Question about bidding large job?

[tree md]

Hey guys, I just got a call from a guy who wants me to come give him a price on taking down 100+ trees. The trees range from 3-4" to 24" he says and he doesn't want us to haul it off. He plans to burn it and just wants us to stack it up in a pile on his land. I would appreciate any input you guys have on pricing a job this big as I have never been asked to price a job this large.

Thanks in advance
tree md

 

[John464]

how long will it take you to do and do you have the equipment and staff to do this scale of a job?

are you cutting the wood up or are you skidding the trees to the pile on the property? are you chipping the limbs? can your chipper take whole trees, if so up to what size? what about the stumps leaving, grinding or pulling? these are the questions that can make a difference of a few extra days, to weeks

 

[tree md]

Haven't seen the job yet but I believe it is just going to be felling trees, no climbing. I definitely have the equipment and staff to do the job. I will have a better idea how long it will take after I see it. No skidding, no chipping. Just dropping trees and putting them on a burn pile on site. I usually bill $125 for man hours. Does that sound about right?

 

[clearance]

Sounds to me like a bigger hoe (excavator) with a thumb and a clearing blade would be a whole lot faster than using guys to pile branches and tops. I have worked a few times with a good operator, if you can use a saw well, the two of you can process a lot of wood in a day. He can push trees for you so there is no need to wedge, pile up slash, deck logs and so on. A good op. with a big machine and myself with a saw can easily outwork ten men without a machine.

 

[SilentElk]

Sounds like a lot of work. Any chancey ou have a truck with a grapple? Also, determine how far you need to move these too. Smaller trees may be easier to chip than to move, at least the bushy limbs.

If you can get $125 a man hr you are doing fine. Just get 5 people dragging branches and bill him hourly

 

[TaoTreeClimber]

I would definately to on an hourly or daily rate on that one. You may want to start on the highest priority areas just incase his money gives out before his ambition. What kind of trees are you talking about? That many decent hardwoods may fetch a good price at the mill instead of the the fire wood pile.

Kenn

 

[ASD]

how big is the piece of prop.??? are you clear cuting or thining???

 

[tree md]

Well, something came up for him and we had to call the meet off for today. We plan to meet tomorrow and then I'll be able to see what I am dealing with. He said the trees are from 3-4" to 24" in diameter.

Tao, That's what I'm starting to think, that a daily rate would be the best way to approach this. I am hoping that I can complete this job (if I get it) in a week. If I land this one it will be the biggest job I have sold or done on my own.

 

[John464]

Just dropping trees and putting them on a burn pile on site. I usually bill $125 for man hours. Does that sound about right?

How are you getting the trees to one big burn pile? Your guys or machinery? If it were me I would have one excavator on the job and a crew consisting of 4 men , 1 machine operator and 3 guys on the ground sawing. Doing a job this big with just men and saws would not normally be the best way even if you don't have an excavator or some kind of loader, you can sub the moving of the tree to someone who has a machine that can do it. Also depending on how far of a skid/drag it is to that pile Id be chipping whole trees to increase production. The key to a large job is to know exactly how fast you can move in and out. Factor in your expenses and turn a nice profit. If you do not have more than 1 crew are you going to lose out on some of your smaller "cake" jobs while you are tied up there?

What I have been doing all season is jobs that take more than 3 days is gettting a contract signed and booking it for the winter. So when residential work slows down I can put the men on the more time consuming jobs. For me the 1 day big jobs are more profitable per day than those week long jobs.

 

[clearance]

John464 is mostly right, like me in the earlier post, this is land clearing, a little beyond the tree service "chip up a few trees" deal. You say it is all to be piled and burned, with a big enough, properly equipped excavator there is no need for more than one man with a saw.

 

[John464]

John464 is mostly right, like me in the earlier post, this is land clearing, a little beyond the tree service "chip up a few trees" deal. You say it is all to be piled and burned, with a big enough, properly equipped excavator there is no need for more than one man with a saw.

yup, but the more men he has dropping trees the quicker he can blow the job out. and with 100 trees there may be plenty of space to safely divide sections to his men to get them on the ground. if the stumps arent coming out I wouldn't be pushing any planted tree over with the ex, only to assist on leaners that would otherwise need a line and wedges set.

Just about all of my clearing jobs the stumps either get pulled or ground out, so pushing over the small to medium sized trees and uprooting them is what we do.

 

[Tree Slayer]

Well, something came up for him and we had to call the meet off for today. We plan to meet tomorrow and then I'll be able to see what I am dealing with. He said the trees are from 3-4" to 24" in diameter.

Tao, That's what I'm starting to think, that a daily rate would be the best way to approach this. I am hoping that I can complete this job (if I get it) in a week. If I land this one it will be the biggest job I have sold or done on my own.

A week sounds long to me for no clean up. Also I think unless you own a large excavator it will be to expense to bring one in for this small of a job. This job sounds more like a skidloader with a grapple bucket to me, thats what I would use. especially if most of the tree are small.

 

[treeseer]

What is the land being cleared for?

 

[clearance]

What is the land being cleared for?

Yeah, and the address too, so Treeseer can rush over and chain himself to a tree, good grief. Log it, burn it, pave it.

 

[Stumpcutter1]

Whatever you are going to do get it written up and signed so you dont end up shafted in the end!I'm not big on contracts but something this size I'd def have one

 

[John464]

Yeah, and the address too, so Treeseer can rush over and chain himself to a tree, good grief. Log it, burn it, pave it.

:hmm3grin2orange:
Does this treeser guy think he can save every tree?

When a lot is to be cleared for new development it is going to get cleared regardless and nobody should get all teary eyed about it for goodness sake!

Treeser do you walk into every store or building or that parking lot you park at and say a prayer for the trees that were once there?


Tree Slayer,

ya if the biggest trees are only 24" a skid steer/grapple combo is what he needs instead of the ex.

 

[kennertree]

Hell, he just asked a question. He isn't condeming you for cutting a tree down.

 

[clearance]

:hmm3grin2orange:
Does this treeser guy think he can save every tree?

When a lot is to be cleared for new development it is going to get cleared regardless and nobody should get all teary eyed about it for goodness sake!

Treeser do you walk into every store or building or that parking lot you park at and say a prayer for the trees that were once there?


Tree Slayer,

ya if the biggest trees are only 24" a skid steer/grapple combo is what he needs instead of the ex.

I was being funny, kind of. Anyways, land clearing to me means everything goes, a skid steer ain't enough to rip out stumps.