2023 Contract Climber Rates?

[Matias]

I have my regular rate, my emergency rate, and my fuck you rate.

I figured that was a widely used rate schedule

 

[climbhightree]

I have my regular rate, my emergency rate, and my fuck you rate.

OH but it still sucks when you somehow get that f you rate job estimate signed and returned to be completed

 

[Matias]

OH but it still sucks when you somehow get that f you rate job estimate signed and returned to be completed

Those are the jobs that help you dial in that FU rate

 

[Boomslang]

OH but it still sucks when you somehow get that f you rate job estimate signed and returned to be completed

True, but at least you're making bank while being miserable haha

 

[cory]

$5k/ day for 3 guys, chip truck and mini is f'g outrageous. You may be superman and the wolf of Wall St rolled into one.

We get $2.5k-3k for 18" chipper, 50hp Kubota wheeled loader, chip truck, 75' rear mount terex bucket, mason body wood truck, and 75hp tow behind/ 50hp self propelled stumper. And things are slow here at those prices.

 

[Chief]

$5k/ day for 3 guys, chip truck and mini is f'g outrageous. You may be superman and the wolf of Wall St rolled into one.

We get $2.5k-3k for 18" chipper, 50hp Kubota wheeled loader, chip truck, 75' rear mount terex bucket, mason body wood truck, and 75hp tow behind/ 50hp self propelled stumper. And things are slow here at those prices.

The more I hear prices, we must be in the land of milk and honey up here! Lol
No joke when I started back in 2005 the company I worked for gave every crew (4 crews) 5k worth of work every day and we didn't come back till it was finished. They were 4 to 5 man crews though, but still back in 2005. We didn't have minis then straight dragging and log carting everything, very production oriented. Hated them for it but really learned a lot about putting mass amounts of wood on the ground. (Didn't do a whole lot of prunes)

 

[Boomslang]

$5k/ day for 3 guys, chip truck and mini is f'g outrageous. You may be superman and the wolf of Wall St rolled into one.

We get $2.5k-3k for 18" chipper, 50hp Kubota wheeled loader, chip truck, 75' rear mount terex bucket, mason body wood truck, and 75hp tow behind/ 50hp self propelled stumper. And things are slow here at those prices.

I get $1300-$1600/day working solo with a 9" chipper and a 1/2 ton. If I had your equipment setup I would be pushing for $4k. But I guess you can only do what your market supports.

 

[Matias]

Having lived in a number of different places, and just using readily available published statistics, The biggest factor in this conversation will always purchase power parity. A dollar goes a lot farther in many places than it does in others.

Additionally, places that have non economic reasons for being extra desirable will reduce a dollar's purchasing power, and cost of living goes into irrationally high figures. I do feel like that whole game is on the brink of collapse, but for now, places like Asheville, for example, may not be representing North Carolina and the surrounding area accurately.

 

[southsoundtree]

I get $1300-$1600/day working solo with a 9" chipper and a 1/2 ton. If I had your equipment setup I would be pushing for $4k. But I guess you can only do what your market supports.

How does Canadian money compare to USD?

 

[data farm 26]

1 usd = 1.35 cad

 

[southsoundtree]

That's good dough if sustained on a daily basis.

 

[data farm 26]

Agreed. You can get about that much in this market, m best solo day was 1800 on a big spruce removal. Worked my ass off for that one though. Did some other solo removals for 3200 in a day in a half, brutal labor though. Mostly I hit around 800 on the solo days casually. After 7 years I still can't bid consistently, I'm happy to take this time off and work as a sub but I can't really sustain my lifestyle much longer at these rates so I'll be getting back in the driver's seat come springtime with any luck. Hopefully play my cards a little better this year!

 

[Treetopflyer]

Agreed. You can get about that much in this market, m best solo day was 1800 on a big spruce removal. Worked my ass off for that one though. Did some other solo removals for 3200 in a day in a half, brutal labor though. Mostly I hit around 800 on the solo days casually. After 7 years I still can't bid consistently, I'm happy to take this time off and work as a sub but I can't really sustain my lifestyle much longer at these rates so I'll be getting back in the driver's seat come springtime with any luck. Hopefully play my cards a little better this year!

 

[OasisTree]

why do you chargemore for cranework? because there is usually more turnaround on those jobs?

So I started by climbing and rigging everything, and chipping all the brush, and that is still how I look at a lot of potential jobs. I know that every piece of equipment I bring to a job, whether lift, grapple truck, or crane, should add efficiency and safety and reduce my time on the jobsite.
I dont think that crane work should be more expensive if you look at the total job cost. But your per hour cost should go way up just by factoring the efficiency of the equipment.
I am in a climbing market, and stay competitive with equipment while still getting the rates that I need to make it work.

 

[Sfoppema]

The more I hear prices, we must be in the land of milk and honey up here! Lol
No joke when I started back in 2005 the company I worked for gave every crew (4 crews) 5k worth of work every day and we didn't come back till it was finished. They were 4 to 5 man crews though, but still back in 2005. We didn't have minis then straight dragging and log carting everything, very production oriented. Hated them for it but really learned a lot about putting mass amounts of wood on the ground. (Didn't do a whole lot of prunes)

I've been there and seen it. You are in the land of milk and honey. 5k with a Merlo, 4 man crew, 24 inch chipper, mini skid, CDL trucks etc isn't terrible day in MA. Can get to 7 or 8, but not all the time..There aren't contract climbers getting much more than 600 a day here and that is for the killers....A three man climber crew that can do 3000 a day consistently with just a chipper, multiple chip trucks, and a mini skid I would consider to be highly successful/profitable.

Within 60 miles of me there are over a dozen companies running multiple crane crews 110t-60t all terrains with big chippers, log trucks, tandem axle/triaxle chip trucks. Millions (quite a few in 10's of millions) in overhead with anywhere from 10-100 employees. I did a quote in Dover, MA (most expensive average home price in MA) that I figured was a long day with multiple setups with a 100t crane. Homeowner showed me three quotes he had. Cheapest was 6900 with some stump grinding. Most expensive was 12k and there was one in between. Huge cumbersome junk logs. All the companies were well known to me as extremely well outfitted/financed and owned their own crane big enough for the job. Not for me. MN is great actually. I have a buddy out there. Been out a few times to visit.....Might have to move!

 

[Sfoppema]

There aren't contract climbers getting much more than 600 a day here and that is for the killers....

and those guys will definitely rake/stay until the job is done if they haven't worked a full 8 hours yet....

 

[Friedrich]

So I started by climbing and rigging everything, and chipping all the brush, and that is still how I look at a lot of potential jobs. I know that every piece of equipment I bring to a job, whether lift, grapple truck, or crane, should add efficiency and safety and reduce my time on the jobsite.
I dont think that crane work should be more expensive if you look at the total job cost. But your per hour cost should go way up just by factoring the efficiency of the equipment.
I am in a climbing market, and stay competitive with equipment while still getting the rates that I need to make it work.

i was asking more in the direction of contract climbers. crane work is usually easier on my body than regular work so i was wondering why the threadstarter was charging more for it.

but i get what youre saying.

 

[Chief]

i was asking more in the direction of contract climbers. crane work is usually easier on my body than regular work so i was wondering why the threadstarter was charging more for it.

but i get what youre saying.

My initial reasoning behind charging more was because not every climber does crane removals/does them well. I thought it more of a specialized skill and most of all people would pay it.

 

[Sfoppema]

My initial reasoning behind charging more was because not every climber does crane removals/does them well. I thought it more of a specialized skill and most of all people would pay it.

I think you have a good thing going. If you can get away with more that's awesome but if sounds like you're already in the top percentile for contract climber rates.

many climbers in my market the vast majority of climbing they've done is crane related. Probably due to saturation of cranes, but lots of guys all they do is crane work. First day climbing set them up with a zig zag and tell them where to sling and cut. It's happening a lot around the ne from what I can tell...

 

[Boomslang]

I'm floored by the amount of crane work that goes on south of the border. Most companies in my area probably do less than 10 crane jobs per year. You'd have to be in a very particular market I would think to make it work full time.