Climber vs. Lift

southsoundtree said:
While true, is that representative of the whole picture?

I once made a rate that was $6000/ hour because I made the felling cuts on a tree in one minute for $100.
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Me too... i made a $500 cut that took around 5 minutes... the landscaper offered me the 500 to fall a tulip tree that had good headlean to a lay down the hill in the woods... it was a simple cut. I wouldn't have charged that much but didn't turn it down...
 
Since you guys are sharing tales of making easy money I am gonna tell story with a very different ending.

So I am sitting at home watching the now infamous Valentine’s Day storm of 1985 kick the living shit out of the Santa Cruz Mountains with constant 40-50 mile an hour winds, and rain coming down in sheets for 16-18 hour straight. Out of the blue I get a knock at the door and its the owner of a local tree outfit looking for someone stupid enough to do a big fir removal in this weather (naturally he thought of me). Since it was the dead of winter and I was broke I said, I’m your man.

The next thing I know I am staring at what was gonna be one of the worst trees I would ever wreak in my life. A legit 6-7 foot OG that was all over a house, and an unstable root ball that was on the move. I will never forget those 8 hours in the saddle with my sphincter clench up knowing that my world could come crashing down at any moment. I will also never forget the old groundie that I worked with that day who called himself Hippy Bill Savage (we became good lifelong friends). And I will never ever forget that on that day my life was apparently worth no more than $275.
 
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An
Boomslang said:
Apparently $275 in 1985 would be an equivalent wage of almost $800 today. Not too shabby. I still wouldn't be caught dead climbing in the middle of a storm though.
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I’m pretty confident that there is not person on this forum (me included) that would touch that tree today for $800.
 
F#%k you guys! I mostly work in the middle of storms. Cold and raining and windy and pitch black. Mud up to my knees. Can't find my equipment because I looked into the flood lights by mistake and even with my flashlight, I can't see a thing. Not to mention there is often a high voltage line mixed up in the tree I am trying to get out of the way. Take a step and fall flat on my face because my boot is stuck in the mud. Now I can't find my flashlight. Where did I set the bar oil down at? And since I can't see sh#t without my gasses, and they are covered with rain, I still can't see Sh#t.
I even had a beaver try and fight me for an aspen tree it had chewed down, which took down the powerlines. It didn't understand I was going to leave it in more manageable size pieces for it and I guess thought I was trying to steal it from him/her/them/ they/whatever is the correct term these days.
Wouldn't be doing it for $275. though. Got to be at least $450. to get me out of bed on a stormy night.
 
27RMT0N said:
Most of my work is totally inaccessible by any machine, bucket truck, tracked lift or otherwise. Properties are 5+ acres, and with usually a single driveway, tight woods, loose, wet, or steep ground. Driveways are narrow and often dead-end at the house, and it's not super uncommon for me to back my F350 all the way out to the main road since I can't even turn that around. Long wheel-base super tall buckets can't get many places, and towing a tracked lift on a trailer often means leaving it out at the main road and tracking down long gravel roads, sometimes like 1/4 mile.

All that said, I do see a growing use for some kind of lift, because SO MANY trees are dying. I see a shift from lots of view work below houses, to dead trees that are along driveways, surrounding parking areas and next to houses, garages and shops. I keep looking for under CDL, short wheel-base, rear mount trucks with 60' buckets. They are rare, but out there and I may get one some day...

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This one not for sale , but something’s out there for you I’m sure! ;) 27 feet long overall length , not terrible Turning radius , 100 foot man basket working height, oh yeah she’s got a grapplesaw too , if your feeling like cutting trees down with your feet on the ground via remote control some days..
Not ticking the under cdl box though!
 

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Two jobs that I can recall where the lift came in handy was one where there was a tree right over a garage and fence with branches growing right into the roof, etc. So I used a lift to do a canopy raise and it made it a lot easier than climbing because I could just cut small pieces and chuck it, with very little rigging. The other scenario was a group of hemlock trees near a fence, shed, house, and over a driveway which also happened to be a slight canopy raise. So I used a lift for that job and it worked great because I could access all the trees from the bucket and go back and forth between them all if need be. With those jobs using the lift definitely reduced the overall job time on both, but we could’ve still done it by climbing if necessary.

I primarily do pruning work, and in the last few years have only used a lift a few times some of which were for hedges. I don’t focus on speed so much as I am more concerned with just trying to get the job completed safely and within a reasonable timeframe utilizing whatever resources we have available for that particular project. As I don’t currently own a bucket or lift, the cost to rent one is also a factor.

For some pruning projects I think climbing may actually be more efficient because you don’t have to try and maneuver the bucket around branches to get closer to the trunk or into a tight space to make a cut. But every job is different.
 
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Treetopflyer said:
This one not for sale , but something’s out there for you I’m sure! ;) 27 feet long overall length , not terrible Turning radius , 100 foot man basket working height, oh yeah she’s got a grapplesaw too , if your feeling like cutting trees down with your feet on the ground via remote control some days..
Not ticking the under cdl box though!
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Neat truck. No grapple saw, but here is a 100 footer under CDL, and it's 4x4!


659229da4fedaa1ae45e45e4.jpg
 
Merle Nelson said:
Anyone that doesn't know, Oceans is a phenomenal climber and watching him move through big trees is about the last person you would expect to go big using a lift. (Also pictured on December 2023 TCIA magazine with lift and spider crane.)
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Thanks, Merle. I’m certain the same could be said to a lot of other forum users here.

And in regard to the TCI mag cover, I would hope that exemplifies what the Tree conditions were in my area that lead to the purchase of first; the lift, and second; the crane. Incredibly complimentary pieces in my market.
 
Daniel said:
Me too... i made a $500 cut that took around 5 minutes... the landscaper offered me the 500 to fall a tulip tree that had good headlean to a lay down the hill in the woods... it was a simple cut. I wouldn't have charged that much but didn't turn it down...
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5 minutes of cutting, plus driving time, plus set up time, plus, plus...


That was my point.

It's erroneous cost- accounting.
 
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southsoundtree said:
5 minutes of cutting, plus driving time, plus set up time, plus, plus...


That was my point.

It's erroneous cost- accounting.
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I was on site to grind some stumps.. when he pointed out the tree... it might have taken 10 minutes with all the banter, but we don't add the time it takes to do an estimate when we say how long a tree job took to complete.

Big tree, but still an easy cut...
 
Bucknut said:
The Rivian R1T does 0-60 in 3.2, which beats almost any Ferrari, and the Cybertruck did a 1/4 mile faster than a 911… while towing another 911. Most bucket trucks will be slightly slower than this, and most climbers slower still. ;)

Sorry for derail, I’m a car guy.
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I knew I smelled bullshit...
 
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