ArborJet (Tree-Age) injection experiences

[ATH]

Anybody else here doing much with the Arborjet systems?

I have found it to be a bigger pain than expected. Some trees it has gone great - others don't want to take it in.

I have tried both the Tree IV and QuickJet. The QuickJet, well, isn't. I have only used it for Tree Age which is pretty thick. If you were using a thinner chemical and a dosage closer to 2-3 ml per inch, I think this would be a good system.

One the Tree IV, I have found it necessary to keep adding pressure to the system and even then it can go slow. I tried a battery powered inflator I had, but it died on my (obviously that wasn't ArborJet's fault!). Today I picked up a CO2 adaptor (in the tool section of Lowes) that is intended to make finish nailers "cordless". I did talke to ArborJet about it and they thought it would work well. My plan is to put this on the system to keep the pressure constant. I will be putting that into pracitce next week and report back.

For now, I am just curious what others think.

 

[treeman48507]

I have been using it for 3 years nowand yes the uptake can be slow.The Co2 system is a good idea. Just be careful with the plug installation and watch your bottles. They will in time fail if you keep maxing out the system. Besides safety, chemicail lost is bad. Other things to watch for is maintenance on your system, clogged tips slow jobs as does your ability to thin solution. Time of day is critical. Earlier the better it seems. Even then , when theres more than one tree to inject . Theres always that one problem tree it seems that never wants to flow.
Hang in there The product works great and in time you will find experience will help your speed !

 

[prana360]

I dont want to steal this thread but how do you all come up with a good way to price Tree-Age injections? Do you charge by tree size, number of injection sites and product used or for your actual time and hours? I am having a hard time figuring out a good system to calculate charges on this. Any help would be great, thanks in advance and again sorry for hijacking your thread.

 

[ATH]

No problem with a minor hi-jack...not much action going on with my original questions anyhow!

I charge by the inch. Price of chemical and plugs is figured into that. Bigger trees get more chemical per inch of dbh, so the cost is higher, but I don't add to the labor costs.

The difficulty has been the injection time. Sometime it goes right in and I feel like I am doing great (financially) while other times I feel like I am loosing my shirt because it takes so long.

By the way, the CO2 system has worked great.

 

[tree MDS]

I dont want to hi-jack the thread either.. but if anyone is interested, I might have two of the arborjet systems (six bottles,plugs,injectors etc.) for sale, hardly used. PM if interested.

 

[treeman48507]

Prana, I try for aleast $2 per mil. on treeage... I hope this helps.

 

[Corymbia]

A different perspective

I dont want to steal this thread but how do you all come up with a good way to price Tree-Age injections? Do you charge by tree size, number of injection sites and product used or for your actual time and hours? I am having a hard time figuring out a good system to calculate charges on this. Any help would be great, thanks in advance and again sorry for hijacking your thread.

I think there are two issues here.

You need to know what it costs, chemicals, time, training, insurance overheads, travel, advertising and so the list goes on.

The second and more important is how to get more than what it costs your, preferably a whole lot more! To answer that question you need to ask what is the value of the service and not what is the cost. This has more to do with the benefits than the actual work being performed.

At least that is how I see things

 

[rcp2]

treeage

Guys around me are charging $7.50-10.00 per inch dbh. Sometimes its easier to just give the answer instead of beating around the bush. Isn't this site up for us to help each other anyway?

Back to the original thread question. I had good experiences w/ the product. I have the quick jet and it is hard to push it in after the chamber fills, but it took.
I went out that night and saw a bunch of EAB all over the sidewalk and street under the trees. I thought I also saw a larvae too but can't be sure. It seems to be a great chemical.

 

[ATH]

Thanks for the input on usage. I haven't gone back to the quick jet, but I am thinking maybe it was a timing issue. This spring, I tried it before there were enough leaves on the trees - they were about 75% full and it was a 'perfect' day (early in the day, nice breeze, sunny), so I expected it would go well but it didn't. I also tried it last fall, which I understood was supposed to be an acceptable time to treat. From a pest management point it may be, but from an operational standpoint, I didn't think it was...very difficult to get the product in.

Regarding this:
Guys around me are charging $7.50-10.00 per inch dbh. Sometimes its easier to just give the answer instead of beating around the bush. Isn't this site up for us to help each other anyway?.....

I don't see where anybody was asking for a number...

(post with question - emphasis added): .........how do you all come up with a good way to price Tree-Age injections? Do you charge by tree size, number of injection sites and product used or for your actual time and hours? I am having a hard time figuring out a good system to calculate charges on this. Any help would be great, thanks in advance and again sorry for hijacking your thread.