the state of the industry

$700--tax free--what better way to spend a Saturday?

They'd cut that tree down in Venezuela for $600--without the saws.

I really wonder if it is the fault of the guys with dull chainsaws. I mean, as long as there are stupid homeowners, there will be opportunists who need money. This homeowner is really stupid. All he cares about is how little he is paying. No amount of "education" is going to improve him. We all have customers like this. Personally, after about 2 minutes of conversation with this guy, I'd find a quick way to put miles between us.
 
Yup, cheap and stupid. He's impressed that they didn't hit the house..well sort of. Just the siding ,the shingles and who knows if they cracked a joist or two. Lucky was a word used way too many times in that as well.

And then we see people railing against hacks and illegal workers. Well, they wouldn't be if there wasn't people like this.
 
So here's what he posted under the video, or at least the last line...Worked a full 10 hours and we're still not done cutting it up into smaller chunks! I should have paid extra for professionals with a bucket truck.. I will know better next time.

But wait! There's more. He had to hire another guy to come and get all the wood. Which was another dubious operation. There was damage to the roof of the neighbor's house but our intrepid videographer makes it sound like the guy was just trying to scam him for a new roof. :nocausagracia:

Still left a mess and had to get out his own saw to flush the stump. Penny wise, pound foolish.....
 
I thought that thing was going to chair for sure. I know removals is most guys bread and butter but when you have home owners that are only concerned about price, this is often what we are up against. I'll take tree care over tree removal any day.
 
He ended up spending $1200. Never mind the crap he went through and the time he spent to get it cheaper. For that money it would've all been an easy job with a bucket.
 
Actually the saw was pinched. he used a second saw to finish the limb and that let the original saw fall.
But all in all, a guy who has know clue. He had an original price of $1000 and it ended up costing him $1200. What the??

He'll work with the insurance company.... yeah.... They'll work with him as in, get the tree down or your insurance is cancelled. How about working with the tree co? We've made arrangements with clients for payments when they couldn't afford to pay for it in one shot.

I'd save this if only for the educational value for clients.
 
treehumper said:
Actually the saw was pinched. he used a second saw to finish the limb and that let the original saw fall.
But all in all, a guy who has know clue. He had an original price of $1000 and it ended up costing him $1200. What the??

He'll work with the insurance company.... yeah.... They'll work with him as in, get the tree down or your insurance is cancelled. How about working with the tree co? We've made arrangements with clients for payments when they couldn't afford to pay for it in one shot.

I'd save this if only for the educational value for clients.
Click to expand...

That is one thing that does reassure and help clients. I just did a quote last week to remove a spruce and prune another. Simple job and we have time to do it know but he asked if we could hold off a few weeks for him to get some money together. Obviously us waiting a couple weeks isn't a big deal but if his garden starts to come up by then our job gets a bit trickier. So we offered to hold billing a couple weeks but we could still do the job now. Others have done instalments others pay in full. If everyone is up front about things something can usually be worked out.
 
flyingsquirrel25 said:
I dont feel sorry for him one bit. 750 was a heck of a deal to begin with, just to get that thing on the ground.
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How long you think that would have taken with a bucket backed up to it?
Looked like plenty of LZ, so little rigging. Chipper running as pieces fall near it.

I'm thinking and hour, at worst two to get it down. Another hour to finish chipping and rake. Screw the fire wood, I have so many fire wood chasers cleaning up for free just is not worth it to touch.

Oaks are easy peasy to rig and clean...and folks want the fire wood.

Jobs like that with some one else getting the fire wood, $800 with worst case 4hours. If I had to climb, rig and remove the chunks from a back yard to the front, take all the wood $1600.

Of course I'll be wearing my cowboy hat and roping limbs like Indiana Jones!
 
Hopefully one of those "expert" tree guys will spend his 50 bucks on a chain file. Of course that would mean they might actually have to wear chainsaw protection. I was glad to the use of safety glasses though, there is nothing worse than getting wood chips in you baseball caps eye.
 
frashdog said:
How long you think that would have taken with a bucket backed up to it?
Looked like plenty of LZ, so little rigging. Chipper running as pieces fall near it.

I'm thinking and hour, at worst two to get it down. Another hour to finish chipping and rake. Screw the fire wood, I have so many fire wood chasers cleaning up for free just is not worth it to touch.

Oaks are easy peasy to rig and clean...and folks want the fire wood.

Jobs like that with some one else getting the fire wood, $800 with worst case 4hours. If I had to climb, rig and remove the chunks from a back yard to the front, take all the wood $1600.

Of course I'll be wearing my cowboy hat and roping limbs like Indiana Jones!
Click to expand...

I sorry if I offended you with my comment and I probably should have given more detail. You have to realize prices are widely different throughout our country and can be very different within a county for that matter. Where I used to work in VT yes 750... Probably 550 would have gotten that tree down. And there would be cowboy hats all round. Here in PA clients are different, commuting is different, everything is different... And more expensive. Congratulations on having a bucket truck I envy you (well not really), I would have to be on that tree with a crane. Minimum 4 hrs so the absolute best I could do is 1200. And I'm not one to rush a job to make a couple bucks (no cowboy hats here). There are many ways to run a business and I choose safety and providing my client with a high quality arboriculture experience. If that means it takes me longer and costs them more so be it. If they don't like my price they can get someone else. I have work lined up till June and the phone is still ringing, no loss to me. Most wait, due to referrals.
 
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