So whadja do today?

[Kneejerk Bombas]

Originally posted by Husky372
dontcha know the only ones quilified to make removal decisions is guy and mike. not the land owner and sure as hell none of us. so next time anyone has to do a takedown you better get all the test done you can and pictures and send it to these masters before you make a bid, then they can decide what the right couse of action is. just the opinion of a tree murderer.

The point has gone right over your head.
If you look at the average yard, would you estimate that 90% of the tree care that needs to be done is removal? I sure wouldn't!
I'd say it would be more like 10% of the total tree care operations that the customer would benefit from. The rest would be soil remidiation, trimming, deadwooding, cabling, insect and disease control, etc..
So if we agree that trees need much more than just removing, and we're in the yard selling, why only sell the removals?

Originally posted by Erik
But what if they won't spend the $? Or can't?

Let's say your called in to remove an DED Am. Elm, and you notice other Elms on the lot or even in the neighborhood. Do you just remove it and go, when you know that unless they do something they'll have several more expensive take downs to do?

How about if you're on the job doing a $500 removal and you see a limb rubbing on the second stroy roof? For $100 bucks more you can save them thousands in roof replacement, and you just raised your trimming percentage to 20%!

 

[a_lopa]

gee no kidding mike der

 

[Husky372]

i think the point went over your head becuase it all depends on where you are. some people just dont have the money to go through all that, and just dont want to spend what little they have just so you can keep comming back taking more of there hard earnd cash. theres a time and demographic for true tree care and there a time and demographic for removals and you and guy are not the only ones out there deciding this. unless of course this homeowner says look i want it down you say oh on we can do this and that and it will be a nice tree again. they say but alls i can afford is the removal do you say oh i'll do this work for you for just the removal cost i think not. so you really are not as into it for the trees are you. your there to make $$$$$ then come back and make more $$$$ so get off your high horse.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Well, I talked em into a trim instead of a removal. It was easy, you're right, Mike. All's I did was remove the dead. But when I'd finished that, the only thing left were two stumps.

:angel:

 

[NeTree]

Let's say your called in to remove an DED Am. Elm, and you notice other Elms on the lot or even in the neighborhood. Do you just remove it and go, when you know that unless they do something they'll have several more expensive take downs to do?

I advise them... and it's up to THEM if they have/want to spend the money, isn't it?




How about if you're on the job doing a $500 removal and you see a limb rubbing on the second stroy roof? For $100 bucks more you can save them thousands in roof replacement, and you just raised your trimming percentage to 20%!

Again, that assumes the customer is willing/able to spend the extra hundred bucks.

 

[Nathan Wreyford]

Howdy, let me interject.

It is pretty easy lads, TDs = commodity, tree care = value added product


People pay more for value added Ask the guys at Porsche or BMW

I find the commodities have thinner margins.

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

Originally posted by Husky372
unless of course this homeowner says look i want it down you say oh on we can do this and that and it will be a nice tree again. they say but alls i can afford is the removal do you say oh i'll do this work for you for just the removal cost i think not. so you really are not as into it for the trees are you.

Actually, I think so.
Most times a tree repair is less expensive than a removal, so I'd be saving them money, if that's how it went. Then I'd tell them we could do some other work in their yard with the money I saved them.
Then their neighbors see all the excellent work we do and want us to come look at their yard. Pretty soon we're booked up 2 months in advance and haven't hardly done too many removals lately. We are busy enough that when some shmuck wants his trees cut down for reasons that we don't agree with, we can just say, "I don't think we are the best tree service for you, thank you anyway."
That doesn't mean we never do removals, that's as much part of the job as stump grinding, chemicals, and other aspects of tree work.

For a guy like you who made his niche logging, I fully understand why you don't "get" tree preservation. Erik on the other hand I don't understand. He's out of an area that could service the suburbs of Boston, Hartford, and Providence, talk about money!

 

[NeTree]

Mike, I'm not quite close enough to cover Boston and the subs.

I do get North and South Shore areas though, and that's where almost all of my PHC/etc is sold.

Out here in Worcester West, removals are pretty much the only thing people will pay for- and only when farmer joe can't get his stihl started or feels REALLY scared about doing it himself- hence, this is why I specialize in hazard tree removals. People wait and wait and wait until the tree is dead and mostly ready to drop on the house before they part with the money to call in a pro.

Believe me, I like nothing more than to prune the same tree every few years. Once it's gone, so is the money I could get from regular maintainance.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Originally posted by netree
Believe me, I like nothing more than to prune the same tree every few years. Once it's gone, so is the money I could get from regular maintainance.

Ditto that.

You millionaires always know the right thing to say.

 

[blue]

in the word's of cartman"it's all a load of tree huggin hippy crap"

 

[murphy4trees]

Switching gears here for a bit... Maybe warrants a new thread...

So NE,
Do you have a liability waiver for trees that are particularly dangerous cause they;ve been dead so long?

I wonder if that would hold up in court.. I can just hear the argument... My client signed the waiver, but as a professional, the tree service should have know the tree was too dead to remove safely in that manner...etc...

 

[NeTree]

Originally posted by murphy4trees
Switching gears here for a bit... Maybe warrants a new thread...

So NE,
Do you have a liability waiver for trees that are particularly dangerous cause they;ve been dead so long?

I wonder if that would hold up in court.. I can just hear the argument... My client signed the waiver, but as a professional, the tree service should have know the tree was too dead to remove safely in that manner...etc...

yes I do...

and yes it does hold up in court. Twice, so far.

First one was a very dead pine (near as I can tell...). Wind picked up- Top broke off and went thru a shed roof. We hadn't actually done anything yet... hadn't even approached the tree, but client insisted it must have been OUR fault. Thrown out HARD.

Second time was a near-dead willow. Whilst tying off a dead limb, it broke off and went thru a skylight. That limb prolly would have failed with the next stiff bre4eze that came along. Long story short, that case was also thrown out on its "arse".

In both cases I filed countersuit for lost work time/etc, and won my countersuits.

There's only so much you can do, and the homeowners have to bear a certain amount of responsibility for letting things get that bad.

Last judge compared it to suing the plumber because the floor got rotted after waiting 6 months to call the plumber.

 

[ORclimber]

Killed a previously topped 40"+ cottonwood yesterday. 9 hours in the tree, would have gone quicker with an experienced crew.

 

[ORclimber]

down to stick. The pick is probably sized too small to see the cedar accross the street browning out from phytophthora..someones future work.

 

[ORclimber]

Killed a bunch of trees today to make room for concrete. Tried Murph's phat facecut on a leaner.

 

[ORclimber]

Here's the face.

 

[ORclimber]

yanked the tree over with people power. It folded over and stayed attached to the stump like it was supposed too.

 

[matthias]

ORclimber would it be an accurate guess to say that cottonwood was around 100'? I'm just going off the location of the chip truck and where I think a 50' boom would reach. Maybe I'm way off. I'm only asking because I am fascinated by the heights some of you crazy buggers get up to. Either way, hats off!

 

[MasterBlaster]

It seems to me that cottonwoods (and red oaks) start out at 100 feet.

 

[matthias]

Kudos on another great thread Blaster. Pros telling what they faced that day, how they dealt with it and even some pictures to top it all off. Excellent stuff.