# How much do you charge a tree guy?



## Mkarlson (Feb 21, 2008)

Was at work this morning when a lady who lives down the road pulled in and dropped of a guy. He came up and asked if there was anyway I could help him get out of a sticky situation. It seems he is an asplundh worker and him and his crew got their truck stuck out in a field when they broke through the snow and ice. I nodded to the Terra Gator sitting on the lot and told him it would probably do it. I didnt know if he had a large bucket truck or one of the single axle trucks...so I grabbed a half inch chain and we rode up to the truck. Sure enough he was stuck down to the axle. So without slipping a tire I pulled him out. Talked to him about the large white oak he was about to cut out of the powerline right of way. I didnt realize asplundh actually had climbers on their crew. Anyway they were stacking the brush and keeping the logs in the fence line so I told them I'd probably come block it up for firewood this weekend. 

So the question is how much should I stick it to asplundh? A tow truck with the ability to pull him out 500 yards off the road would cost a pretty penny.



Just messing with you all I wouldnt charge someone for something like that. Now if it had been a bunch of teenagers in a big 4x4 messing around it might be different story


----------



## oldirty (Feb 21, 2008)

give your number to the foreman and tell him to call you when he has wood leftover. i'd say at the end of their cycle you would have enough wood to come out on top. good luck


----------



## czar800 (Feb 21, 2008)

Got any Pictures?

Hey I just had a birthday turned 100.


----------



## Mkarlson (Feb 21, 2008)

No pictures ,but interestingly enough the last few days I've had several things I wish I would have had the camera handy for. Would loved to have had some pictures of the stuck asplundh truck to share on here. Two days ago while crossing a bridge we spotted a bald eagle in flight then on return trip it was perched high in a tree over looking the river. To some the bald eagle is a common site but in this area its very rare. Considering carrying my camera in the truck all the time just for instances like these.


----------



## Mkarlson (Feb 21, 2008)

Congrats on the 100th


----------



## Slvrmple72 (Feb 21, 2008)

czar800 said:


> Got any Pictures?
> 
> Hey I just had a birthday turned 100.



CONGRATULATIONS


----------



## ropensaddle (Feb 21, 2008)

Mkarlson said:


> Was at work this morning when a lady who lives down the road pulled in and dropped of a guy. He came up and asked if there was anyway I could help him get out of a sticky situation. It seems he is an asplundh worker and him and his crew got their truck stuck out in a field when they broke through the snow and ice. I nodded to the Terra Gator sitting on the lot and told him it would probably do it. I didnt know if he had a large bucket truck or one of the single axle trucks...so I grabbed a half inch chain and we rode up to the truck. Sure enough he was stuck down to the axle. So without slipping a tire I pulled him out. Talked to him about the large white oak he was about to cut out of the powerline right of way. I didnt realize asplundh actually had climbers on their crew. Anyway they were stacking the brush and keeping the logs in the fence line so I told them I'd probably come block it up for firewood this weekend.
> 
> So the question is how much should I stick it to asplundh? A tow truck with the ability to pull him out 500 yards off the road would cost a pretty penny.
> 
> ...


Charge them six grand they have it they scre?ed me out of ten years
of my life


----------



## StihlRockin' (Feb 22, 2008)

Seeing bald eagles around here is not that big an issue. Some call them flying carp as they will eat about anything... including carrion along the road; not the freshest either. I once was bowhunting by sneaking around, actually scouting that day, and was walking down a path with a big brush pile in front of me and as I went around the pile I walked right up to a bald eagle eating on a gut pile some deer hunter dumped off. I must have been 25 feet from him and he seemed tall to me, very tall. They're beautiful looking birds. I'm glad they decided to have them as our national bird instead of the turkey. LOL!

I once was in a bucket truck going across the client's yard when the bottom felt like it dropped out from under us. We sunk into an old cesspool hole that was covered up years ago. I forgot how the world we got out, but when it was over, the youngest kid of the bunch said "That was a chitty feeling."! LOL!

*Stihl*Rockin'


----------



## Mkarlson (Feb 22, 2008)

Ive heard those same comments about how similiar the bald eagles are to buzzards. Some people hate the fact that its our national bird for that reason. Sitting over a pile of guts is not how I would want to see a bird that seems so majestic in flight. The department of natural resources in this area tried so hard to get nesting pairs of of baldies to breed back in the 90's but they must have had a gay male. Or maybe they just consumed too much mercury and lead from the fish in our streams? Anyway its very rare in this area to see them, last I knew the nearest nest were like 30 miles south of me and it was only one or two pairs of birds.


----------



## Bigus Termitius (Feb 22, 2008)

I used to run the big gators back in the day for a couple of years. You've gotta luv em.

I too got stuck in a field this year clearing the line.

Luckily right behind a fertilizer company facility so I had one of their operators give me a yank. No charge thankfully.


----------



## ropensaddle (Feb 22, 2008)

Bigus Termitius said:


> I used to run the big gators back in the day for a couple of years. You've gotta luv em.
> 
> I too got stuck in a field this year clearing the line.
> 
> Luckily right behind a fertilizer company facility so I had one of their operators give me a yank. No charge thankfully.



Ever wander why with all the money those line clearance companies
have,why aren't their trucks outfitted with winch and 4+4 it seems
like a management problem to me :hmm3grin2orange: cheap cheap
they do resemble a baby Bald Eagle


----------



## treeseer (Feb 22, 2008)

no charge, but I would hint that they could cut their wood x" long...


----------



## Bigus Termitius (Feb 23, 2008)

ropensaddle said:


> Ever wander why with all the money those line clearance companies
> have,why aren't their trucks outfitted with winch and 4+4 it seems
> like a management problem to me :hmm3grin2orange: cheap cheap
> they do resemble a baby Bald Eagle



ha! in more ways than one.


----------



## Mkarlson (Feb 23, 2008)

> no charge, but I would hint that they could cut their wood x" long...



I should of thought about that. I did mention that I'd be back to block it up and that they could make it a bit easier to get to by not stacking it in the fence row. Hopefully they will leave it right at the edge, never know maybe they did block it up. Hopefully I will have time to get to it this weekend.


----------



## ropensaddle (Feb 23, 2008)

Bigus Termitius said:


> ha! in more ways than one.



When I worked 4 them they even bought homelights! They
paid as little as they possibly could and made you work on vacation time!
I was supposed to have savings bonds and other retirement incentives but
never saw anything in writing just gf bs! I learned quite a bit while there
but sure paid for training I on more than one occasion was tempted 
to hog tie the ceo, put a saddle on him and hoist him to the top of a tree
and give him a better perspective of the job he overseen!


----------



## beowulf343 (Feb 23, 2008)

Mkarlson said:


> I didnt realize asplundh actually had climbers on their crew.



Hey! Three years with Asplundh and 20+ trees climbed every day. Most people don't seem to know about their off-road crews.



ropensaddle said:


> Ever wander why with all the money those line clearance companies
> have,why aren't their trucks outfitted with winch and 4+4 it seems
> like a management problem to me :hmm3grin2orange:



Ever wonder why even though every bucket has a set or two of climbing gear in it, they will launch the truck somewhere they shouldn't be instead of climbing the tree? Seems like a laziness problem to me.:hmm3grin2orange: 


Sorry to hear about your bad experience-they always treated us ok around here. Yeah, the push for production sucked, not to mention the nepotism and the fact that our union rep was a huge druggie. But i've worked with worse outfits. The pay was good, the experience was invaluable, heck we even got a saw check to pay for our own saws. I've never regretted my time with them.


----------



## ropensaddle (Feb 24, 2008)

beowulf343 said:


> Hey! Three years with Asplundh and 20+ trees climbed every day. Most people don't seem to know about their off-road crews.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


No union here,no saw check either just a big orange weiny 
I ran a manual crew for them and bucket crews as well no laziness
i assure you. I hated bid work they were always behind and pay sucked
no benefits and too many pricks! They did teach well and had a good
safety training program but I worked for them early eighties to early
nineties!


----------



## masterarbor (Mar 7, 2008)

*axle winch*

i heard a story about an asplundh truck that got stuck out in the middle of nowhere. the wheels just spun in the mud. an old timer got out a bull rope attached it somehow to the spinning tire and tied it to a nearby tree. as the tire spun, the rope got tighter and tighter and viola! hillbilly winch!


----------



## czar800 (Mar 8, 2008)

Kinda like this winch i made.


----------



## Col2y (Mar 8, 2008)

dont charge him anything, he wasnt making any money off of it so you shoulnt either, what goes around comes around


----------



## ropensaddle (Mar 8, 2008)

Col2y said:


> dont charge him anything, he wasnt making any money off of it so you shoulnt either, what goes around comes around



I would agree if the foreman was to pay the bill and sometimes they do.
I had to pay for a septic tank, even though the owner said there was nothing to worry about in the field , I got set up, it sucked holding back; I really wanted to get my moneys worth!


----------



## masterarbor (Mar 8, 2008)

czar800 said:


> Kinda like this winch i made.



exactly, but what I wonder is how did he do it with a tire in the rim and not interfere with the brake lines etc? Also, would you have to do both tires? i love the idea, real mc guyver sort of stuff!:smoking:


----------



## ropensaddle (Mar 8, 2008)

masterarbor said:


> exactly, but what I wonder is how did he do it with a tire in the rim and not interfere with the brake lines etc? Also, would you have to do both tires? i love the idea, real mc guyver sort of stuff!:smoking:


It is tricky you have to make sure it stays centered between the dullies
and use reverse! It is not the best idea and can tear chit up.


----------



## ropensaddle (Mar 8, 2008)

Now making a drum that would attach to the rim would be better!
Most of those stinking asplundh trucks did not even have limited slip,
get stuck on wet grass they stunk.


----------



## beowulf343 (Mar 9, 2008)

ropensaddle said:


> Most of those stinking asplundh trucks did not even have limited slip,
> get stuck on wet grass they stunk.



And that right there is what pissed me off about the bucket babies-everyone knows Asplundh's bucket trucks were horrible, yet they would always try to drive them off-road. JUST CLIMB IT, WUSSIES.


----------



## treedog54 (Mar 9, 2008)

*Cheap*

Asplundh Always telling you their the biggest.they are also the cheepest.Don,t buy what ya need always the cheep S---. worked for alot of contractors .They were the worst.By far


----------



## oldirty (Mar 9, 2008)

beowulf343 said:


> And that right there is what pissed me off about the bucket babies-everyone knows Asplundh's bucket trucks were horrible, yet they would always try to drive them off-road. JUST CLIMB IT, WUSSIES.



they never let me give you rep bud. so i have to quote ya.


----------



## minny (Mar 13, 2008)

Why were you driving across a clients yard?



StihlRockin' said:


> Seeing bald eagles around here is not that big an issue. Some call them flying carp as they will eat about anything... including carrion along the road; not the freshest either. I once was bowhunting by sneaking around, actually scouting that day, and was walking down a path with a big brush pile in front of me and as I went around the pile I walked right up to a bald eagle eating on a gut pile some deer hunter dumped off. I must have been 25 feet from him and he seemed tall to me, very tall. They're beautiful looking birds. I'm glad they decided to have them as our national bird instead of the turkey. LOL!
> 
> I once was in a bucket truck going across the client's yard when the bottom felt like it dropped out from under us. We sunk into an old cesspool hole that was covered up years ago. I forgot how the world we got out, but when it was over, the youngest kid of the bunch said "That was a chitty feeling."! LOL!
> 
> *Stihl*Rockin'


----------



## yooper (Mar 13, 2008)

treedog54 said:


> Asplundh Always telling you their the biggest.they are also the cheepest.Don,t buy what ya need always the cheep S---. worked for alot of contractors .They were the worst.By far



I would hafta agree with ya there treedog, always the cheapest crap in the truck and just enough to get by. Always wondered why there trucks where Orange and not brown....If brown they would be like a big turd-hurse just rambling down the highway full of nuthen but $hit!!!:biggrinbounce2:


----------



## ropensaddle (Mar 13, 2008)

yooper said:


> I would hafta agree with ya there treedog, always the cheapest crap in the truck and just enough to get by. Always wondered why there trucks where Orange and not brown....If brown they would be like a big turd-hurse just rambling down the highway full of nuthen but $hit!!!:biggrinbounce2:



That is eazy they did it so people could see them so in court 
they had a leg to stand on: so mam you did not see that big orange truck eh!


----------



## ropensaddle (Mar 13, 2008)

beowulf343 said:


> And that right there is what pissed me off about the bucket babies-everyone knows Asplundh's bucket trucks were horrible, yet they would always try to drive them off-road. JUST CLIMB IT, WUSSIES.



I ran manuals for years no wussie here, I have stuck their trucks
trying to get in, but never for one tree! If it meant six spans of climbing
vrs a chance of a tow bill then,ya. I also made plywood bridges to get
in! I was just stating their cheapness! I am an ultra small company, yet
my bucket has limited slip and a good winch! It is the greed of it all that
pissed me off, and I seldom got stuck but it did happen , it was the
managements fault they did not equip their machines.


----------

