What is a contract climber worth?

[beastmaster]

I have been testing the waters as a contract climber. I work for several company on a part time need basis right now, but I am ready to get my contract lic. and insurance and sell my services. How do you figure what your services are worth?
I am not real fast and production isn't my area of expertise. I have filled in for owner operators while they were away, taking crews out. I get called for big ugly dangerous removals, that their crews can't or won't do and trim jobs on big trees where someone has to go out to the edges and what not. My selling point is,"the job will get done safely with no damage.'' What is that worth?
I recently got called out to a job, several crane removals. His climber wouldn't do it. Refused on site. I drove out there and we got them all done.(two hour drive each way)I got paid my day rate of 200.00. I don't want to screw no one, but at the end of the day I ended up making maybe 15 hour. I did a crane job of a 75ft cedar against a house 10ft from 10,000 v wires. That Company pays me 25 hour. The tree was down in two hours. Those jobs and many like them wouldn't of gotting done without me. What is my experience and expertise worth to an owner operator? If I mention 75 hr with a 4 hour min. they would think I was crazy. But if Im doing the job when they have no one else to do it, is that fair? Also I would be using my insurance.
I am old at tree work but new at trying to get an honest wage for what I do. Any advice good or bad I would like to hear concerning being a climbing contractor Thanks

 

[Toddppm]

If you have your own workers comp I'd ask for alot more. At least $35-50/hr. maybe more out there? I don't think $75/hr. is out of the question if you're real good and have liability too?
If they're only giving you short days much more $$$$, if dangerous work more $$$$$, if just run of the mill stuff but a full day a little less $$$$


You saw that Bermie is getting $100/hour didn't you? Kind of a limited amount of good climbers there but still...

 

[FLtreeGuyVHTC]

Bid the job what its worth not for your time.... I put a thousand dolar trees down in two hours.... I want to get paid good... Clean up can be done as you setsup for your next rig... Been climbing for myself four years now... By the hour doesnt work... Unless you like risking your life for nothing... Someone else refuses to done it... Price goes up... Everyone does damage eventually... Thats why we have... insurance. Personally I wouldnt even gear up for less then a hundred for the first hour... Travel timing... Gas... Equipment. Risk to life...not to mention going to cheap drives local prices down ... I keep my prices higher then some... Because I have insurance... Other guys may not..and thats why they are cheaper.... Its a cat and mouse game... Hope this helps some.

 

[lone wolf]

I have been testing the waters as a contract climber. I work for several company on a part time need basis right now, but I am ready to get my contract lic. and insurance and sell my services. How do you figure what your services are worth?
I am not real fast and production isn't my area of expertise. I have filled in for owner operators while they were away, taking crews out. I get called for big ugly dangerous removals, that their crews can't or won't do and trim jobs on big trees where someone has to go out to the edges and what not. My selling point is,"the job will get done safely with no damage.'' What is that worth?
I recently got called out to a job, several crane removals. His climber wouldn't do it. Refused on site. I drove out there and we got them all done.(two hour drive each way)I got paid my day rate of 200.00. I don't want to screw no one, but at the end of the day I ended up making maybe 15 hour. I did a crane job of a 75ft cedar against a house 10ft from 10,000 v wires. That Company pays me 25 hour. The tree was down in two hours. Those jobs and many like them wouldn't of gotting done without me. What is my experience and expertise worth to an owner operator? If I mention 75 hr with a 4 hour min. they would think I was crazy. But if Im doing the job when they have no one else to do it, is that fair? Also I would be using my insurance.
I am old at tree work but new at trying to get an honest wage for what I do. Any advice good or bad I would like to hear concerning being a climbing contractor Thanks

A little high I think.Try 250.00 6-8 hours.

 

[FLtreeGuyVHTC]

I wouldnt climb a tree with three leads over a house and entry lines for less then $750. Deductible for my insurance is $550 so if I do damage its covered... If I dont I made a good buck and my daily wage. Reinvest into the company. I explain the deductible part... Wave my insurance policy.... And usually get the job on the spot... Some call others but usually I get a the call back. My family is known for tree removal. And I have almost a decade of climbing experience. Not saying much cause im not certified... But marketing methods have lead to bigger money... Not mention I value my life and the oxygen we breath. Cant get them all but people pay for good service... Name brand vs the other guy... Guess it depends on how busy you want to be. If you are already known for what you do and your calls are steady... Start high... Bring down when your slow. You can always go back if the tree is still standing and the other guy refused... I like to get paid good...

 

[Toddppm]

I wouldnt climb a tree with three leads over a house and entry lines for less then $750. Deductible for my insurance is $550 so if I do damage its covered... If I dont I made a good buck and my daily wage. Reinvest into the company. I explain the deductible part... Wave my insurance policy.... And usually get the job on the spot... Some call others but usually I get a the call back. My family is known for tree removal. And I have almost a decade of climbing experience. Not saying much cause im not certified... But marketing methods have lead to bigger money... Not mention I value my life and the oxygen we breath. Cant get them all but people pay for good service... Name brand vs the other guy... Guess it depends on how busy you want to be. If you are already known for what you do and your calls are steady... Start high... Bring down when your slow. You can always go back if the tree is still standing and the other guy refused... I like to get paid good...

Sounds like you're running your own show, he's talking about climbing as a sub contractor.

 

[lone wolf]

Sounds like you're running your own show, he's talking about climbing as a sub contractor.

750 for a climber that would ruin things!!!

 

[FLtreeGuyVHTC]

750 for a climber that would ruin things!!!

Lol... I run my own show and I do sub contracting for urban loggers in the cities. Logs are usually veneer so its worth paying me. As for line clearing most companys will hire you on and pay a normal wage

$750 = me a groundie and garntee that if something is damged... It gets fixed.... Or I try to go for $7 a ft I gotta climb...

love to hear how others bid?

 

[tree md]

I don't like to contract for others but have done so in the past. When I went to Alabama to do storm damage I contracted when I first got there because I didn't have any ads out and didn't really want to go door to door. Some areas where road blocked by law enforcement and only licensed contractors could get in. So I contracted with some local services for $500 a day. That was me, my gear, my groundy and my insurance. I did the jobs on my own and the owners didn't have to do anything but show up to pick up the check.

Like I said I don't really like to contract climb because I feel like it's helping my competition. If the people selling the work cannot do the work then why the hell am I going to help them do it at a cheaper rate. Anyway, $500 a day is my minimum when I do subcontract. I have done it on a tree by tree basis. Had one guy hire me to do a few big ones for him a couple of years back. I got $1800 on one large tree. All I had to do was put it on the ground with my guys and his guys came in and did the clean up afterwards.

 

[imagineero]

I contract climb every now and then, but I'd rather not. I do it when there's no other work available that day, or to help out friends sometimes. Mostly to help out friends.

There are so many variables in what you can charge; insurance, equipment, skills, experience, licensing etc. A hack climber with one saw and one rope with no insurance or qualifications is going to get a lot less than a very experienced qualified fully insured climber with a dozen saws, GRCS, lots of rigging gear, you get the picture.

In aus, an average climber can get $350 for a day, a top climber gets $550. Be aware that the more you charge, the less work you are going to get. And when you do get a call you know it's not going to be a nice easy climb. If you're billing out $750/day, expect the tree to be life threateningly dangerous, technical and huge. Expect to put a lot of wear on yourself, and your gear at that end of the market. You'd better have real insurance coverage (read the fine print) and skills to back that figure up, not just a set that clank when you walk.

There's also a huge variation in clients. I wont work for guys that dont know what they're doing. It's more trouble than it's worth. I do contract to other licensed legitimate tree services that have qualified ground crews and insurance. Sometimes their climber has been hurt, or maybe taken a holiday. I wont contract to joe average with his one chainsaw. I want a good groundie. Sometimes doing this sort of 'fill in' contract work pays only a few hundred, but they can be sweet deals. With good ground crew, you can walk straight in, everything is ready to go for you. The guys fuel your saws, and know how to tie a knot. You can get the work done in a few hours, pack up your gear and leave. They do all the cleanup.

Shaun

 

[FLtreeGuyVHTC]

What if you start a tree and takes you more then a day... do you contract fo just that day or for the whole tree. I still would have a hard time only making $350 a day on a 8 hr day... if youcontract for the day and tje next day you only work an hr... do you still get your full daily fee? Or contract by the hour? This why i work for myself .

 

[tree md]

Believe me, the first question any owner that you contract for is going to ask will be how long will it take you. If it's a multiple day job I will give them a choice of my daily rate or a set price for the entire job. On big jobs they will often opt for the set price in case you don't make your deadline.

 

[BCbound]

About 30% of my overall revenue is contract climbing. I would prefer not to contrat climb.
As someone stated above you usaully get called because it's a crappy tree to deal with.
Although if it is life threatning you should find an alturnitive.

As for your rates. What doe a great climbing get paid in your area per hour? That would be a good starting point. Every area is different. Then
start adding on for all your expenses. WCB/liability/equipement etc. That should give you a a fair rate.
I have a 3hr min and a rate of 65/hr. Some companies will pay me more(up to 100.00hr during wind events and busy times) to have me come out simply because they know I come with all the proper insurance, rigging gear, clean ,not hung over and am certified. As well I always work hard to get the job done in a timely fashion. Ask other trades in your area there minimum. If you are a pro you should be paid accordingly.

Think about it. If it's a hard tree and a company has sold it at 1000.00(which in my area is not a big or hard tree) and they pay me out 300.00 for it(100/hr 3hr min). Even after there clean up the owner can make a good profit. It helps to understand the bidding process in you area.

25/hr seems very low to me for a sub doing crane removals. Anywhere

 

[FLtreeGuyVHTC]

Believe me, the first question any owner that you contract for is going to ask will be how long will it take you. If it's a multiple day job I will give them a choice of my daily rate or a set price for the entire job. On big jobs they will often opt for the set price in case you don't make your deadline.

First question they usually ask is are you insured.

 

[Kottonwood]

Holy crap... 200 a day for a contract climber..... you're totally underselling yourself. It costs more than that to pay a guy 15 an hour ( what I pay my groundmen)

250 a day minimum, and that is for some pretty standard/ non-technical work. You definitely should be carrying your own liability, it really doesn't cost much and makes you all that much more valuable. In order to be legal you have to be carrying the same or greater liability as the employer.

I often like to work on a percentage. If the job is priced right just putting the tree on the ground and doing no cleanup should be worth about 15-20 percent on removals. I can generally put a 2000 dollar tree on the ground in a day =300+. This is assuming you are providing whatever it takes to get the tree on the ground, ropes, saws, etc.

A lot of times it is better to have your own groundie, it can be tricky insurance wise to have him covered but I would charge around 150 or 200 on top of what I am making for my groundie. If the removal is technical I would require that I have my own rope man.

 

[deevo]

I usually try and get $600-750 for contract climbing myself. I do some government work, climbing only and get $800 for the day. 8 hour day with breaks and a lunch! No clean up. I bring all my gear and have full insurance and workers comp. I don't take anything by the hour at all. I can have a big tree down in a short amount of time. I usually bring my chipper and rent it to them for the day as well.

 

[bigdaddy2]

Hiring a tree climber

As a owner of a tree business her is good estimate of pay for a tree climber in one day and this is anywhere around 150 $250.00 a day granted you are providing work 2 through 4 days a week. Anything over this you as a business owner loosing out. Cash money, not a plenty of people make that much in general. Thats good money. Just like any other emplyee owner relationship.

 

[tree md]

As a owner of a tree business her is good estimate of pay for a tree climber in one day and this is anywhere around 150 $250.00 a day granted you are providing work 2 through 4 days a week. Anything over this you as a business owner loosing out. Cash money, not a plenty of people make that much in general. Thats good money. Just like any other emplyee owner relationship.

you haver obviously never had a climber make you 3-5K in a day... Sounds like you might need to hire someone other than cousin Del... LOL.

 

[imagineero]

+1 on that.

I charge for my climbing on a sliding scale according to the difficulty, risk, hours and amount of gear and rigging I'm providing. By the time you're getting up into the 50~70cubes (for a single tree) of chip range you are looking at $700+ to get me on the job. Those trees are worth $5k+ to remove though, so the principal contractor is looking to pocket maybe a couple thousand or more. I'll be on the job hal an hour before the start of day, all my saws fueled and sharp, porty rigged, get multiple lines in the tree, be in the tree when you arrive. I'll have have my pulleys rigged while your guys are getting their gear out, and first branches hitting the ground within half an hour of start work. I hope you don't want to stop during the day to wipe the sweat off your brow.

Trees that size can't be taken down by anybody. An average climber might be able to fumble through it and section it out piece by piece over 2 or 3 days, but some of the takes are going to be stabs in the dark. A good climber can keep a 5-6 man crew running on a big job like that, even if the work is technical and needs a lot of roping. Getting a job that size done in a day really cuts down a lot of cost.

If you only have a 12" chipper and a 10~15 cube chip bin, one groundy, then you're probably not in the market for these bigger jobs, or a top climber. If you're running an 18"+ chipper, 30cube+ truck, 4 or 5 man crew or a smaller crew with a mini skid etc, grapple on chipper.... then you need to punch some big numbers out in short order to make $$$.

Even if you are a one man band and have won a bit job and subbed out all the chipping and climbing, you're still going to come out way ahead spending extra on a good climber. If you've got a sub contract chip truck, crane, 4 or 5 guys all on the job you're looking at maybe $400~$500/ hour of all that gear/labour being there. Hope your climber is the type that can consistently deliver, and pull a rabit out of a hat each time a problem comes up.

Shaun

 

[RVALUE]

Sounds like you're running your own show, he's talking about climbing as a sub contractor.

Observant!