What are your hourly rates for your climbers?

I didn't mean anything bad Royce, I meant overall that the tree industry in general is getting robbed. I know you as most other owners would pay the moon if it was feasible.
 
monkeylove said:
I didn't mean anything bad Royce, I meant overall that the tree industry in general is getting robbed. I know you as most other owners would pay the moon if it was feasible.
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No worries, I didn't take it as bad. I wish I could charge a homeowner what I needed to for a dangerous tree and then pass that money onto my employees. It's very rewarding when you see your employees do well!!
 
ROYCE said:
Workmans comp insurance is very high in this industry and it is directly based on your payroll. Also, we need a lot of equipment to get our work done safely. What does a carpenter need to show up to the job with? 20K dollars worth of tools and he is in business. 20K won't even buy a good chipper for a production crew, let alone a bucket truck, chip truck, mini loader, log truck, and maybe a crane. Your costs have to be spread around to more things. Makes less in the end to pay your employees.
I just paid my accountant to do some work for me. she charges 125 an hour. No one complains! Electrician, Plumber, and carpenters around here are all around the 80-100 dollar and hour range. Yet everyone bocks when you try and charge what is needed to remove that nasty dead beech tree hanging over there house.
I would provide me Target day rate and man hour rate to anyone who is interested in a PM.
What I try and do as a owner of a new company is pay a good base salary. Bid on good jobs where the customer values a good service at a fair price, and then share the profits from working hard throughout the year. There are a lot of fringe benefits that are involved. Company uniforms, paid lunches on occasion, paid training days, paid days to attend conferences, and a profit sharing bonus at the end of the year. I think that can add a lot to your net worth at the end of the year but dons't actually get put down on paper.
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This could be the most profound statement I've read on this topic. Makes me want to buy Royce a beer. We should all consider this point here: Why do we get looked at like garbage men? Why is it that a plumber, electrician or carpenter can charge considerably more for their time with considerably less danger and liability? How do we get beyond this stigma?
I would add to his point about the relationship between payroll and W/C- how many employees understand this dynamic? Your X-mas bonus, the days he (or she) paid you to attend a conference, that injury free paid day, the day you tried out that new gear: Some insurance company charged your boss $20/$100 paid out for time you didn't do production work. Was the risk to you and therefore them the same? As biz owners many of us try to use fringe beni's because of these restrictions. If your boss pays for your phone you weren't taxed on that money and he didn't pay W/C on it as labor. Lots of employees need to let that soak in.

Sorry for the rant but, I think these two points dovetail. Smarter tree guys all around can and will drive up wages!
 
treevet said:
Orrrrr....you can spend your WHOLE career BEING the climber (46th year) with just a ground man. Add a couple of buckets and crane and Wraptor etc etc...best collection of saws possible, mass other equipment...and just do it all yourself and make a damn good living and have a lot less headaches....just sayin
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How did you do it? Contract climbing? Bring your own ground guy? No major equipment? Or do you mean you're the owner/operator. To me that had some drawbacks too like not enough hours in the day. I was never able to find balance. It seems you did and I'd love to hear your secret!!!
 
No Steve, just me in the air and a gm. I try to teach him to climb and get him some equipment so he can make some money on the side and treat him real good. We just always work til 4 30 pm or earlier, but yeah, on the phone and bids after. But all my work is within a few miles unless very high dollar.

I am not only getting to the end of my career but end of my life (relatively) and still plan to climb til I can't (and bucket, crane etc.). Not as bad as it sounds and I have had climbers and trained them and hey, once they get good they will chase the pot at the end of the rainbow.\
 
So how do you manage clean up and disposal? I may be taking you too literally. Thinking 2 employees. I have toyed with ideas. I dont like the contract climber idea and don't like having to deal with subcontractors for the clean up and aftermath of my work. Are you a full service outfit? I hate to hijack the thread. I can just send you a pm if you want.
 
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