Lakeside Work

[oceans]

So it finally happened. I finally had a job where we obliterated someone's yard. In all my years I've never screwed up a yard so bad.

We matted the turf, we caught every piece, we used the avant, we did everything we could. It still got ruts and damaged. 10 yards of soil and 40 lbs of seed plus straw and now a day and a half to fix it.

What more can be done? The client is bummed but understands. It's in a million dollar home area. I'm mortified. Nothing would have been in the reach of a crane under 400'. Even a backyard crane wouldn't have helped. There was a massive slope with only one tiny entrance going through the neighbors yard (luckily his daughter).

I'm at a loss. Would 50 mats help? How do you mitigate this or how do you determine when this has a high likelihood of happening? It's been dry and all the ice was off the lake. He went out and checked prior to work and gave us the go ahead.

Trying not to beat myself up but I feel bad for my crew and the customer. I was expecting some damage but not a half yard renovation.

We held off for over a year with one particular client and their situation. It was a bit of elective work and some cleanup of a large failed tree, but nothing super pressing. About a $2,500 affair.

Winter came but never froze hard enough. Summer came but it never really dried out well enough. Spring and Fall were both right out. Winter came again and things finally lined up. The first pass was bringing the chipper down to the material and broadcasting onto the ground. For the second pass to remove log material, I actually used my forwarding trailer and the ex to make one super high volume pass with material vs. 10 low volume moves.

I know that sometimes our equipment defines how we look at approaching a job. It happens to us all I would imagine. That said, I often can’t help but wish I had a 1000’ highline cable system. Like an alpine forestry kit for residential work. It’s obviously not a thing but maybe it could be…? I also know that an outside of the box solution might shave off all profit margin, unless the client wants to pay extra for the precautionary measures. It’s a tough decision.

I guess you just have to take this one on the chin and be happy that you fixed everything for the client. There are plenty of contractors that wouldn’t have made repairs. At the end of the day, when word of mouth comes around, the client will say that you did right by them and not bad mouth you. That’s worth gold IMO.

 

[VenasNursery]

We held off for over a year with one particular client and their situation. It was a bit of elective work and some cleanup of a large failed tree, but nothing super pressing. About a $2,500 affair.

Winter came but never froze hard enough. Summer came but it never really dried out well enough. Spring and Fall were both right out. Winter came again and things finally lined up. The first pass was bringing the chipper down to the material and broadcasting onto the ground. For the second pass to remove log material, I actually used my forwarding trailer and the ex to make one super high volume pass with material vs. 10 low volume moves.

I know that sometimes our equipment defines how we look at approaching a job. It happens to us all I would imagine. That said, I often can’t help but wish I had a 1000’ highline cable system. Like an alpine forestry kit for residential work. It’s obviously not a thing but maybe it could be…? I also know that an outside of the box solution might shave off all profit margin, unless the client wants to pay extra for the precautionary measures. It’s a tough decision.

I guess you just have to take this one on the chin and be happy that you fixed everything for the client. There are plenty of contractors that wouldn’t have made repairs. At the end of the day, when word of mouth comes around, the client will say that you did right by them and not bad mouth you. That’s worth gold IMO.

Not just the client but also all the neighbors and people passing by.
Whenever you do the right thing no one can take that from you.
Definitely priceless.

 

[Brando CalPankian]

Not just the client but also all the neighbors and people passing by.
Whenever you do the right thing no one can take that from you.
Definitely priceless.

That's good to hear. We took 3 days to make it right and fixed things in his daughter's yard that we didn't damage since we had the stuff there to do it. Not having been in this situation I was worried that folks would get out of by it. We got 3 referrals as work was starting.

The high line rigging option was something my mind went to afterwards as well. I like the idea of a trailer/mini ex for less trips. That would make sense.

I've got a couple more large jobs in similar scenarios. They'll be pushed out until I can get more mats and stuff. Maybe even winter if tire chains will help the avant. I've been worried about pushing people out too far as I'm eager to please and get it done, but that has now bit me in the ass. Patience will be important and people that understand the value of work will appreciate that.

This is way different than working in the desert or piedmont regions I'm used to. Lol.

 

[Matias]

That's good to hear. We took 3 days to make it right and fixed things in his daughter's yard that we didn't damage since we had the stuff there to do it. Not having been in this situation I was worried that folks would get out of by it. We got 3 referrals as work was starting.

The high line rigging option was something my mind went to afterwards as well. I like the idea of a trailer/mini ex for less trips. That would make sense.

I've got a couple more large jobs in similar scenarios. They'll be pushed out until I can get more mats and stuff. Maybe even winter if tire chains will help the avant. I've been worried about pushing people out too far as I'm eager to please and get it done, but that has now bit me in the ass. Patience will be important and people that understand the value of work will appreciate that.

This is way different than working in the desert or piedmont regions I'm used to. Lol.

Patience pays!