Tree Service Guys - Would you need this service?

[BrushGone]

Hello all,
I want to start my own subcontractor gig for tree services and wanted to gauge if it seems reasonable. I got the idea after a asked me to help clean up after the tree service 'forgot' a huge oak in his yard.

Basically my service would be "the ground guy" to pick up logs and branches from tree removal/pruning jobs.

The benefit to the tree service lies in running a smaller crew and spending less time and fees at the dump/having to bring a dump trailer. This let's the tree service focus what actually generates money. They can leave the debris and get onto the next job.

I'd need to invest in a trailer at the very least so there's some risk involved. OTOH I can resell a trailer if it doesn't pan out but I want to at least get a vague idea whether or not it's worth taking a shot at. I'd be happy to pick up a trailer load for $200 or so.

Is it a service companies would be interested in?

Any thoughts positive or negative are welcomed.

Much thanks.

 

[Jed1124]

I know a few guys that have done it. They had their own chip truck and chipper, and worked on site with the crew. They had a good working relationship with a few tree companies and new how to run rope and gear. They carried all of their own insurance.
Nobody wants to leave a mess and depend on someone coming to clean it up. You don't want to come to a site with all of the brush buried below a pile of wood. It doesn't make for an efficient clean up.
Trying to do this with a dump trailer is a no go.

 

[nardog]

It wouldn't hurt to throw up a one page website (or even a public/shareable google doc) that links to a "schedule a cleanup" form and reach out to as many tree services in your area of service. The most important thing is to talk to owners and build relationships. This isn't a hard and fast rule, but if you do 1-2 days of intense outreach and can't get at least 3 customers/warm leads/scheduled jobs then the demand probably isn't there.

 

[johnsmith0955]

Hello all,
I want to start my own subcontractor gig for tree services and wanted to gauge if it seems reasonable. I got the idea after a asked me to help clean up after the tree service 'forgot' a huge oak in his yard.

Basically my service would be "the ground guy" to pick up logs and branches from tree removal/pruning jobs.

The benefit to the tree service lies in running a smaller crew and spending less time and fees at the dump/having to bring a dump trailer. This let's the tree service focus what actually generates money. They can leave the debris and get onto the next job.

I'd need to invest in a trailer at the very least so there's some risk involved. OTOH I can resell a trailer if it doesn't pan out but I want to at least get a vague idea whether or not it's worth taking a shot at. I'd be happy to pick up a trailer load for $200 or so.

Is it a service companies would be interested in?

Any thoughts positive or negative are welcomed.

Much thanks.

As a tree services owner, https://www.mankatotreeservice.com. I see potential in your idea. Cleanup can be time-consuming, so having a dedicated "ground guy" could help us move to the next job faster. The $200 per load price seems fair, considering dump fees and labor costs. However, consider liability insurance, ensuring consistent availability, and investing in proper equipment beyond just a trailer.

Dump fees and regulations in your area are also important factors. While we might not use this service daily, it could be valuable for larger jobs or busy periods. I'd suggest reaching out to local tree services to gauge interest and maybe offering a trial run. It's worth exploring, but make sure to crunch the numbers carefully before investing heavily.

 

[telecasterfool]

I don't have employees, so I would use something like this for bigger jobs.

 

[Bullseye T&L]

I could see this being useful for larger companies running multiple crews, and they want to send a climber and a groundie over to knock out a couple of smaller jobs without tying up a chipper and loader. For the smaller crews, I don't know how you might fit in, unless they were just running full tilt, like after a storm, and they just wanted to focus on bringing the wood down. You're always gonna be handicapped a bit though because every company already has their own equipment to handle disposal, and it needs to be fed.

I would be curious to see if it would even be worth your while though. I find that after running true total cost of operation on my truck and dump trailer, they are more expensive than you might think. I am changing the tires on my dual axle dump every 10,000 miles due to either age, or punctures from the dump sites. That's $.06 per mile right there, added to the $.10 per mile for lifetime cost of the trailer. Plus my dump fees around here average $60 per load between the 3 sites I use. The truck gets expensed at $.75 per mile (which includes commercial auto insurance on truck and trailer). The average dump run is 20 mi round trip at about 1 hour per run, so that's $78.20 just in mileage and dump fees, plus $50 for labor, for a total of $128.20 before any actual cleanup labor. It takes about 2.0 hours to load a trailer solo, then 30-45 minutes cleanup solo, plus mileage to/from job site that has to get expensed. Add in general liability insurance too. Anyway, that should give you an idea.