Epic VA Treemek Build

Sorry Guys, fortunately I can barely keep up with the work. I haven't had a day I wasn't booked since I got the truck. I'm booked to june. Things are going really well, I am working through some small issues.

The daily rate leads to be taken advantage of. I have had multiple days where I've worked 10 or 12 hours at an 8 hour rate. I also haven't been charging travel time. I figure I'm loosing over $700 a week. I am in the process of restructuring the fee scale. Initially I was worried about breaking into the market. Wow was I wrong there. Its funny of the 26 tree services in my area I'm really only working for 5 of them. I haven't even scratched the surface. Financially I'm way ahead of projections. Imagine if I actually got paid for every hour I worked? I have also done several of my own jobs. I am in the processing of phasing out doing my own jobs also. As all of you know it's too much of a headache when I'm already booked as a sub. My sub is great but waiting on log pick up and stump work delays my payment and is just simple more stuff to track and worry about when I don't need to.

Soft of got screwed on the truck purchase. Idaho Truck and Equipment Sales had sent the KW to a local shop to have the DOT done as a condition of purchase. Well, clearly the inspection was pencil whipped. So far I have replaced 4 badly cupped and out of round tires, 2 kingpins, splined yoke on the drive shaft, both trunnion crossmembers cracked in 2 places each . I have a list of several other things that have to be replaced/repaired. Not all DOT inspection items so I didn't expect them to do anything about those. Stuff like AC, Temp gauges for the rears. ITEC refuses to do anything about it because it's "been too long since the purchase" They won't get the fact the truck sat from July 2017 to March 2018 while the build was happening. After numerous letters back in forth I am now pursuing action against them through FMCSA and Idaho State PD. They even admitted to me they initially thought it was going to fail because of the kingpins so they packed it full of grease so they could pass it. So the repair costs are about $5500 so far and it was in the shop for 4 days. It goes back in the shop for another 3 days to finish the list. Lots of lost income. I totally get the fact it's a 2006 but these issues should have been caught during the DOT. That's my issue.

All in all the repairs are cost of doing biz. The fee structuring is a learning experience. The learning curve has been worked through so now if the job takes longer than anticipated, it's on the person hiring me. Time to get what I deserve.

Things are going better than expected. I love the crane, the truck, the biz model, Life is great. It's actually going so well, after 12 months I'm gonna look at the books and I may retire early from the FD. I could increase my income by 1/3 with the retirement.

Thanks for asking guys. I post on the biz page on FB and my IG page. There's a lot of guys who take a lot of video. I'm just way too busy and that's a good thing.

There's a ton of my stickers out there. I gave them away at the crane school.

So that's what the status of things are. Thanks for asking.
 
Steve ive been following quietly, nothing to say and all to learn. But after my first year of sub work going so well and making connections all over my area, i cant help but think i need to get on educating myself on crane work and operating and bring my business the same way. Judging by the response i had initially reaching out to companies, the kind of work (mostly removals) it leads to, and the kind of business i want to operate if i commit long term (life) to residential tree care, it seems like the no brainer to head in that direction.
Admittedly the HUGE speed hump is that i know little about crane work (book info, never have even worked a job site with one) and im making this "its a no brainer" statement based on that.
So thank you for posting anything you do post, i enjoy following and learning
 
CutHighnLetFly said:
Steve ive been following quietly, nothing to say and all to learn. But after my first year of sub work going so well and making connections all over my area, i cant help but think i need to get on educating myself on crane work and operating and bring my business the same way. Judging by the response i had initially reaching out to companies, the kind of work (mostly removals) it leads to, and the kind of business i want to operate if i commit long term (life) to residential tree care, it seems like the no brainer to head in that direction.
Admittedly the HUGE speed hump is that i know little about crane work (book info, never have even worked a job site with one) and im making this "its a no brainer" statement based on that.
So thank you for posting anything you do post, i enjoy following and learning
Click to expand...
You really need to get to The Crane Man Inc. school. I think that would make a large difference in your outlook on things. I sucked at crane work and had really never operated anything besides a prentice loader at that point. Trust me, you wouldn't regret the trip and it's a day hike for you to get to philly. This machine is a game changer for me. It works. Look at the option closely and don't discount the biz model. It can and will work.
 
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