Going to do storm clean up with a U Haul. WHAT!

BBBTree

BBBTree

Location
CA
My buddy wants to head up to New York or New Jersey to help with the clean up. I said that's great, but think about renting the equipment in a near by state. He said he'd opt for a U Haul truck x 26'.

Am I the delusional one, or is he on to something? He and I live here in San Diego. He could easily land big ticket tree work out there. That I know with certainty, but stuffing big Elms, Oaks, Cherries, Tulips, and Coniferous in a UHaul??? Those logs are huge, dense, heavy, and lots and lots of them. Our bodies would be shot on the first 2 days without the tractor or skid bucket.

That eastern tree business is nothing like this SW tree business, and that's why everyone has bobcats out east. I don't think he's been home to New York in a looooooong time, so maybe he forgot.


From a business stand point, I think his plan is a dud unless he comes up with legitimate equipment. From a thrill seeker's stand point though, hahahaha, sounds like a good time. I've never been to any of the new states yet, and these old states are kind of wearing on me. ;)
 
Im in chester county. Its not too bad. we have crews out and the phone is ringing but not as bad as i thought. the rivers are looking mad though. How you guys doing?
 
Some more good news from the north west. We've had 9 days straight of snow and more snow. This is the cold front meeting Sandy. We just split firewood for the first week. Hopefuly it's rain by the time it hits there but be prepared for a couple weeks without sun. We've went with full rubber gloves and liners. Looks like rubber boots today as it's finally melting.
 
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Im in chester county. Its not too bad. we have crews out and the phone is ringing but not as bad as i thought. the rivers are looking mad though. How you guys doing?

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We got hit pretty good, we have some big trees down. I have a crane scheduled for tomorrow to take a willow off a house. It went right through the homeowner's bedroom wall.
 
3000 is a long way to drive for storm work... if fema sets up curb pick up, you won't need to haul brush in the u-haul... I wouldn't recommend chasing the storm without some kind of loader though... you could lose a lot of money... heard Jersey got hit hard.. guess NY too... not much to travel for here in philly... it'll be cleaned up by the locals in a week..
 
Crazy busy but being handled. When you look at relocating a significant distance for what appears to be lucrative work it really begs the question,"Can I generate the equivalent at home with the same amount of effort I'll put in to relocate?"

There were many idle tree services here in North Jersey that are now booming. Not sure there is much more room for many out of state operations, especially one traveling across the continent!
 
Exactly! 3 days non-stop driving there, and 3 back plus all of those travel expenses, plus the money we lose here during those travel days. I personally had to be doing $1k a day or no way. I didn't see any guarantees, and anyone and everyone said, "why bother?"

But I can get da tree problems done. I am da man with all of the plans here, but the guys with the same plans are already over there have a cake walk and looking at some neat disasters. Good for them.
 
Now it's a game of managing expectations and keeping clients we're losing them to the hacks, landscrapers and out of towners coming in to seize the opportunity to make a quick buck. Saw a landscape crew clearing a pin oak of broken limbs. 30+' ladder, guy at the base, guy at the top handing another one a chainsaw. The guy in the tree with no rope, PPE, whacking away with the saw bombing stuff down with little more than crossed fingers hoping nothing gets busted.

Scary....
 
I imagine for a lot of home owners to make a deal with someone with a chainsaw is about like being propositioned by a some guy selling a gold chain on the street. "Sure, $20 for a gold chain! Maybe it won't be fake, so that's money well spent."

The gold dealer that sees these transactions can only speculate about their deals because it's stepping passed the line to step out there, and sell people on their mistakes.

...so the story of our services go. :)
 
Trust is a big part of any transaction.

My part-time climber Ryan (also a licensed electrician) is from Monmouth County and since we had no real damage here in Delaware he went home to help out family and friends. He took our generator for his grandmother's place (still no power), the truck, chipper, and gear. He is still there, being passed along by word-of-mouth.

He ended up being asked by the Township for assistance. It's different if you grow up somewhere and know everyone and they know they can trust you.

Managing expectations is easier if there has been a long term relationship with a customer.
We are part-time these days and our local customers here are being patient and willing to wait until Ryan gets back.
 
I am in Washington State. Rain, enough work to stay happy.

The local "git er done" tree service (my competitor) stopped by my jobsite Monday to say they were going east.
"Not much going on here anyway". not for tree topper lot clearing yahoo's...

I have been driving past his Yard to see if the truck n chipper are gone. Would be nice to get some more jobs lined-up while he is out on the East Coast! Enjoy, he is a peach.
 
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