# How much should a climber make an hour on average?



## bitzer

I don't know any climbers and don't really know what the commercial costs of tree removal are, but I was curious what a guy would get paid for climbing, topping, and removing a 30' tall 16" wide silver maple. I mean a a single guy on a crew getting paid by the owner. I have cut lots of firewood in the last five years and was asked by my father in law to give a qoute for some tree removals in his condo complex. The maple is by far the biggest of four trees and it could be felled without climbing. One company with a crew of four guys came in with a low bid and I thought how could they make any money especially when they said they would climb, top, remove, and stump grind. My father in law thought that a climber would only get paid $12/hour. I thought that was low. I won't be getting the job because I am not insured, but I was wondering what would a climber get paid that worked for a company? Thanks.


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## TreEmergencyB

depends on the area i make more than that and im not the primary climber...


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## bitzer

I am in southeastern Wisconsin. $12/hr seems low to me especially when climbing a tree I would think. I don't know what methods they are using whether spur or srt. I would guess spur or a combination, but I really don't know that much about it. Thanks.


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## Job Corps Tree

*how much should a climber make per hour*

10 years I was doing $16.00+ just south in Mt. Prospect IL, Lake & Cook countys. We have climbers starting $14.00 in SF CA.$13.00 in Washington DC. Here in Arkansas $10 to 12


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## Hddnis

A good climber around here starts at $17.00 from what I've seen. Most of the climbers I know are making $30.00 to $70.00 an hour. These are guys that are closer to the top of their game; they have proven they can take a difficult tree down safe.



Mr. HE


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## Hddnis

I should mention that you can get people who will climb for minimum wage or less. I've never known of a case where the person who hired them didn't pay the difference replacing broken fences, houses, cars, and whatever else got in the way of bombing the tree down.

One recent case was a guy who hired the neighbors out of work son-in-law. The guy bought a Wild Thing for the "climber" to use. He went to work for the day and came home to the tree on the ground, no power to his or the neighbors house, a hole in his roof, a large branch in his pool, a smashed fence, a stump six feet high, not to mention brush everywhere. Basically the "climber" started at the top of each branch and just started hacking off "small pieces, so it won't damage anything.".

This "climber" insisted he be paid for "Doing the hard part, you know, getting it on the ground." The guy gave him a $100 and the saw and hired a real tree company to come clean up the mess. His homeowners insurance covered all the repairs, but not the tree clean up.



Mr. HE


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## bitzer

Thanks for the info everyone! Good to know. Maybe their qoute wasn't that far off the mark, but with complete removal and stump grinding they must be running it pretty thin. I told my father in law to take a look at their operation and give me the low down on how these guys do. It will be interesting to see. Myself and two other companies quoted about $200 more than these guys. It might be interesting. The tree is between two condo buildings about 25ft from one and 30ft from the other. It is on the edge of these buildings and there is about a 150 degree radius it could be safely felled into and I felt confident in doing it, but I am not insured for that so they will not accept my bid for this reason. I'm just a guy with a saw that knows how to use it. Thanks again!


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## Hddnis

Sometimes a guy with a saw who knows how to use it is all you really need. People like to mitigate risk, and lawyers like to write rules for everyone else to follow, so that today having a saw and knowing how to use it will rarely get you work.

Can you get the insurance you need?



Mr. HE


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## Sunrise Guy

I wouldn't work for less than $25/hr. if I was subbing out to another company. Climbers down here, in Austin, make $12-25/hr. from what I've seen and heard. Of course those of "shaky citizenship status" will loop an HD rope around their waists and climb a tree for $8-10/hr.


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## Blakesmaster

I'm at 17 an hour which is low in my opinion but about the max for this area. There are very few local companies that would hire a climber on a full time basis for more than that. The only way to get more around here is if you contract climb or start your own biz. I don't really want to contract climb so i started my own biz.


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## treemandan

Blakesmaster said:


> I'm at 17 an hour which is low in my opinion but about the max for this area. There are very few local companies that would hire a climber on a full time basis for more than that. The only way to get more around here is if you contract climb or start your own biz. I don't really want to contract climb so i started my own biz.



I am trying to figure you out. You have your OWN business so you should have your OWN ins, tools, etc. Right?


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## treemandan

Hddnis said:


> I should mention that you can get people who will climb for minimum wage or less. I've never known of a case where the person who hired them didn't pay the difference replacing broken fences, houses, cars, and whatever else got in the way of bombing the tree down.
> 
> One recent case was a guy who hired the neighbors out of work son-in-law. The guy bought a Wild Thing for the "climber" to use. He went to work for the day and came home to the tree on the ground, no power to his or the neighbors house, a hole in his roof, a large branch in his pool, a smashed fence, a stump six feet high, not to mention brush everywhere. Basically the "climber" started at the top of each branch and just started hacking off "small pieces, so it won't damage anything.".
> 
> This "climber" insisted he be paid for "Doing the hard part, you know, getting it on the ground." The guy gave him a $100 and the saw and hired a real tree company to come clean up the mess. His homeowners insurance covered all the repairs, but not the tree clean up.
> 
> 
> 
> Mr. HE



Its funny cause its true.


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## treeseer

$95/hour :jawdrop:




but that's with all the overhead.

That goes up if the owner wants them cut down for no good reason--why are these being felled?


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## treemandan

treeseer said:


> $95/hour :jawdrop:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> but that's with all the overhead.
> 
> That goes up if the owner wants them cut down for no good reason--why are these being felled?



Are you telling us your rate as a just a climber?


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## treemandan

bitzercreek1 said:


> I don't know any climbers and don't really know what the commercial costs of tree removal are, but I was curious what a guy would get paid for climbing, topping, and removing a 30' tall 16" wide silver maple. I mean a a single guy on a crew getting paid by the owner. I have cut lots of firewood in the last five years and was asked by my father in law to give a qoute for some tree removals in his condo complex. The maple is by far the biggest of four trees and it could be felled without climbing. One company with a crew of four guys came in with a low bid and I thought how could they make any money especially when they said they would climb, top, remove, and stump grind. My father in law thought that a climber would only get paid $12/hour. I thought that was low. I won't be getting the job because I am not insured, but I was wondering what would a climber get paid that worked for a company? Thanks.



Its not a question to ask in hopes of getting a reply that suits you or makes sense. Sure, I know guys been doing this for 20 years making like 18 and I know guys been in it for a few years making much more. It depends how much you put into it.

If you want to ask me how much I make I would probably lie anyway.


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## DK_stihl

*Money*

I make 15 an hour whether I climb, cut, chip, grind stumps, drive truck, run bobcat, landscape, etc. Climbing is just something you do when you work for a tree company, it is not the be all, end all IMO.


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## Blakesmaster

treemandan said:


> I am trying to figure you out. You have your OWN business so you should have your OWN ins, tools, etc. Right?



Everything in my sig is owned by me, my brother and our other partner but none of that gets used at my full-ish-time gig. Yes, I bring my own saddle, rope, and climbing gear but I run their saws, bucket, skidsteers, grapples etc. My insurance and company equipment only gets used for MY jobs. Sorry, dano, thought everyone new that. If I'm using ANY of my company's equipment on a job, ( saws, running lines, blocks, etc. ) I look at it as a "contract climb" and my rate goes from 17 to 30 per hour and I kick some upstairs to our little kitty.


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## treemandan

Blakesmaster said:


> Everything in my sig is owned by me, my brother and our other partner but none of that gets used at my full-ish-time gig. Yes, I bring my own saddle, rope, and climbing gear but I run their saws, bucket, skidsteers, grapples etc. My insurance and company equipment only gets used for MY jobs. Sorry, dano, thought everyone new that. If I'm using ANY of my company's equipment on a job, ( saws, running lines, blocks, etc. ) I look at it as a "contract climb" and my rate goes from 17 to 30 per hour and I kick some upstairs to our little kitty.



Sounds good and you are an honest guy.


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## bitzer

treemandan said:


> Its not a question to ask in hopes of getting a reply that suits you or makes sense. Sure, I know guys been doing this for 20 years making like 18 and I know guys been in it for a few years making much more. It depends how much you put into it.
> 
> If you want to ask me how much I make I would probably lie anyway.



I was not looking for anything that suits me and I know some guys would not want to tell what they get paid. Thats fine with me. I don't tell many people what I get paid, I was just curious as to what an average rate would be. I don't climb and I will not be getting the job. I just was wondering. No harm intended, I just wanted to know on average what a guy would get paid, not what any individual would get paid.


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## Koa Man

I know of 2 climbers working for 2 different companies in Hawaii making $37.50 an hour plus benefits like full medical insurance, vacation and holidays. The owners of the companies they work for are my personal friends and we help each other out. I have used them on some of my bigger jobs and they are worth every penny.


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## beastmaster

Most of the Climbers out here don't speak English and only a few have papers. Some of them are damn good too. But you get what you pay for. Most make around 12 to 15 dollars an hour. No benefits or perks. I get a 150 a day, cash, no benefits but lots of perks. I've had my share of 12.00 an hour jobs over the years working for greedy owner. But I've paid my dues and work for some good tree services these days. I don't see my self getting rich anytime soon. Once years ago I was hired to work one day, I was hopeful ited turn into a full time job after they seen my skill, I over heard the owner say"I had all the qualifications they were looking for," My ego was inflated, then i heard him say," He's white,speaks English, and has a drivers lic." 15.00 an hour. Ego deflated.


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## WolverineMarine

The large line clearance company I work for starts us out low IMO..I have a clean class A CDL..you get raises based on if you are a climber and/or bucket baby and established tasks that must be completed/demonstrated and signed off by your foreman..I just started with this place..and I admittley don't know as much about climbing and rigging as I thought..so I started off on the bottom..but I'm going to step up and start the steps to get the next raise..I know guys there that won't climb, have been there for over 2 yrs, they're stuck at the bottom and they still make low end pay..we get a little extra for bringing in our trim saws..but it isn't much..I think its really cool though that this place has the standards in place so you know exactly what you need to do to get as raise..instead of just someone saying "ya..that guy busts his ass hauling brush and he wants to climb..he shows up everyday and is ready to go..he needs a raise". I admitt..it would be nice to get a bump up for that early in the game..but it prevents animocity amongst other members of the crews..and kinda cuts down on someone being accused of kissing the bosses ass..


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## OntarioClimber

It is my company, I'm the climber and I charge 150.00 per hour or I price by the job  I always tell clients that balk, that I can rent them my gear for 75.00 bucks an hour  so far? no takers lol


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## Plasmech

I don't see how climbing commands anything LESS than $50/hour.

Ever see what tower jockeys make? They make mint. And honesty that's probably a safer job with infinitely less variables.


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## Lawnmowerboy48

$18 hr on the ground doing landscaping and what not, $26 above ground. On the side $90 per man hour plus travel.


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## ForTheArborist

Plasmech said:


> I don't see how climbing commands anything LESS than $50/hour.
> 
> Ever see what tower jockeys make? They make mint. And honesty that's probably a safer job with infinitely less variables.



Those guys are getting paid from a much bigger money pool than what our customers are made of. When they have big money, it's easy to ask for big money no matter how much more simple the job is compared to tree climbing.


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## Bermie

I did a tree job for a guy who works for the cellular company...he asked me if I wanted to climb towers for them...after I saw two West Indians make money for jam on one tower I think I'll say yes!


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## Aldegar

No less than $20/hr if you can climb comfortably.


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## Griff93

It really depends on your market and cost of living. $20/hr is a good wage around here in Alabama. Housing around here is fairly cheap. $120K will buy you a nice house and and a big yard as long as you stay out of the 'rich' folks areas. Our market has a lot of competition so our $$$ per man hour is lower. I basically can't get work at $100/per as the licensed/insured competition is mostly lower than that. It's really getting pretty bad around here. As a result you see lots of corners cut too. The wages reflect this. One local large outfit pays their climbers $9 per hour to start out. Their ground guys are minimum wage.


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## Gimp treeman

Unfortunately, due to all of the overhead involved, insurance especially, in order to stay competitive, you can't charge enough money to be able to pay a skilled climber what they're worth. After climbing trees for 15 years I am now disabled. Most of which was caused from tree work. With this being said, how much a climber makes in my opinion, is a matter of how much you think your body is worth. Knowing what I know now, I would have considered doing things differently in order to take better care of my body. At the very least, climb safe


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## Sunrise Guy

Plasmech said:


> I don't see how climbing commands anything LESS than $50/hour.
> 
> Ever see what tower jockeys make? They make mint. And honesty that's probably a safer job with infinitely less variables.



You must have different info than I. I looked into tower climbing, for about a week. It is largely unregulated, several different "licensing" bodies, most unaccredited, and the only people pulling in decent bucks are the owners who see climbers come and go, very often, just like in our biz. The dangers are many. If a given tower is not locked out, power-wise, you can get microwaved at three hundred feet. Fun. If that doesn't get you, spontaneous electrical discharge (lightning out of nowhere) can. The hourly average I came up with, for tower climbers, was $12-$18/hr., from a few web pages.


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## jomoco

It all depends on how strategic the work you're doing is?

Pruning small stuff, 2 bills a day.

Pruning big stuff, 3 bills a day.

Removing big stuff a crane can't get to, 5 bills a day.




jomoco


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## CanopyGorilla

We try to price our bids with $100 per climber hour and $45 per ground hour. When people balk I try and explain that around here a carpenter bills out at $45, a plumber or auto mechanic at around $95-$115 and we have a much more inherently dangerous job. Some people still don't get why we charge more than the lawn boy even though were taking down a rotton cottonwood leaning over their home.


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## Gimp treeman

I worked for a large line clearance tree service for 15 years & was Union. I made roughly $50,000 to $60,000 per year depending on o/t. Plus great benefits. I did whatever they needed; climb, bucket work, rope & rigging, plan work, P.R. Type stuff etc. but was let go on my 15 year anniversary because I couldn't physically do it anymore due to a disability I developed. I should have work comped them years ago. Tree work is hard, hard on your body. Now I'm disabled & can't work. That good pay & great benefits don't mean **** now. Work smart, not hard if you're going to be a tree trimmer. 


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## Dillweed

What does Asplundh pay their climbers?


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## Gimp treeman

I never worked for Asplundh. But since I was Union, the pay grade was the same no matter what company it was working in our local. Asplundh & any other line clearance tree service will pay according to the area, union or nonunion, and per contract. Nonunion was paying a foreman about $10-12 an hour whereas I was paid about $20 an hour as a union foreman. Plus I had excellent health ins. That was thru the union that the company paid %100 for my premium. No out of pocket on my behalf


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## windthrown

When I left Southern Oregon at the peak of the economy before the great recession I was being offered $100 an hour climbing jobs (experienced climber with my own tools, equipment, license, insurance, bonded, etc.). I had to turn them down at the end because of my bad back. I was then charging $75 an hour for onsite cutting and chipping (no climbing) with a Bandit 90/95. From '07 through '09 I did a brisk business, but by the end of '09 I was being undercut by Messicans who charged $50 an hour (no insurance, no license, no experience, but no one seems to care until they break something). I could not buy the gas and keep the chipper blades and saws sharp and pay the bills and make a profit for that, so I sold my Bandit 90 and Husky saws to a guy and bailed out of the biz then.


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## Dillweed

When you say insured, does that mean you're covered with your own worker's comp?


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## Gimp treeman

I don't blame you. My best friend and I ran our own side gig years ago, at the time I had about 10 years experience and he had about 20 plus years. We had ins. We advertised, etc.. We were getting most of the work we bid because there wasn't much for experience in the area at the time. When the price of fuel started getting crazy, I started getting my throat cut by a bunch of Jonny come latelys. The final straw came when Some of the regular known tree services & myself bid a ginormous oak that was rotted at the base. Big enuf for a child to crawl all the way thru. We figured about a 2-3 day job roping & rigging this tree down & cleaning up with our grapple loader. We bid it at $2,000. Homeowner said That's about what all the locals bid it at too. But they were gonna go with some no name outfit that owned a ladder and a saw who bid it at $400. I said deuces, I'm done. 


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## Gimp treeman

There's workers comp ins. And there's liability ins. 


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## coolbrze

Guy I know climbed for Pittman last year, he's only been climbing for ~3 years & they offered him $15/hr. but he quit after 6 months b/c he spent more time as a bucket baby than climber. Most of the big companies (25+ employees) in Northern VA are paying climbers $18-$26/hr. We start at $18/hr. w/ a 30 day trial/eval period & go up from there. My top climber makes $30/hr. & we have a couple climbers in between. Ground guys make between $12 - $16/hr. All our employees are on the books, no cash paying here.


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## Gimp treeman

That's not too bad. But what is the cost of living there? It's rather cheap living where I'm at


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## coolbrze

Gimp treeman said:


> That's not too bad. But what is the cost of living there? It's rather cheap living where I'm at
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk



Northern VA is pretty expensive compared to most of the country. The proximity to DC drives it up, living in the 'burbs is great for work but I'd rather live in the country


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## no tree to big

Gimp treeman said:


> I don't blame you. My best friend and I ran our own side gig years ago, at the time I had about 10 years experience and he had about 20 plus years. We had ins. We advertised, etc.. We were getting most of the work we bid because there wasn't much for experience in the area at the time. When the price of fuel started getting crazy, I started getting my throat cut by a bunch of Jonny come latelys. The final straw came when Some of the regular known tree services & myself bid a ginormous oak that was rotted at the base. Big enuf for a child to crawl all the way thru. We figured about a 2-3 day job roping & rigging this tree down & cleaning up with our grapple loader. We bid it at $2,000. Homeowner said That's about what all the locals bid it at too. But they were gonna go with some no name outfit that owned a ladder and a saw who bid it at $400. I said deuces, I'm done.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


2 or 3 days? How big was this thing? We are 3500 a day min 3000 if it's a buddy or very good customer ( 4 owners = lots of buddies...)
Our climbers will range from 15 to 23/hr lot of crappy climbers looking for work...


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## Magnum783

Climber pay goes all over on staff climber usually around $22/hr a contract climber can see around $80. All depends upon your status and what gear and equipment you bring to the job site.


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## Raganr

Seems like any skilled labor around me charges a shop rate of at least $60/hour. Thats small engine, trailer, vehicle, plumber, HVAC, landscapers, etc. If I were to work as a climber, I would not work for less than $75/hour total compensation.


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## BC WetCoast

Raganr said:


> Seems like any skilled labor around me charges a shop rate of at least $60/hour. Thats small engine, trailer, vehicle, plumber, HVAC, landscapers, etc. If I were to work as a climber, I would not work for less than $75/hour total compensation.



Differs between whether you are an employee or a contractor (contracting to end client or other company). An employee will always make less, because they have less costs. A contract climber has his own insurance, equipment and vehicles to pay for. Also, a employee will usually have steady work, whereas a contractor may be a little more hit and miss. That's why a contractor charges more.

Also don't confuse the shop rate for a mechanic with the wage that mechanic makes.

When I was a consultant, we calculated our charge out rates as 3x salary.


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## jefflovstrom

Jeff


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## bitzer

Wow this is an old thread. Thank God I chose to go to the woods though. I don't like dealing with homeowners.


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## formationrx

hourly pay for my climber is based on the difficulty level of the tree and the weather conditions... for an easy tree on a nice day its around 20... if its freezing or super hot and the tree is very tricky he can make twice or triple that... he gets paid based on how much hell he goes thru.....


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## climbhightree

formationrx said:


> hourly pay for my climber is based on the difficulty level of the tree and the weather conditions... for an easy tree on a nice day its around 20... if its freezing or super hot and the tree is very tricky he can make twice or triple that... he gets paid based on how much hell he goes thru.....


So your paying your climber more per hour when he is being less productive per hour (do to weather conditions). Doesn't make sense to me. How do you even bid a job for that, how do you know what the weather will be like the day of the job?


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## HuskStihl

bitzer said:


> I don't know any climbers and don't really know what the commercial costs of tree removal are, but I was curious what a guy would get paid for climbing, topping, and removing a 30' tall 16" wide silver maple. I mean a a single guy on a crew getting paid by the owner. I have cut lots of firewood in the last five years and was asked by my father in law to give a qoute for some tree removals in his condo complex. The maple is by far the biggest of four trees and it could be felled without climbing. One company with a crew of four guys came in with a low bid and I thought how could they make any money especially when they said they would climb, top, remove, and stump grind. My father in law thought that a climber would only get paid $12/hour. I thought that was low. I won't be getting the job because I am not insured, but I was wondering what would a climber get paid that worked for a company? Thanks.


I pay climbers based upon their weight. Northman, for example, gets $100/hr. Jolly Jeff.........about 1/3 that rate.


Talk about a blast from the past. Bitzer before he was Bitzer!


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## bitzer

HuskStihl said:


> I pay climbers based upon their weight. Northman, for example, gets $100/hr. Jolly Jeff.........about 1/3 that rate.
> 
> 
> Talk about a blast from the past. Bitzer before he was Bitzer!


 Ha! yeah I was a little green then. Just swingin baby trees! No I didn't try it with a brom stick first. Thank God I still don't know the costs of commercial tree service companies.


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## formationrx

climbhightree said:


> So your paying your climber more per hour when he is being less productive per hour (do to weather conditions). Doesn't make sense to me. How do you even bid a job for that, how do you know what the weather will be like the day of the job?


he is being more productive cuz a harder tree pays more... and i do like u guys do and check the weather before hand... im on site at every job... its not hard...


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