arbor pro
Addicted to ArboristSite
I've been doing tree work for 20 or so years now. I'm a certified arborist and an accredited landscape architect. For the sake of this post, I just want to clarify that I'm not a weekend warrior or hack. I know what I'm doing when it comes to the care of trees.
At one time, I was full-time and had all the equipment I could ever want or need to do a job right - buckets, chippers, loaders, etc, etc. I also had a lot of employees to keep that equipment busy. At heart, I'm an equipment junkie and just love to analyze and re-analyze the efficiency of my work and think about how I can do things better while utilizing equipment.
For a number of reasons but, primarily due to the seasonality of tree work in my neck of the woods, I now do tree work only part-time and only for about 7 months of the year. (I have a very good full-time office job now and, although I'd rather be doing tree work full-time, this is the best scenario for my family so, I don't ever anticipate going back into things full-time).
My currently do tree work about 15-20 hours a week on evenings and weekends and work alone. I don't usually like to do aerial work alone without a ground guy but, have found that my current work schedule doesn't accomodate hiring on a helper so, I'm going to continue working alone.
I current equipment inventory includes a one-ton truck with 12' dump bed, a 14' dump trailer, a 14' car trailer on which I haul an mt-50 mini loader and a sc252 stump grinder, a 665a stump grinder and lots and lots of chainsaws, pole saws, ladders, rigging gear and climbing gear.
Overall, it's not a bad setup. However, I miss the bucket truck and chipper that I sold a couple of years ago to try and simplify things and have less equipment to maintain. I'm a family man with kids. When I'm not at my full-time job or doing tree work, I would prefer to spend time playing with my kids versus maintaining equipment.
That said, I realize that, if you're going to have equipment, it has to be maintained. I'm considering buying a towable boom (50-60' ht would be fine) and maybe a small chipper (6-12") just to handle the stringy brush from pruning that doesn't stack well in the truck or trailer. I've considered a small forestry truck with front-mount boom and chip box but, I really don't want to license, insure and maintain another roadway vehicle. My mini loader and dump truck or dump trailer work fine for the cleanup of removals but I have to pay around $18/ton for disposal fees at our landfill. I have a landowner who will take wood chips for free.
I really want to get a lift -whether it be a truck or towable. My knees just aren't as good as they used to be and, around here, a lift can get into most places so climbing is seldom necessary. I just keep going back and forth as to what equipment setup is going to be the most efficient and least maintenance for my type of operation.
I should also mention that, in my area, I need to do a little bit of everything in order to find enough work to stay busy. I tried scaling down to just pruning and stump grinding but am not finding enough work. I need to do removals also. Obviously, I cannot do the really big, difficult removals that require rigging and craning but, I could still do a number of 'piece-down' removals if I had a lift.
I know there must be other guys in my same position pondering the same questions so, I'm wondering what you run and how well it works for you?
At one time, I was full-time and had all the equipment I could ever want or need to do a job right - buckets, chippers, loaders, etc, etc. I also had a lot of employees to keep that equipment busy. At heart, I'm an equipment junkie and just love to analyze and re-analyze the efficiency of my work and think about how I can do things better while utilizing equipment.
For a number of reasons but, primarily due to the seasonality of tree work in my neck of the woods, I now do tree work only part-time and only for about 7 months of the year. (I have a very good full-time office job now and, although I'd rather be doing tree work full-time, this is the best scenario for my family so, I don't ever anticipate going back into things full-time).
My currently do tree work about 15-20 hours a week on evenings and weekends and work alone. I don't usually like to do aerial work alone without a ground guy but, have found that my current work schedule doesn't accomodate hiring on a helper so, I'm going to continue working alone.
I current equipment inventory includes a one-ton truck with 12' dump bed, a 14' dump trailer, a 14' car trailer on which I haul an mt-50 mini loader and a sc252 stump grinder, a 665a stump grinder and lots and lots of chainsaws, pole saws, ladders, rigging gear and climbing gear.
Overall, it's not a bad setup. However, I miss the bucket truck and chipper that I sold a couple of years ago to try and simplify things and have less equipment to maintain. I'm a family man with kids. When I'm not at my full-time job or doing tree work, I would prefer to spend time playing with my kids versus maintaining equipment.
That said, I realize that, if you're going to have equipment, it has to be maintained. I'm considering buying a towable boom (50-60' ht would be fine) and maybe a small chipper (6-12") just to handle the stringy brush from pruning that doesn't stack well in the truck or trailer. I've considered a small forestry truck with front-mount boom and chip box but, I really don't want to license, insure and maintain another roadway vehicle. My mini loader and dump truck or dump trailer work fine for the cleanup of removals but I have to pay around $18/ton for disposal fees at our landfill. I have a landowner who will take wood chips for free.
I really want to get a lift -whether it be a truck or towable. My knees just aren't as good as they used to be and, around here, a lift can get into most places so climbing is seldom necessary. I just keep going back and forth as to what equipment setup is going to be the most efficient and least maintenance for my type of operation.
I should also mention that, in my area, I need to do a little bit of everything in order to find enough work to stay busy. I tried scaling down to just pruning and stump grinding but am not finding enough work. I need to do removals also. Obviously, I cannot do the really big, difficult removals that require rigging and craning but, I could still do a number of 'piece-down' removals if I had a lift.
I know there must be other guys in my same position pondering the same questions so, I'm wondering what you run and how well it works for you?
