Hartford expo

[treeman82]

The whole time I was there the Sherrill booth was going strong. Seemed to have the biggest crowd out of everybody. What did you guys think of the new Bandit they had on the floor?

 

[BostonBull]

I had lunch with a bunch of guys from Mayer today. They were a real nice group of guys but they could have eased up on the Colts bashing....lol It was funny...i walked over to Arch Street Tavern to grab a bite and they were closed and they were all sitting out there so I followed them up to Peppercorn and had a real nice chat with those guys.

Now there is a great bunch of guys! We had a blast at the expo.

 

[teamtree]

Ok...anybody see the guy at the spiderlift booth with the cigar....he is trying to be a spokesman for the product but he did a terrible job of explaining the benefits of the spiderlift. He basically said that you can cut a 4 hour climbing job down to a two hour spiderlift job. He also said he knows that if it is a $1000 climbing job he can bid it for 800 and do it in the two hours. In my years as a CPA and financial accountant, I know he just lost money on that job. Let's assume all of the other equipment is the same and the tree and brush has to be removed. Ok so you take a 4 hour climbing job with a cost of 200 per hour 3 men and a chipper and chip truck. So you have a profit of 200 after your 800 of expenses. Now you roll up on the same job with at least 150k (approximating a cost of 150 per hour of operation) of additional equipment 3 men and a chipper and chip truck. So now you are sitting there with a 350 price tag per hour so you only made a profit of 100 because in the example by the salesmen he bid it for 800. In addition, you took out two hours of work for the crew that you have to fill up with more work to keep them fully employed. Not to mention, you have two trucks traveling to the same job site instead of one. What is the additional cost of travel for the second truck carrying the spiderlift per year...i did not include that in the 350 per hour. So if you are more efficient does that mean you have to continue to bid things lower to keep your employees employed. This is what I do not understand about the industry, we are continuing to use more expensive equipment (cranes, backyard lifts, bigger stump cutters) but does that mean the 1000 job is still not a 1000 job. You may be more efficient but your costs per hour are skyrocketing and i would venture to say most tree guys do not understand this the way I do. Is the tree care business going the way of farming the big are getting bigger and the smaller guys are going away??? I want to see everybody make more money whether you got big equipment or not. How many guys do cost studies on each piece of equipment to see what it is actually costing them per hour. A competitor of mine swears by cranes but in many cases I run circles around him without one on many removals. Not to say he does not beat me on many other jobs but he claims his crane makes him more efficient but I say the additional cost does not cover the incremental gain in efficiency. But then again, he may not have the same class of a climber as I have working for me.



Now if you want to sell me on safety that is fine, but at least get your facts straight before you open your mouth. I just about had to laugh at the fool talking the garbage for spiderlifts....it really was a bad idea to let him talk.

 

[CRN Tree]

Wife and I just got home form the expo. Had a good time first time going to one. I was impressed. Did anyone see the climbing system just up from the Big Beaver it was pretty slick. But I forgot to go back and get info or his name. He's not listed in the expo book. As for the Big Beaver pretty neat but I don't see it fitting in back yards.

 

[hornett22]

he was sold out early friday.

Wife and I just got home form the expo. Had a good time first time going to one. I was impressed. Did anyone see the climbing system just up from the Big Beaver it was pretty slick. But I forgot to go back and get info or his name. He's not listed in the expo book. As for the Big Beaver pretty neat but I don't see it fitting in back yards.

i got his contact info.PM me for it.

 

[Husky137]

Ok...anybody see the guy at the spiderlift booth with the cigar....he is trying to be a spokesman for the product but he did a terrible job of explaining the benefits of the spiderlift. He basically said that you can cut a 4 hour climbing job down to a two hour spiderlift job. He also said he knows that if it is a $1000 climbing job he can bid it for 800 and do it in the two hours. In my years as a CPA and financial accountant, I know he just lost money on that job. Let's assume all of the other equipment is the same and the tree and brush has to be removed. Ok so you take a 4 hour climbing job with a cost of 200 per hour 3 men and a chipper and chip truck. So you have a profit of 200 after your 800 of expenses. Now you roll up on the same job with at least 150k (approximating a cost of 150 per hour of operation) of additional equipment 3 men and a chipper and chip truck. So now you are sitting there with a 350 price tag per hour so you only made a profit of 100 because in the example by the salesmen he bid it for 800. In addition, you took out two hours of work for the crew that you have to fill up with more work to keep them fully employed. Not to mention, you have two trucks traveling to the same job site instead of one. What is the additional cost of travel for the second truck carrying the spiderlift per year...i did not include that in the 350 per hour. So if you are more efficient does that mean you have to continue to bid things lower to keep your employees employed. This is what I do not understand about the industry, we are continuing to use more expensive equipment (cranes, backyard lifts, bigger stump cutters) but does that mean the 1000 job is still not a 1000 job. You may be more efficient but your costs per hour are skyrocketing and i would venture to say most tree guys do not understand this the way I do. Is the tree care business going the way of farming the big are getting bigger and the smaller guys are going away??? I want to see everybody make more money whether you got big equipment or not. How many guys do cost studies on each piece of equipment to see what it is actually costing them per hour. A competitor of mine swears by cranes but in many cases I run circles around him without one on many removals. Not to say he does not beat me on many other jobs but he claims his crane makes him more efficient but I say the additional cost does not cover the incremental gain in efficiency. But then again, he may not have the same class of a climber as I have working for me.



Now if you want to sell me on safety that is fine, but at least get your facts straight before you open your mouth. I just about had to laugh at the fool talking the garbage for spiderlifts....it really was a bad idea to let him talk.

Great post. I buy more efficient equipment to make my job easier, not to lighten the load on my customers wallet.

 

[DonnyO]

how come none of you guys mentioned the gal at the Stihl booth??????

 

[BostonBull]

As for the women, the blonde at Stihl, the blonde with freckles at Silky, and the lil freak at Wesco!!!!

 

[Dadatwins]

As for the women, the blonde at Stihl, the blonde with freckles at Silky, and the lil freak at Wesco!!!!

And the pictures are where? Of course try and get some of the mechanical stuff in the backround if possible. :jester:

 

[BostonBull]

And the pictures are where? Of course try and get some of the mechanical stuff in the backround if possible. :jester:

Sorry no eveidence this time...........ill grab some at NE Grows.

 

[treeman82]

I think the girl at Wesco's name was Carrie? I spoke with her for a minute or two. I only walked by the STIHL booth real quick, and did the same with the Silky booth.

 

[hornett22]

didn't understand the big deal about the Stihl girl.

maybe they had a different one saturday.the wesco chick was cool.talked to her for a while.very nice and helpful she isn't that uncommon in the coastal NW.here she sticks out a bit.brunette at husky was smokin'.saw a few others as well just walking,not sure who they were with.saw some nice trophy wives as well.

 

[Sylvatica]

Well, now that the discussion has evolved into the proper subject, I'm going to put in my vote for The Silky Girl.

An excellent demonstration of how Silky does impulse hardening!

 

[DonnyO]

Wife and I just got home form the expo. Had a good time first time going to one. I was impressed. Did anyone see the climbing system just up from the Big Beaver it was pretty slick. But I forgot to go back and get info or his name. .

That system is pretty cool, and I almost got one untill I saw the hitchclimber. The HC is more compact, has many more uses, and costs about the same.........

 

[Trignog]

I also will second the motion on the Husky girl!

 

[CRN Tree]

Didn't see the hitch climber. Where was that? Any info on it?

 

[DonnyO]

http://www.treemagineers.com/products.php

try this. It's basically a micro pulley you can tie into. I'll put up some pics of it in action tomorrow.

 

[BostonBull]

I also will second the motion on the Husky girl!

Which one? Whitney the Black/Brunette haired girl with green eyes? Or the blonde?

 

[Job Corps Tree]

Hartford TCIA Expo

We got back Sat. night . Good Show I vote for the Husky Girl. My co-instructor and 5 Trainees went 2 were in the Student Competition. Did not place. We were the ones in bright orange from Job Corps. Bought some stuff I should have bought last year. Bugged me all year. We are wondering about the ISA expo in St.Louis in July 26 to 30 ( just for something different)or TCIA in Milwaukee in Nov.

 

[rmihalek]

18 grand

One of the guys at the Sherrill booth said they sold all 300 hitch climber pulleys that they brought with them to the show. At $60 a pop, that's some nice green. He then tied up a friction hitch with the pulley, two carabiners and an eye-to-eye split tail to make a very compact, self-tending set-up.

The Dolmar guys were very nice and passed a couple free Dolmar Power Equipment hats my way. The ShelterTree folks were also very helpful and patient as my buddy and I tried on just about every saddle they had.