Most Expensive Tree Removal
- Thread starter urbnforst
- Start date
Jem4417
Branched out member
Do insurance jobs count?
Jehinten
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- Evansville
Not my company, but I know a guy when a tornado went through locally that he charged 4 hr minimums all day long at $500+ hr. All he did was crane off of the house and set it in the yard, many jobs were 30 mins after setup. Not terribly expensive per job (although overpriced) but it added up to several big days in a row.
Largest for me about $5,500 on a single tree. Those jobs are few and far between for me.
southsoundtree
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- Olympia, WA
I had a $6500 huge maple over 100', over a septic system and "golf course lawn".
Another that should have been as much, but dum-me charged $3500, which was my most expensive tree to that date.
I had a 40"+ doug-fir in a house, at $8500, including boarding up the roof and tarping. We craned a 17,000 pound log out with a 50t crane, cut while standing on a bed side table.
Another that should have been as much, but dum-me charged $3500, which was my most expensive tree to that date.
I had a 40"+ doug-fir in a house, at $8500, including boarding up the roof and tarping. We craned a 17,000 pound log out with a 50t crane, cut while standing on a bed side table.
Sfoppema
Branched out member
- Location
- Central MA
To date, $4500, but probably should have been 7. Giant red maple (in Massachusetts) on ridiculous slope in between two houses on a lake. No crane access. Was before I had a mini, what a nightmare it was. We got a wood splitter to the bottom of the hill. Split the logs, threw the firewood up the hill, then threw it again into the back of a dump truck. Actually, was working right down the street from that job a few weeks back remembering how dumb I was. Where there is a will there is a way...
NickfromWI
Participating member
- Location
- Los Angeles, CA
Sfoppema
Branched out member
- Location
- Central MA
14,4 is some serious cheddar for one day with a 100t. even if you hired a band to entertain the crew, and catered. Hats off!
There is a big Silver Maple on the East side of Fisher leaning over a house with a rotten spot sitting against that stucco wall that runs behind the houses on the E. side of Fisher, a block or two North of Jefferson. Every time I see it I try to figure out how the job could be done and it always looks too dangerous to even touch. This would be a 10K job in G.P. especially haha
I was on a $15k job back in the city once. It was a huge oak (I think) that was something like 90' tall and 100' wide and the climber (Dan Krauss if anyone knows him) was doing all the cuts with a 661. The picks from the road, across the sidewalk, over the three two story house and into the back yard where the tree was. I think it was a 150-ton, the counterweights came on two semi-trucks. I'll see if I can dig up some photos.
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climbhightree
Branched out member
- Location
- Lebanon, Pa USA
My biggest single tree was $9,600. The worst part of it is my part was only around 2k. We hired in a 110ton crane (6k), traffic control and sub climber (1100). The worst part is because we haven't been able to get paid beyond the 1k deposit we required...so we actually paid to do the tree.
Wasn't storm work.
Wasn't storm work.
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deevo
Been here a while
- Location
- Horseshoe Valley, Ontario, Canada
$28,000 15-16 large pine trees on/through 2 cottages on same property 2 days with the crâne avant and 4 person crew, Chipper and trucks chipped everything into the forest as we were in the middle of no where. All 100’ large diamèter White pines. Insurance job of course
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Serf Life
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- Maine Island
Wow, market will take it I guess!
Serf Life
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- Maine Island
Sounding like I’m still too cheap. $3500 maple on a house removed in the wind and rain.
climbhightree
Branched out member
- Location
- Lebanon, Pa USA
Define too cheap? Looks like you had minimal equipment on that job. Equipment = more cost and therefore higher charges, but not necessarily more profit.
If you met your profit margin on that job, you were not too cheap. Maybe with equipment and therefore higher charge, you could have gotten more jobs done in that day (which may have increased your profits for the day, but per job your profit would have probably been around the same).
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Not my bids. The cottonwood had been turned down and walked away from by 5 other companies. The oak on the house was a bit nuts.
climbhightree
Branched out member
- Location
- Lebanon, Pa USA
As an example, take the job I posted. I paid out 7k for crane etc. That 7k would equal about 4.5 days at our normal rate for 2 guys truck and chipper. Add to that our 2k for the job, and I could have spent basically 6 days on that project manually rigging it out and still have the same profit margin. We removed the wood on this job too...a 36" mini skid would not have fit into the yard without removing a stone wall.
PS - We were only there a half day with the crane (but charged minimum amount of a full day). In all we were only there one day, till I got the wood loaded and out.
Why was the tree split from the strike?
Stumpsprouts
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- Asheville
This gets to a lesson I’ve been learning... crew hour profits are inversely linked to the size of job. I.E. a day with 3 small prune jobs is almost always higher profit margin than a multi-day job. Wonder if anyone has seen the opposite?
