Gerasimek's Tree-mek

[allmark]

So here is another question, you rent the crane out to other companies with an operator. What rate are you charging for that work? I myself wouldn't want to sub out to another company and enable them access to the treemek that you just shelled out $250K for. It seems if you held out and just worked for yourself you would get the work anyways and would have more revenue because you would retain all the income from the job.

I sub to other tree companies regularly. To think if you don't means youll eventually get that work is foolish. Both companies benefit monetarily and you build a network of others that can help your company out too when needed.
And My truck and company name is on there site advertising too

 

[snakeeyes]

I think this is a great piece of equipment that needs to be modified a little before i make the purchase. Im thinking get rid of the remote and control the knuckle boom from an operator cab. Get a video screen in the cab and cameras installed in the boom.

 

[ROYCE]

I think this is a great piece of equipment that needs to be modified a little before i make the purchase. Im thinking get rid of the remote and control the knuckle boom from an operator cab. Get a video screen in the cab and cameras installed in the boom.

I agree with this. It would also allow you the option to use your feet to control some of the functions. We had our crane go down on us midway through a removal job. I was able to back the log truck in and take some picks with that. As I was doing this it made me realize how smooth one of those grapple would be on a log truck strike truck. Plus, You get to sit down all day

 

[Lumberjack]

Changing perspective is a big reason for the remote. A camera system could make that less of a issue, although with cameras depth perception can be lost.


You can "only" run ~4 functions at a time on the knuckleboom. There are 8 paddles (usually) on the remote which match up fairly well to the fingers on your hands. The saw remote has 3 buttons as well.

 

[tc262]

Plus, You get to sit down all day

You could always bring a lawn chair! I think the remote is the obvious best choice.

 

[ROYCE]

You could always bring a lawn chair! I think the remote is the obvious best choice.

The remote gives you the option to climb and operate at the same time. I think that is a huge advantage as well. But, I would also like it to have a seat as well.

 

[Lumberjack]

My crane has a seat with manual controls on the pedestal. You can run the remote from virtually anywhere, including the customer's patio, inside the cab of the truck, the neighbor's patio, etc.

 

[Tyler Stowe]

Cabs, cameras, hand, foot, and joystick controls can all be done on these units. It's just a matter of how much money you would like to spend, and is it worth it for these features.

Top Seat with joystick controls on a forming boomtruck.

 

[BzRman]

Cabs, cameras, hand, foot, and joystick controls can all be done on these units. It's just a matter of how much money you would like to spend, and is it worth it for these features.

Top Seat with joystick controls on a forming boomtruck.

I believe you mentioned earlier that the company you for work built a grapple saw kboom. I'm guessing the 1 in your profile pic. Would you be at liberty to say where they are located? Would love to check it out. I'm not too far from where you're located

Thanks

 

[Tyler Stowe]

The unit we built was for a customer in New Hampshire. We will be building another one shortly. Truck should be dropped off this week. If you email me your contact information I will let you know when we are ready to test the unit. My email address is tyler@frfcanada.com

 

[Steve Connally]

So where do I start the process? I have enquired about insurance and studied this thread but all the model numbers make little sense to me. My plan is to initially just be a rental truck. Separate billing like Rick does for saw vs non saw work as well as being the climber for removals, using the crane remotely. The 90' booms seem to be able to do the majority of what would need to be done. I'm assuming 90(ish)' doesn't include jib extensions? I've seen Rick's crane in action a few times and worked with it last week. Amazing piece of equipment. I don't see much benefit of having material hauling capabilities. The loggers in our area pick up mill wood for free so I could reduce the weight and size of the truck substantially without having a dump body. At the same time I'm concerned about having a single function unit. Would I be missing a market with not having those capabilities? There is a niche market for a kboom here in southeast Virginia. I don't know of one in the state at all. I think it could be a success and perhaps lead to the purchase of other tree equipment but for now I want to avoid employees! Where did you all start with the spec and build process? How did you determine the best boom height and saw size? Is there an operator certification for working outside of the tree industry? What extra expenses did you find after running the unit? Expenses you didn't expect. What was the marketing strategy and how did you get your capabilities out there to other stick crane companies, tree services? Has anyone looked into trying to sub out to the utility contractors for situations where a kboom may be better suited than a stick crane? I'm thinking this would be a win for a single man operation for now. My area is large and there are many tree services. Unfortunately this isn't a progressive market. Less tree care and more removals so I'm thinking the truck rental would do well. I'm wondering how selling hazardous tree mitigation would do considering the crack head sub contractors around her will climb anything for a fix. I like Rick's idea of only subbing to certified arborists but I personally wouldn't have any work.

I'm kind of looking for some input to help me through this decision and the process of joining the treemek club.

Thanks so much.

 

[climbhightree]

So where do I start the process? I have enquired about insurance and studied this thread but all the model numbers make little sense to me. My plan is to initially just be a rental truck. Separate billing like Rick does for saw vs non saw work as well as being the climber for removals, using the crane remotely. The 90' booms seem to be able to do the majority of what would need to be done. I'm assuming 90(ish)' doesn't include jib extensions? I've seen Rick's crane in action a few times and worked with it last week. Amazing piece of equipment. I don't see much benefit of having material hauling capabilities. The loggers in our area pick up mill wood for free so I could reduce the weight and size of the truck substantially without having a dump body. At the same time I'm concerned about having a single function unit. Would I be missing a market with not having those capabilities? There is a niche market for a kboom here in southeast Virginia. I don't know of one in the state at all. I think it could be a success and perhaps lead to the purchase of other tree equipment but for now I want to avoid employees! Where did you all start with the spec and build process? How did you determine the best boom height and saw size? Is there an operator certification for working outside of the tree industry? What extra expenses did you find after running the unit? Expenses you didn't expect. What was the marketing strategy and how did you get your capabilities out there to other stick crane companies, tree services? Has anyone looked into trying to sub out to the utility contractors for situations where a kboom may be better suited than a stick crane? I'm thinking this would be a win for a single man operation for now. My area is large and there are many tree services. Unfortunately this isn't a progressive market. Less tree care and more removals so I'm thinking the truck rental would do well. I'm wondering how selling hazardous tree mitigation would do considering the crack head sub contractors around her will climb anything for a fix. I like Rick's idea of only subbing to certified arborists but I personally wouldn't have any work.

I'm kind of looking for some input to help me through this decision and the process of joining the treemek club.

Thanks so much.

Yoos truck was amazing this weekend. I bought a small kboom (72'), that I plan on upgrading eventually.

I don't know much either, but I wanted to say truck weight is not really a bad thing.

You need good truck weight for the crane to work properly, in a 360 degree full reach scenario. The dump, and the double metal wall of it, is part of what gives him full chart (360 degrees around) on a short truck.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk

 

[Steve Connally]

Bump on the above questions as well as how you went about setting up contracts for subcontracting to other companies and what accounting software you find best suited for accounting purposes.

 

[Lumberjack]

After dumping a load of debris, the grapple truck decided to plant itself.


Standard affair, use the outriggers to mat under the drive tires.



Tried pulling forward and the front end sank to the axle.


Fetched the Treemek and its mats, dropped the fly jib, and lifted the front end to mat it. There wasn't a good unified lifting point to pick the front end up together, so I lifted each side separately. After matting the front, the truck drove right out. I have a 135hp tractor, but I wasn't confident in that approach.

 

[deevo]

After dumping a load of debris, the grapple truck decided to plant itself.
View attachment 43934

Standard affair, use the outriggers to mat under the drive tires.
View attachment 43935
View attachment 43936 View attachment 43937

Tried pulling forward and the front end sank to the axle.
View attachment 43938

Fetched the Treemek and its mats, dropped the fly jib, and lifted the front end to mat it. There wasn't a good unified lifting point to pick the front end up together, so I lifted each side separately. After matting the front, the truck drove right out. I have a 135hp tractor, but I wasn't confident in that approach.
View attachment 43939 View attachment 43940 View attachment 43941 View attachment 43942

Wow, well at least you didn't have to call for a heavy tow! Glad you got her out !

 

[Lumberjack]

Here's 2 of the 9 trees I cut Thursday. Video is sped up 25x.

 

[Steve Connally]

Carl,

What's your set up. Boom and saw? I'm currently looking into the build and getting estimates. Tiffin?

 

[deevo]

Here's 2 of the 9 trees I cut Thursday. Video is sped up 25x.

Good job (s) Carl looks like you've mastered the controls pretty quickly!

 

[Lumberjack]

Carl,

What's your set up. Boom and saw? I'm currently looking into the build and getting estimates. Tiffin?

PK40D, PJ100D, SG280.

The grapple saw is heavy at farther reachs... I may get a SG160 for work farther out.

I was lined up to buy a used Treemek from a guy near Pensacola, but his chicken livered, yellow bellied self (CLYB) broke his word and backed out of the deal and sold it to someone else (last I knew). Irony being what it is, that person called me the day after CLYB backed out looking for Alturnamats. It turned out the buyer was told a price $15k higher than what I was told. I lost $13k in profit dealing with CLYB, getting my money ready Friday to buy it Monday. Irony continuing, the guy that was buying CLYB truck backed out of his build at Tiffin. Jason told me about it Monday morning. Tuesday morning Jason picked me up from the local hotel and Tuesday afternoon I was headed home with the truck.


All that to say, this truck is a traditional Treemek build, but the design/layout wasn't built for me. We will be adding a 4th and possibly 5th axle to the truck. It has a 20 or 25T pintle hook, but it's not plumbed for trailer air brakes. My preference on the wheel base is different than what was built.

Tiffin will build my next truck*, but it will be built to my specs, which is far easier when you're building the truck vs after the fact. I'm not a fan of compromising, especially when the alternative costs less than 10% more... a lot of people aren't like that though. The next truck will also likely be considerably larger in terms of capacity, with the hope that I'll have two Treemek's and hopefully a couple employees at that point.

If you get your proposal from Tiffin, I would be happy to look it over and offer suggestions from an engineering/tree guy view point.

 

[Steve Connally]

Thanks so much. Devon gave me your number but I wasn't gonna call on Easter.