Trimming hacked trees

[mikewhite85]

I am bidding on trimming 16 ornamental trees at a HOA. They had been topped previously and are now pretty messy. Mostly ficus but there are a couple podocarpus and fruitless pears.

The guy from the HOA sent me a diagram with some pictures of what the previous tree trimmers did. He thinks the topping was a good thing. I am a bit bewildered that there is a picture of one of their climbers in a tree with absolutely no PPE. (I am having difficulty attaching these pictures because they are all in a big pdf file)

Anyway, I really dislike trimming topped trees because you cannot make them look natural and they are difficult to prune.

I figure it will take 2 days with a 4 man crew. I am guessing 3500-4000. What do you guys think?

 

[JNGWC&Tree]

It happens all the time to me. Best I can do is remove. There is no full restoration of the tree.......I am careful to explain that. Always fun when there arn't any good TIPS because they've all been hacked off years ago.

 

[jefflovstrom]

If you are bidding against anyone else, that price is too high. Tim would come in at $3200. Up your way, $50 per man hour is pushing it if there are other bidders.
Jeff

 

[mikewhite85]

If you are bidding against anyone else, that price is too high. Tim would come in at $3200. Up your way, $50 per man hour is pushing it if there are other bidders.
Jeff

Thanks, Jeff.

The reason it is high is because I highly dislike pruning hacked trees. It is a referral so who knows, maybe I am the only one bidding.

Is the market better down in San Diego?

 

[jefflovstrom]

I think so, but I am biased.
Jeff

 

[mikewhite85]

I think so, but I am biased.
Jeff

It's funny, you'd think the market in CA would be a lot higher than everywhere else. When I worked for another company back in CT it seemed like the boss got more than 50 per man hour. I imagine it is due to the high level of competition and illegal workers. I am definitely glad to have work though.

 

[jefflovstrom]

Cali is the third highest un-employment rate, 12%, low bidders and hacks pushing hard. We do jobs that require more than they can do or have credentials to do. It seperates us from them, but tough market these days.
Jeff

 

[treemandan]

I am bidding on trimming 16 ornamental trees at a HOA. They had been topped previously and are now pretty messy. Mostly ficus but there are a couple podocarpus and fruitless pears.

The guy from the HOA sent me a diagram with some pictures of what the previous tree trimmers did. He thinks the topping was a good thing. I am a bit bewildered that there is a picture of one of their climbers in a tree with absolutely no PPE. (I am having difficulty attaching these pictures because they are all in a big pdf file)

Anyway, I really dislike trimming topped trees because you cannot make them look natural and they are difficult to prune.

I figure it will take 2 days with a 4 man crew. I am guessing 3500-4000. What do you guys think?

I think when you tell them your price they will go back to the toppers but press on.

 

[treeseer]

:computer2:

This thread is useless without pics.

So many trees are hacked, by man and nature. If your response is to either recommend removal or overprice, you are painting yourself into a tight corner.

:bang:

 

[jefflovstrom]

:computer2:

This thread is useless without pics.

So many trees are hacked, by man and nature. If your response is to either recommend removal or overprice, you are painting yourself into a tight corner.

:bang:

Ease up 'seer', I don't know what you read into mike's question, but you obviously miss read something. I don't need a pic to know what he is asking. I also did not read about 'over-price or recommend removal' as part of the equation. The HOA probably had them hacked for years before the Board got someone that cares about trees. There is no tight corner, and when there is, the arborist has a more attentive audience to preach to.
Jeff

 

[JNGWC&Tree]

It happens all the time to me. Best I can do is remove. There is no full restoration of the tree.......I am careful to explain that. Always fun when there arn't any good TIPS because they've all been hacked off years ago.

Actually, I meant best i can do is selectively remove various limbs etc........not the whole tree. Don't know why I didn't finish my sentence other than I was thinking faster than I was typing.

However, it will never be like it was before the whole canopy was removed by "topping".

 

[BC WetCoast]

I am bidding on trimming 16 ornamental trees at a HOA. They had been topped previously and are now pretty messy. Mostly ficus but there are a couple podocarpus and fruitless pears.

The guy from the HOA sent me a diagram with some pictures of what the previous tree trimmers did. He thinks the topping was a good thing. I am a bit bewildered that there is a picture of one of their climbers in a tree with absolutely no PPE. (I am having difficulty attaching these pictures because they are all in a big pdf file)

Anyway, I really dislike trimming topped trees because you cannot make them look natural and they are difficult to prune.

I figure it will take 2 days with a 4 man crew. I am guessing 3500-4000. What do you guys think?

Pruning previously hacked trees is pretty common job (whether it's been hacked by the homeowner in the past or some other tree company). I just try and make them look as good as I can and accept what was done in the past. I worked on a Jap maple today that looked like a fuzz ball due to water sprouting from past pruning. It looked better than before, but didn't look great. It will take several prunings to make it look good again. You can only do what you can.

I'm just looking at your timing. You have it bid at 2-3 hrs/tree depending on whether it's 2 climbers-2 groundies or 3 climbers-1 groundie. These must be pretty substantial trees, because that number seems high to me for trees we have found in complexes.

 

[sgreanbeans]

Very Nice!!
When at Gothic, I covered San Dimas to the border, yes that was alot of ground to cover!
There was a HUGE difference in price from SD to north riverside, never did much in Orange county, except for Coto de Caza (real house wifes of OC) we charged 27.50 in Riverside
and 43 or 47 in Eastlake
I never had anything to do with the pricing, just handed the scope of work and a budget, never understood why it was so different, still dont
Jeff?

If you have ever seen that show ( real house wifes) I was chewed out SUPER BAD, by the one who always yells "whooop whooop" when she gets drunk. Her kid, the one in Jail, took a hopped up golf cart 4 wheeling in a landscaped area, $15,000 in damage. Called the cops, he got a DUI/DWI. She new I was the one who called, came unglued, she was calling me "nothing but a worthless little lawn boy" She still paid the HOA for the damage! I have never met some one who acts like she is a absoulute goddess, that we all are beneath her and this was before the show!
Can only imagine what she is like now!
I hated working on those Ficus, the sap......eewwwwww, same with the Iron Barks, bloody!

 

[treeseer]

Actually, I meant best i can do is selectively remove various limbs etc
However, it will never be like it was before the whole canopy was removed by "topping".

OOhhhhh that's different.

 

[Jeffsaw]

Treeseer,

Thanks for the restoration article. Very interesting.

 

[mikewhite85]

Yes, it was very informative!

I ended up bidding 3200. We'll see if I get it. Thanks for the advice

 

[jefflovstrom]

Yes, it was very informative!

I ended up bidding 3200. We'll see if I get it. Thanks for the advice

Jeff

 

[Bermie]

Here is a before and after...Golden Shower (Cassia sp) I did on Wednesday at a condo complex. I was asked to fix the storm damage and reduce it so the residents could get their view...sigh

It had damage from the hurricane...and once I got up in it it was evident it had been hacked about for a long time...the resident handyman/gardener came over and lamented how awful a tree it was, he'd been there 28 years, and cut it back every two years, couldnt understand why it didn't flower very much and was always dropping branches...

It was done entirely with a silky... some stubs were left where branches had shattered, but there are lots of nodes and starting to sprout...still looks a little sad, but they want to keep it.

I've done more golden showers since the storm than anything, and the typical damage arises from topping, or neglected damage from previous storms (shattered branches, or branches with rips and tearouts). You can see where the topping cuts were placed...the tree responded by sending out lots of fast growing long shoots...these shoots either snapped mid length, or twisted and wrung and hung on or peeled away from the topping stub.
Lots of people think that the tree is ok after a topping because they see fresh growth...but that fresh growth is excessive and too fast and in my opinion does not then have sufficient strength either along its length or at the attachment to withstand the winds in a hurricane. Where other branches were left to grow despite a storm caused defect, these areas were prone to failure as well, and this even six or seven years after the last storm or topping event!

So this tree will get a revisit in spring after its had a chance to recover...I had to take more height out of it than I would have liked at this time, simply because the attachment points were so awful, and I felt I had to reduce the fulcrum and end weight.

 

[jefflovstrom]

That is a big ass cassia! Is golden shower the same as gold medallion?
Jeff

 

[Bermie]

I dunno Jeff...the vagaries of common names! Cassia fistula...

It flowers with wonderful pendulous racemes of bright yellow flowers in the summer, about the same time as the Poincianas...late June-ish.

And that is not the biggest one around..., they grow very well here!