Cutting a bunch of trees need advice?

[NorthCountry54]

Hey guys,

I'm super new to this forum, but Ive been reading your posts online for years now.

Im looking for advice on how to price a job... the guys got about 3/4 of an acre in his campground that has some old trees that are starting to become dangerous to campers. There's about 30 trees ranging from 16" to 30" (dbh) (maple, ash, hickory) he wants cut and blocked into firewood size pieces. Hes taking all the wood and getting rid of the branches (i mentioned possibly selling some saw logs to our local mill, but he was not interested). Hes dozing it after im done so no grinding or cleanup needed.

My operation is pretty small usually just me and one other guy but were having a pretty hard time trying to price this out. I figure my overhead is pretty cheap on this one just running two saws plus the annual insurance. Ive looked for a lot of stuff online about prices but most guys are including grinding and hauling.

Hourly? By the tree? any advice you guys have is great.

Thanks alot
-Jeff

 

[beastmaster]

Are they all easy free falls or do they have to be rigged down. Will they be accessible once down or will you have to pull them out of thickets to be able to buck em up. Lots of variables. Is anyone else bidding on them? Even with low overhead you still have to clear a curtain amount of money each day to make it worth while. Figure out a day rate, If its easy just falling and bucking. But if it's a lot of hazard trees that have to be rigged down or pulled out of brush piles or up and down hills to cut up, then you should get paid more for your skill and labor.
There are no formulas or magic numbers, and its really easy to make a costly mistake. And rarely are any jobs as easy as they look.
Maybe you can get someone with experience to help you out. Good luck

 

[tree md]

How much do you usually make in a day? How long is this job going to take you? What are your operating costs and expenses going to be? Are you going to have to use specialized equipment? Are you going to have to use more labor than you normally would? You are going to have to at least make what you would operating on a regular day. If you're good at figuring how long it will take you and what it will cost you then you win. It's easy to screw yourself on the big ones.

 

[2treeornot2tree]

If they are all easy drops, no pulls or having to climb, I would charge $40 a tree. That would be if you were justing dropping and chunking it up where it lays. Should be able to do it in half a day with another guy and yourself if you can run a saw decent.

 

[formationrx]

pricing

charge by tree. select a level of difficultly for each tree, estimate a time for each tree to be completed (go by the longest time each tree should take), or simply give him a day rate based on the average price for all the easy and difficult trees you can do in a day. try to do the job in sections-- set a goal for each day-- report to the client on your progress-- make sure he is in the loop. give a range in your estimate not an exact amount. say best case its "X" $ in "X" many days, and if its going to take a little longer its "Y" $ in "Y" many days. this will take a lot of pressure off you and you can enjoy your work. your X and Y should be close together not far apart. do your best to save him $ and never sacrifice work quality or safety for speed. make sure to ask what length he wants the firewood cut at. is he burning it outside? what size hearth does he have? does he want the wood stacked? ask questions. this will help your estimate. also, on job like this i like to do a little "something" extra or go the "extra mile". do something that will make his job easier if you can. this will lock you in for future work for him or he will refer you to others for addition work.

owner 21 years exp.

 

[2treeornot2tree]

I dont like giving a price range. It makes you look like your not sure what your doing. Give them a price, and if it takes to long and dont make any money, learn from it. You learn from doing.

 

[HoosierKid]

Pricing and fortune telling

Many of those here know the only way to price something cannot be accurately given without seeing it in person. The only way to know is screwing yourself on some big jobs you under bid and seeing your profit trickle away with your sweat with each wasted hour. That in mind and still finishing the job like you promised, only then will you know what you should have priced.

 

[sir_nick2]

If you can't figure out a day rate for you and your bloke to complete the work, do you really have what it takes to complete a job of this size or in reality is it you a ladder and your drinking buddy armed to the teeth with hardware shop "chainsaws" looking to make some quick cash? Really you have to have some kind of idea what you want to walk away with after paying your bloke after a solid 8 hour day's work since from what you are saying no more outsourcing chipping or stump grinding to be done? Or your small lawn mowing business wants to move into the big time by offering to cut down some trees for your client after stumbling upon this DIY arborist forum?

 

[David (saltas)]

try this

http://www.arboristsite.com/arborist-101/189278-2.htm

 

[NorthCountry54]

Thanks for the help guys,

Perhaps the way i titled the thread made this look like i own a lawn care business and am taking a whack at cutting trees for a client but that's not the case.

Ive been in business for around 4 years now after graduating from school and have formal training (game of logging), climbing experience etc. all on top of having cutting trees before college with another service.

But most of you guys replied with great advice, i guess my biggest fear is, (like posted above) losing on the job that's why i thought of asking for your advice i price single trees all the time rarely do i do it on a day rate.

Oh and i dont drink ;-)

-Jeff