Maybe my first crane job?

In my case that would be no stump removal. But a super nice cleanup. I would only be looking at clearing like 500 bucks and I was over there 2 hours for the bid u have spent all night and will spend much more time figuring this all out. I don't want to be the cheapest price I won't do a job if it is not fair both for me and the customer.

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If that tree was upright, around here I could get $400-$500 to remove it...2 man crew and we would be done in under 2 hours. I would think with it at the 45 degrees it would definitely cost more like $700 - $800 if we could do it with securing and climbing. But since I haven't seen it in person I can't say for sure. This doesn't include stump removal.

I might try propping it from the underside as well as putting a long support line back to the trees in the rear...even if it wasn't directly opposite the lean.

...do what you feel comfortable doing.
 
Daniel said:

plan B.. crane is great for saving time and making the clean up easy. And if you are looking to put on a show, the crane will do it... but you could also use a prop, climb it with or without a rope back guy for support...
Click to expand...
Awesome video daniel I actually did the fork trick you showed in here yesterday when i went to look at it. I watched your video sometime last week and then got a call about this leaner yesterday.

Thanks for the advice I have watched many of your videos.

-Michael

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flyingsquirrel25 said:
What he is talking about is a Pickett anchor system. It is used in fire/rescue when a known anchor cannot be established. It is very simple to create. Drive the pickets into the ground at an angle away from your load. Tie rope/webbing from the top of the first to the bottom of the second and so on. Then use additional pickets to twist/tighten the rope between and drive it as well. Fairly strong and very easy to set up.
View attachment 37325

If you need more strength... Add more pickets and if your angle might change set them up in a "V"

View attachment 37326
Click to expand...

Great photos, great explanation. Thanks for posting this.

Tim
 
John_KAYS said:
Do you have the job for sure? I look at this tree and think if you add the crane expense you might not get the job. Like some are saying, it would be a lot easier with a crane...but that would cost the client big money. Another company might have a crane and come in and do it for less. Having not seen the tree in person I don't know how possible it is to take this tree down without a lift or a crane, but I would probably figure a way to do it without a crane...but don't risk your life on it! Quote it with the cost of the crane and see if you get the job is all I'm saying. But don't do anything risky to try and save anyone money.
Click to expand...

I agree with what is said in this post. If you do not have the job for sure and this is not a client of yours, I would price it to get the job. Now, you know your market better than anyone on here and you know what your competition is going to price it at. Like I said early this is a pretty simple up and down crane job. One pick, throw it in the chipper and on to the next one. However this is also a good bucket tree, or a mini-lift tree as well.
 
Gareth's Tree said:
So, now I'm a little curious about what you guys think you could get paid for this tree. So far I've heard $1100 (from bushmi) up to $1500 (from Royce), does that include a complete removal cleaning everything up grind the stump and clean up the stump grindings? In my demographic I don't know that I could be that high and still get the job...
Click to expand...

I was just throwing numbers out. I did not really look at the tree and it's hard to get a good price with a picture. But, I say that tree would be in the 500-900 range. The deal with a crane is that you would of rolled in a made one cut and chipped the whole tree, on to the next one. However these little trees only make sense if a company owns the crane. With a three hour minimum you would be out that much money off the job. However, I would add this job onto a full day with a rented crane and this one tree would pay more than a third of my day rate for a crane. Just how I would do it.
But I might also send out two guys and a bucket truck as well. It all depends on whats on the schedule, and how the homeowner is in regards to their time-line. Heck I might even send a climbing crew with a dingo and set up a pull line and the grcs and pull it over. Or when I am out on Sunday in my helicopter I might just fly down and grab it then. So many options hard to know what is best!!
 
ROYCE said:
I was just throwing numbers out. I did not really look at the tree and it's hard to get a good price with a picture. But, I say that tree would be in the 500-900 range. The deal with a crane is that you would of rolled in a made one cut and chipped the whole tree, on to the next one. However these little trees only make sense if a company owns the crane. With a three hour minimum you would be out that much money off the job. However, I would add this job onto a full day with a rented crane and this one tree would pay more than a third of my day rate for a crane. Just how I would do it.
But I might also send out two guys and a bucket truck as well. It all depends on whats on the schedule, and how the homeowner is in regards to their time-line. Heck I might even send a climbing crew with a dingo and set up a pull line and the grcs and pull it over. Or when I am out on Sunday in my helicopter I might just fly down and grab it then. So many options hard to know what is best!!
Click to expand...

Were you kidding just then about the chopper? If not, I think this is the first time I've seen you mention it. I'd love to hear more about this, if it wasn't just a joke.

Tim
 
Ha! I thought that seemed too much like cheating. Nice cartoon! But no, I regret I have no helicopter, not even a small, remote controlled one with a video camera on it.

There was a TV show I saw once called "How'd They Do That?" This particular episode featured a guy who flew choppers as a hobby, but his full-time job was that of an Outside Lineman, (the guys who work on the utility company power transmission lines).

I think he's the guy who started the whole idea of using choppers for outside line work. A two-man team, pilot and lineman, is about 20 times faster than a conventional crew that has to run in trucks along the ground. At the time of the show, I think they were charging $50,000.00 per day to the utility company for their service, for one such setup. The suits they wore were made of 75% wire mesh, and 25% nomex, if I recall correctly. The lineman sat on the outside of the chopper on a metal platform, and the pilot would bring the chopper within a few feet of the high voltage lines. The lineman held out a metal wand, maybe two or three feet long, and a spark would jump the gap and energize the entire rig to the same voltage as the power lines. Bird on a wire; no grounding, no electricution.

Hence my gullible question. It is not beyond the realm of possibility.

Tim
 
TimBr said:
Were you kidding just then about the chopper? If not, I think this is the first time I've seen you mention it. I'd love to hear more about this, if it wasn't just a joke.

Tim
Click to expand...

Totally kidding about the chopper. When I was in NZ their was a company that was on the south island plucking trees out with them. It would come in handy to have one. It has also been a life long dream to learn how to fly my own chopper. But. I have to wait until I can afford to buy one.
If my business does well the next 20 years maybe I will sell it at retirement age and get my chopper then!!
 
I know someone who used to be a chopper pilot. He said that during flight school, if he'd heard it once, he'd heard it a thousand times, when the instructor pilots would warn "You have to watch what you're doing, these things will kill you in a second!"

I'm not a pilot, so I'm not sure if I'm right about this next thing. I thought they referred to choppers as "dynamically unstable". The person I know who used to be a chopper pilot said it was the single most difficult motor skill he ever had to learn. Also, he'll mention once in awhile that it is tough to have a good set of "hands" when a pilot only gets to fly infrequently. Very dangerous and expensive endeavor. It might be better to learn to fly fixed-wing aircraft first. Best way is to train with intensity by going to a flight school, maybe down in Florida, that allows you to do a lot of takeoffs and landings within a short block of time. It allows a new pilot to "groove their stroke", and to acquire a feel for what looks and feels correct when doing takeoffs and landings, which I think is the most dangerous part of the game.

That's about all I can remember by way of advice from this highly experienced combat veteran.

Tim

P.S. Here's a link to a decent article on choppers.

http://science.howstuffworks.com/transport/flight/modern/helicopter.htm
 
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