Today Was Not a Good Day, F’d Up a Bid And Job

climbingmonkey24

climbingmonkey24

Carpal tunnel level member
Location
United States
Bid a pruning job a few weeks ago and did it today.

I screwed myself ten times over on the bid. Idk what the heck happened. A job I anticipated would take 4-5 hrs is now running into the second day.

One of the trees had a huge limb going way out over a garage I had to limb walk to piece out. I’m very confident in my rigging ability so no issues. But as I climb past the limb on my way to top to set a high tie in point and rigging I realize the limb has some hollow areas and looks decayed. Couldn’t see it from the ground when initially doing bid. I started getting nervous as to whether it could support my weight to go out and piece it out. I wasted some time hanging up in the tree having an anxiety / nervous attack i guess you could say second guessing everything from the tree branch coming crashing down because it breaks to my abilit to my climbing and everything in between.

I did it though. I inched my way out to test how it handled my weight and it supported me. I used pole saw to set one rigging line far out and then but tied the ends of where I was cutting and swung big pieces over and away from the garage.

But all the little nonsense BS just added up time and after I pay my ground guy I’ll be lucky to maybe make at least $200 for a job that is now going into the second day.

I’m usually fairly consistent with bids and somewhat in the target range for my hourly rate verse number of hours worked consistently.

I just simply don’t know what the fuk happened with this job.

I ended up calling it a day because I didn’t bring enough water cuz I thought it wasn’t gonna be a full day so I’m dehydrated. Have hardly eaten anything. And I realized i needed to take a step back, refresh, get my mind right, and come back to it before something happened and I make a mistake because the stress and frustration was becoming too much.

But I am utterly disgusted and angry with myself for how I could’ve been so damn off on a bid. This usually does NOT happen.

:muyenojado::mad::muyenojado::muyenojado:
 
climbingmonkey24 said:
Bid a pruning job a few weeks ago and did it today.

I screwed myself ten times over on the bid. Idk what the heck happened. A job I anticipated would take 4-5 hrs is now running into the second day.

One of the trees had a huge limb going way out over a garage I had to limb walk to piece out. I’m very confident in my rigging ability so no issues. But as I climb past the limb on my way to top to set a high tie in point and rigging I realize the limb has some hollow areas and looks decayed. Couldn’t see it from the ground when initially doing bid. I started getting nervous as to whether it could support my weight to go out and piece it out. I wasted some time hanging up in the tree having an anxiety / nervous attack i guess you could say second guessing everything from the tree branch coming crashing down because it breaks to my abilit to my climbing and everything in between.

I did it though. I inched my way out to test how it handled my weight and it supported me. I used pole saw to set one rigging line far out and then but tied the ends of where I was cutting and swung big pieces over and away from the garage.

But all the little nonsense BS just added up time and after I pay my ground guy I’ll be lucky to maybe make at least $200 for a job that is now going into the second day.

I’m usually fairly consistent with bids and somewhat in the target range for my hourly rate verse number of hours worked consistently.

I just simply don’t know what the fuk happened with this job.

I ended up calling it a day because I didn’t bring enough water cuz I thought it wasn’t gonna be a full day so I’m dehydrated. Have hardly eaten anything. And I realized i needed to take a step back, refresh, get my mind right, and come back to it before something happened and I make a mistake because the stress and frustration was becoming too much.

But I am utterly disgusted and angry with myself for how I could’ve been so damn off on a bid. This usually does NOT happen.

:muyenojado::mad::muyenojado::muyenojado:
Click to expand...
It happens

You kept your word and finishing the job keeping your word GOOD

life in the fast lane

Another notch in the belt
 
VenasNursery said:
It happens

You kept your word and finishing the job keeping your word GOOD

life in the fast lane

Another notch in the belt
Click to expand...

It just makes me feel like I’m doing all this extra work and not making anything off it.

I don’t know where I went wrong with this.

And yes my world and my reputation is more important than the dollars. I certainly will finish the job to the best of my ability regardless just as I would if I had bid higher. That’s not gonna change.

The one good thing...experienced gained. I figured out the problem and got it done safely and efficiently and didn’t walk away. Only it took more time lol.
 
Sure, happens to us all. You will learn from it. I still mess a few up, but not too many bad ones. Good call slowing down and taking a break. Things cansnowball and then really F up badly.
 
My hat is off to you, I'm impressed. You did everything right as far as I'm concerned after your initial mistake. And as others have pointed out mistakes happen.

You reassessed the situation and did what needed to be done to complete the job safely, you stopped the job (called it) at the point that continuing presented more risk than was appropriate. You're doing right by the tree and by the client. Couldn't ask for more.

Actually I don't think you lost money. I think you will make more money in your future now than you would have without this event. Now you will be more careful on the bid sure, but more importantly you will carry yourself like you are the best person for a client to hire. You will know you are a person of integrity to the extreme.

A total win in every way with regard to the long game. Thanks for putting up a great example of that.
 
Merle Nelson said:
My hat is off to you, I'm impressed. You did everything right as far as I'm concerned after your initial mistake. And as others have pointed out mistakes happen.

You reassessed the situation and did what needed to be done to complete the job safely, you stopped the job (called it) at the point that continuing presented more risk than was appropriate. You're doing right by the tree and by the client. Couldn't ask for more.

Actually I don't think you lost money. I think you will make more money in your future now than you would have without this event. Now you will be more careful on the bid sure, but more importantly you will carry yourself like you are the best person for a client to hire. You will know you are a person of integrity to the extreme.

A total win in every way with regard to the long game. Thanks for putting up a great example of that.
Click to expand...

That is definitely a good way to look at it! You’re right, this experience will stick with me and be in my mind next time I do a bid and in the long term in general.
 
climbingmonkey24 said:
Yea, it was actually the main thing.
Click to expand...
Usually, a large limb will have been subjected to wind forces on the end of the lever that exceed the force you exert on it by climbing on it. Exceptions to that include this time of year when sapflow increases the branch weight. If there has not been a wind in a while, the wet weight seems to bring 'em down on quiet days this time of year...
 
Nice job finishing it out and keeping your cool. It is too easy to try and take short cuts when you realize you are upside down on your bid. Thats when bad shit happens. All in all that is not a huge loss of time or money.

I did a big Norway Maple once in a tight spot between two houses with very little area to put anything down. I saw it being a day and a half with hauling off all the wood. I underestimated how tight that landing zone was and how technical the rigging would get. 3 days later we were done!

In the middle of day two I realized I was way behind so I took a step back and reminded myself that I love doing challenging rigging and if I wasn’t getting paid to do it, I might pay to get that kind of thrill and education. From that point on I enjoyed myself and did some awesome rigging. The customer was so impressed with our work he gave me a big enough cash tip that it almost put me back where I needed to be money-wise. So always stick it out and pursue excellence. It pays off in the end.
 
colb said:
Usually, a large limb will have been subjected to wind forces on the end of the lever that exceed the force you exert on it by climbing on it. Exceptions to that include this time of year when sapflow increases the branch weight. If there has not been a wind in a while, the wet weight seems to bring 'em down on quiet days this time of year...
Click to expand...

You haven't done many Douglas fir reductions, hey?

:D
 
It's only a mistake if you don't learn from it. There was a time when day-three-of-a-one-day-job was a much more common occurrence than I care to recall. Those are the jobs though that teach you what you didn't know before you agreed to do it, and ultimately make you a sharper practitioner. We all start out at the beginning.
 
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colb said:
What is the diameter at the branch collar on those?
Click to expand...
Probably 6-8"
Its lost it's original leader more than once, and now has a co-dominant pair that probably 10-15'.






Northeast side limbs (40') are likely shorter than the Southwest side limbs.
 

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southsoundtree said:
Probably 6-8"
Its lost it's original leader more than once, and now has a co-dominant pair that probably 10-15'.






Northeast side limbs (40') are likely shorter than the Southwest side limbs.
Click to expand...

We don't get those down here. Looks beautiful. I free climbed one to about 40' a couple summers ago in Glacier National Park. A little pitchy, but no complaints with the view...

Here's a pic of our eastern red cedar - a 35-footer:
Screenshot_20200415-145305_Photos.jpg
That's about as structurally/appearance-wise close to a fir as we get unless it is a spruce pine:
Screenshot_20200415-152622_Maps.jpg
Screenshot_20200415-154137_Maps.jpg
 
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