How to hire a climber

[rack]

I would want to sub out a climber every now and then for trees that are to tall or just out of my league. My question is do I just post an add to cl? How do I make sure he knows what he's doing and do I need to have him sign a form saying that I'm not liable if he gets hurt?
Thanks

 

[JRoland]

I would think that if he's on your job and gets hurt you would be liable with or without a form.
Unless he's a licensed contractor with his own insurance, at which point he probably won't be on craigslist looking for side work.

 

[gorman]

You should network to find a good climber that will work with you. They could carry their own insurance, u just need them to sign and date a w/c waiver if they are subs.
If you're in the business it shouldn't be hard to find a contract climber

 

[CanopyGorilla]

I would think that if he's on your job and gets hurt you would be liable with or without a form.
Unless he's a licensed contractor with his own insurance, at which point he probably won't be on craigslist looking for side work.

Yup.

 

[Wayne Wilkinson]

Lol you guys make it sound easy... I went through 3 "climbers" before I found the one that could really do what he said he could. Heck, the tree climbers companion, youtube, and playing around for a while put me on par with a hand full of the climbers in my area... which to me was pretty scary.... After the first two "climbers" backed out of simple jobs, I started paid auditions. If you couldnt handle the audition you didnt have a job. I honestly wish you the best of luck. Crlist netted me NO results. My lucky break was having family who worked for a right of way clearing company and getting a guy that had work his way up to foreman and knows his stuff.

 

[Nish]

You should network to find a good climber that will work with you. They could carry their own insurance, u just need them to sign and date a w/c waiver if they are subs.
If you're in the business it shouldn't be hard to find a contract climber

Whether or not they carry general liability insurance, the climber needs worker's compensation coverage--or you should be paying for their coverage with your own WC payments. These days I don't think a signed waiver will protect anyone. I'd be happy learn otherwise.

 

[Magnum783]

I do a bunch of contract climbs and it can be done any and all of the above ways. Signed stuff will protect about as far as litigation is written. Meaning the more detailed the more protected the less detailed you get the point. I carry my own insurance but when asked to take responsibility I brining in my own ground guy and charge accordingly. When they say we just want you I will not sign any release of liability as I do not have full control over the situation. WC is again a sticky situation I do not know enough about to speak on that matter.

 

[seedling34501]

Off topic but how does one obtain his own liability insurance I can't find any thing on it on line and I can't ask the owner of the tree service I've been with for 3 years cause he will fire any one doing side tree work and lets face it unless you do your own thing you won't make money

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[Nish]

Off topic but how does one obtain his own liability insurance I can't find any thing on it on line and I can't ask the owner of the tree service I've been with for 3 years cause he will fire any one doing side tree work and lets face it unless you do your own thing you won't make money

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If you have home or vehicle insurance, the insurance agency has probably assigned you an agent. Give that person a call. I think I paid something like $1350/yr for general liability with $2 million in combined coverage.

Why would your employer fire you for doing side work?! I like to see such initiative in the guys who work for/with me.

 

[cupar]

I have 2 million personal liability with my car insurance company it costs me $34 a month. It is only limited liability, which wouldn't cover me doing commercial work on the side.

 

[cupar]

It would cover me cutting a friends tree for profit as long as I wasn't pretending to be a company. I don't do very much side work as I can work as many hours as I want at my actual job, have 0 risk, am paid well, and for residential work any cash over $250/H (our minimum) is split 50/50. If I bid a removal for $1000 it takes me 2 hours I get paid 2 hours wage and $250.

 

[seedling34501]

He will fire is cause he is greedy and thinks if one of his climbers has any tree work it should go through him

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[rack]

Thanks for the the advice guys.... I think I have found 2 different companies to hire for climbing.
Also seedling, your boss sounds like a real ****, unless you are using all his ropes and harness to climb. Then I could see were he is coming from

 

[BC WetCoast]

If you have home or vehicle insurance, the insurance agency has probably assigned you an agent. Give that person a call. I think I paid something like $1350/yr for general liability with $2 million in combined coverage.

Why would your employer fire you for doing side work?! I like to see such initiative in the guys who work for/with me.

So you don't mind your crew undercutting your price and stealing your customers for side jobs? and using your equipment?

 

[Nish]

So you don't mind your crew undercutting your price and stealing your customers for side jobs? and using your equipment?

Hey are you Seedling's boss? I made no assumptions about "stealing" customers and equipment.

 

[Wayne Wilkinson]

Its pretty commonly said around here among tree companies, theres more then enough work to go around. Now more so then ever with the emerald ash borer. Everybody's just trying to eat. I built my company with the specific intent to tackle the work the other tree companies didnt want. Thats not to say that we wont do the simple jobs but i dont bank on them and expect to be under bid by someone else who is uninsured anyways. I dont personally loan out equipment, my guys have their own stuff. If one of my guys gets a job that he makes money on im happy for him. If its too big for him by himself he will have me bid it and we will tackle it together.

 

[Magnum783]

Its pretty commonly said around here among tree companies, theres more then enough work to go around. Now more so then ever with the emerald ash borer. Everybody's just trying to eat. I built my company with the specific intent to tackle the work the other tree companies didnt want. Thats not to say that we wont do the simple jobs but i dont bank on them and expect to be under bid by someone else who is uninsured anyways. I dont personally loan out equipment, my guys have their own stuff. If one of my guys gets a job that he makes money on im happy for him. If its too big for him by himself he will have me bid it and we will tackle it together.

Sometimes those little jobs your guys do on their own may be hard for you to make a profit anyways at least this way you know and possibly like the feller that is making the money.

 

[BC WetCoast]

Hey are you Seedling's boss? I made no assumptions about "stealing" customers and equipment.

Nope, but my employer has a no side work policy.

 

[jefflovstrom]

I am happy to give side work to my guys. We don't do residential work except for certain occasions.
If we are on a big golf course for 4 weeks and I have a completion date, I do not have time for a home owner. At least I know my guys will do a good job and that person is happy, and so are my guys.
Jeff

 

[Wayne Wilkinson]

different areas are different ball games. i know just an hour north of me there are a lot of skilled climbers and competition is stiff. Where I am MOST not all are just bucket crews with large chippers. So its a little different. Other employers in my area may feel different.