industry standard pricing data

[Plasmech]

I know that electricians for example have a book that they can use to calculate "industry standard" pricing. This can be done so that they cannot possibly be accused by a customer of ripping them off.

Is there such data published for tree work? Say I have an xxx species tree that's yyy feet tall and zzz feet in diameter, and then say there are some additional parameters (can it be felled, bombed out, or must it all be rigged?) and such...and I want to arive at standard pricing...

Hoping there is such a thing!

 

[Tree Pig]

I know that electricians for example have a book that they can use to calculate "industry standard" pricing. This can be done so that they cannot possibly be accused by a customer of ripping them off.

Is there such data published for tree work? Say I have an xxx species tree that's yyy feet tall and zzz feet in diameter, and then say there are some additional parameters (can it be felled, bombed out, or must it all be rigged?) and such...and I want to arive at standard pricing...

Hoping there is such a thing!

If there is some people are not reading it and others are charging extra for having read it and some are claiming to have read it and charging even more. What you have to do is decide what each job is worth to you. Estimate your costs and decide what you need to clear on the job to make it worth the trouble/risk/time. For a rough guide line you can try and decide how long the job will take and how much you want to average an hour.

 

[Bearcreek]

Tree's are not like wiring houses. No two are the same. Species, access to the tree, targets, pickiness of the owner in regards to landscape damage, region of the country and other factors all weigh in to determine what a tree will cost to remove. It would be impossible to come up with industry standard pricing that was meaningful. Too many variables

 

[capetrees]

:agree2:

 

[outofmytree]

If there is some people are not reading it and others are charging extra for having read it and some are claiming to have read it and charging even more. What you have to do is decide what each job is worth to you. Estimate your costs and decide what you need to clear on the job to make it worth the trouble/risk/time. For a rough guide line you can try and decide how long the job will take and how much you want to average an hour.

This is exactly how I estimate every job. In Australia most trades charge by the hour so my clients are used to that and see tree work as being just like plumbung or electrical work. Of course, I still get some wrong.....

 

[Blakesmaster]

This is exactly how I estimate every job. In Australia most trades charge by the hour so my clients are used to that and see tree work as being just like plumbung or electrical work. Of course, I still get some wrong.....

I base all my bids on how long I think they will take me to do, then I adjust it. If it's a simple job any jackass can do I lower my price 'cause I'm competing with 30 or so other companies. If it's a monster tree that only 3 or 4 different local boys will bid on you bet my price goes up a few ticks. If the HO seems a bit goofy I'll toss in a PITA fee or if they seem cool I'll lower it some. There's no mathematical equation it's just something you get better at as you go along. It helps if you know how to do treework first though, Plas.

 

[arbor pro]

Industry standard pricing for the hourly cost of labor alone could be put into place based off of certification and training documentation of workers; however, as mentioned by others, there are many many variables besides labor that go into a final cost of removing x size tree - equipment costs, overhead, waste disposal, local ordinances and state laws...

The closest you would come to this would be to put together a summary of what municipalities contact out for removal of trees along street Rights of Way or within city owned properties. Usually, such bids call for a singular price to remove a certain dbh tree regardless of other factors involved and that price is taken times x number of trees at that size within a given range such as 24-35" dbh.

But, you have to figure that the bidders are taking into account that they will not just be removing one tree, rather, hundreds perhaps thousands within a given geographic area and within a given time period. Not the same as simply coming up with a standard price for Joe homeowner's 24" diameter hackberry which overhangs his house. The hourly cost of a worker might be the same for each scenario but the number of hours and amount of equipment required to do each job is going to be different.

 

[TreeW?rx]

Pricing was a real bugger for me to figure out in the beginning. There was a lot of "I guess it will cost about this much." and I never had the same price twice. You have to come up with a scheme to set a base price for any tree. I finally decided that every species of tree has certain properties, how hard the wood is, how heavy the wood is, how branchy, etc. Some trees are going to be harder than others to cut. I figured out that you can make a basic tree pricing guide by measuring the dbh, figure the area in square inches (simple math), and multiplying it by the weight of the wood. You can find a tree weight guide on sherrilltree.com. Then you decide how much it should cost you to remove each square inch of wood. $1, $1.50, etc. That will give you a basic price for each species of tree. Then all you need to do is add for any extra work involved, rigging, houses in the way, other trees in the way, etc. It may sound a little convoluted at first, but a little time with Excel and you can have a basic price list that you can carry with you and be able to give very accurate estimates in no time. If you are interested, shoot me an e-mail and I will send you a copy of my list.

 

[outofmytree]

Pricing was a real bugger for me to figure out in the beginning. There was a lot of "I guess it will cost about this much." and I never had the same price twice. You have to come up with a scheme to set a base price for any tree. I finally decided that every species of tree has certain properties, how hard the wood is, how heavy the wood is, how branchy, etc. Some trees are going to be harder than others to cut. I figured out that you can make a basic tree pricing guide by measuring the dbh, figure the area in square inches (simple math), and multiplying it by the weight of the wood. You can find a tree weight guide on sherrilltree.com. Then you decide how much it should cost you to remove each square inch of wood. $1, $1.50, etc. That will give you a basic price for each species of tree. Then all you need to do is add for any extra work involved, rigging, houses in the way, other trees in the way, etc. It may sound a little convoluted at first, but a little time with Excel and you can have a basic price list that you can carry with you and be able to give very accurate estimates in no time. If you are interested, shoot me an e-mail and I will send you a copy of my list.

Very interesting approach.

 

[Sunrise Guy]

This is all very interesting. On the ISA CUA test I took a few weeks ago there was a question that wanted you to select the most-used way that utility jobs are bid. I thought, "Man, this really eats :censored:. There are so many variables involved and I've heard of different calls for bids asking for different break-downs on costing them out." As judged by all of the above, it is just about impossible to agree on one way to figure how to cost a bid out. FWIW, I selected the answer that went with cost per man hour. There were other possibilities that included man-hour cost plus equipment, cost per tree and cost per linear foot. As usual, with ISA questions on their exams, the answer options sometimes all make sense and you basically flip a mental coin and hope that you are guessing the answer that the person who wrote the question had in mind. It al comes down to luck, and NOT what you actually know, or think you know.

 

[Lawnmowerboy48]

Know your costs before you bid.

 

[Rftreeman]

IF I have these words "damn, that's a big tree" in my mind when I first see the tree then it already $1500.00 before I even start to think about all the time and rigging.......lol...

 

[treeclimber101]

250/300HR FOR this area plasmech is reasonable , you just need to learn what you can accomplish in a hr .or $60 hr per man plus equipment and material cost..

 

[ForTheArborist]

Tons x Dump Fee per Ton for Debris
Truck Fuel - Hauling Debris
Truck Fuel - Travel x # Trips To/From Home
Truck Maintainance Surcharge

Ground Work
Flat or Steep Slope
Close or Far From Trucks
Cut Into Fire Wood or Not
Stack Fire Wood or Not
How Much and Heavy/Light Fire Wood
Quarter Cut the Trunks Or Not
How Far is the Wood Carried

How Much of the 360 Degrees Around the Tree Over Hangs Structures
How Far Over Structures do Limbs Hang
How Much Tree is There to Be Swung Away From the Structures
How Tall and Wide is Tree
Figure 4 Above Dynamics to Job to Arrive at Number of Hours of High
Risk/Low Risk Work
Can Tree Be Dropped or can Limbs Be Simply Cut Off
Figure Above Dynamic to Job to Arrive at Number of Hours of
High/Low Risk Work

Logistics
Any Ordinary or Extraordinary Supply Cost to Complete Job
Surcharge for any Equipment's Supply/Maintainence and
Future Replacement Costs
(No Customer is Going to Buy Me New Gear When It Breaks Down.
Make Them Pay Now, or No More Tree Service Like 90%
of all Small Businesses)

Summary:
Figure hours needed to do work on a high/low risk fee schedule based on number of workers, and figure in the logistics costs. That's a bid.

I figure if I'm in a tree most or all of the day, I'm getting paid right around $200 per day just for that. Everything else is added to that including a descent hourly rate for ground work. Sometimes I will squeeze numbers for the customers that are acting peavish about big numbers when I know I had better secure work for a week ahead. If I have work up past a week or two, I love hand them bids for what it's actually worth whether they take the bid or not. If the take it, home run. If they pass on it, I have time before I will have to squeeze numbers again.

Best way to get what it is worth is to take the time to explain how the work will be done, and how many hours it will actually take even to cut up the wood into fire wood. Then tell them about logistics costs. Feed them all of that in a way that perks their ears, and remember that they actually like to hear about how the tree/s is coming down.

This is really big stuff to most customers, and it's a real treat for them to be involved in this big deal just by explaining the processes required to complete the whole evolution. They'll favor you letting them in on that kind of stuff. A great performance during the bidding stage goes a long ways no matter what your number looks like next to the rest.

 

[Sunrise Guy]

(snip)
Best way to get what it is worth is to take the time to explain how the work will be done, and how many hours it will actually take even to cut up the wood into fire wood. Then tell them about logistics costs. Feed them all of that in a way that perks their ears, and remember that they actually like to hear about how the tree/s is coming down.

This is really big stuff to most customers, and it's a real treat for them to be involved in this big deal just by explaining the processes required to complete the whole evolution. They'll favor you letting them in on that kind of stuff. A great performance during the bidding stage goes a long ways no matter what your number looks like next to the rest.

I have to say that I have customers who specifically don't want to hear about how the bid is computed or how their tree will come down. Many just say, if I start to explain, "I don't care about that stuff. Just get the tree down and I'll pay you your price." One large commercial account almost ditched my company because the head honcho got irritated with listening to the bid break-down. She told me to just get things done and not bother her with the details, literally. I guess it just shows you that it takes all kinds.