Arborjet Tree Injection Time

[David Drzewiecki]

I've seen many posts with price per DBH using (mostly) Tree Age. Being a newbie to ArborJet, please share how you calculate your time per DBH. I know what my cost is for the product and I know what my company's labor rate is. What I haven't been able to figure is how to determine how much time to estimate per tree/injection. I know uptake depends on many factors and can vary quite a bit during the year or day. Do you use an average?

 

[ATH]

Average for 20" tree...maybe 45 min from start to full clean up if you are doing one tree. Range: 15 minutes to 3 hours.

Less for smaller trees...usually.

 

[Jed1124]

I charge by the ml. You win some with uptake, and you loose some with uptake. Setting the plugs properly is crucial to good uptake.

 

[ATH]

By the ml, by DBH...whichever. I use inch because a client can measure that if they want too...

 

[STLARBORIST]

I charge $14 per inch dbh for tree'age

 

[STLARBORIST]

we use $14 per in DBH as stated above. I have rarely had a tree that took more than a hour total. I have stayed at $14 on almost all of the products. As said by another above, you win some -you lose some. But at $14 I seem to hold the line very well.

 

[ATH]

Since this was brought up again and the question is about time, I will say I bought a quik-jet air this year. Certainly a lot quicker than Tree IV and a world of difference than the regular quik-jet. I don't think we spent more than10-15 minutes on any single tree. I was hesitant to make the purchase, but am glad I did. Now just need to figure out a better way to get the air filled - nearest place is about 45 min away. Might just buy a scuba tank to keep at the shop next year...

 

[Jed1124]

Since this was brought up again and the question is about time, I will say I bought a quik-jet air this year. Certainly a lot quicker than Tree IV and a world of difference than the regular quik-jet. I don't think we spent more than10-15 minutes on any single tree. I was hesitant to make the purchase, but am glad I did. Now just need to figure out a better way to get the air filled - nearest place is about 45 min away. Might just buy a scuba tank to keep at the shop next year...

We bought a scuba tank.

Ive used the quick jet air for two years now and it is inarguably faster.
My concern is that sometimes the chemical is being “forced” into wood that is not actively up taking. I’ve had some cambium blow out as well. Mostly due to the fact that I did not seat the plugs deep enough. That being said, blowout never happened with the IV.
The new system with its extremely high pressure concerns me more.
I’m not saying I’m not going to use the Quickjet air next year, it just has its faults.
I do miss the IV in that you were only using enough pressure to make it available to the tree, and the tree did the rest.
I don’t miss empty bottles with lines that did not take any chemical at all with the IV because one of the ports was not moving at all.

 

[STLARBORIST]

We bought a scuba tank.

Ive used the quick jet air for two years now and it is inarguably faster.
My concern is that sometimes the chemical is being “forced” into wood that is not actively up taking. I’ve had some cambium blow out as well. Mostly due to the fact that I did not seat the plugs deep enough. That being said, blowout never happened with the IV.
The new system with its extremely high pressure concerns me more.
I’m not saying I’m not going to use the Quickjet air next year, it just has its faults.
I do miss the IV in that you were only using enough pressure to make it available to the tree, and the tree did the rest.
I don’t miss empty bottles with lines that did not take any chemical at all with the IV because one of the ports was not moving at all.

How much PSI does the Quick jet airs use? I'm not against that system, I just find the the F series kits very easy to use and inexpensive.

 

[Jed1124]

How much PSI does the Quick jet airs use? I'm not against that system, I just find the the F series kits very easy to use and inexpensive.

It's adjustable. I usually run around 35-40 psi
My thought is (and I may be wrong) that it is different then pressuring bottles. With the IV you put in 35 psi and distribute that to 4 injection ports. As the material moves into the tree the pressure goes down in the bottle.
The Quick Jet air is pushing the chemical in the tree. Of course when conditions are good the chemical goes in much easier.
I don't have first hand knowledge of the F-series. I used the IV for years and the Quick Jet air for the last couple.

 

[STLARBORIST]

It's adjustable. I usually run around 35-40 psi
My thought is (and I may be wrong) that it is different then pressuring bottles. With the IV you put in 35 psi and distribute that to 4 injection ports. As the material moves into the tree the pressure goes down in the bottle.
The Quick Jet air is pushing the chemical in the tree. Of course when conditions are good the chemical goes in much easier.
I don't have first hand knowledge of the F-series. I used the IV for years and the Quick Jet air for the last couple.

I was instructed by Arborjet field trainer to run about 60lbs, it seems to work well, as you said the pressure goes down as the product leaves the bottle. I do get that some times the distribution can be uneven,

 

[ATH]

I blew out a few holes early on with the tree IV. Learned to set plugs correctly, and it doesn't happen any more.

I had hooked a CO2 tank to the tree IV to give it constant pressure - usually about 40 lbs.