short on time

[sgreanbeans]

Im small...but big? I have alot toys, and they are mostly paid off, so I have some trucks that sit alot, as I dont need them, but keep them around "just in case" I could go big and run around with my head cut off, and I have, but the stress, the time and the physical abuse inst worth it to me anymore. I can go out and make what I need for the month, in a day, thats a nice place to be. If I wasn't broken I would push harder, but I am, so I don't. In preparation for the sale, I have made sure my groundies have jobs with a couple hi-end landscapers. So soon it will be just me, cruising, I have some guys I can call in for help if I need it, but most of the stuff I will be able to do just fine by myself. Then when the big day comes and I hand over the keys to the show, I will be gone.........I will be SCOTT free! Although I like being my own boss, I also like to have a life! Looking forward to "punching out" each day when I am in Cali, leaving it at the shop. No more feeling guilt about relaxing! To me that is the worse thing, I will be done for the day, good long day, I'll eat, turn on the idiot box and chill, then all of a sudden a feeling of guilt comes over "I should be in the shop" It drives me crazy!
Tic Toc!

 

[2treeornot2tree]

Im small...but big? I have alot toys, and they are mostly paid off, so I have some trucks that sit alot, as I dont need them, but keep them around "just in case" I could go big and run around with my head cut off, and I have, but the stress, the time and the physical abuse inst worth it to me anymore. I can go out and make what I need for the month, in a day, thats a nice place to be. If I wasn't broken I would push harder, but I am, so I don't. In preparation for the sale, I have made sure my groundies have jobs with a couple hi-end landscapers. So soon it will be just me, cruising, I have some guys I can call in for help if I need it, but most of the stuff I will be able to do just fine by myself. Then when the big day comes and I hand over the keys to the show, I will be gone.........I will be SCOTT free! Although I like being my own boss, I also like to have a life! Looking forward to "punching out" each day when I am in Cali, leaving it at the shop. No more feeling guilt about relaxing! To me that is the worse thing, I will be done for the day, good long day, I'll eat, turn on the idiot box and chill, then all of a sudden a feeling of guilt comes over "I should be in the shop" It drives me crazy!
Tic Toc!

I get the guilty feeling anytime I am not working. So so much to do.

 

[superjunior]

Im small...but big? I have alot toys, and they are mostly paid off, so I have some trucks that sit alot, as I dont need them, but keep them around "just in case" I could go big and run around with my head cut off, and I have, but the stress, the time and the physical abuse inst worth it to me anymore. I can go out and make what I need for the month, in a day, thats a nice place to be. If I wasn't broken I would push harder, but I am, so I don't. In preparation for the sale, I have made sure my groundies have jobs with a couple hi-end landscapers. So soon it will be just me, cruising, I have some guys I can call in for help if I need it, but most of the stuff I will be able to do just fine by myself. Then when the big day comes and I hand over the keys to the show, I will be gone.........I will be SCOTT free! Although I like being my own boss, I also like to have a life! Looking forward to "punching out" each day when I am in Cali, leaving it at the shop. No more feeling guilt about relaxing! To me that is the worse thing, I will be done for the day, good long day, I'll eat, turn on the idiot box and chill, then all of a sudden a feeling of guilt comes over "I should be in the shop" It drives me crazy!
Tic Toc!

I get the guilty feeling anytime I am not working. So so much to do.

Totally agree about the feeling guilty thing. Any time I'm working around the shop and see another tree service go by I feel guilty as hell - I should be out there... A big outfit right up the street works 365 even see them out on Sundays. Those guys KILL me! My chipper truck is having work done and gonna be out of the picture for a while so I'll be in the shop working away, I hope the weather is horrible to ease my feeling of "I should be out there"

 

[sgreanbeans]

totally agree about the feeling guilty thing. Any time i'm working around the shop and see another tree service go by i feel guilty as hell - i should be out there... A big outfit right up the street works 365 even see them out on sundays. Those guys kill me! My chipper truck is having work done and gonna be out of the picture for a while so i'll be in the shop working away, i hope the weather is horrible to ease my feeling of "i should be out there"

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayamen!

 

[treeman75]

Totally agree about the feeling guilty thing. Any time I'm working around the shop and see another tree service go by I feel guilty as hell - I should be out there... A big outfit right up the street works 365 even see them out on Sundays. Those guys KILL me! My chipper truck is having work done and gonna be out of the picture for a while so I'll be in the shop working away, I hope the weather is horrible to ease my feeling of "I should be out there"

That is exactly how I feel! I live in a small town, 700 people its 15 miles away from the bigger city where I do most of my work. There was another tree service working in town and it killed me. I know them and had to stop and bs alittle. My chipper was in the sign shop anyway. But ya I am more than ready to hit it. Towards the end of every winter I get out my books and note books and start going through them and calling to let them know I have an early spring special going on.

 

[sprung22]

Whats funny is the more I read this thread the more I appreciate being small time , I mean I have the luxury of making good money during the hours I choose , I don't wanna ever be a slave to shiny trucks and high mortgage payments , because honestly what life is that , and when I talk to guys that have a busy big business its really kinda depressing , I mean 80% of them just provide a really nice life for someone else and then they buy toys they hardly use and the finale of all there hard work is a nice box under a decent tree with a view , no thanks I will gladly make the money annually that some guys need to pay for there equipment But when I am busy I am up @ 5am and poolside by 4pm daily some sats. we work only when we have rain or are really really really busy

This is one of the best statements I have ever heard on this Forum...Dont get me wrong I like my saws and all my climbing gadgets but they have never really made me happy...That's what family and friends are for

 

[limbwalker54]

The first blocks I fill in my calendar are marked "Family". The rest of the time I am in a tree, on an estimate, typing a report, injecting chemicals, pulling a leaf sample, under a truck or driving somewhere.....

Seriously though. When you have a business, devotion is great! But remember that the devotion as a whole must add up to supporting the family (if you have one), and part of supporting them is working the business so that you can somehow give them the time of day, when everyone is still awake enough to care.

Some days I have three guys under me on a removal that takes 12 hours with me climbing.....other days I take one dude out and spend the day structurally pruning young sugar maples and leave the other two splitting firewood. Guess what? I made a nice profit that day and didnt' even fire up a chainsaw.....oh, and I made it home by 5:30 so my wife can go see her clients.

My wife and I are both self employed.....when I get home she goes out for a few hours and either is teaching flute or piano, or seeing her clients (She is a board certified Music Therapist). She is back before we put the kids to bed.

If you start out by making the calendar and it doesn't include time for what YOU really need to do for YOURSELF or YOUR FAMILY, then you will never have time for that.....

 

[treeman75]

During the season its 7-7 somtimes a lttle more or less. It does get stressful trying to do most of the cutting and running bids but I get used to it. I can take a day off almost anytime I want I just schedule some smaller stuff that my guys can handle. We always take a week or so vacation in the summer and that can be hard to relax during. I know this last fall I was ready for a couple months off and I did but im ready to do it again!

 

[2treeornot2tree]

In two weeks, my woman and me are heading south to enjoy 9 days in the sunshine at Daytona Beach bike week. God I got so much to do before I leave. Gonna be going full bore, when I get back with lots of mulching, lawn treatments, and a few trees jobs to get done. Oh yeah, and I have to hire someone too. Wtf the list just keeps getting bigger and bigger.

 

[arborjockey]

In two weeks, my woman and me are heading south to enjoy 9 days in the sunshine at Daytona Beach bike week. God I got so much to do before I leave. Gonna be going full bore, when I get back with lots of mulching, lawn treatments, and a few trees jobs to get done. Oh yeah, and I have to hire someone too. Wtf the list just keeps getting bigger and bigger.

Full bore for you on a tree forum starts mulching and lawn treatments? Then fallows up with a few tree jobs. :msp_tongue:
To make up for the statement above I expect nothing less then 7 photos on the WTF pic. forum. from the vac. in Daytona. :msp_thumbup: have fun. Be safe

 

[2treeornot2tree]

Full bore for you on a tree forum starts mulching and lawn treatments? Then fallows up with a few tree jobs. :msp_tongue:
To make up for the statement above I expect nothing less then 7 photos on the WTF pic. forum. from the vac. in Daytona. :msp_thumbup: have fun. Be safe

Unfortantly tree work only accounts for half of my yearly income. At some point, I hope tree work becomes 80% of my income. There is alot of money to be made around here doing landscaping and lawn care too. I enjoy tree service the most, but I also have bills to pay. I can make as much in a day doing lawn treatments ($2000 - $3000) as I do doing a pretty good size tree removal. I have one place that its $900 per treatment. I also do water features too. I really enjoy doing that, but have only done 4 or 5 of them. Check out my website, you will see all the stuff I do. My heart is in doing tree work.

 

[mattfr12]

In two weeks, my woman and me are heading south to enjoy 9 days in the sunshine at Daytona Beach bike week. God I got so much to do before I leave. Gonna be going full bore, when I get back with lots of mulching, lawn treatments, and a few trees jobs to get done. Oh yeah, and I have to hire someone too. Wtf the list just keeps getting bigger and bigger.

What kind of treatments do you do, are you spraying or putting down the pellets?

 

[2treeornot2tree]

I have a perma green magnum ride on sprayer, I use for spraying grass. The perma green allows you to spray and throw pellets at the same time. I also have 2 50 gal lesco tank sprayers. For lawn treatments, I do a crab grass preventitive with fert in spring which is all pellets, then I do a spring weed and feed and fall weed and feed. The weed killer is liquid and the fert is pellets.

 

[BigWill1985]

Our whole business strategy is to keep overhead as low as possible, so we can therefore pass on savings to the customer. Hoping that we can stay competitive doing this. It allows us to not take such a hard hit when we don't have a job, and also usually allows us to win jobs by keeping our rates a small bit below the competition. Sure, our equipment isn't perfect. I am constantly fixing and adjusting things. But, we get the jobs done. We take very good care of our equipment, and maintain them as best we can. They seldom fail and usually give us great results.

But, we aren't interested in getting ridiculously rich. We just want to earn an honest day's wage, and be able to provide for our families. There is always a fine line to walk between not ripping off the customer, yet not ripping ourselves off.

Worst part about our business is that I still work full time in the Navy. I basically work from 5am-noon Monday-Friday, then go to work with the business until 7-8pm. Usually work the weekends doing larger jobs. In my time off, I am maintaining/sharpening/inspecting equipment or contacting customers. It's a rough time right now, but we figure that it will pay off in the end. I just hope and pray my wife will bear with me through this. It helps her to understand considering the fact that we have our first baby on the way (due March 15th). I'm doing everything I can to get us setup financially so I can hopefully spend more time with my kid!

~Will Courtier~

 

[superjunior]

I have a perma green magnum ride on sprayer, I use for spraying grass. The perma green allows you to spray and throw pellets at the same time. I also have 2 50 gal lesco tank sprayers. For lawn treatments, I do a crab grass preventitive with fert in spring which is all pellets, then I do a spring weed and feed and fall weed and feed. The weed killer is liquid and the fert is pellets.

That looks just like a steiner! Do you pull trees over with it? :msp_tongue:

 

[2treeornot2tree]

Yeah, I got the optional grapple attachment for the back, so I just back up to the whole tree and skid it to the truck. Works great, but sometimes I have to put my double floatation tires on, so not to mess up the peoples yards. The hopper in the front works great for mixing concrete to fill those peskie holes.:hmm3grin2orange::hmm3grin2orange::hmm3grin2orange:

 

[rbtree]

I inherited a company thats slammed right now.

Aren't you with Martin these days? Or did he will ya the biz?

Yes, when it's busy, it's tough to keep up, especially when ya wear all the hats, as do I. But you're young dumb, and full of cu.....well, not so dumb, lol.

Check my recent posts or latest youtube video......we craned a bid atlas, with massive limbs.

We wrecked a mammoth red cedar today.....7 feet at ground level, 4.5-5 feet dbh...hollow. along with a younger double stemmer, and some fir limbing, produced 45+ yards of chips.

Trading for the log proceeds, plus $600. Won't be enough due to the hollow log, less scale than
i guessed at, but the customer is very cool, likes us, and will pay what we need. which would be about $1700 total, and that is low, but I promised them a good deal. Way out on Ben Howard Rd past Monroe, along the Skykomish. Their kids own a farm two miles away and took all three chip loads......they also raise organic
Angus Beef...Yumm.

Plus, I'm hoping to attract one of my craftsman to take the partly hollow butt slabs for table making, which could sell for 2000-400 each finished. I only want $100 each for about 4 of them.

 

[mr. holden wood]

Aren't you with Martin these days? Or did he will ya the biz?

Yes, when it's busy, it's tough to keep up, especially when ya wear all the hats, as do I. But you're young dumb, and full of cu.....well, not so dumb, lol.

Check my recent posts or latest youtube video......we craned a bid atlas, with massive limbs.

We wrecked a mammoth red cedar today.....7 feet at ground level, 4.5-5 feet dbh...hollow. along with a younger double stemmer, and some fir limbing, produced 45+ yards of chips.

Trading for the log proceeds, plus $600. Won't be enough due to the hollow log, less scale than
i guessed at, but the customer is very cool, likes us, and will pay what we need. which would be about $1700 total, and that is low, but I promised them a good deal. Way out on Ben Howard Rd past Monroe, along the Skykomish. Their kids own a farm two miles away and took all three chip loads......they also raise organic
Angus Beef...Yumm.

Plus, I'm hoping to attract one of my craftsman to take the partly hollow butt slabs for table making, which could sell for 2000-400 each finished. I only want $100 each for about 4 of them.

Nice roger, most outfits turn urban trees into firewood, seems like you work to get the trees to the mill. I pm ya, got lots of stuff going on let me know if I can ever help ya out.Stay safe and Stay busy. Hope to see you on the mountain or on a jobsite sometime.