City work the big league, rural the minors?

[treevet]

In the country you may have one or two good services to compete with. Then you ve got sometimes the policeman or fireman part timing to bid against. Once in a while you ve got a tough one over a roof or wires. In the city you ve got more than a dozen highly polished companies from working daily over maybe 2 or 3 buildings, heavy traffic, and talking tree health to clients who only talk to certified arborists. Should you train in the country and take your game into the city against the big boys? Or am I just full of sh t?

 

[rebelman]

That works for me.

 

[Blinky]

In the country you may have one or two good services to compete with. Then you ve got sometimes the policeman or fireman part timing to bid against. Once in a while you ve got a tough one over a roof or wires. In the city you ve got more than a dozen highly polished companies from working daily over maybe 2 or 3 buildings, heavy traffic, and talking tree health to clients who only talk to certified arborists. Should you train in the country and take your game into the city against the big boys? Or am I just full of sh t?

I've heard this same thing about photographers... the shooters in Portland are substandard to the shooters in LA. The arguement is that only the strong survive in LA or Miami Beach, so they are better.
I think the statement should be re-phrased... 'The shooters in LA are more ambitious than the shooters in Portland'. Except for density, quality and professionalism don't correlate with ambition or location.

I'll grant you that urban is a tougher market, but not everybody is looking for that kind of living. When you're working over urban structure it makes a lot more sense to use cranes and buckets... mainly because you can. I have nothing against someone using a bucket but I would rather climb. It's a different discipline. I've been on a lot of sites where positioning a lift would be impractical if not impossible.

I respect the guys who work over live wires... a lot! I've witnessed a 5' wide, 30' long blue arc not 10' away from a guy in a bucket after he dropped a limb on a residential feeder. It was really loud and you could smell the ionized air from 100' away... he was grounded after that by the way. But it's just not what I'm into.

I'm not supporting a crew, I'm getting kind of old and making it big just doesn't appeal to me anymore. I like climbing work because it's risky, my kids think it's cool and it has artistic elements to it. I don't like to work fast, I like precision and old school craftsmanship. Big urban is just not my game. I do actually work in the Raleigh area pretty often but it's mainly back in the old, nice neighborhoods rather than the business district.

This is sort of like the comparison between pruning vs, takedown, as if one discipline required more skill or balls than the other... it's not the right comparison... I'm not sure there is a right comparison, we all have a life to live and a job to do. Being good at what I do is what matters most to me.

If I was a lot younger, I'm sure I would answer differently.

 

[treevet]

That works for me.

Come on Rebel you got more to say than that. You just get credit for a half post for that. You must be in the minors?

 

[jmack]

In the country you may have one or two good services to compete with. Then you ve got sometimes the policeman or fireman part timing to bid against. Once in a while you ve got a tough one over a roof or wires. In the city you ve got more than a dozen highly polished companies from working daily over maybe 2 or 3 buildings, heavy traffic, and talking tree health to clients who only talk to certified arborists. Should you train in the country and take your game into the city against the big boys? Or am I just full of sh t?

cinci might be different than the city i know, climbers from the suburbstend to have much more experience and are better with machines, cities are a double edged sword you can lose money fast but if you bid accordingly you can make good money, oh yeah and it helps to have friends, try for some jobs, and realize those big companies are charging big but that dont mean they can deliver, start with some gardeners or landscapers, to make a connection good luck j

 

[DonnyO]

City

There are a # of good reasons why.
The biggest and best is $$$$$$. people who can afford to live here, don't own chainsaws and they have big fat bank accounts.:hmm3grin2orange:

 

[rebelman]

I trained in the country with certified methods. They served me well in the big city. I go in monthly, a week at a time. There is better work done there, but still plenty of stubs, flush cuts, and spike marks. I've never been to Boston, but I wish those people would clue southern cities into how they stopped substandard work. Heavy fines perhaps? You're right treevet, I did have more to say.

 

[treevet]

Was just busting your chops Rebel. And if you meant "works for me" for the last sentence instead of the text .....I am full of sh t alot of the time.

 

[Ed Roland]

How bout the guy working a city full of monster trees with large drop zones. I got the best of both worlds. I sometimes have dreams about the nasty, borer filled, Pinus taeda that I have to climb 100' to peice out the top. Luckily, most of the time, i got lots of drop zone. Columbia, SC has old, large lots. I demand $65 per hr. no matter the job!

 

[OTG BOSTON]

Education

I trained in the country with certified methods. They served me well in the big city. I go in monthly, a week at a time. There is better work done there, but still plenty of stubs, flush cuts, and spike marks. I've never been to Boston, but I wish those people would clue southern cities into how they stopped substandard work. Heavy fines perhaps? You're right treevet, I did have more to say.

We are lucky (I guess it depends on how you look at it). We have a very well educated customer base. Love 'em or hate 'em, yuppies have money. As my buddy DonnyO put it "big fat bank accounts"

There are no laws that pertain to trees on private property, although some of the wealthier 'burbs have passed ordinances about tree removals on private property. Public trees are protected by Mass General Laws ch. 87, and all cities and towns in Mass must have a "Tree Warden" (ME!) who basically acts as an advocate for trees on public lands.
Believe me there is plenty of bad work that goes on here usually in lower socioeconomical areas. I have seen west indians 40+ feet up trees freeclimbing in sandals with a machete!!! I'll have to get a pic next time.

 

[begleytree]

I think theres another side thats being left out.
in the city you have a large population base to draw from, in small towns you don't. In small towns, if you make one person mad or do a 'bad job' your work nearly dries up. everyone knows everyone. imo, the stress to do a perfect job everytime is higher in the rural setting. do good and you are known as the man to call. do less than good and no one will call you. overcharge and no one will call you. around here I see the folks I work for nearly every day around town. imo, thats harder than working for the faceless masses in the city, toughter, but more rewarding.
they say to make every client a raving fan of your work. no where is this more true than in the smaller towns across the country, imo.
I've worked both rural and city. to call 'rural' the minors is a misnomer, imo.
-Ralph

 

[BranchWalker74]

I think theres another side thats being left out.
in the city you have a large population base to draw from, in small towns you don't. In small towns, if you make one person mad or do a 'bad job' your work nearly dries up. everyone knows everyone. imo, the stress to do a perfect job everytime is higher in the rural setting. do good and you are known as the man to call. do less than good and no one will call you. overcharge and no one will call you. around here I see the folks I work for nearly every day around town. imo, thats harder than working for the faceless masses in the city, toughter, but more rewarding.
they say to make every client a raving fan of your work. no where is this more true than in the smaller towns across the country, imo.
I've worked both rural and city. to call 'rural' the minors is a misnomer, imo.
-Ralph

Wow you really lay ed it all out for the small town contractor. I am right in the middle. I live on an Island community. It is only 15 minutes from large city life. In my case I beat out a lot of the big competitors because, I was born and raised here. Also my dad worked for a lot of them. I try to treat every job like my future in business depends on it. We clean up as best as we can every time, with little ground damage. It is sometimes hard to keep up those values, but very important. I also advertise spikless climbing on trims, nearly nobody around here offers that. When I first started out I had to think of a hook that made me stand out from the others. Luckily there is only one other company on the island for direct competition. My only down fall is I am never caught up. My closest competition can do the work in the same week after booking. I am usually two to three weeks backed up. I think his bucket truck is his time advantage. Or maybe they don't get that many calls :newbie: .

I try not to bid to many jobs in the city. The work is way more frustrating. You have to deal with ignorant people. Wires, wires and more wires, cars in the way, tight driveways, and very small drop zones. Oh and don't forget about the crack head running away with your saw. I only work urban areas when it is for a friend, or when I am broke.

 

[Timberhauler]

I've got high end clients in both the city and out in the sticks...If I had my druthers'...I'd rather stay away from the city,but the $$$$$ factor won't let me...Since I clear timber as well,I guess I'm making as much on both ends.

 

[CRN Tree]

I only do rual work but there are a lot of weekenders form the cities around. And the only thing good about that is they have two houses and several large bank accounts.

 

[antigrassguy]

Much prefer the country as I dont like traffic lights, they slow me down.

 

[rebelman]

Begley nailed it. To call rural the minors is a misnomer. Whatever a misnomer is.

 

[woodchux]

Much prefer the country as I dont like traffic lights, they slow me down.

Every time my truck comes to a complete stop it costs about $1 in gas to get it moving again. Country jobs are my preference, but you dont get as many walk up estimates as you will in the city.

 

[Jumper]

Main complaint of my country boss was the $$$$ clients expected him to do work for, after all cousin Billy Bob has a chain saw and he will cut my tree down for free. I would say a given job was 1/2 to 2/3 the $$$ value you would expect to gain for the same an hour and a half down the 401.

Mind vary from community to community, B was mainly retired old people with supposedly moderate incomes, a weekend mecca might garner higher rates.

 

[treevet]

I think what everyone is generally saying is that the quality of work is as good by the good guys in the country but prob less money is made and the trade off is a more laid back existence. I had a bus. in rural Hunterdon county NJ. for 12 yrs. and moved here after a divorce. Memories include 30 minute ave. travelling time to jobs, beautiful scenery and more spare time and enjoyment. Here in Cinci my ave trav time is usually 10 minutes followed by one job after another. Cell phones push the efficiency. I have 10 different size and use trucks that get shuffled in and out by me and just one other guy. That would never have worked in NJ w long travel in a day job. Yesterday I was on a 10 Million $ property. Many around here but can remember just a few such in NJ. I m making a lot more here but haven t been fishing in prob15 years.

 

[begleytree]

. I m making a lot more here but haven t been fishing in prob15 years.

now thats just sad. and you are in the 'river city' too.
I worked cincy up until about 5-6 years ago. still remember dropping over beechmont towards the levy in the rt lane and pulling on the 4 ways and stopping. never heard so many horns bowing from that one!
fun memories if you're not there anymore!
-Ralph