Contract Climbing

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Tree Machine,
how close is 'central Indiana' to South Bend (Mishawaka)?
My sister and brother in law live there. And, I vacation in South Haven, Mi. for a week every summer. That's only an hour from South Bend. I've thought about making it 2 or 3 weeks vacation and doing some work while I was there in South Haven. Cool little town, my mother-in-law and her clan grew up there. If I hadn't just paid $450 in gas to bring the chipper back from Detroit to Des Moines, I'd say let's gang up on some work there this summer. Actually, if I stayed a month, i'd offset that easily, I can stay up there rent free. I'd just need to get my powerboat up there too! OMG, this is starting to sound way cool. Condo on the lake, rent free, bring up my 25' cabin cruiser, and do tree work with the Tree Machine! Did I mention all the hotties at the harbor bars in S. Haven???
Kurt
--P.S. South haven is 8 hours from DSM, Iowa....but i drive it several times a year, doesn't bother me. If it's not there, it's Mishawaka, or Chicago...
 
You make me huk, Kaptain.

I have been to South Haven, Michigan many times. My girlfriend's folks had a place just north of town, and we attended school an hour away. Super awesome sunset's over the ocean-like Lake Michigan. <i>I've gotten laid in South Bend</i>.


Ahem. Sorry bout that. Hope no offense to anyone. I wouldn't say it if it weren't true. But ANYWAY, for me to leave my business to go do treework somewhere else... it would be like shooting my own self in my own foot. When you're your own contract climber, if you don't climb for the company, the company screeches to a halt. 100% contract climbing is what that is.

I really must tend home. Tree work gets backed up for 5-6 weeks in the Summer and walking away from that is like shootin myself in my own foot. If you were to float down this way... (3.0 Hr from South Bend, straight south.) Could be fun. :rolleyes:
 
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Oh well, nice thought anyway. I'll be up there at least a week or two every summer so I've got time to put something together there. You ever see what the city grounds crews there use to sweep up the sand? They have these weed trimmers with spinning brooms on the end, never seen anything like it. They must be called 'power brooms' or something. Way off topic but i think of them when i think of S.H. (that and sitting on the deck of the Idler listening to jimmy buffet).
Kaptain
 
Business perspective

That's one of the downsides of owning your own business. If you take days off to go play, the daily expenses of the business (insurance, rent and equipment, phones, internet, bills, etc), don't stop.

Your yearly expenses divided by the number of days in a year you work, gives you how much$, per day, to run your business. Since you can't shut off the expenses just because you decide not to work, every day not worked carries those daily expenses. Add to that the opportunity cost, the money you would have made had you worked. Add those two numbers together and that's the tradeoff in dollars; that's your 'cost' of just not working that day.

Add to that expenses for travel, if I go out of town, and add that to the cost of leaving and tradeoff for playing can be 7 or 8 hundred dollars a day when it's all said and done. I delay my customer scheduling by however many days...... Playing, unfortunately, is not a good deal for me, but I still seem to do a lot of it.


What's the name of this thread?

Contract climbing: I did a contract climb today, I set up the time lapse, and it's kinda cool, hold on.......
 
The beech

The contract climb today was a classic bail-out. The company was attempting to go up and knock out some big-diameter dead in a big, backyard Beech. then there was and some big and extensive dead in a really large maple, lightning struck, but still alive.

The beech stopped the company. They got a shot bag caught up there, wrapped around a thumb-diameter branch, and it was STUCK. They had a second shotline, and got it bigshotted through an even higher crotch. They had a steel snap tied into the eye on the climbing rope's end, and both the shotbag and line was hooked to that. The whole schmeel got firmly wedged in the crotch, so now they were down two shotlines and a climbing rope. Four guys on site, and no way to get up into the trees. It was a beech and the owner said absolutely "No" to using spikes.

I just happened to be available because I was screwin around on the computer and said I'd be there in 20 minutes. I showed up wearing my saddle. The Beech was a par three, and I aced it with the Bigshot. I just got a 10 oz Harrison Rocket. The maple, also, I set at par three and aced that shot. I did both trees SRT, climbing on Velocity. I had them both done in 3 three hours, and I had a three man ground crew, which was different for me.

I could love to do that all day, every day. One of the 'ground guys' was the company's top climber. He's a spike climber though. I don't think he'd ever seen single rope technique. I had to attach a second rope to the 120 footer because the shot was higher than 60 feet.

That would have been a good one for a noob to see, but I would have had to pay you, even though the need for another groundie was not there. Actually, you can BE there (in a sense) through this time lapse video. If you use the little controller on the Quicktime screen, you can slow the frames (one every 30 seconds) to as slow as you want. Note the chainsaw pants, full mesh-visored helmet and hearing protection. Also note that I am tied in twice for every time I make a cut (just to show that it's not that difficult). enjoy
 
No, you're supposed to say, You knocked out a $300 job in 47 minutes? You rock, Tree Machine! :blob2:

Too bad it's not my $300. The tree company owner was thinking his day was screwed. I got there and told him to go start another job, and take two of the four ground guys with you. So he did and he ended up having a really, really good afternoon because I finished solid for him.

Here's the other video, the one of the maple. Huge dead up there, old hangers, a dead spire and a broad, expansive crown. There was a lot of air to cover in this $400 tree. To bad it was not my $400. It took nearly three hours, again I went SRT, but had to set my line lower than maybe I could have, and set redirects for myself as I went. It was an awesome climb, deadwood, tip prune.

Some kids were playing nearby the camera, so I'm hoping 10 they didn't mess with the tripod, and 2) the battery on the camera didn't run out before I'd finished. Let's see...


Guys, it's 3.4 meg, well over my allotted amount for her, plus the camera's battery did run out about 2/3 of the way through the procedure. I'll ship it over to Blaster's site and see if we can get him to stream it to us from there. Blaster can you come back with a hyperlink for us?
 
About contract climbing and price. I asked before about price before. I am comfortable with 250 per day and I bring my own equipment. One of the guys I am working for tries to pay me at first by the hours. (25 per hr) ... then we went to a half day minumum @ 100. I asked or made it plain not to call me unless it is a full days pay. That way I can work effenciently and make a decent days pay. I am I asking for too much or putting too much of a burden on my employer?
 
You're asking to be an employee. There's nothing wrong with that.

You'll work it out in time. For now, you need to find something that works, where results can be seen and measured. How productive you are has a lot to do with how valuable you are. How good a team player are you? How respectful are you that you're playing by your boss' rules and are OK with that? Is your mindset about how much money you can make your boss? Are you dependable, on-time and know how to maintain your own saws? Are you truly autonymous, or do you require a good deal of support? Do you bend gutters and screw up perennial gardens? Are you in harmony with what you're doing? What's your level of commitment? Are you loyal? Are you there for yourself?

Let me spotlight the major point in that little schpeel, the one about you are there TO MAKE YOUR BOSS MONEY. As much as you can. That is what he has hired you for. You guys agree on a firm, fair money arrangement and you go out and climb with your heart <b>every day</b> and make the boss proud. Your employment there is not by any means permanent. This job is a stepping stone, a moment in time. It's part of the journey so rock on with integrity. Make yourself valuable because of your actions, your way of being. Contribute. Be a leader. This is where bonus pay comes from.
somebody said:
It is my job to make him as much money as I can, the more the better.
Say it to him. "It is my job to make you as much money as I possibly can." Look at him smile. "I am good with 30 bucks an hour and intend to pull down $90 an hour for you". Then you go out and prove yourself for the duration of the seasons and honor the commitments you made. You will be friends forever and establish professional conduct for the rest of your career. One day you'll have your own gig and will want a climber with the same traits that strengthen your value as an employee.

It's easier being an employee than a business owner. Now go kick some a$s for this person who believes in you enough to take on the risks you bring, and hire you and do your taxwork and payroll stuff. Appreciate that.

Sorry, I don't mean to hog the stage.
 
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Thanks for the repliy. I am a good team player as far as I can see. He wants me to work one day on and take a day or so off. He wants me to put alot of debris on the ground to keep his groundies work that day and the next. He will have me put the trees on the ground and get me off the site quickly. I don't mind working on the ground after being in the tree. The releationship is more of a contract climber than employee. I am dependable, timely and will stay till the jobs is done or they are ready to stop. As far as me or him. He can make as much as he wants to make, I just want to work with out looking at the my watch. Get things done quickly, safely, and easy on myself and the crew.
 
Hanging out in the tree to make a full days pay is stupid. I would rather be on the ground cleaning up so we can go to the next site in the same day. I may try to explain that to him. He is one of those this is my way and I like what I do.
 
You keep doing the right thing, basically working by his standards, and reflect well on the company through your work. He will hopefully respect the rate of progress, and you just be about finishing in excellence, one job after another. Increase your tool collection over time, get better, faster, this is your life. You are a professional climber. Welcome to the ranks!

I'm excited for you. The season has just begun.
 
Rut roe.

Dude, just know you are opening up a can of worms here. I work entirely alone, but almost do it in secrecy amongst you all. It does NOT get the favorable nod as far as an industry practice. It is non-conventional. it's Controversial it's sort of frowned on, but at the same time every tree guy has some days you're able to work alone, just few have volunteered themselves as the industry gunea pig.

I've taken on the face as the Solo Tree guy Poster child, having done about 8 of the last ten years solo. Usually 19 out of 20 jobs are done alone.

If you start that thread you're kidnapping me into it.

I am hosting a treeguy website that is directed toward the solo and small-team tree operations. I spill everything I do and have, to much more detail than I'm allowed here at AS. We have streaming video and music. [i}I'm just not quite ready to announce it publicly[/i]. By starting that thread, you will be outting me.

Mebbe you should start the thread, and I'll finish the website. It has a bit of work yet to be done.

Whatever you wish. Just be careful of the flaming.
 
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