I need a hand bidding a cedar hedge.

[TomSawyer]

Hello all,

I am bidding a large cedar hedge, maybe 75 feet long and 20 ft high. He wants the height trimmed down a few feet (pretty radical pruning from what I've read) and a shearing on the sides. I am thinking:

8 hours for my foreman
8 hours bucket truck (to include fuel)
Use of hedge trimmer

With my bidding formula (still in beta) I come up with $750.

Does this sound reasonable? I look at that and think "Jeez, 750 smacks to trim a hedge? that sounds high" On the other hand, I just underbid 2 large removals, and I can't be doing this over and over.

What do you guys think?

 

[Adkpk]

What's the plan for the debris? Otherwise, 8 hrs. 1 man, sounds like a good day. I found out today I need some cedar to build an outside hand railing can I get some of the debris?

 

[TomSawyer]

Debris just gets run through the chipper, there are other trees on the site that we are doing simultaneously. Chippers are cool!

 

[M.D. Vaden]

If anything, maybe a tad bit low on the price.

Seems it would take me much of a day to do something like that for the pruning, then it takes quite a while to handle all that small debris for raking and chipping if there are bigger pieces.

Still a pretty big hedge.

Don't be surprised if he goes into a second day on it.

If a tall arborvitae hedge, maybe a day, but if you mean cedar as in the trees, planted as a hedge, I'm guessing on the high side.

 

[BC WetCoast]

Sounds low to me. Depending on how low you are reducing it, you probably have over a load of chips. And you will probably need at least 1/2 a groundman to keep up with cleanup.

One hedge I worked on, we reduced from 16' to 8' (it was a big institution and there were view issues with the neighbours). It was about 400' long and took over a week using a trim saw off the bucket. Did about a 1.5 loads of chips per day.

As far as expensive hedges, I worked on another that was bay laurel. We charged him $12,000 and lost money. Should have been $18,000. It was about 20' high around his property, only a small portion was bucket accessible. The rest was tall ladders, extension ladders leaning on the hedge or climbing in the hedge. This customer was extremely fussy and we had to use string and a laser level to make sure it was level.

Finally, a landscaper I know had a customer with an 8' laurel hedge. This lady didn't like the look of the cut leaves created by a hedge trimmer, so the landscaper had to trim the entire hedge with secateurs. A crew of 8 for over a week, hand snipping the hedge.

What I'm trying to tell you is, it costs what it costs. If you have calculated your costs and hourly rates and estimated your production, then your answer is what you should quote. Don't second guess yourself because it's 'only a hedge'. On the other hand, maybe your gut is telling you your estimate of production is out.

 

[TomSawyer]

Thanks!

This is exactly the kind of feedback I was hoping for. THanks MD and BC. So now the list reads:

1 day bucket truck operator
1 day Bucket truck
1 day groundie
1 day chipper
1 day fuel for everything
1 day gas powered hedge clippers
1 day myself supervising this whole goat rope

Now we are up to $1015

Even I am getting sticker shock, but your posts make me feel better about this bid. Anything else I am missing? I am too new to this to have a great gut feeling about anything.

 

[Adkpk]

Will it live after such a hard prune? Exactly what type of cedar is it? I am assuming it is juniper of arborvitae.

 

[Cowboy Billy]

Will it live after such a hard prune? Exactly what type of cedar is it? I am assuming it is juniper of arborvitae.

That is my thought too. Also it will probally look bad when its done. Most of the greenery is on the outside if is red cedar like I have. When it is cut back you are going to see branches, dead branches and white cuts aginst dark brown where the branches are cut off. It might make it really thin too making it easy to see through.

You are there and know how much you will take off look at how it is going to change the headge and make sure the owner knows what it most likely will look like when done.

 

[pdqdl]

Most evergreens are ruined by heavy shearing. Suggest removal: it's cheaper than shearing down to size, they will probably end up paying you to come back and finish the job anyway.

Then they might have enough money left over to plant some replacements.

 

[Bigus Termitius]

Most evergreens are ruined by heavy shearing. Suggest removal: it's cheaper than shearing down to size, they will probably end up paying you to come back and finish the job anyway.

Then they might have enough money left over to plant some replacements.

Excellent post. Sometimes you're just better off to start over.

 

[TomSawyer]

Well,

I explained everything to him, and he went for a compromise, $375 to cut the height down, no side shearing. I think this was a poor decision on his part, but hey, I've got 2 grand worth of other work that he is giving me, so I keep the mouth shut, and run my mason's line and get going, right?

 

[Adkpk]

Any possibility of some pics of this when you are done.opcorn:

 

[BC WetCoast]

Most evergreens are ruined by heavy shearing. Suggest removal: it's cheaper than shearing down to size, they will probably end up paying you to come back and finish the job anyway.

Then they might have enough money left over to plant some replacements.

I think it depends on the species of cedar you are dealing with and the growing area. Around here, you can reduce the height of a western red cedar hedge without much consequence (it may look ugly for a while) and shear the sides as long as there is green left on the branch.

Red cedar (Thuja plicata) is one of the primary hedging species, with the cultivars of Smragd and Brandon being the most common. Well maintained (minimum yearly shearing, better with a twice yearly shearing), they will look like a green solid wall.

 

[TomSawyer]

We trimmed the top today, pics to follow. I think it actually looks better, and the neighbor had me give a bid for some removals/pruning in his yard too. Sweet!

He about fell over when I quoted him 1500 for a removal of a 75' oak right by his house! I have a feeling he'll call back. He lives on a fat lakefront spread, and you don't get one of those unless you have some serious jing!!