 (73 Kg) and flying pendulum moves probably wouldn't have that much effect on a topless post. If you're rigging off it, I see your point and consider it to be valid.
 

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