here's one for ya
This white oak was quite a lot bigger than it looks... A real shame that a $300 cable could have easily prevented... I AM hanging on the crane taking the shot.
I originally had $3300-3500 on the job. Another tree guy lives across the street and his brother told me they would have put $4200 on it... All backyard.. no access due to a fence... dogwood tree blocking crane operator's view. Cran set up 50'-60' feet from the base of the tree in the drive. fairly open yard to put the pieces in right next to the drive..
Anyhow... she called me up to tell me I had the job and all the prices were about the same, and she was giving me the job becasue I was recommended by the builder doing her renovations. Then right as we were on the phone she opened the bid from this notorious low-baller, for 2,500.. He has a big company with 2 cranes and a bunch of bucket trucks... Other tree guys HATE this guy and you can see why.. So I had to match his price and I did cause this was my turf and I would not allow myself to be underbid by this guy. SO it was all set for 2,500. Then she called to say that she decided to keep the bottom 10' of the tree for carving or a tree house or something and since she wouldn't be needing the stump ground the other guy said he would take off another 150...
So it was $2,350 in the end. Filled the 14' chip box twice, then a big prentice loader log truck with the wood. Managed to sell the wood for firewood, which offset the cost of the log truck. Crane cost $500... So it was $1850 after those expenses... A lot of hours...
I know the first thing the other guy would have done is get rid of the dogwood. It was a nice tree, though it had sustained a little damage. Would have made the job a lot easier. So I figured preserving that and doing a nice clean job, in and out, would buy some customer loyalty.
Six months later when she wanted to have a bunch of trees pruned, she had me bid it, then hired another larger company, that must have given her a cheaper price. I was trying to get a little back from the crane day with my bid, but she could have at least given me a call to let me know about the cheaper price.
On a positive note, I would say that overall, having to compete with a bunch of other tree guys on price over the years has made as effecient as I AM today. I AM a big believer in finding a competitve advantage and working it. That means in equipment and techniques and whatever else I can do to get the job done, faster, easier, safer, cleaner etc... I have honed that and have a lot to offer from that experience
