is it worth 26K

[murphy4trees]

I met a well respected local tree man in Tidewater Va.. He's got a good reputation among his clientelle (probably cause he works too cheap).. anyhow he has a nice looking bucket (paid 38K), a chip truck with morebark chipper, tractor, couple of pick ups, and a small vermmer stump grinder.. He subbed a stump job out to me and we got to talking.. he said last year after all expenses were paid, he made 26K... He was pricing his stumps at $1/in.

That's a lot of work for 26K...

 

[rb_in_va]

Did he mean business expenses or all his expenses combined? Like mortgage, food, fun, etc? Also, you were in Tidewater and didn't look me up? Please do next time. Daniel, does the guy need any labor help? Later, Roger.

 

[rborist1]

:Eye:

 

[Husky372]

actually that is a sound business practice it keeps his name in the public eye all year, then when they need someone they remember him.

 

[xander9727]

$1 AN INCH???? I charge $3 an inch to 25 inches (there is a $75 min. to grind stumps), $4 an inch from 26-39 inches, $4 an inch from 40-49 inches and $5 an inch for 50 inches and greater.

The formula for the area of a circle is Pi times a the radius squared. Pi is constant, so every time you double the radius, your quadruple the area. For example, a 6 inch stump has an area of 28.26 inches, a 12 inch stump has an area of 113.04 inches. If you just charge a flat fee per inch you'll either fail to be competitive on small stumps or severely undercharge for larger stumps.

I always add at least 2 inches to the top of the stump to account for trunk flare. On large stumps I'll add more. If the customer questions why my measurements are larger than theirs I explain that the stump does flare out below the soil and the final hole will be larger than the measurement I took.

If your not going to make money, why do it?

 

[Stumper]

Good thinking on your stump pricing Xander.
Daniel-I've been that guy(less equip but same mentality). I'm trying to do better but I still tend to think"What can I do this for?" instead of "How much can I get for this?.

 

[OutOnaLimb]

Guys like this dont really seem to last in the long run. Sure they may pay their bills but when the winter season hits they tend to trade in their saws and start shoveling snow or anything else they can do to make a buck. There is a fine line between making a profit and just getting by. I hate to say it but the majority of the work that I do as a sub is for a guy who's motto is, "How much will you pay me to do this job", instead of "how much are you willing to spend to have this job done proper". I hate to say it, but the majority of the work that I do is as a Sub for the same type of clowns that we are bad mouthing now. But its just all a means to an end for us. I am selling Cambistat left and right and have a pastle of trees to plant, as well lots of trims and removals to do under my name. The key word here is patience. the hacks are gonna cut their own necks in the long run, that is where us professionals pick up the slack and capitalize on their serious mis-judgments. I would put that a different way, but JPS would just change it all to a bunch of ???!!!$$$###@@@. Yeah yeah yeah, we are fixing their screw ups.!!!!

Kenn

:Monkey:

 

[coydog]

igotta play the devil's advocate here and say ,especially if some of this equipment is new or has had any major repairs, 26K profit may not be that bad. at least any profit is better than no profit.i won't dis him without knowing the whole story. at least he's doing it.

 

[murphy4trees]

But he's doing it too cheap... he thinks he has to beat anyonbe else's prices out there... he's got a good reputation and good equipment and should be able to chage something extra for it..

 

[ORclimber]

It wouldn't be worth it, not that I did much better last year. The risk/hours involved in being a owner/operator are worth much more than that. Especially when a decent climber can get a 40-45 hour a week job clearing 40k+ with bene's.

 

[rborist1]

:Eye:

 

[Koa Man]

I don't advertise in the YP. I only have the small print free listing that comes with the business number. I won't even give them the $45 a month they want for bold print. When I do get YP callers, if it is not a removal, I ask them if they are looking for the best possible price (translation=cheapest) for the work. If they say yes, I tell them we are not the people you are looking for, as our price will probably be in the upper range of what you get and explain why. If they still want me to give a bid, I give them a time when I will be in their area doing another bid or working, no special trip to bid for them only.

 

[ROLLACOSTA]

Originally posted by murphy4trees
But he's doing it too cheap... he thinks he has to beat anyonbe else's prices out there... he's got a good reputation and good equipment and should be able to chage something extra for it..

ive often thought about this ..ie bigger equipment /better equipment..charge more money ??..i think that a guy like you have spoken of with all the gear cuold or should be charging less than a regular outfit ..as with all the equipment i reckon he could do a job that would take me 3 days in 1 ie makeing him cheaper to the customer ..even takeing into consideration all his exspensise..so i dont agree with you when you said he should be charging more ..it should be less IMO...whever hes earning a decent wage then thats a differant matter..also a guy with all the gear has too chase the big jobs to be profitable

 

[ROLLACOSTA]

OUTONALIMB ..im sorry but i have to disagree with you also imo .hacks do survive at least they do around these parts ..they cut corners ie save money..where i go out and spend £200 on proper roadsigns they dont , when i pay insurance for me and my crew they dont ,when i send my boys on road sign layout courses they dont..i could keep going ..but i think hacks definatly survive...i know a firm in my town who employs about 10 he has all the best equipment all the correct insurance every health and safety issue he follows to the book this guy is a true proffesional,but he has too charge a premium rate..now in the last 2 weeks ive had some of his customers call me too bid as they now say hes way too exspensive..i feel sorry for him as all he is doing is running a pro buissness ..but his old customers dont care as they want top work ..for less money they realy want a hack [by the way imo a hack is not just somebody who doesnt prune correct a hack is somebody who also runs a shoddy company no insurance ,clapped out kit ,guys working for them claiming welfare etc etc]

 

[rb_in_va]

RC,
The job should be worth the same no matter the tools used to do it, shouldn't it? With better tools and equip, the more jobs a person can do, therefore they should take home more money. It seems that if a person buys expensive equipment, and gives his customers a discount because of it is only shortchanging himself.
Later, Roger.

 

[Abbershay]

3 to 5 bucs per inch, man people would laugh you off the property....thats got to be about 500/hour machine time.

I would love it , but i would never get a chance to work.

 

[Stumper]

Right Rb! If I upgrade equipment the price of the job shouldn't change but the amount I gross per hour should go up simply because better tools make the same jobs go faster.

 

[ROLLACOSTA]

what i mean is if a job is say $3,000 and a regular firm ie truck and chipper..takes 3 days ..surely a crew with bigger equipment and buckets etc,that can knock the job out in one 1 day could charge $2800 and still come out a winner...wages are my biggest daily bill not equipment