What’s Your SMALLER Equipment Setup?

[Reach]

Nothing wrong with doing both
quality job
quality equipment
And I love shiny equipment

Better than the neighbor who payed more and didn’t receive quality equipment, job, unsafe leaking equipment

I agree there for sure! We have a pile of shiny equipment, and we do good work too. We like bigger projects though, I love big diesels.

 

[Boomslang]

There's definitely a balance of professionalism, looks, and skills. Anybody with a bank loan can buy something shiny. Doesn't mean you know what you're doing.

 

[climbingmonkey24]

Those of you who don’t get involved with real large removal projects, curious would you consider this a “smaller” removal project, or a larger one because of the number of trees (removing the first eleven trees)?

Is it something you’d bid on, or leave to a larger operation? Use a lift or climb?

 

[southsoundtree]

Can those simply be felled?

Seems like a simple and profitable project. Why wouldn't someone bid on that?

 

[climbingmonkey24]

And at the end of the day the client cares more about how they were treated and how their property looks rather than how shiny and big the machine was that made it happen.

Definitely! When you have less overheard and don’t have to meet such high numbers every week, all that means is maybe a larger job that a company with bigger equipment can handle in an hour or two might take a smaller operation a day, or even two depending, etc. As long as your work processes are safe, and you have respect for the property and surrounding area, that’s what matters most. Knowing how to get the job done safe and efficiently with what you have. Also showing up when you say you will, communicating with your client, keeping them informed, etc.

I feel like with a smaller operation you can provide service that is very personalized and tailored, especially if it is owner-operated.

And that’s not meant to be a negative towards bigger operations, because I have a lot of respect for and find it motivating to see a larger company doing their thing and doing it well. I’ve worked for a larger company where we used to do crane work almost everyday. And before doing tree work full time I worked as a tow truck driver / operator so have been around big trucks and equipment for quite a while. Used to drive a beautiful Kenworth truck!

If you’re going to stay small and operate with minimal equipment, knowing your limits and when a larger job may be better suited towards a company with specialized equipment is key in my opinion.

 

[evo]

Those of you who don’t get involved with real large removal projects, curious would you consider this a “smaller” removal project, or a larger one because of the number of trees (removing the first eleven trees)?

Is it something you’d bid on, or leave to a larger operation? Use a lift or climb?

View attachment 88218View attachment 88219

I tell people I don’t do big removals. Big is relative. I told this to an employee from Florida before he even stepped foot on this side of the Rocky’s. He quit about 4 months later stating the trees are too big.
Something like what is in your photo I would probably do, even if they had to be climbed. But if it involved hauling wood, probably pass up on it if it were more than a load or two. And I have a mini for loading.
Now I will fell 150’ers all day long. We did 17 in a day not too long ago, some required lines, the rest took wedging. All we had to do was limb them.
I don’t know if I’m considered small, with a new 12xpc, mini and a Isuzu frr. Two employees.. but certainly not big either. Probably on the upper end of small?

 

[climbingmonkey24]

I tell people I don’t do big removals. Big is relative. I told this to an employee from Florida before he even stepped foot on this side of the Rocky’s. He quit about 4 months later stating the trees are too big.
Something like what is in your photo I would probably do, even if they had to be climbed. But if it involved hauling wood, probably pass up on it if it were more than a load or two. And I have a mini for loading.
Now I will fell 150’ers all day long. We did 17 in a day not too long ago, some required lines, the rest took wedging. All we had to do was limb them.
I don’t know if I’m considered small, with a new 12xpc, mini and a Isuzu frr. Two employees.. but certainly not big either. Probably on the upper end of small?

I hear you man. Don’t usually take on many “huge” removals either, or at least right now I’m not.

And I’ve had jobs where during the initial contact the client says they have a very large tree, but then when I look at it it’s actually what I would consider a smaller or medium sized tree.

 

[hseII]

It’s challenging to have more than 1-2 people
a fellow can count on- I would consider myself blessed in the 2-4 range.

My opinion,
A platform chip truck that can haul the mini Along with at least a 15” drum chipper is a good setup.

Some sort of loader with a lift capacity of around 3k lbs is in my opinion a good useful setup.

I’ve had a 11k lb track skid steer & they are very capable. In my opinion they are good but in now way the do all like a 70hp utility tractor.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[climbingmonkey24]

As someone who has worked both on a larger operation with crane, big chipper and chip truck, bobcat with grapple, etc. and smaller operation focused more on pruning, shrubs and hedges, etc…I think it depends on what you’re looking for in a setup, how much overhead you want to take on, and what you enjoy.

Bigger isn’t always better. And in some cases it may not make a lot of sense from a financial standpoint for an operation that is mainly doing smaller jobs to have the same equipment as an operation doing large removals everyday. Also, it’s not just the size of the equipment, but knowing how to use it and maximize productivity and efficiency with what you have.

If someone wants to stay small and enjoys what they’re doing and is profitable, nothing wrong with that.

 

[Vicente]

As someone who has worked both on a larger operation with crane, big chipper and chip truck, bobcat with grapple, etc. and smaller operation focused more on pruning, shrubs and hedges, etc…I think it depends on what you’re looking for in a setup, how much overhead you want to take on, and what you enjoy.

Bigger isn’t always better. And in some cases it may not make a lot of sense from a financial standpoint for an operation that is mainly doing smaller jobs to have the same equipment as an operation doing large removals everyday. Also, it’s not just the size of the equipment, but knowing how to use it and maximize productivity and efficiency with what you have.

If someone wants to stay small and enjoys what they’re doing and is profitable, nothing wrong with that.

I have a 95xp with a 37hp motor on most jobs we do including removals is all we really need or can even benefit from as long as you know the amount of efficiently eats and don't try to over stuff it, it'll keep 2 guys busy feeding it just about as fast as is comfortable. I'd like to have the 50hp motor on it just for bigger stuff but it does pretty well, I'd take it over a bc1000 any day unless I was just chipping logs.

 

[climbingmonkey24]

I have a 95xp with a 37hp motor on most jobs we do including removals is all we really need or can even benefit from as long as you know the amount of efficiently eats and don't try to over stuff it, it'll keep 2 guys busy feeding it just about as fast as is comfortable. I'd like to have the 50hp motor on it just for bigger stuff but it does pretty well, I'd take it over a bc1000 any day unless I was just chipping logs.

I’ve ran a 90XP and was happy with it. Also a Vermeer 6 inch and that worked well. The 9 inch certainly has advantages over the 6 inch being able to process a lot more brush at once because of the wider opening. Not sure what Bandit’s 6 inch is like but the Vermeer I used had somewhat of a square opening, so depending on the size of the branches you could feed a few at a time but if they were bigger you may have to go one at a time. Personally that never bothered me because on the average pruning job it didn’t make that much of a difference. But I certainly can see how it may slow down production on a larger removal project.

 

[Vicente]

I’ve ran a 90XP and was happy with it. Also a Vermeer 6 inch and that worked well. The 9 inch certainly has advantages over the 6 inch being able to process a lot more brush at once because of the wider opening. Not sure what Bandit’s 6 inch is like but the Vermeer I used had somewhat of a square opening, so depending on the size of the branches you could feed a few at a time but if they were bigger you may have to go one at a time. Personally that never bothered me because on the average pruning job it didn’t make that much of a difference. But I certainly can see how it may slow down production on a larger removal project.

I can't imagine using one of the vermeer or morbark 6 or 7" chippers with the square opening we have a lot of scrub/live oak here and the bushy-ness of it would clog the infeed constantly. I've used the 65xp a few times it's got a 6x12 opening so it'll still take forks and branches that aren't straight ok, but definitely not as well as the 90/95 I'm sure it's a big improvement over the 6x6 opening chippers though.

 

[climbingmonkey24]

I can't imagine using one of the vermeer or morbark 6 or 7" chippers with the square opening we have a lot of scrub/live oak here and the bushy-ness of it would clog the infeed constantly. I've used the 65xp a few times it's got a 6x12 opening so it'll still take forks and branches that aren't straight ok, but definitely not as well as the 90/95 I'm sure it's a big improvement over the 6x6 opening chippers though.

Nope, never had any issues with the Vermeer clogging. And I chipped some pretty good sized stuff with it and used it on some larger projects. Different types of wood / brush, etc.

Some people just seem to dislike the smaller equipment though I guess, and that’s fine. That’s a matter of opinion. In my experiences having used both large chippers and small, each has its place depending on the nature of the work you’re doing and the level of production you need to operate at.

I feel like it’s easy for a smaller operation to be looked at as inferior simply because they have less (or smaller) equipment than the larger outfits, less workers, etc. But as it’s already been said by multiple people, size of equipment alone doesn’t determine what kind of work a company does, customer service, etc.

 

[Vicente]

Nope, never had any issues with the Vermeer clogging. And I chipped some pretty good sized stuff with it and used it on some larger projects. Different types of wood / brush, etc.

Some people just seem to dislike the smaller equipment though I guess, and that’s fine. That’s a matter of opinion. In my experiences having used both large chippers and small, each has its place depending on the nature of the work you’re doing and the level of production you need to operate at.

The scrub oak we have is super brushy a 2.5" diameter stick could have a 5x5' or bigger clump of brush on it that's really dense and springy so it just doesn't such into the infeed well, slows chipping down more than anything else.

 

[climbingmonkey24]

The scrub oak we have is super brushy a 2.5" diameter stick could have a 5x5' or bigger clump of brush on it that's really dense and springy so it just doesn't such into the infeed well, slows chipping down more than anything else.

That is true, and I guess it would boil down to how much you think a smaller sized chipper is actually slowing down your overall production / profitability and whether a larger chipper would be worth the investment.

 

[climbingmonkey24]

I would say for a smaller operation, that extra time it takes to cut up brush into smaller pieces to feed into chipper depending on the size of the jobs you are taking on may not be as big of a deal as it is to a larger outfit handling much larger quantities of material where there would be a noticeable impact on production.

I certainly can say from my personal experiences on large removal projects and crane jobs that if I had to choose I would absolutely prefer at minimum an 18 inch or bigger, however if I had to I could make a 6 inch or 9 inch work.

 

[treebing]

Ran the 6" morbark for years. It was fantastic. Keep the blades sharp

 

[Barc Buster]

I can't imagine using one of the vermeer or morbark 6 or 7" chippers with the square opening we have a lot of scrub/live oak here and the bushy-ness of it would clog the infeed constantly. I've used the 65xp a few times it's got a 6x12 opening so it'll still take forks and branches that aren't straight ok, but definitely not as well as the 90/95 I'm sure it's a big improvement over the 6x6 opening chippers though.

I’ve used both the Vermeer and Bandit 6” chippers quite a bit and agree the bandit is superior in almost every aspect. Even on something like spruce with large laterals on lower limbs would jam in the Vermeer causing them to need further processing. I am quite happy with my old Vermeer 935 though. Treated like a 6” chipper it’s an ideal small op chipper.

 

[Boomslang]

I’ve used both the Vermeer and Bandit 6” chippers quite a bit and agree the bandit is superior in almost every aspect. Even on something like spruce with large laterals on lower limbs would jam in the Vermeer causing them to need further processing. I am quite happy with my old Vermeer 935 though. Treated like a 6” chipper it’s an ideal small op chipper.

I'm running a 935 as well...except I treat mine like a 12" chipper. Best piece of equipment I own. Aside from regular maintenance I haven't had to put a dime into it.

 

[27RMT0N]

I used to be happy with my Vermeer BC1000, then I got my 12XP that can do this in once piece and saw what I was missing, haha.

(but for a company that focuses on smaller jobs, a nice 6" Bandit is great)