wages for a new guy

[Liddell]

I hate to ask this, but I am clueless as to what to ask for pay. I got a call back from a tree service company today, and I will be interviewing with the owner soon. I presently do lawn work with the occasional tree job, but I have no clue what a new guy on a tree crew makes. I'm sure that I will be pulling brush and working a chainsaw, but little else to begin. What should I ask or expect in North Alabama? It is a well-known and respected company. I'm guessing it is one of the best in the area.

I don't know if I will be able to keep up my lawn work which I enjoy too, but making money doing something I enjoy is most important. I ain't making it right now! Oh yeah, I am also a preacher, so I've got one thing I enjoy doing already. I just don't make enough cheese.

:chainsawguy:

 

[treemandan]

don't worry about it, just keep your mouth shut and keep dragging... of course faster than that, you are to slow.

 

[Liddell]

Doh!

I knew I shouldn't have asked

I'm workin' as fast as I can

Waaaaaah!

 

[clearance]

don't worry about it, just keep your mouth shut and keep dragging... of course faster than that, you are to slow.

Not a nice comment, but true. Work hard, don't mouth off, always something to do. If you can do this all day, you will be rare, and wanted. Good luck.

 

[treemandan]

I knew I shouldn't have asked

I'm workin' as fast as I can

Waaaaaah!

Well you have that part down pat. everything else is up to you too.

 

[Liddell]

Well you have that part down pat. everything else is up to you too.

Are you saying that crying helps?

 

[treemandan]

Are you saying that crying helps?

No, not in the least. It seemed like you know how to give and take so I was talking about that.
Anyway, never listen to me and NEVER do anything I do.

Anyway, what have you found so far wage wise?

 

[Liddell]

Good, I'd hate for my mascara to run while I'm feeding the chipper. I did a search, which is always highly recommended.

Looks like $12-15 is/was common for new guys, with some getting up to $20 because they are really appreciated and the area is a little more uppity. Of course, some of the threads were a few years old. I wonder how North Alabama fits that range? I'm guessing $15 or so is pretty common now for a dependable worker. So, maybe I answered my own question.

 

[OLD CHIPMONK]

Pray that he pays more than minimum wage !!!opcorn:

 

[Liddell]

Pray that he pays more than minimum wage !!!opcorn:

Ouch! I could wrangle carts at Wal-mart for that, but I think tree service would be less dangerous.

 

[ClimbinArbor]

12-15 bucks sounds like a good start, if you can run a saw without bushwhacking it lol.

like dan and clearance allready said.... keep your mouth closed and always be busy and youll be fine.

my first tree job, the owner was a notorious @$$hole (pardon my language). so i just kept moving, was always there and never said a thing. after two weeks he didnt even know my name..... but after two months i was running a crew.....

 

[OLD CHIPMONK]

Double the new $6.55 min. wage & work a litte harder ! Value for his buck.

 

[Liddell]

Thanks for the answers

Thanks for the answers. I haven't heard from the owner, yet. I expected to hear from him Monday. So, if I decide to go with this type of work, I will be calling him if he doesn't get back to me soon.

The office person said that he would probably put me on the job for a couple days to see how I like it. So, I was looking forward to that experience to make my decision. But, I am struggling to decide about leaving the promotion of my lawn biz. I know that I can make a lot more in it next year with the base I have started, but Fall and Winter will be vary hard. I can't afford to buy the equipment for leaf cleanup that I need to remain viable through the Fall. I do hedges, gutters, etc., but I can't expect to get substantially more business necessarily or continuous income this year. So, I am looking for a job with more hours, which I would get doing the tree service. And, I need to work year round since I'm not making a huge wad this season. Question-->Do tree services keep their people all year? I know that tree hazards are always there, but I am in the dark as to when people normally get maintenance work done on their trees. Obviously, the easiest time to see everything would be later in the year on many trees.

If I go into tree work fulltime, I will want to stick with it. That is why I am saying that I would stop promoting the lawn biz. I would probably keep the few profitable, flexible accounts for extra money, but there would be no more advertising in any form. But, if tree services are seasonal employers, then things may be different.

I started by calling 7 companies in my area. One took my name for later, and the one under consideration called back. I might call some of the others in the phone book, too, but I was hoping to get a job with this company that seems to be one of the most professional and best equiped. My wife wants me to get a desk job with benefits. I already have one desk job. I want the benefit of not being behind another and be outside.

 

[GlennG]

Double the new $6.55 min. wage & work a litte harder ! Value for his buck.

^^^ Its always easy to spot the business owners on this forum:greenchainsaw:

 

[Groundman One]

We start ground guys at $10 an hour. If they can actually walk and breath at the same time without suffering an aneurism, they'll go to $12 the same day. A quality guy, someone who works well and is in a good mood, can go to fifteen very fast, again, sometimes the first day because you want to keep a guy like that. Grumpy people don't last with us at all. The work is hard enough without having a human rain cloud hovering nearby all day. We'll tolerate a poor worker if he's a happy guy who doesn't complain. He can drag branches for $10 an hour and we'll just let him go at his own pace on the sidelines. We're a very low stress company.

We have have two temp groundguys who get $20 an hour when they work for us because they're great guys who work like hell, bring their own saws, and are super easy to get along with. We'd hire them full time but they're too busy with their own stuff.

We rarely hire climbers. The two we have full time are very good and we don't often need a third guy. If we do, it's usually to do the smaller stuff while the two main guys do the big stuff. The new climber will get $20 an hour to start.