Do you include stump grinding

[TheGrunt]

Hey, do you guys include the normal stump grinding into your bid for a removal and add extra for a bigger stump or is it a total seperate part of the bid?

 

[tree md]

I always ask if they want the stump ground. If so, I'll usually give a separate price for the stump. Sometimes I'll include the price of the stump with the tree if it's a competitive bid.

 

[TDunk]

I do it as a separate part of the bid. I will often include it in the bid, even if they didn't ask to have it ground out, and 3/4 of the time they have me do it.

 

[teamtree]

We have a seperate line item for stump grinding and additional lines for removing the debris, filling the hole with dirt and seeding the area.

Who is kidding who....if you include the cost of the stump into your bid for removing the tree....your estimate is just going to be that much higher.

I.e.

Remove tree, including grinding of stump.....$2000

or

Remove tree $1900
Grind Stump $100

I think it is a gimmick to include in the price of removing the tree but at the end of the day I think people are smart enough to figure out who is the lowest bidder.

It may even work to your favor if you seperate out stump...some may say let's go with the 1900 and leave the stump for later or let it rot.

Then what do you do...tell them you will deduct the cost of the stump....but you said it was included....

 

[tree md]

We have a seperate line item for stump grinding and additional lines for removing the debris, filling the hole with dirt and seeding the area.

Who is kidding who....if you include the cost of the stump into your bid for removing the tree....your estimate is just going to be that much higher.

I.e.

Remove tree, including grinding of stump.....$2000

or

Remove tree $1900
Grind Stump $100

I think it is a gimmick to include in the price of removing the tree but at the end of the day I think people are smart enough to figure out who is the lowest bidder.

It may even work to your favor if you seperate out stump...some may say let's go with the 1900 and leave the stump for later or let it rot.

Then what do you do...tell them you will deduct the cost of the stump....but you said it was included....

Not necessarily so. I did one back in Feb. that was competitive and the guy who put in the first bid priced it for $4500, not to include the stumps. I said I would do it for $4500 and throw the stumps in. There were two stumps that measured around 48" and one that measured around 36" so it took a day to grind stumps but the guy threw in another tree so it made it worthwhile. I will sometimes discount the price of the stumps to get the tree.

 

[MonkeyMan_812]

I price the stump seperate. Sometimes if things get slow and its a small tree i'll tell them i'll do the stump too. But thats on a rare occasion.

 

[arborist]

stump grinding is just expensive.

stump grinding is expensive.no way around this overhead.to top it off,we try to make a buck while doing it too lol.you add in the price of grinding the stumps for tree removal,and you soon become well known for being expensive imho.
you better have two prices ready.one price to match the other tree service (roughly of course.and or,so we try.-we don't want to lower our prices and kill our own field.but not be so over the top we lose our jobs to other services co.s either)and one to include grinding the stump.

 

[PurdueJoe]

I price it like Teamtree. Price for the tree, price for just the stump grinding and then if they want a price for clean up and topsoil. When I bid the job I tell the client that I'll price it anyway from just getting it on the ground to when I leave all they will have to do is watch the grass grow from where the tree use to be.

 

[ozzy42]

Tree is one price,stump is another.
Sometime I will give them a discount on the stump,if I do the tree,but I quote the regular price first,then take some off the bottom line later.
Every now and then ,somebody else will get the tree,and the HO will call me back to do the stump,but then it is full price.

I will sometime include leveling stumphole if I do both the tree,and stump.
If just doing a stump,hauling mulch is extra especially larger ones.Dont make enough on stumps alone to be hauling off 2000lbs of mulch for free.

 

[treevet]

I agree....stump grind with depth indicated...remove grindings and leave hole able to take a few inches of topsoil....we add the top soil/seed straw...we dig a bigger hole and plant a new tree in the spot.

Things like cleaning up grindings and planting trees have got a whole lot easier with a miniskid and bucket/dumptrailer and tree ball pincher. I can make a nice days income matching humping trees with planting 5 or 6 trees in a day including having them delivered from nursery.