To quit..... or not to quit....?

[rtsims]

PM Sent

 

[axetree]

you say your boss is your friend? doesent sound like it, iv been doing tree work for 4 years all legal and insured and have a few guys who help me, all of them take home 18 and hour for ground work and operation equipment. i buy lunch every day, all equipment is mine and im the one who climbs, they will use there trucks on occasion but i pay 75cents to a dollar a loaded mile they drive. i would give him an ultimatum he may be willing to pay more if you pressure him, but if he wont take your gear and get to school and study and do side jobs, dont let him walk over you.

 

[mckeetree]

you say your boss is your friend? Doesent sound like it

lmfao.

 

[Pelorus]

A high school dropout pumping gas or stocking shelves or flipping burgers makes close to $10.00/hr in Ontario.
Your boss is getting a real bargain and you are getting taken for a ride. Just sayin'

 

[NCTREE]

i haven't made $11hr since high school and that was twenty years ago. I live on the east coast where things are a bit cheaper, I cant imagine making that out west. How the hell do you live? Let me guess on smack ramin and pbjs with 5 roomates or in your parents basement. Dude what are you doing?

 

[arborjockey]

A high school dropout pumping gas or stocking shelves or flipping burgers makes close to $10.00/hr in Ontario.
Your boss is getting a real bargain and you are getting taken for a ride. Just sayin'

i haven't made $11hr since high school and that was twenty years ago. I live on the east coast where things are a bit cheaper, I cant imagine making that out west. How the hell do you live? Let me guess on smack ramin and pbjs with 5 roomates or in your parents basement. Dude what are you doing?

You guys up north and back east dont have competition for labor. If i put an ad in the paper for $10.00 an hour hard labor 50 guys will show up begging for work. 30 will speak English and 15 guys out of that will be able to actually work hard. Lucky for the owner the guys I work with make $ off the Gov. so he pays them chump change. Bad for me because they dont NEED the job.They show up and drag ass .....if they show up?

 

[Bomber]

i haven't made $11hr since high school and that was twenty years ago.

You made $11 hr in high school in 1992. I call bs, what did you do sell weed?

 

[tree md]

You made $11 hr in high school in 1992. I call bs, what did you do sell weed?

in 1992 I made $18 an hour as a climber. I only made $9 an hour in my previous job as a construction worker and that was considered a pretty good wage at that time for someone with my skill level in construction (which was not a lot).

 

[Bomber]

In high school?

 

[tree md]

Not me, I finished high school in the 80's

 

[Bomber]

Figured. I was making $6.50 an hour in high school and that was considered good money in these parts. Doing trees in the mid 90's I was getting around $15 with full benefits.

 

[tree md]

Ha, my first job when I was in high school was working in a chicken house/egg farm and I got paid $2.19 an hour. My next job was working at the Elks club part time for $4 an hour. I thought I was ####ting in tall cotton when I finally went to work for a restaurant, worked my way up to cook and made $5 an hour. My highest paying job while I was in HS was $7 an hour and I was working for the place on an apprenticeship program through my vo-tech high school.

 

[Huskytree]

$$$$

I got $3.25 hour picking shade Grown when I was 13 and thought I was rich!

 

[BigWill1985]

I gotta call BS on paying you chump change, even though it is a start-up business. We have been running for ~8 months (yet just got legit about 2 months ago), and we pay our ground crew $12-15 an hour depending on the job. Now, we do have to occasionally place a cap on the entire job's pay (just to ensure our help doesn't get lazy on us, as we don't have a lot of expendable income). Our two main groundies don't have licensesMy business partner (our lead climber) and I (mechanic, head groundman, and climber in training) own all of our equipment. We even go so far as to supply gloves, safety glasses, ear plugs, and all other necessary PPE for the job to ensure they have them and run safely.

As the owners, we aren't making a ton of money. We are doing alright, but are not getting getting rich by any stretch of the imagination. Our only reason for being small is because of me being in the Navy and not being able to dedicate 100% of my time to the business (although I am burning both ends of the candle just to make this business succeed).

~Will Courtier~

 

[NCTREE]

You made $11 hr in high school in 1992. I call bs, what did you do sell weed?

I graduated in 95 and my senior year I went to school untill lunch then worked the rest of the day. I was making 10hr and as soon as I graduated they bumped me up to 11 hr. My senior year was great because I always had money yet still had my nights and weekends free to chase tail

 

[avason]

listen to joe dirt...he is wise. You can work and go to school. It sucks but it is a lot easier when you are young.

 

[1up]

Quit that guy at least!

Been with a company for three years as climber and crew supervisor. I deal with customers and do bids that the boss man doesn't have time for. My boss is more of a buddy than the typical employer. He promises me the world if stay with him, $100,000 + salary with in ten years. All that I have to do is struggle through the growing pains with him while the company grows. I suppose I am a sucker for staying this long but I really want to believe him. . . . Current wage $11.00 an hr. . . . no over time.. My gut is starting to scream at me to go to a community college I know of with a structural fire program. My dream set up is on my days off from being a fire medic, I would be either own and operate a small part time tree company, or get on with a larger company as a climber or supervisor. I know that I can not get tree work out of my blood but its too much of a gamble to give my current boss 5-10 years and have it not work out.. . . .any body Oregon need a dependable groundie while I go to school?

I have been climbing over twenty years in Michigan. I have never been paid a hourly wage as a climber, always a percentage and I still demand a percentage now. Unless there is an abundance of climbers where you are, as in Michigan, I'm with those who tell you to take a stand, get more money! Over the course of twenty years as "freelance" climber I can tell you whoever you work for will pay you as little as you let them get away with. And this business breeds some fast talkers who will promise the world but come up just short and string you along. If you have what it takes, hire out to some other companies and start to create a positive rep. You'll get screwed on a lot of difficult, or large trees, but you will start to find yourself in demand and more able to name your, rerasonable price, to climb. The small companies with less overhead can afford to pay more. Don't burn any bridges and bring a positive attitude to your crew, because they will all need you again.

 

[TreeAce]

Ha, my first job when I was in high school was working in a chicken house/egg farm and I got paid $2.19 an hour. My next job was working at the Elks club part time for $4 an hour. I thought I was ####ting in tall cotton when I finally went to work for a restaurant, worked my way up to cook and made $5 an hour. My highest paying job while I was in HS was $7 an hour and I was working for the place on an apprenticeship program through my vo-tech high school.

LOL, chicken house! been there done that. LOL my God it was nuts.I was in high school and it was just a thing when it was time to "load em out" and off to,well...IDK where they went. They got em as peeps and then we poxed em all (some kinda injection to the leg) and then in however many months we "load em out" and more came in. Smelly!!!! When you stood in the middle of one of the barns you couldnt see either end. Of course it was dimly lit. Those damn birds could sure make a racket....Thats funny to think back on,kinda makes me want a dip of copenhagen. IDK what we were paid, not much.

 

[tree md]

LOL, chicken house! been there done that. LOL my God it was nuts.I was in high school and it was just a thing when it was time to "load em out" and off to,well...IDK where they went. They got em as peeps and then we poxed em all (some kinda injection to the leg) and then in however many months we "load em out" and more came in. Smelly!!!! When you stood in the middle of one of the barns you couldnt see either end. Of course it was dimly lit. Those damn birds could sure make a racket....Thats funny to think back on,kinda makes me want a dip of copenhagen. IDK what we were paid, not much.

Yes, I am glad I didn't make a career outa that... I much prefer the smell of wood chips than chicken ####... :hmm3grin2orange:

 

[arborjockey]

I have been climbing over twenty years in Michigan. I have never been paid a hourly wage as a climber, always a percentage and I still demand a percentage now. Unless there is an abundance of climbers where you are, as in Michigan, I'm with those who tell you to take a stand, get more money! Over the course of twenty years as "freelance" climber I can tell you whoever you work for will pay you as little as you let them get away with. And this business breeds some fast talkers who will promise the world but come up just short and string you along. If you have what it takes, hire out to some other companies and start to create a positive rep. You'll get screwed on a lot of difficult, or large trees, but you will start to find yourself in demand and more able to name your, rerasonable price, to climb. The small companies with less overhead can afford to pay more. Don't burn any bridges and bring a positive attitude to your crew, because they will all need you again.

I agree. Most guys are slow but if your not get paid.
When its your ass in the saddle and the jobs profit is dependent on your speed get the $. If your good, when the owner asks what of $ your looking for tell him your priceless but you'll give yourself away for $57.00 an hour. Hard to do though when he looks at your last pay scale:confused2:. Two things an under payer always talks about. The good times to come and how good the other climbers he knew were. "Oh I had a guy who could cut twice that in a day back in the 80's" I tell them " I do race guys for $ bring em out" answers usually is.....oh that guys in jail or he's a drug addict know...I win.:msp_thumbsup: