why do some tree companies pay by the hour?

[Kneejerk Bombas]

Yeah, it's a lame sales tactic. Unfortunately it works.
He does a walk around and points out all the work he can imagine and then says something like, "It looks lie a about a days worth of work, why don't we schedule a day and start with the important stuff and finish off the day with the less critical stuff?"
Then we show up and see he could have easily said a half day! Sucks for us, but he made the sale.

 

[jason j ladue]

i hate that. i was working for this guy who had a mentality like that. maybe it isnt the same thing, but we did this little removal for 350$. no cleanup. just put it on the ground and cut it into manageable pieces. it took me 90 minutes. while im getting the last of my equip put a way, i look over and the boss is walking around w/ the power pruner cutting off lower branches, and then shooting the breeze w/ the customer for about an hour. i was working hourly and on the clock the whole time, so that part didnt bother me. when we on our way to the next job i asked him why he took so long out there. he said he didnt want the customer to think that we had overcharged her. but she was pleased as punch about the work we had done for her. she couldn't have been happier about the job -told me so her self in those same words. she couldnt believe how quickly it was done. i was that guy's main climber for three years. he never could manage to get a fat cow to the market before it got skinny again. that is part of why i have to call all the shots. that and i am a control freak

 

[a_lopa]

i let peope know, i dont do hourly rate at all,even chipper hire.or a question ive been getting alot of lately"how long will it take you"i dont ask them how long it took them to earn it,its plain rude.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

I'm not a superman, I have met a few, though I am better then average.

My buisness modle is to provide a service to the primary contractor where he is guarenteed getting out of thire faster then if I was not present.

I ask them to bid the job as if i were not working with them and pay me a bonus if i get it done faster.

Say he has 4 trees to deadwood 1 inch and greater and would take him 2 days to do. If I can do it in 1 day I get $500.

He has 3 willows that he thinks will take 1.5 days, he budgets $400 for me and I get it even if it takes me 7 hours.

Part of the service is to work with the ground crew, if they resent me, I probably will not get called back as often as if they respect me. I allso share knowledg and experiance ( I do not teach, since I'm not insured for that). Guys learn to work safer, comand and responce, safe saw handling, rope work, knots... Many of my clients are not stron on the biological side and I spend time with them on that end, and i allso help in bidding more work on large properties...

My long term clientel bill me out at a premium so that they can estimate my cost at 45-50/hr and i will allso help estimate bigger work of it means work for me.

 

[texasnative]

I pay by the day. $80 a day if he or she speaks English and has a driver's liscence. $100 a day if he or she has transportation, speaks English, and has a driver's liscence. $120-$200 a day if he or she climbs, depending on whether or not he or she has his or her own gear. I try to get started early and finish early, though there are times when I get started early and finish late. If we put in 10 hours, they get paid for the whole day. If we work 4 hours, they still get paid for the whole day. As far as doing a half-a$$ed job in order to finish the day early, that just doesn't happen because I am always on the job making sure it gets done right, and the hands know that if they don't make the job look like we were never there, they won't be coming to work tommorow.

 

[clearance]

JPS has respect for the ground crew, good man. What if a superstar climber went up a 120' Doug. fir stripped it the whole way, letting the branches drop wherever. Then he blew of a big top and rained down 3' to 10' chunks on the branches, fell the butt log, got in his truck after getting paid a daily rate for two hours hardwork. The guys that would have to chip the mess would hate this guy. How about the climber throws the branches butt to the chipper, after he gets the top off, he comes down, takes a break, and helps chip. Then he goes back up and blocks it down-happy crew.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Once I'm in a tree, I don't come down. So to speak.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

JPS has respect for the ground crew, good man. What if a superstar climber went up a 120' Doug. fir stripped it the whole way, letting the branches drop wherever. Then he blew of a big top and rained down 3' to 10' chunks on the branches, fell the butt log, got in his truck after getting paid a daily rate for two hours hardwork. The guys that would have to chip the mess would hate this guy. How about the climber throws the branches butt to the chipper, after he gets the top off, he comes down, takes a break, and helps chip. Then he goes back up and blocks it down-happy crew.

I'll do that with my hourly clients that are paying me top dollar. If I'm getting a rate near average scale then I'm just in the tree. I still have people for whom I bill out at $30/hr when I've nothing else to do.

With payroll costs that's on par with a $18/hr climber. this is something most people don't think about when a sub is asking for $xx. "I pay my best man $20! the heck I'll pay you that much!"

I pay all my own taxes
I pay my own insurance
Maintain all my own gear and a full sized truck to haul it around in.

What it all boils down to is what is the job worth to me and you. If we can come to terms then we have a working relationship. Finding that is allways the hard part, getting the foot in the door, or tree, so to speak.

 

[ROLLACOSTA]

IMO what you need to do whether your the boss or the contract climber is to build up a good relationship with each other, i personally pay by the day. This work's for me and the staff.Then again i'm a thoroughly nice chap and a socialist [commie] !

 

[Thor's Hammer]

Socialists are by far and away the nicest of chaps. Just take me for example...

 

[NickfromWI]

they know that if they don't make the job look like we were never there, they won't be coming to work tommorow.

I like to trim trees so that it looks* like I was never there

I like your pay scale. Seems reasonable. Tell someone up front, and they know what to expect if they improve and learn more skills.

love
nick

* (to the untrained eye)

 

[a_lopa]

Once I'm in a tree, I don't come down. So to speak.

sounds like a long t/d j/k

 

[MasterBlaster]

Only if you're slothlike.

 

[clearance]

Nick, when I prune trees beside the powerline, people know I was there, my favorite is ground to sky. I hear ya though, spiral pruning looks good if it's done right.