Bid Question

[Froggy]

I know it's hard to bid on a tree with out seeing it first. So I'll try my best to describe it. The tree is a double cucumber magnolia. One leader is 20"dbh and the other is 12"dbh and 60' to 70' tall. The leader that is 20"dbh has another leader about 10' up and 10"-12"dbh so roughly 50' to 60' tall going over top of a gas tank and the neighbors drive. Very close to the neighbors house also. At the bottom of the two main leaders there's some pretty good sized hollow spots. They're still climable and maybe if you got some of the wieght off you could lower off of. There is a good deal of brush on it also. Most of the tree you'd have to lower. There are some bigger poplars close by to rig off of if you needed to. Everything logs and brush can be left. So all you'll probably need is yourself the climber and one good ground man to run the ropes.

What kind of price would you all give this guy? Thanks,BB

 

[monkeypuzzle]

What kind of car does he drive?

 

[treeman82]

How far do you have to move the stuff that is going out over the neighbor's house and driveway?

 

[murphy4trees]

Anyone familiar with kinisiology??? Its a system of muscle testing to get a positive or negative response from the physical body, which is often used by chiropractors for diagnostic purposes... Its a low cost, non-invasive method which yields excellent results when practiced properly. I've developped a system of using kinisiology in bidding jobs. It has worked very well... though I wouldn't recommend it for just anyone... I had been using this method for some years before applying it to bidding.
Be careful of the hollow elephant leaf mags... they will fall apart easily.... you may think about adding time in for guying the tree and rigging from the poplars, which will leave you some wiggle room.
How much are they willing to pay??? How much do you want the job???
$460 $N.C. = approx. $650 $philly

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

I quit doing hourly estimates a few years ago, unless it is an area where you are working regularly so you can fit other work in, you loose money too easy that way.

What do you need for the day to cover expences and a minimal profit. The day includes all travle and set up time for the day. Especialy if you have other peole on the clock.

How much proffit do you want for that job.

How much of the day will the job take and will you be able to fit other work in to make that minimum daily budget.

If it takes 3/4 of a day then bid at or above the minimum daily budget figure.

 

[Froggy]

Estimated Time to complete the job

I think the job will probably take close to a full day. Give or take a little. You guys really helped me out. I gave him a bid of $400 with two people. I thought that was a good deal. He told me he could get a some Tree Service to do it for $175. So I told him to go with them. Personaly I think he told a story. There will be others that will come along. I don't know of any Tree Service that would do it for $175. Thanks,BB

 

[NeTree]

He's probably trying to sucker you into a lower bid, but if not-
For $175 he'll get a couple of un-insured hacks who'll likely be doing some damage.

 

[Stumper]

It probably was a line but you never know.-I gave a bid one time that was on the low end of what I considered reasonable and the guy said he already had an appointment with someone to do it the next afternoon for HALF. I didn't corroborate the ammount charged but-- sure enough there was someone there the next afternoon. You can't price match or constantly lowball and stay in business- make YOUR price!-personally I'll allow a little dickering-if the customer counters a $435 bid with"will you do it for$400?" I'll agree but if they say "I'll give you $300" my response is "No. My price is $435. I'm quoting you a fair price. That is what it will cost if you want me to do it. If you want to eliminate some elements of the job we can get the price down some." If I really don't like the attitude I see I won't bother with the possibility of eliminating elements.

 

[geofore]

That much?

The next question I'd expect from the customer is, " How much to put it on the ground so I can cut it up?". I get that once in awhile. The customer has no idea how much work it is to cut it up to firewood size and stack it at the far end of the property. Some have a hard time believing it is a lot of work after the tree is on the ground. $600- $800 here to remove it. $300-$400 to put it on the ground for the customer to clean it up, don't like to do that for someone that does't have saw experiece. There is concern they may get hurt even if the tree is on the ground.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

One guy i work with had a guy deduct cleanup after he agreed for the job to be no cleanup.

I love it when I fill a small backyard with brush going every witch way so that you can barely get out, then walk away.

 

[TREETX]

this one time at band camp.....

Amen JPS

I bid a fairly large oak removal for $1500. Customer insited he could do the clean up himself and just wanted me to get it on the ground. $500 was the agreed price. 2 hours later, there was just a twisted pile of pure F-ness with limbs in all directions and large wood on top of the brush.

They grow on the ground. I couldn't believe I had said $1500. He offered to pay the extra $1000 and have us clean it. I told him that he should of jumped on a good deal while he had it, and I wanted $1500 to clean it up. He managed, somehow.

Froggy, it is all time and opportunity costs. All of which vary. In the end, it is buying and selling man hours. Simple as that.

Nate

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

There is some truth to the selling manhours view, but is over simplistic.

You are selling a certain level of skill and knowledge.

Assuming a level of risk/liability the cusmer chooses to shift to another party.

Selling equipment hours, some can be included into the MH numbers, but others should not.

And to harp on my previouse piont, you need to make money for the entire day, week, month year. So I prefer to look at it as selling days. It could take 1.5 days to complete the job, I need 1000/day for my budget. Write the bid as no more then 1600. Do it in a day, bill 1200 and bonus the crew.

 

[TREETX]

It IS not as simplistic as I said. I should have added that they are specialized manhours.

Just like equipment is not equipment, cranes have a specialized purpose and so do chippers. Charge by hour but at different rates.

What we do is largely a commodity. That is a fact. Our struggle is to make it more value added product and less of a commodity.

Am I starting to ramble?? Too much hot sun. Is it summer?

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

If I could send you some of this rain we been getting, i would do so gladly.

Just enough to make it messy, not hard enough to quit. At least the breeze was stroing enough so my glasses were not fogging up everytime I looked up or down.