air spade experts

[hl_tree]

Alright, so I need to put together an estimate for a client who was cluster F'd by a landscrape company. The company did a $15,000 planting job, and justified the price by planting most of the material in hard pan, and much of it still had burlap as well as the cages fully in tact.

I recommended to the client that we should ammend the soil and do other things in the process as well, he wants an estimate. I am wondering how long you guys feel it would take to do the following...

Excavate w/ air spade roughly 60 perennial plantings & modify soil in a roughly 3' diameter circle with a compost material.

Excavate w/ air spade roughly 40 small ornamentals ranging from azaleas, to arborvitae, to cutleaf jap maples & modify soil in a roughly 4' diameter circle w/ compost. Cut away whatever burlap is found... not on all plants

Excavate w/ air spade roughly 10 small ornamental / fruit trees between 5 and 12 feet in height & modify soil in a roughly 10' diameter circle w/ compost. Cut away whatever burlap and cages found.. again not on all plants.

Excavate w/ air spade roughly (15) 20' tall white pines taking them down to bare root stock. Transplant to about 125 feet away and backfill with compost / junk soil.

 

[Mark Chisholm]

I'd price it by the hour for that.

 

[guymayor]

[ QUOTE ]
I'd price it by the hour for that.

[/ QUOTE ]That's what i did, last time. I did 2 full days with their full crew, then rented them the air spade to finish, then oversaw the final day. 468 trees got cleared, 382 had major root/planting defects.

In your case i would add the cost of removing the top 1/3 of the cages, per aNSI. I think the only fair way to do it would be to bid for your crew to do a day there of a representative sample of the entire job, then extrapolate to give them a firm bid if that is what they need.

That, and call in a consultant (or yourself) to write a report so the owner can go after the landscraper. That, or he'll be off clusterwhatevering the next client. But, if the owner did not inspect to find the flare and other standards, he screwed himslf. Very unfortunate.

 

[huggybear]

I agree with guy, T and M the first day or the whole job if you can, then make a firm bid. That sounds like a major project, especially in hardpan. If you are not hitting too many roots you might want to use/invest in a larger gun and then you can use a larger compressor like a 365cfm instead of a 180cfm= more dirt moved faster.

As you probably know doing this type of work is investigative and you might blow it out, so to speak, or take much longer than anticipated.

And also make sure you make arrangements for any removed soil that might have to get hauled out.

Steve

 

[Eric_E]

"Excavate w/ air spade roughly 60 perennial plantings & modify soil in a roughly 3' diameter circle with a compost material."

Excavate w/ air spade roughly 40 small ornamentals ranging from azaleas, to arborvitae, to cutleaf jap maples & modify soil in a roughly 4' diameter circle w/ compost. "

How long ago was the job installed? How established are the plantings? It may be more cost effective to remove smaller plant material, improve the soil, and then replant.

 

[Mark Chisholm]

Good point Eric!

 

[hl_tree]

Most of the material was planted this spring, prior to May. It's interesting though, I was moving some things around a few weeks ago, the perennials have semi nice root systems going for them. The ornamentals... very poor root systems, however I'd rather not destroy what little is there.

 

[Jesse]

The last company I worked for did a lot of work with the air tools. If you need to decompact a large area the larger air tool and compressor will make life a lot easier. Soil moisture is also very important so if it has been dry it could be worth your while to put out sprinklers.
As far as an estimate goes that is a tough one to call. GO with time and materials if you can get away with it.