Bucket trucks...

[tree MDS]

Used bucket truck treat used climber good.

 

[Lumberjacked]

As of now we do not use/have a bucket either. Most of our work is on the lake here where buckets are not easily used to begin with. I have been looking at the Nifty Lifts and really like not having another truck insurance payment, truck maintenance, etc. I noticed that over in Europe guys are using small cab overs, unimogs, and other non "typical" truck set ups. Is anyone here using a Nifty Lift or the like on something like a F-550 or a cab over? I completely steer clear of power lines so having a dielectric lift really isnt a issue.

 

[tree MDS]

Spider on the back of a 550, if possible that would be sweet. 75' reach of course.

 

[treemandan]

This is user Fireman's lift. I think this a great substitute to a bucket. Only 5k lbs, 5.5' wide, 4wd, proportianal controls, 55 foot lift, and 30 foot reach.

My, does anyone know how fast I would be running up that thing and sending out limbs to go right into the chipper? Just joking... but yeah, real fast, by the time you got that thing off the trailer fast.
Nice lift, I am sure it comes in handy. Still, if that tree rolled you would get it no matter what.

 

[treemandan]

Used bucket truck treat used climber good.

so you are doing the tomtrees thing?

 

[Rftreeman]

if you got the money then buy one but if what you have looks good and is in order like doors not falling off and such then I wouldn't worry about it, I like proving the "you're gonna need a bucket" people wrong and then taking their money after I do, there are more tree companies without a bucket then there are with one. I plan to get one someday just for the production reason but that all.

 

[Blakesmaster]

so you are doing the tomtrees thing?

Wow! When I first read that post I didn't see who wrote it but I "knew". Have another one MDS!

 

[tree MDS]

so you are doing the tomtrees thing?

Yaarr, twas a good day, lol. And blakes, dont worry, I had many more, lol.

 

[Blakesmaster]

Yaarr, twas a good day, lol. And blakes, dont worry, I had many more, lol.

I'm havin' may first now. Twas a LOOOOONG day.

 

[tree MDS]

Made up for yesterday by finishing the last of those two big a$$ red oak fine prunes today though. What a PITA that was, looks good though. And yes I admit sounding like tomtrees back there, actually I noticed it then, but kept it cuz it definately made me LOL, lol.

 

[murphy4trees]

chipper first

Get a big chipper and chip truck first... go 15" or bigger on the chipper with a winch... And a big 14'+ forrestry body on the truck. You need the chipper on every tree job... with the money you make with the new chipper you can go buy a bucket... and all that other stuff too...
PS Hey dan... there is no way that tree is gonna roll as long as it is still on the root plate...

 

[CLEARVIEW TREE]

My brother and I saw a "crew" beside the road today with an old power company bucket, a pickup with some plywood sides and a chipper hacking away at a tree. I immediately saw them for what they were. The chipper was a rental, they had a pickup which was most likely one of the guys' personal vehicles with some plywood and a blue tarp on top ( have fun pitchforking that out! ), no signs on the trucks, no hardhats, no hearing protection...hacks. My brother conceded that they were most likely not pros but was impressed that they had a bucket truck. I told him a lot of guys buy that as their fist piece of equipment because they don't know how to climb and they assume they can figure the clean up part out if they can just get the tree on the ground. Still, my bro thought, even though he and I know better, that the average HO will think that they look more pro than us simply because of the bucket. I granted him that a bucket does look a bit more professional than our usual tree monkey bonanza but there's a list of things a mile long that I think we need more than a bucket...Dingo, GRCS, a bigger dumper, a new chipper, about 10 more saws, yadda yadda yadda... I know a bucket will aid productivity and keep fatigue at bay but so will a lot of other things. What I want to know is do you guys think adding a bucket truck to my lil signature down there will help procure more jobs because we now "look" more professional?

Blakes, the guys you speak of may very well do great work. Remember you can't always judge a book by it's cover! Most of us in the tree care industry, myself and a few friends included had to start with nothing. We'd work 8-10 hrs aday for a job, then take off in the eves witha truck and a trailer and go make some side change. Admittedly, i even did topping years ago until a close friend who's now ISA certified arborist taught me it was wrong. Anyways, we all mostly had to start out with pretty much from the ground up, sans for the davey, nelson,care of trees, wolf tree, etc. that basically inherited a heck of a biz ya know. Always remember that we all started from the ground up. If ya see someone making a wrong practice tell em about it, chances are they'll thank you and be excited to meet someone who does the same trade and wants to help em out a little instead of gettin somethin back.

As far as a bucket, my friend kenner tree and i just bought our own bucket trucks. It has really been a big help and saves loads of climbing. Customers normally think you have to have a bucket to do every tree, even though we don't, and they know we got it so they call. So the bucket does rake in extra cash. Also, when people ask me to clean there gutters while i'm trimming over there house, i usually do if i've got the time, and it's nice to get the extra cash and it's fast with the bucket. I bought my truck up in kentucky, it's a 1991 Ford F-700 turbo diesel chip dump, with a 55 foot teco saturn. It's got 89,000 miles and i got em down from 13,600 to 11,500. It's got good tires, great brakes, and plenty of lockable storage for all my gear. I even talked with the prev. mtnc guy and the owner of the truck too, and they both said the truck had regular svc, and was kept around an extra year due to it being a great truck. So good luck to ya friend, look around and you'll find an equal deal when the times right for you too.

 

[Blakesmaster]

Get a big chipper and chip truck first... go 15" or bigger on the chipper with a winch... And a big 14'+ forrestry body on the truck. You need the chipper on every tree job... with the money you make with the new chipper you can go buy a bucket... and all that other stuff too...
PS Hey dan... there is no way that tree is gonna roll as long as it is still on the root plate...

That'd be nice, Murph but my pockets ain't quite that deep. I hope to be in at least a 10 inch or possibly 12 w/in a year or so and we're converting our dump to a bigger box and sliding an ezdumper into the chevy if all goes as planned this winter. So I may not have a bigger truck but I'd have two smaller ones w/out that much added expense. Maybe then I can start thinking bucket. Wait, I think a dingo was needed before the chipper. So many toys, so little money.....

 

[mckeetree]

That'd be nice, Murph but my pockets ain't quite that deep. I hope to be in at least a 10 inch or possibly 12 w/in a year or so and we're converting our dump to a bigger box and sliding an ezdumper into the chevy if all goes as planned this winter. So I may not have a bigger truck but I'd have two smaller ones w/out that much added expense. Maybe then I can start thinking bucket. Wait, I think a dingo was needed before the chipper. So many toys, so little money.....

Maybe you could set some of those coffee cans around and take up some kind of collection.