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  1. climbingmonkey24

    Am I going a little overboard with this?

    Today I pruned a tree with black knot fungus. Pretty sure it’s my first time working with it. For some reason I was feeling real anxious about how to handle myself around this fungus. I read you’re supposed to burn or dispose in bags the material but that simply wouldn’t be realistic for the...
  2. climbingmonkey24

    Do you ever have the occasional customer service experience like this?

    I wouldn’t necessarily call this a real bad experience, but not typical from what we usually see. Long story short, recently I had a situation where we did exactly what we were contracted to do, plus some extra, and after following up a few days later with the client via email to make sure they...
  3. climbingmonkey24

    Being a “Young” Business Owner

    When you were in your 20’s or early 30’s, did you ever notice some people that were in their 40’s and 50’s, or even older, ever referenced you as being “young”. I wonder if some people are surprised to see an owner of what may appear as a “successful” business to be around that age. As if...
  4. climbingmonkey24

    Damage Clauses for Driveways, Walkways, Lawns, etc.

    Do you include any sort of clause or waiver stating you’re not responsible for damages to certain surfaces from the weight of a vehicle or equipment traveling over, or being present in, areas where these surfaces are located? Being primarily a pruning-focused operation, doing most of our work...
  5. climbingmonkey24

    High standards vs lower standards for preventing damage and incidents | Business owner vs employees and subcontractors

    For most of my career I’ve done all the climbing, with any employees being ground workers. Then I once and a while used a contract climber last year. Worked out well. This year I’m expanding even more trying to push growth and taking on more projects that involve more equipment, crane work...
  6. climbingmonkey24

    Differentiating Who is Liable For What with Crane Contractors

    How do you clearly define who is liable for what in certain situations when contracting with a crane company? A few things that were mentioned to me…. - Establishing a contract that details these scenarios. - The crane company adding me as “additional insured” on their insurance. I...
  7. climbingmonkey24

    Don’t you just love working alongside main roads…

    Idk why this irritates me so much. Maybe it’s because I’m the kind of driver that if I see someone on the side of the highway I try to slow down and move over; or if I see a truck trying to turn or do something I give them time; maybe it’s because I used to drive a truck for a living. Today we...
  8. climbingmonkey24

    Fruit tree holding on by a thread, client wants to get another year out of it. Thoughts?

    They said it produced great fruit last year. But the weight was so heavy it broke and bent some branches. In addition to the trunk rot and damage some of the main horizontal limbs are also decayed. After talking with a few other arborists to get their opinion, I was thinking pruning for general...
  9. climbingmonkey24

    How do you turn down work?

    For those of you who are more niche-focused or perhaps it’s just not something you want to bid, how do you go about relaying that to a customer in a friendly and professional way? For me, most of the jobs I might decline to bid are larger removals. I might say something along the lines of the...
  10. climbingmonkey24

    Does anyone advertise on Facebook?

    I post on my social media business pages regularly, but it’s been a while since I’ve actually ran any serious advertising campaigns. In the past when I have they did have a pretty good return and for a lower cost. I have got some good leads from there. That was back around 2019 - 2021 though...
  11. climbingmonkey24

    Offering additional services such as lawn mowing / landscaping

    Since I first established my company over 8 years ago, I’ve primarily focused on trees and presented myself online as such. Gradually I got into shrubs and hedges, but you might still consider that part of tree care. For a while now I’ve been contemplating adding some additional side services...
  12. climbingmonkey24

    Google Local Service Ads

    Seems like these have become more popular and widely used in the last year or two, at least in my area. I’ve seen some of my competitors using them. What I was curious about is, depending on the industry, they say it may require any employees who are interacting with clients to also do a...
  13. climbingmonkey24

    Topping, Pollarding, or what??

    Looked at these trees this morning. Client wants to cut the growth back about to where the bigger main branches end. You might be able to tell it has been done before. Instinctively my first thought is “topping”but I also know that aggressively pruning like this is a technique some people use...
  14. climbingmonkey24

    Contract Climber in Massachusetts

    I’m the owner of a company in the Western, MA area but also do some contract climbing on the side. Able and willing to travel out of state depending on the project, how far, etc. Primarily I specialize in pruning, shrub maintenance, and hedge trimming but also have experience with...
  15. climbingmonkey24

    Bringing on a plant health care specialist / consulting arborist part-time / as needed

    Wondering if anyone here has any experience bringing on a plant health care specialist / certified arborist for a consulting or as needed basis to perform tree assessments and maybe some actual field work (pruning, health care, etc). If so, generally how do you pay them for instances where...
  16. climbingmonkey24

    Do you think tree removal gets more focus and attention than other aspects of tree care?

    Anyone else notice that it seems like larger removal jobs and crane work seems to get more attention / interest than other aspects of tree care like pruning, etc. I’ve had my fair share of people watch us while we are doing a smaller scale project, or ask for a card to inquire about a quote...
  17. climbingmonkey24

    Contract climbing costs

    This is the first year I’ve really started using a contract climber. And for the sake of comparison, I’m just curious for those of you who’ve been contract climbing or hiring contract climbers for a while, what would you say the average rate is? And if it falls somewhere between a half day and...
  18. climbingmonkey24

    Hiring in the Springfield, MA area - Multiple Roles

    Currently looking to fill various roles near Springfield, MA either by the same individual or multiple individuals. #1 Groundsperson You will be responsible for assisting with various aspects of a project including but not limited to: cleanup (cutting and managing brush, chipping, loading...
  19. climbingmonkey24

    Best practices for using a lift near exposed roots or patios

    Septic systems, underground sprinklers, etc. I always check on that. Generally I do more climbing than lift work, but most recently though I looked at a job that made me consider something else if I was to use a lift…lots of exposed roots and a patio. For those of you who regularly use...
  20. climbingmonkey24

    Do you think this year has been different for business?

    I don’t know if this has already been talked about, but I was wondering if anyone in the US (or I suppose anywhere for that matter) has noticed a change this year in the sense of call volume, people asking for a quote and then never hearing back even when you follow up, or losing more bids than...

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