# contract work for other tree co. with my bucket truck



## conlan (Feb 23, 2013)

I recently purchased a 75 foot rear mount bucket truck (with elevator and four outriggers). Fantiastic reach and can be set up on a hill. I run a relatively small business and will not be using this truck every day, so I am condidering doing contract work for other tree companies to earn extra money. My rate for the truck with an operator in the bucket (using our own saw, trimmers, etc.) is $400 for the first hour (covers travel time there and back) and $225 per hour after that. By having a fixed rate the tree guy who hires me knows exactly what his costs will be and I don't have to go out and estimate the job for him. My big concerns are the following: (1) other tree companies will start bidding on big jobs they might otherwise not bid on because they know they can hire out my truck for the hard to reach parts, which will take work away from me; (2) the other companies might see how great this truck is and buy one for themselves. If I can get the rate I am asking, then the money is pretty good and after a few years I will have paid off most of the cost of the truck. Curious as to what you guys think. Should I keep it all to myself or do contract work?


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## capetrees (Feb 23, 2013)

I don't own a bucket truck so realize that up front.

I do climb and have climbed for landscape companies to take down trees for them that they otherwise couldn't do. I don't climb for all of them. By not climbing for more than a couple, it allows me to still have the ability to bid on some of the tougher trees. In other words, no, I'm not losing tree work due to the landscapers now bidding on trees figuring they can use me to climb. If the word is out that you have a bucket truck and can do the work youself, why would anyone call the guys that don't have a truck and would need to hire you at a higher price?
To the other question of will the other companies go out and buy their own trucks, I doubt it. By hiring you, only when they need you, they avoid the initial cost of a truck, the insurance and registration and the general upkeep and repairs of the truck and boom. For me, a bucket has never been needed and wouldn't be a good investment because the majority of my trees are in places where a bucket truck wouldn't fit or couldn't access without making a huge mess. Therefore, purchasing one is out of the question but knowing I can hire one once in a while would be a bonus.


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## timberland ts (Feb 23, 2013)

I started doing about 75% sub work bucket and climbing, now after 3 yrs about 25%. I like the sub work cash money, make a mess and leave. People will see you doing work for the subs and start contacting you. Biggest thing is make sure they pay you everyday you work for them. I allways include a guy with me some of these jokers are pretty scarey when it comes to tree work. My insurance on the line.


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## luckydad (Feb 23, 2013)

conlan said:


> I recently purchased a 75 foot rear mount bucket truck (with elevator and four outriggers). Fantiastic reach and can be set up on a hill. I run a relatively small business and will not be using this truck every day, so I am condidering doing contract work for other tree companies to earn extra money. My rate for the truck with an operator in the bucket (using our own saw, trimmers, etc.) is $400 for the first hour (covers travel time there and back) and $225 per hour after that. By having a fixed rate the tree guy who hires me knows exactly what his costs will be and I don't have to go out and estimate the job for him. My big concerns are the following: (1) other tree companies will start bidding on big jobs they might otherwise not bid on because they know they can hire out my truck for the hard to reach parts, which will take work away from me; (2) the other companies might see how great this truck is and buy one for themselves. If I can get the rate I am asking, then the money is pretty good and after a few years I will have paid off most of the cost of the truck. Curious as to what you guys think. Should I keep it all to myself or do contract work?



We just recently purchased one of these trucks also,they are great at everything you can do with them. You know your competitors better than anyone,and know who you can work for and who you can't. Try to keep a low profile,and don't show your hand too much. Just tell them when they ask how the truck works say,well its just so so. LOL !!


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## Jed1124 (Feb 25, 2013)

Bucket truck owner/operator I use is $800 a day flat rate. I think you'll find there are going to be guys that you will want to sub for and others you will be "to busy" to work for when they call. Just going to have to feel them out.


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## mckeetree (Feb 25, 2013)

Jed1124 said:


> Bucket truck owner/operator I use is $800 a day flat rate. I think you'll find there are going to be guys that you will want to sub for and others you will be "to busy" to work for when they call. Just going to have to feel them out.



I started a company policy 01-01-12 we will do no work of any kind for another tree service. No bucket work, no chipping, no stump grinding, no chemical application, no anything. Way too much headache and the chasing them around for the money part gets real old real quick.


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## Kottonwood (Feb 25, 2013)

I still sub as a climber occasionally.... never with my bucket, cuz everyone seems to have a nicer bucket truck than I do. I charge 75 an hour with a two hour minimum. I always get cash or check at the end of the day unless they are someone I have worked for a bunch.

Your rate sounds very high, I would never pay that. I only pay 160 an hour for a forty ton crane with a two hour minimum. However if you can get that rate power to ya.


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## dbl612 (Feb 25, 2013)

KeithTheTreeGuy said:


> I still sub as a climber occasionally.... never with my bucket, cuz everyone seems to have a nicer bucket truck than I do. I charge 75 an hour with a two hour minimum. I always get cash or check at the end of the day unless they are someone I have worked for a bunch.
> 
> Your rate sounds very high, I would never pay that. I only pay 160 an hour for a forty ton crane with a two hour minimum. However if you can get that rate power to ya.



what can you get done with a two hr. minimum when you factor in crane time?


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## Kottonwood (Feb 25, 2013)

I do lots of crane jobs that only take two or three hours. We did a cottonwood last year that had a 40 foot long large 25" horizontal limb that went over a barn, the limb above it had broken and was laying on the large limb. It was pretty close to the roof and there was really not much left above it to rig from. The rest of the tree had a nice big drop zone. I went up and dropped the top, then the crane showed up and picked out the large limb in a few picks, then I flopped the rest. Crane was there for just over an hour including set up and take down time. I would have kept him there to load the butt log in my trailer but he was running late already so I let him run to his next thing.

On subcontract climbing jobs I usually work a full day but I did have a guy call me all the way up to the mountains to remove a tree that was leaning directly on the roof. He thought it needed to be climbed. I just pulled it over with a 5-1, it took me like half an hour and I charged 150.


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## Kottonwood (Feb 25, 2013)

at his rate for an eight hour day (we usually work ten) he would bill out 1975.... that is about the amount of work a 3-4 man tree crew with bucket does in a day around here, no way I could pay that for just the bucket truck...... making 2 gs a day for one guy and a bucket sure would be nice though. Maybe prices are way higher in your area.


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## conlan (Feb 25, 2013)

*prices are higher up here for sure; depends on where you live.*



KeithTheTreeGuy said:


> at his rate for an eight hour day (we usually work ten) he would bill out 1975.... that is about the amount of work a 3-4 man tree crew with bucket does in a day around here, no way I could pay that for just the bucket truck...... making 2 gs a day for one guy and a bucket sure would be nice though. Maybe prices are way higher in your area.



It would be very unusual for someone to hire out my lift truck for an 8 hour day because this 75 footer is so unbelievably fast. One thing I would like to point out is that other tree guys often only need my lift truck for 0.5 -3.0 hours and it is usually for something that would be a huge inconvienience for a climber to do. For exmple, we cut back about 16, 30 foot long branches of a 100 foot tall Douglas fir tree so the branches were only about 20 feet long. This was to reduce branches from breaking. The job took about half an hour with the lift truck, but to do this with a climber he would have to limb walk out on each branch (without breaking it) rope up the tip, cut it and lower it with a rope(there were obstacles below which were breakable). It would have taken a climber a very long time to accesss each branch and tie it up. If you needed a lift truck for a full 8 hour day then the job would either be very big or the ground crew are increadibly slow. You do not want to have the lift truck operator sitting there watching the ground crew mess around. The lift truck should come in and do its thing real fast and get out of there; the ground crew can take as long as they like once the lift truck is outa there. 

With respect to crane service, up here there is a 4 hour minimum; even if you use the crane for 1 hour they will charge 1.5 hours for travel time each way, which include the time it takes to set up and take down the crane. Crane prices are about $190 an hour and up depending on the crane size, so a 4 hour bill is around $800. 

With respect to my rate for my lift truck, it is way cheaper than hiring a big company like Davey or Bartlett. I have hired their lift truck with their operator on occassion and they basically charged me almost the same price as I quoted for the whole job. Basically they charged so much it was not worth it for me to use them. I am trying to come up with an hourly rate that would be a win/win for both me and the other tree company.


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## Tree&Stump (Feb 26, 2013)

Basically if I hire a boom truck or crane, I figure out 2 things first. One is the amount of labor/ins/taxes I'm going to save. Two is the hours or days earlier I'm going to be done with the job and can be on to the next job which makes a difference in what I have at the end of that week. Add those two figures together, and that is the budget I have to spend on machine assistance. If there's not enough in it, or it's not really worth it for me after paying, I won't hire.


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