Most Expensive Tree Removal Job

Alright here's another one. But a small tree.

Picture of a log coming off. Whole tree lowered until about a 18ft trunk, then trunk felled back onto logs.

Dead red oak, medium size. Near a garage and surrounded by new black-top driveway on 3 sides.

I priced the job at like $900 or $990. Got the job done with three men in 4 hours, and that was taking some time to take some pictures.

Two other companies said they HAD to use a crane. One company was over $2000. Homeowner did not want a crane on the new blacktop. Several other companies were very close to my price though.

The company that bid over $2000 got mad at my price and said that I'm doing things too cheap. Well, I'm not. I try to make $220 an hour with a three man crew. Took 4 hours, so that's $880.
 

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picture of the location.

Justin lowering a log. (his hand is behind his back just because he was waiting for me on the picture)
 

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I had a contractor remove this Cottonwood for me at the University and they only charged something like $1,200. For about two years they said they would remove any tree for $800 flat. I don't know how they made any money but I took full advantage of that price.
 

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Multi stemmed Poinciana removal for $3200. Two weeks ago.
Both lower stems were about 32"dbh, broke off into multiple branches above, up to 30', HUGE knuckles from a previous topping, had to be rigged to avoid the boat underneath, the garden the electricity and the neighbors wall.
Crane truck to lift the pieces away, bucket truck for half the tree, climbed the rest. $1500 for me, the rest to expenses!
 
Biggest number for a single day/tree was 10,000. The job had five people, one climber, two groundmen and two crane operaters. One 55 ton crane with 125" of stick, one 92" crane with a basket(which was the hieght of the first cut).
 
I've been thinking about this discussion all day.

I have to say, you guys quoting single tree removals over $10,000 makes me think one of two things is happening:

1. One, you are flat out lying.
2. You bid a cazy big price and somehow the homeowner went with it. What homeowner is going to pay $18,000?

I have never seen a single tree removal take more than two days with my three or four man crew.

A $15,000 tree would have to take about 3 to 5 days and with the use of a crane all that time to justify that kind of money.

A $15,000 tree without using a crane would have to take 5 to 8 days.

What kind of tree takes that much time? And to have several of these trees done in some of your history?

Seems like a bunch of B. S.

Just calling it like I see it.
 
oh and robtwolf I wasn't responding to you, you posted yours while i was typing mine.

i was responding to serveral people on here.
 
My question to those with huge jobs ($10,00 plus) is...what are you charging per man hour??

Most of my jobs are done with 2 guys (bigger ones 3). When there is just 2 of us, I figure $100 an hr (2 guys and eguipment).

I agree that price should go up if skill level for removing the tree is greater...but only to a point. The pine that we did was done pretty much in 2-3 days. I honestly dont think any other company in the immediate area had the experience or equipment to do the job correctly (and safely). But that didnt change my price. I estimated it according the amount of time I thought it ould take... looking for no more profit per hr then any other job.

Edit- At the end of the job I ended up making more of a profit...but that is mostly cause everything went extremely smooth.
 
Here's one to bid. A Douglass Fir to dead wood. Cost of labor is dollar for dollar pay vs. taxes, work comp, etc. Cables installed at roughly 50 feet (got sold a bill of goods). Tree is approximatly 11+ feet DBH and 125-150 feet tall. All branches to be roped down above cables. The tree has five main leads from the trunk. People sitting below for reference.
 

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how about this one.....


speed line about 400' down a 85' grade change that is covered with "grandma's favorite" plant material..... when you get down to the big wood(by the way there is only enough acsess for 1 guy to walk to the tree at a time) you will need to setup a collar rope and 3 driftlines just to get it to where three guys can cut it up into small enough pieces to hand carry around before mentioned plant material....

I charge what i do for a reason. if they can not afford to have it removed, that is not my problem.

you guys should not do these big jobs for charity.

i have lost a lot of money on jobs in my career, and 99% of them have been big multi day removals... charge what it is worth, and go home happy. when you are rushed to get a underbid job done.... that is when shortcuts get taken and people get hurt.
 

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Removal wizard makes an i9nteresting point. The job is ultimattly what you feel its worth. What is it going to take to get you but up the tree with a chainsaw. If they dont like it they can go somewhere else. I think it comes down to building a reputation that people will pay you no matter what you say because your the one that they want to cut their tree.

I like that idea of only doing a couple of jobs a month. Shoot If I did one 18000 dollar removal a month i would be fine.
 
I had a bid of about 13k on a removal that my competitor did for about 5500- talk about leaving money on the table.SZ- could you refresh my memory on what day soylent green day is( I think it's Thursday).
 
We did a large monterey pine removal about a year ago that went for about 10 grand. The tree was big and it spread over about four yards. One of the yards had some delicate plants and a very particular owner. We brought plywood and 2x4's in and built some protective barriers for this yard. Then every piece of brush and wood had to be carried by hand through a narrow hallway from the backyard to the street(this is very common in San Francisco). The job turned out very well and all parties were happy.
 
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