Bid this one

Looks like a $200.00 stump to me. Clean up and all.

Looks like a lot of grass under the tree. I might lower the price if I saw it in person. But, two loads of chips and a load of wood, plus some grindings...2100 at least!
 
I hate cleaning up stumps, I was figuring on their being some roots, tall grass is a PITA to clean up which means either making them mow it or mow it yourself.


Granted in person the price could be different, even the personality of the customer is a factor in the price
 
I am not trying to be a smart alec, but you guys would starve to death in my area quoting prices of $ 2000 for a tree like this one. I got competition around here that would cut that size of a tree for less than a $1000 bucks, and do the stump,almost for free like $50 because the people were nice enough to give them the job. Don't add up in my book, never has in all the years I have been in business. I can get easily get a quarter of that $ 2000 for a few hours trimming a few trees, one tank of gas through a MS 200, little chipper time and get paid on the spot and have a chance at repeat work in the future.

Now , we go to the other extreme of bidding on a big removal which takes four times more effort and work, bigger equipment, more bigger saws, plus a stump grinder and pile of worthless waste wood to haul away and get rid of, but the price doesn't go up by four seems half is more like it, I don't get it , I never have and I don't think I ever really will understand why the other guy likes or wants to work so hard for so little.

Like I said I just don't get it, can someone explain it to me?? I would like to know how they do it. I must have missed some thing along the line some where.

BTW I think prices being quoted and bantied about are spot on, trouble is I can't get that much in our area, I have tried many times, a few I do get but they are few and far between,

Sorry for the rant , had to vent
 
NO COMP NO TAXES NO INSURANCE, cuts the price in half, but for us legals (almost looked like a flopper), 35 bucks an inch cheapest for easy floppin/close in and near the dump no stump. 40 to 60 an inch for easy crown toppin/riggin.
21~ 2600 good bid
 
Ok, this is the story, customer was looking to remove the tree to split the lot and build a house. He had a few companies bid. I'm a small company, just me with limited equipment, and a tree like this becomes stupid expensive due to rental prices in the area and the actual time that it would take me to complete the task. The biggest chipper is a 6" at 200/day, stump grinder vermeer sc252 at 200/day. This coupled with time drives a high price.

Now I had to ask this because the prices that some of the larger companies charge seem to be pretty low on large removals. It makes me scratch my head and wonder how they are able to cover costs?

Two large companies bid this tree at 1200 and 1300. This was leaving the chips and having all larger wood hauled off for free by another company. Unknown if that included the stump.


One thing that I don't get is if this took all day for a three man crew, 24hrs @ 60/hr = $1440. How do you factor in the wear and tear on the chipper and Bucket truck? Even a 5 hour day with three guys should be $900 leaving just $300 for the use of your equipment. It does not add up to me.

I am with you Axman, the small jobs do a lot better. Less work, repeat business, and more money overall.
 
In terms of the consensus of $2100-2600, I agree with that price. $1440 man hours (24hrs @ $60), $250 Chipper 18" (5hrs @50/hr), $600 Bucket(8 hrs @ $75/hr), plus Dump fee (40 mile round trip at $13/Ton).

Tell me if these figure are off.
 
I know what you mean Axman about the pruning requiring less equipment and such. The only thing that I think that conflicts with that idea is that a good climber can work with one good ground guy, and two lower level guys (4-man crew) and do that removal in half a day or so (from the pic). Maybe a little over that with the grinding and all. That's not bad money for one climber. One climber doing 2K+ of pruning everyday would be tough.
 
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I got competition around here that would cut that size of a tree for less than a $1000 bucks, and do the stump,almost for free like $50 because the people were nice enough to give them the job. Don't add up in my book, never has in all the years I have been in business.

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Two large companies bid this tree at 1200 and 1300. This was leaving the chips and having all larger wood hauled off for free by another company. Unknown if that included the stump.

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Alas, the real world, I would be thinking that's a $2200+ tree in Aussie $'s let alone USD but I assure you around here some hobos would do it for $1100 including the stump, taking the chip and log away.

How do they do it, I know.

1/ They pay there staff crap and dont pay entitlements
2/ They're rough but get away with it
3/ It's an easy one so just cut it
4/ They live on a farm and dump the wood there for sale later
5/ They sell the chip, most likely another $200 on that job
6/ The boss is living in the past and still bidding what he was in 1979
7/ The machinery is owned not leased and is old but working
8/ They would insist it's a cash job to avoid tax

So no matter how useless you are you'd do that in a day, pay the 2 rough nuts $150 each cash and the boss makes the balance ... cash. So the boss makes $1000 in a day, tax free, probably better than most of us! /forum/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
Knowing what the market will bare is an art. That being said you know more about what is involved than the customer. With a lack of hazards $2500-$3000 seems fair. Most people know that you get what you pay for. We all pay more for things when we understand why.
If you believe that it's fair explain why.
Example: I did five storm damaged pines last week with a crane for over twice what someone else offered to do the job for. The other company didn't waste time with foolish things like climbing, roping, ect... Two of the trees were within three feet of her house and the others were within a foot of power lines. He wanted to just put a face in them, drive over the fence and shrubs and push them over with his skid loader.
It's easy to see why she saw the value in hiring us, but in truth every job is some shade of this, just explain the benefits of your service.
"Share that you care before you show what you know"
 
That is very true, knowing what the market will bare is an art.I had both our Arborists look at this one and honestly, down here, we would not do it for under $4,000 and that does not include the stump. The stump would be at least another thousand. Mind you, that size tree is rare down here, very rare.
 
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that size tree is rare down here, very rare.

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And landfill areas are even rarer, right? How much would it cost to dispose of the debris there?
 
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that size tree is rare down here, very rare.

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And landfill areas are even rarer, right? How much would it cost to dispose of the debris there?

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We rarely go to the landfill. We would use a 30 yard roll off that would run around 700-800 depending on where in the county it had to go, chipping everything else. We give our mulch away and always have a long list of people that want it.
 
It comes down to selling instead of bidding. How does any high-end service get the price when there is competition that will do it for less. Like 1914 said, it's a matter of explaining your benefits. Knowing the competition and what your competitive advantage and what the buying motivations are will help the customer make a decision in your favour.

Up here in Toronto there are plenty of companies some big and some small that would do that for under $1500 while it could easily be a $3500 job for others. My thought was around the 2000-2200 range with the stump (mulch stays) running around $300.
 
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It comes down to selling instead of bidding. How does any high-end service get the price when there is competition that will do it for less. Like 1914 said, it's a matter of explaining your benefits. Knowing the competition and what your competitive advantage and what the buying motivations are will help the customer make a decision in your favour.

Up here in Toronto there are plenty of companies some big and some small that would do that for under $1500 while it could easily be a $3500 job for others. My thought was around the 2000-2200 range with the stump (mulch stays) running around $300.

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This is very true. Selling plays a large part of your ability to get the job. This coupled with providing the customer with the benefits of using your company can play a large roll.

I appreciate everone's input and using this has helped me steer the direction of my company.
 
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