Nasty jobs

Serf Life said:
White pine removal: add extra hour for cleanup. Have forgotten that rule too many times!
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As a recovering contract climber and now running my own crew, it is the cleanup that always gets me. When your ONLY job was to cut trees down and you didn’t spend much time with a rake in your hands, I often look at a job and think, ok I’ll have that tree on the ground in 3 hours… I always need to remember to add at least a 1/4 of that time to cover cleanup.
 
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I had a job at a tree service once, and the owner would frequently take on these “shit” jobs…. He used to say “it all pays the same”….. this would drive me absolutely bat shit. I do tree work because I enjoy it, even (working for him) when the pay was meager, so when he’d throw us these mindless, laborious, demoralizing usually week long projects it SUCKED….. I don’t work for him anymore!! There’s a fine line between getting your guys hours, paying the bills, or building a crew that resents you.
 
RyanCafferky said:
As a recovering contract climber and now running my own crew, it is the cleanup that always gets me. When your ONLY job was to cut trees down and you didn’t spend much time with a rake in your hands, I often look at a job and think, ok I’ll have that tree on the ground in 3 hours… I always need to remember to add at least a 1/4 of that time to cover cleanup.
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I started in residential after working in Forestry.

We had saws, wedges and axes. There was no such things known as as a rake blower, tarp, etc.

My first considerable residential removal was a very under-priced, very crisp tree (maybe silver maple) in a short, manicured lawn.

Adjusting to clean up was hard.
 
Chris Schultz said:
I had a job at a tree service once, and the owner would frequently take on these “shit” jobs…. He used to say “it all pays the same”….. this would drive me absolutely bat shit. I do tree work because I enjoy it, even (working for him) when the pay was meager, so when he’d throw us these mindless, laborious, demoralizing usually week long projects it SUCKED….. I don’t work for him anymore!! There’s a fine line between getting your guys hours, paying the bills, or building a crew that resents you.
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In a slower economy where the choices are doing the occasional crappy job between the “real tree jobs”, sitting at home, or finding a job elsewhere, my guys thankfully have been ok with helping with the occasional crappy job. They and everyone else can make their choices. As my company and clientele grows we will likely get to be more picky about what we do and who we do it for. If I wanted to be selfish and just pay myself and not care about keeping the guys working I likely would be more picky but for now I’m happy to put on a smile, make sure everyone has cold drinks and all the iron to make things as easy as possible and just dive in and get things done.
 
Take it easy, make sure everyone is ok, don't work too hard, if sun comes out get in the shade, its bad. also, drink lots of water. call your wife and gf every half hour and let them know you're ok. Phew, nasty jobs, I saw the post, I thought it was something else. Be safe, call mom (if alive) it ll be ok. and always have crew hugs every 15 minutes. with pats on back, not just quick hugs, mean it!
 
For an operation with a decent amount of overhead, full-time employees, etc. I think it can be harder to justify turning away work even if it isn’t the most pleasant because you have higher numbers to meet.

For a smaller operation with less overhead that is very niche-specific (like pruning, etc.), you may get away with being more picky.

If work flow is is a challenge, sometimes you may need to take on a less than desirable job just to keep the boat floating.

I think part of the process is really figuring out what kind of business do you want to build and what kind of balance do you want in your life. When I first started solo I was eager and motivated to bid everything. But I quickly learned that there were some projects just better suited towards a larger operation, and I started focusing more on pruning, shrubs and hedges, and the occasional small-medium removal. Which meant I would be turning a good deal amount of work away. But I found that I really enjoyed having this little “niche” so to speak and that I could excel within that sphere.

And just because you decide to focus on a specific aspect of tree care or certain kinds of jobs doesn’t mean you are locked into it so to speak. Can always decide to expand later on, or branch out and maybe take on some jobs that you wouldn’t normally take on. I would say there is some benefit in occasionally taking on a job that may be out of what you are “comfortable” with or what you typically focus on in the sense that it can be a great learning opportunity, gain some experience, etc.

Enjoy the process and journey.
 
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Riggs said:
Take it easy, make sure everyone is ok, don't work too hard, if sun comes out get in the shade, its bad. also, drink lots of water. call your wife and gf every half hour and let them know you're ok. Phew, nasty jobs, I saw the post, I thought it was something else. Be safe, call mom (if alive) it ll be ok. and always have crew hugs every 15 minutes. with pats on back, not just quick hugs, mean it!
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Always come hard with the wisdom lol
 
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