Home owners taking on dangerous removal.

[FSburt]

Went and bid a job the other day for a removal of a live oak that has started to spit between codominant stems and is hanging over a mobile. Figured it would be a piece job the whole thing using a zip line to move the material over the roof and out into the yard. I figured I would bind the two stems together with chain to prove some support during the process. Estimated a 8/9 hour job for $1300 bones. Well these people decided to take it on themselves to try and save some $. I think if they got 1 man lift over the home they might pull it off but it will be interesting to see if it happens with out some damage. All I had to do was cut the tree off the house with no clean up involved so I figure it was going to be a good day with no clean up after. Oh welll

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

I can't imagine a homeowner taking on a job like this to save $1300.
At some point they will likely give up and call a pro.

 

[sonny]

why not 1300 $ is 1300 $ thats many pay checks. Im sure many of us if not all started tree work not knowing nothing at all. When I started I could not afford the pro pecan shakers. Darn I can go up the darn tree & shake the branches.Soon after that i thought this tree stuff is so much easier than bucking hay. Darn I will start my own buisness.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

They will call the pro after they have removed all the good rig points OK now it is $2600

 

[FSburt]

Good point JPS they probably will and make a simple job a complex one.

 

[kf_tree]

some times there is no logic. i'm removed plenty of tree's where the customer girdled the tree thinking it would be cheaper to have a stone dead tree removed. isn't it easier since all the leaves are gone? there was a tree i spied by me. the guy had 3 or 4 sections of ladder lashed to the tree. they were there for about 4-5 months. the tree is still standing but is a hacked up mess. the ladders are gone though. i once got a call from the nyc houseing and preservation dept. he was asking me all these strange questions about how long i've been in business, experiance etc. it turned out they hired a minority tree svc to remove a dead tree. they were asking the nieghbors for power to plug in their chain saws. they punched holes in a house roof, crashed a roof of a car, smashed a fence. finaly the power supplyer pulled the plug and called a city inspector that threw them off the job. the tree came down in 2 hous with out further damage. it takes all kinds to make a world.

 

[xander9727]

I had a similiar situation in Cincinnati. I got a call from a womans granddaughter about removing a dead tree. I went to bid the job and found 1/3 of the tree had been removed already. Unfortunately the pieces had damaged a fence and three buildings. The grandmother had obtained several bids and had gone with the cheapest one. The guy showed up with his wife and three children (the oldest was 11) and went to work with an electric chainsaw. He smashed the fence first, then the outbuilding and the garage. It wasn't until he damaged the neighbors garage that someone stopped him. The family felt that they should have received a discount because the tree was partially removed. The first guy had already received partial payment and was unable to be contacted and of course had no insurance. It's difficult to have compassion for people that make poor choices.

 

[DDM]

Yeah i just dont know what to think of company bringing a man & Women and the occasional child to do a tree removal

 

[kf_tree]

i was on an estimate in new jersey once and the customer told me the last guy that pruned her tree's brought his whole family with him. they were having a picnic in her back yard while he climbed. personaly,i hate even asking a customer for a glass of water.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

I'll ask to have my water jug filled, lota wells around here that may be contaminated. I hate having to ask to use the bathroom

Hey David, do you resembel that. Nothing wrong with a family operation. Just pick up the dog crap after you leave.

 

[DDM]

Hmmmmm and to think we get 80% of our business from refferals

 

[TREETX]

If the customer has already started the job themselves, isn't there a stupidity fee?

I have been guilty of helping a neighbor for free just because I didn't want to have to miss work for his funeral.

 

[treeclimber165]

typical invoice:

Remove hazard tree and grind stump- $900
Remove limb from roof and on broken ladder- $200
S.F. @ 15%- $165

Total due upon completion- $1265

 

[DDM]

Its considered a Stupid Tax The more Stupid they are the more the Tax.

 

[Jumper]

Originally posted by DDM
Yeah i just dont know what to think of company bringing a man & Women and the occasional child to do a tree removal

I know what I think!

Woman OK if she is trained, properly equiped and there to work. As for kids a no no. A former idiot boss of mine started to bring his not yet 11 year old along to job sites this past summer (his wife was also a sometime groundie for him too-that was OK as she had her sh*t together). While the boy was not a bad kid, he had no place being there at all. What a organization. Maybe a 14 year old to haul brush, but less than 11! Irresponsible parenting, and irresponsible from a professional viewpoint as well.
If I was a customer and this happened the entire lot would be packing and I would be looking for another person, this time a true professional, to do the job.

 

[Jock]

Chipper Scare

Took on a local chipping contractor to chip branches from 12 S/Spruce i had sectioned a couple of days beforehand and asked him to chip the brash in my absence...BIG MISTAKE... I came back onto site early only to find that the jerk had turned the Unimog round on the lawn leaving 4" deep tracks and he was about 100 yards away out of sight of the machine talking to some builders while his 6 year old son pushed single branches into a 14" diam Schleisling...(Doesnt bear thinking about) I stopped the chipper and confronted the guy who looked at me as though i had some kind of problem, needless to say we chipped the branches ourselves later that day and also paid a landscaper to sort the lawn. Cost me a lot of money to cut these trees. ...Jock

 

[Mr.Cutemup]

I remember two times seeing either homeowners, or new start up companys in action. 1st one was 3 guys 1 in tree with what looked like rope saddle which had slipped up under arm pits. 2nd man was holding other end of rope. 3rd man was holding electric cord going up tree to circlar saw in tree that 1st man was using to top a very unlucky silver maple. 2nd job I remember starting at ground a ladder went up tree 25ft. Next a 2nd ladder sitting on a linb stub went on up into the tree from top of 1st ladder. Got the picture. The 3rd ladder was atop the 2nd ladder also resting on a stub. Never saw any workers. I think most were at hospital. Cut'em Up

 

[Greg]

Several times I have stoped (in my neighborhood) and said give me a call if you get in over your head, and left a business card. I also did this once at a home depot where a 65-70 year old man was trying to pick out a chainsaw to cut up the tree that fell in his yard. Wife was b!tching the whole time. I slipped her the card and got a call the next day after her husband almost had a heat stroke. At least he didn't cut his leg off.
Greg

 

[TheTreeSpyder]

This guy i first cut trees with stopped by; i said "Chris, Dean doesn't beleive you are stupid enough to tie 2 extension ladders together and climb on them"

Chris said "Hell...., i done it with 3 when i had to!"

 

[trees4life]

Finishing what client started

One of my favorite stories was told to me by a former boss. He was called out to give a quote to remove a large tree over a house. The client must have thought the price was too high.

Weeks later the guy calls him back on an emergency. Client tried to do the work himself. Cut a large limb & it spiked through the roof, was standing on end in the living room. The quote of course doubled (more work to haul wood through the house. He said the funniest part was watching the wife when he was standing on the coffee table starting his saw.