Tree Work Estimator

[metaspencer]

In an effort to stop bidding half or a third of what a job is worth, I cooked up this treework estimator. I'm guessing y'all have different considerations given the nature of your gigs, but this is what I've been using to bid jobs lately.

My quote process goes like this:

Start with your base rate for the simplest of small trees and then prices go up from there. The following are things to consider when arriving at the quote.

Part I: Type of work

1. Removal, pruning, or storm damage? Note that some pruning jobs can amount to a removal, as can a storm damage clean-up job.
2. If removal, what’s the nature of the job? Fell it in place and buck? Easy climb? Complex rigging? High crotch and good rigging points? Speed line?

Part II: The Tree Itself

1. Tree type? Conifers are typically easier but need not be underpriced … oaks and maples are huge undertakings … smaller trees can be hard to climb. Species with thorns?
2. Quality of tree? Dead and dangerous? Alive and full of leaves? Rotten? Risky? Remember, it’s okay to say no.
3. Tree size in terms of canopy, trunk, limb size, number of stems. Note that larger trees take not only more work in the tree, but more hauling and ground work to clean up. Oaks and Maples can have 5x the the wood of a conifer.

Part III: Logistics

1. Distance from job site to the shop?
2. Distance from tree to the trailer. A long haul takes much more time and work. Note the slope of the ground between trailer and tree, as well as any barriers like roots, gates, fences, etc.
3. Number of loads with the trailer/dump truck? A maple can be three or four … a pine one or two.
4. Degree of cleanup expected? Well maintained yard and garden or rough yard? This will make a huge difference in raking, hauling, and cleanup time.
5. Close to a property line? Access to adjacent property? Fence dividing the two (or three, or four lots) that will be hard to climb over?
6. What’s under the tree or trees that needs to be moved or protected? Plants? Irrigation? Priorities here typically go: house, other structure, fence, garden, trees, nice grass. Is there an adequate drop zone? Can it take big logs or branches if needed or will everything have to be carefully lowered?

Part IV: Additional Considerations

1. Human dimension: Will these people be good to work for? Meticulous and difficult or easy going? Can they pay? Do they own the property? Everything seems legit?
2. Intangible element: Any special reason to want this job? In some cases this can lower prices
3. Financial considerations: What can these people afford? What is my time, work, and expertise worth? Will they potentially have more work in the future and/or make valuable references? If they are on a referral tree, consider previous prices and the nature of the referral tree.

 

[Reach]

Looks to me like a well thought out plan to work through, I don’t see any problems with it, do what works for you.

 

[OasisTree]

Those of us who are TRAQ certified know how the form looks to assign tree risk...you start at the top and the form guides you through all of the options and you finish up with a risk rating.

I have always thought it would be cool to make a digital form like that for bids - it would be a series of checkmarks and then auto calculate a price based on your input! I would design it to be customizable, and different options would be worth different amounts.

Responsibid has something similar, but I don't want to use their software.

 

[timmysaint]

I like the list. Simple.

I've also found the best time I spend on a quote is walking up to the base of the tree, looking up at the canopy, and getting myself in that mind state that I'm actually here to do the job. It sounds a bit 'wooo-weee, wooo-weee' but I find it works. I picture TIPs, problematic branches, rigging, awkward positions, limb walks... the whole job.

It definitely helps keep me from underbidding or overbidding, and allows me to see things I might have missed if I stuck just to my checklist.

 

[metaspencer]

I like the list. Simple.

I've also found the best time I spend on a quote is walking up to the base of the tree, looking up at the canopy, and getting myself in that mind state that I'm actually here to do the job. It sounds a bit 'wooo-weee, wooo-weee' but I find it works. I picture TIPs, problematic branches, rigging, awkward positions, limb walks... the whole job.

It definitely helps keep me from underbidding or overbidding, and allows me to see things I might have missed if I stuck just to my checklist.

I know whatcha mean: there is nothing like standing under the tree and walking all around it. That feel you get and what your instincts tell you are pricelessly valuable.

 

[chiselbit]

I like the list. Simple.

I've also found the best time I spend on a quote is walking up to the base of the tree, looking up at the canopy, and getting myself in that mind state that I'm actually here to do the job. It sounds a bit 'wooo-weee, wooo-weee' but I find it works. I picture TIPs, problematic branches, rigging, awkward positions, limb walks... the whole job.

It definitely helps keep me from underbidding or overbidding, and allows me to see things I might have missed if I stuck just to my checklist.

I do the same. I go so into the plan that sometimes many years later I have a hard time remembering if I actually did the job or just bid on it.

 

[timmysaint]

I do the same. I go so into the plan that sometimes many years later I have a hard time remembering if I actually did the job or just bid on it.

That is definitely flow state! Yeah it's cool remembering the details of movement years later.

Flow + intensity!!!

 

[treesap]

I like your system... allot, my only issue is me, I can never seem to price stuff right, and when I do get it right, I feel like I priced it wrong anyways.

I want to try something, can someone send me a few work pictures (pm), and I will try to price the job, and compare it to your price? I think it would be a good way to learn

 

[TUBES]

Busy and not a client . Bid high
Busy and a client. Bid smart
Slow and not a client, bid low.
slow and a client. Bid smart

 

[climbingmonkey24]

I think those are some good points to consider.

I personally like to the look at the job, take pictures, formulate some sort of work plan while I'm looking at the tree and consider potential tie in points, rigging points if needed, where things need to be rigged or lowered, etc. and then tell the client I will be in touch with them and go home and look at the pictures and really think it out considering all the different factors and then come up with an estimate I feel comfortable with.

 

[Sfoppema]

I'm with timmysaint. I figure out how we are going to do the job and how long it will take. Doesn't really matter what or where, just how long it will take me to get from my yard, finish the job, and get back to my yard.

One weird trick that I use (now that I think about it I can't remember how I started or where it came from) is the "20 minute" rule. Everything takes at least 20 minutes to do. So when I'm looking at the job, I count in units of 20 minutes. I count with my fingers then add up at the end (have to remember units of 10 if you run out of fingers). 12 units is a half day, 24 full day etc. I like it for crane work as well, though most picks are faster than 20 minutes, have to adjust a little.

Of course, every once in awhile you blow it, but this technique has helped me significantly. I was losing time on dumping chips, moving the truck, getting to the job and getting gear out..... Everything takes 20 minutes...

 

[TUBES]

On a serious note. Bidding tree work is just hard.

 

[Spiral of decline]

I like a method my friend Jon B came up with. Every bid whether a prune or removal starts at $100 per inch of DBH. You either add or subtract to that based on things that make the tree easier or harder. I find that many times a job is under bid, the sales person has often violated this rule. If you had an app put together that started with this rule and then used your checklist to either add or subtract, that could be a very efficient and effective bidding tool. Maybe we can even have the customers bid their own tree work with the app and save a trip to their house.

 

[southsoundtree]

I like a method my friend Jon B came up with. Every bid whether a prune or removal starts at $100 per inch of DBH. You either add or subtract to that based on things that make the tree easier or harder. I find that many times a job is under bid, the sales person has often violated this rule. If you had an app put together that started with this rule and then used your checklist to either add or subtract, that could be a very efficient and effective bidding tool. Maybe we can even have the customers bid their own tree work with the app and save a trip to their house.

Would you give an example?

 

[27RMT0N]

Maybe we can even have the customers bid their own tree work with the app and save a trip to their house.

I've had customers tell me their 40' tree is 100' tall, their 'healthy' tree is 80% rotten and tell me in an email how long a highly technical job should take and what it should cost, somehow they always claim it should be very cheap.... The day I rely on a potential customers judgement to price or plan a job is the day I'd quit the industry.

 

[climbingmonkey24]