looking for some info on starting a tree service

[squad143]

Just some FYI. The easiest (and cheapest) way to get rid of a lousy employee, is to give him an outstanding reference. He'll leave for greener pastures and it won't cost you an arm and a leg to fire the SOB.

You say you are a certified mechanic. Can you do an annual boom inspection?

Best advise I can give you, is to keep your present job. Work for a reputable tree company on your days off (weekends/vacation) and learn the trade. Find out if tree work is even something you enjoy. It is a lot easier (any job) if you enjoy it.) Start small, with minimal investment doing smaller jobs and work your way up. It is easier to bid higher (more profit) when your not under the gun to come up with family expenses as well as a big monthly bank loan.

I guess a lot of guys are busting your balls because you seem a little naive about the whole " tree cutting" business. Just because you have worked on a farm and have cut trees for fire wood, doesn't mean you can cut down trees for a living right away. It's a small start, but just because I like cows and drink milk should not mean I should invest a lot of money and start my own dairy farm. ( a bit of an exaggeration). Most people don't call you to cut down the easy ones.

When you apply for arborist insurance, they will ask you for your experience. Expect to pay a much higher premium for "just cutting trees on the farm for firewood". Do some homework. Call around for some commercial insurance, that will cover you for large tree removal with your experience and see what your rates will be.

Try to stay out of debt. Learn the ropes from someone with good experience. Then decide if this line of work is for you.

Best of luck to you.

 

[troythetreeman]

to keep everything going as you described in your initial post you need to average 2000$ per day 4 days a week min
one more piece of advise, do not hire your friends

 

[dearl]

im all for you going out on your own and earning a living
this is America
but im telling you man, to sink that kind of investment into this without the basic 101 at the very least isnt going to work
your only shot is to find a guy who can not only do any job, he can bid and sell it too
and nobody, who isnt close to you personally is going to be that guy for you, i would _never_ work for someone i didnt know, who wasnt established andknows less about this business then i do
not unless the idea of my kid going hungry and ending up homeless didnt bother me
no offense man
you want info on equipment prices, start scoping web sites that sell it
then be aware how much DOT is going to cost, repairs, ....
you want info on the best saws, read a few of these forums
no one here is trying to pop your bubble man but there isnt a one of us who just decided one day, i know how to run a chainsaw, im going to invest 100K and go do residential tree work
that you think you can just do this like its easy is belittling and offensive
these guys are right man, work for someone else for a while
that or start smaller, buy some basic tools, go out and find jobs you know you can do, when you get one thats over your head, hire a good climber, if he doesnt have his own tools, he probably isnt good, make sure he is good, if he smashes a house or hurts himself or someone else, its on you
i do work for a guy very much like that on the weekends, he mostly landscapes, if it needs to be climbed, he calls me, i get 50$ per hour cash and were both calling it a saturday well spent
he may own the company, but when im in the yard i call all the shots
if you hire a guy worth his salt, all he needs to know is what the end result is supposed to be
i have run my own tree business, it was 80+ hour weeks and all of the stress and headaches....
i made good money, more then i make now, but i didnt have a life...
now i climb trees and i go home, i like it
we have a bucket truck, it gets used once a month, if that, most tree jobs you cant get it to anyhow, and most of the ones you can, i personally, feel safer, and can do it faster, just climbing it
maybe 5% of the jobs we do the bucket is the best tool for the job

The bucket truck is goin off the few other businesses don't have climbers they just use trucks. The reason I am asking for the help with numbers to see how it may work out there befor I go farther. I never climbed with gear but thought it may be something to learn I not tryin to open tomrrow or anything more of a few year plan I only busten their chops cause is gettin to them

 

[CNBTreeTrimming]

I'm not trying to stir the pot, but I started when I was about 12 cutting firewood. Then about 15 went to selling firewood. From there people said hey you have a chainsaw will you cut this for me. I then did some research bought about $2000 worth of climbing rigging gear and a couple more saws. I took a test through the local forestry department to get a license with the city and I stay busy with minimal overhead. My advise is do it if you want but stay small and realistic on the jobs you accept. If you don't feel it's easy pass on it. Also no loans. You won't recover it. After a few years you can slowly work bigger as you add more equipment.

 

[dearl]

Listen to Troy. He's forgotten about more residential jobs than most people will ever experience. Sorry about the name calling, but dropping trees, especially residential work is serious business and should not be taken lightly. Anyone who has been cutting trees for any length of time has seen some scary stuff. Things you never expect to happen do. Trees will behave and move in unpredictable ways. It is experience that minimizes that risk and enables a person to predict what was once unpredictable. Build on the experience of those who have it. Residential work is not the place to learn or make potentially deadly mistakes. No one wants to burst your bubble, but enthusiasm alone will not be successful.

Yea I asking for advise I knew by reading on this site that you might chatch a li bs but I know I no expert but would like to become one some day. I know there's extrem danger. I like the outside work and all. Just tired of makin other people rich

 

[squad143]

Just tired of makin other people rich

I hear ya. But even owing your own company, there are many days it still feels like this.

I feel the rewards are worth it, but it's not all gravy. Do lots of homework (this site is a start), start small, keep debt at a minimum and work your way up.

 

[tomtrees58]

buying used equipment is ok if its in good shape but????????? wen hes gos down the road and the dot gets him he will think twice about being in business:hmm3grin2orange:

 

[CNBTreeTrimming]

buying used equipment is ok if its in good shape but????????? wen hes gos down the road and the dot gets him he will think twice about being in business:hmm3grin2orange:

That's why I like KS. The DOT doesn't mess with the local rednecks. Just the OTR truckers. Most of us don't even tag our trailers.

 

[flushcut]

Not buying new. Planing on good used except for the saws and other small stuff. Never worked as a pro but have experience cuting down trees. I never had a bucket truck or climbing gear if I needed to cut just a top limb I climbed up the tree an pulled my saw up with a rope

I would say work for or with somebody to get some real experience.

Ok I got yall all figured out you either work for someone an aint got the balls to go it on your own or own your own business and don't run a good enough business that ur threatened by someone in another state that being said on my lack of experience I'll just hire someone like you with the knowledge

I run my own show and I wish you the best but this is not an easy business to get into with no experience. You can really mess things up in a major way or kill somebody even if you hire a guy who knows. If you are going to learn from them it is going to take forever before you can work productively together because you have no base to go off of. There is so much more than just notching and dropping a tree: rigging, rigging theory, climbing, tree biology, and so on.

An I didn't ask how much I needed to borrow asked for operating cost estimate

Your operating cost really depends on your skill level. Can you come in to a job and pound it out in hours or is it going to take a week? With all that gear you could be in the $600-1000 if not more a day in overhead. I know of mid-sized companies here that are at $2500 a day just to make payroll.

 

[no tree to big]

so when your $250 a day climber dont show do you know what to do to get it done? can you even tie a running bowline, the most basic and most common knot in the tree world? what happens when you cant get your truck to the tree are you going to pass on the job?

I think you have this backwards on how to start a biz especially in an area with as few people as you are targeting, keep in mind this is if you already have working knowledge... so go get some of that... you buy a nice older f350 or f450 dump and a decent chipper and have a pickup to pull a trailer for wood that there will be the lowest overhead option and if that area cant sustain the required over head on that then your out a lot less then if you go buying a bucket 2 ton dump skid and so on

I think going big right from the git-go is going to be good for the first couple weeks then your going to run out of people who want to try out the new co. on the block and after that your going to sink fast

I took a look at the area you are targeting and I'm going to be honest I dont think your going to make to much money with the biz model your thinking about. the ideal setup would be where you know how to climb and can climb anything and everything and you have one or two groundies for 10-15 an hour not the other way around

and being a firewood cutter/seller gets you almost no experience fo tree work I felled trees and cut firewood when I was like 13 not to hard if a teenager can do it is it? and when I made the jump into a production tree biz it was a wake up call I picked it up fast but that first week was rough, not so much the physical part but I did go from a sit on my ass job to tree work overnight but the mental is tough "what should i be doing now" "am I doing what I should be doing" "should I do it this way" "what the hell does he want me to do" is whats going to be in your head all day long and as the owner thats not a good thing your supposed to be the guy yelling at the others not the otherway around...

 

[k5alive]

you defenatly cant jump balls deep right away, i started with a small company, then i kept moving company to company but i learned how to climb through many different people over a long period of time after a while i was comfortable climbing on my own, now i just sell myself to other companys who want a badass climber. i do side work all the time because i know what i am doing. i dont have thousands and thousands of dollars loaned. key is if you start off in the little box you can make it to the big box. or you can go youre way and tank, then owe bookoo dollars to a bank

 

[treeclimber101]

On a serious note have you considered getting into stumps and smaller tree related ventures before going big , I mean it sounds as if you may do OK with that , you have some mechanical experience which is a must to keep a stump cutter working daily and it is almost a game that is somewhat self explanatory , then as time progresses ease yourself into some small removals and some pruning work this will also establish you as a player in your area , I mean there is always stump work that needs to be done and a hustler can make some money at it .. Then maybe invest more as needed but to go whole hog into it is a bit stupid ... Also landscape works pays the bills as well and I am not talking about grass either , clean ups and things ... Maybe just saying ..

 

[minuteman tree]

These guys know what they're talking about. I'm in the same boat you are, and they've been alot of help. I've got about 5 years ground experience on a logging crew and have done some recreational climbing. I already have saws and just sunk about $850 into climbing equipment. I plan on starting with the smaller jobs until I get the experience to tackle the bigger stuff. I borrow my father in laws truck and have no loans. My biggest expense is my insurance, which in my area runs about $800 for the year. Start small and remember "Low and Slow".

 

[Zale]

I said this in a previous thread but it bears repeating , "If your into pain and suffering, you will love this work". If this is what you really want to do, try to find work with another company and learn the trade from the ground up. You will realize fairly quickly if it is for you.

A population of 30k is not a lot of people. How many other companies are in your area? What do they charge per day? How are you going to be different from them to get clients. What will set you apart? I would not purchase all that equipment and then try to figure out how to man it. Its a free country, good luck.

 

[sgreanbeans]

My cost to operate daily is about 275, that covers gas, guys, insurance and payments.
I would go as big as you can, get at least 250k in equipment, hire about 10 guys and go for it. Just let me know when you are ready to unload some dat shiny stuff:biggrin:
You can do this 2 ways, right or wrong, choice is up to you. If you want to do it the right way, you need to slow down and take baby steps, if you have never been in a tree or a bucket, then I would say that you are years away from having enough experience to run your own show. If you don't wanna go that route, then go to Home Depot, get a couple saws, go to Schmidtys in Illinois and get a top notch truck and you will be ready, after all its just gravity.

This Q is asked a lot by the same type, we should put a reader only post up. "If your think of starting up a tree service, consider all this"
I am sure it open eyes and kill the same thread form starting over and over.

Not knocking anyone for wanting to work, but many guys think it is no big deal to do what we do, and I suppose that's true, to a point. When you want to do it like we do, then there is much to learn before even thinking about taking the plunge.

 

[BestPriceTree]

Best Price Tree Services

Starting a tree service company is a much bigger task than most would think. I would advise against it. If you're still interested though, check out my Best Price Tree Service company.

 

[no tree to big]

wish the OP could have been out there today with us to show us how easy it is to run a "show" with firewood experience

holy fricken huge american elm only 45" but my god that thing had a canopy the size of Rhode Island over 2 houses grew through 3 other trees, the road had a grassy median prob about 75-100' between the two lanes, it had a leader that grew almost horizontal @30' and was over the road on the far side so roughly 100-125' long. wish I had a camera phone that was worth something to get some pics of these elms we are taking down. and all for about 1800 bucks stupid muni contract otherwise it woulda been like a $6-7K tree

side note finally got to run the crane a bit today cause the forman/op had a bit to much to drink yesturday so he spent some time in the back of the chip truck yacking

 

[minuteman tree]

Went for my first climb today. Learned 2 things.
1. Climbing is a lot harder than it looks.
2. I need to lose weight, cuz my 260 lbs was damn hard to pull up.

Not giving up though. I loved it. Think I'm gonna try footlocking next.

 

[minuteman tree]

Also, just wanted to say that I have alot of respect for you guys that do this every day. It's deadly serious and I look forward to learning more from yall

 

[superjunior]

Another thing is without climbing experience and a good understanding of residential tree work, its going to be nearly impossible to accurately estimate/bid on a job because you will have no idea of how long it will take. And finding a good climber who you can depend on and actually has his s##t together.. good luck.. I've had 3 climbers come and go through here the last few years and they all had some issue or another. had an excellent guy work for a few days. had his act together, married, a wizz at rigging, no chemical dependencies - he was a keeper. he wanted 300.00 a day (and worth it) I just couldn't afford to keep him.
Point is, If I wasn't an experienced climber YEARS before going out on my own, I'd probably be out of business. Oh and if your married, there's a real good chance you'll be getting a divorce. The business is your new wife now and expect on spending about 70 to 80 hrs a week with her..