first estimate, biting my nails!!!

[jahseed]

Hello all, this is my first post here at lawnsite although i've been looking in for a while. I just started my own lco and got my first call today via business card. When i went over to give the estimate the guy wanted a big job done 1) Removal of 4 trees , 3 were average size, but they were growing over the house and power lines, the same with the fourth, which is a HUGE avocado tree. 2) He also wanted 4 more trees trimmed and the whole area cleaned up. I gave him a quote for $2100 dollars figuring in labor and expenses @ $1300 and $800 to remove and trim these 8 trees, did I charge too much or too little??? He said he'd call me back and I'm over here biting my nails hoping to hear from him soon.

[Patrick.B]

I' can tell you if hes call a tree service he will call you back soon ...that sound like a good price ,,,i'd wouldn't go no lower then what you bid on ,,Good Luck !!

[gogetter]

Are you a certified arborist????? Do you even carry insurance for tree work????


Also, if this is your first estimate, how can you have been in business for 10 years as your profile states?? :rolleyes:

[jahseed]

you just answered my question with three questions, lol.

[beransfixitinc]

I'd be careful with the ones that are grown into the power lines. Maybe you should call the power company and get them to come and trim them out of contact with the lines first, and then do your takedowns.

And, as for the Avacado tree.. is the guy crazy or something? Dang things were 75 cents a piece at the grocery store the other day.. that's a cash cow if I've ever seen one.

[gogetter]

you just answered my question with three questions, lol.

And you didn't answer any of them. Although that in itself pretty much answers them for me. :rolleyes:

[Cut]

You told him $2000? For those dangerous lawsuited trees? Your first time? You better hope he dont call ...And if he does, you better have a couple of sthil saws, ropes, dong, chains, wedges, and 4x4, help, insurance and lots of blessing from above....

Post a picture of the job before you kill yourself so we can talk you out of it!

$2000 sounds too cheap. I usually charge that just to remove a yard full of brush, without dropping trees.

[jahseed]

I appreciate the honesty CUT, i'll definitely post pics when i get a chance.
I told him to call the power company but apparently he has issues of some sort with them. It can be done no problem with a little care and i have plenty of experience with this sort of thing. upon further reflection i shoulda charged a little more.

And Gogetter, if it is absolutly necessary to answer your question without having my integrity badgered, 1) No i'm not a certified arborologist, but i'll take a chainsaw to those bad boys with the best of them 2) Yes i do have insurance for tree work, it's cheap too 3) 've been gardening for ten years, just started my own lco. hope this clarifies things for you.

[gogetter]

And Gogetter, if it is absolutly necessary to answer your question without having my integrity badgered, 1) No i'm not a certified arborologist, but i'll take a chainsaw to those bad boys with the best of them 2) Yes i do have insurance for tree work, it's cheap too 3) 've been gardening for ten years, just started my own lco. hope this clarifies things for you.


I've been mowing my dads yard since I was 13. I guess that means I've been in "business" for......23 years then huh?! LOL!
:rolleyes:

Hey, if the guy's stupid enough to hire someone to take down trees that are hanging over his roof and near wires without checking to see if he's certified, then he deserves what he gets. Good luck to both you and him.

[jahseed]

I've been mowing my dads yard since I was 13. I guess that means I've been in "business" for......23 years then huh?! LOL!
:rolleyes:

Does it take alot of practice to be an ***hole or were you just born that way??? :D

[jim dailey]

It sure would be nice if everyone could get along together, children !!!

[Green Pastures]

Is there ANY reason this thread should not be immediately locked and the children warned about their offensive language?

Do we even have moderators here?

[gogetter]

It sure would be nice if everyone could get along together, children !!!

Why does everybody worry so much about everyone "getting along". We're having a discussion. Sometimes that means people don't agree. What's the big deal?

I'm not trying to attack our new member jahseed here, I'm simply trying to get the point across that working in the "garden" for 10 years doesn't necessarily make you qualified to do tree work near wires.
There are times when "newbies" need to understand it's ok to say "NO, I can't do that".

[crawdad]

I saw this thread last night, and I could see what direction it would go even then. I wondered about those same 3 questions.

Hey, dude, "growing your own" for ten years isn't the same as being in business. Well, maybe if you bagged it and sold it, but we won't get into that.

Go ahead, do the work, but have someone stand a safe distance away with a camera and a cell phone.
Crawdad

[jahseed]

perhaps I should reiterreate that the job is not at all that dangerous, just extremely complicated. And for the record, I've been working for lco's for a little over ten years, there is not a job out there that i am not famaliar with, just because I'm just going into business for myself does not make me GREEN. I attempted to take the high road with gogetter but he doesnt really know me at all to take that condescending attitude.

[promower]

I think that price sounds a little cheap considering the complexity of the work to be done. I cut down 8 trees this past saturday, not one was over 25 ft tall and they were all out in the open and I was still nervous about doing it. Got $410 dollars for 2 hours work and that included hauling it all away. Does your price include disposal or running it through a chipper? just curious, either I way overcharged or that sounds like a great deal for the homeowner. Also I dont think gogetter was trying to attack you but when you posted a serious job like that in the "just starting a business forum" makes you wonder if someone is getting in way over thier head where someone could get seriously hurt or sued.

[Cigarcop]

I agree with promower, and jahseed don't get worked up over the responses just take them as they come!! You and only you know what your capable of.

[freddyc]

I don't do tree work but heres a little info for you anyway...

last year, my neighbor paid $800 to take down and haul away two oaks. Each tree was 3 ft from my house and about 36" in diameter. I'd guess they were both at least 35-40 ft tall.

No electrical wires are close and the tress could be dropped directly away from my house and onto their lawn.

A company called Asplund did it.

Thats all I got ! :cool2:

[sheshovel]

They get that here for... one Oak that size well at least 2'diam and just buck it up for you into rounds,you clean the rest up.Boom $800.00 1 tree

[jahseed]

thanks for all your responses. It's just cutting and trimming, no cleanup, he has the city's bulk trash dept coming to dispose of the waste.

[Cut]

Well if your confident in your tree dropping ability then sure go for it. Still good money. I just thought you never dropped a tree before!

My first time, I had these two 40 footers up next to a chain link fence. No houses nearby, just the fence and the customer said he really didnt care where the trees land , just dont harm the fence. Well my big ego knowing that I dropped a tree or two with some buddys, got me thinking I hit a goldmine with this job. Just jump out with the saw, notch the way I wanted it to go, and Im rich......WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!

Here is what happend, I had a craftsman 18" saw that was plently long enough, anyways, the saw always performed ok around my yard, but when I got cutting about 3 inches into the tree, it stop running right out of the blue. No starting that thing at all. Well the customers drunk neighbor came over and offered me his saw (huge echo 26" i think) to use. So I took it, and started finishing my cut when I realized the chain was dull. So the drunk neighbor brought over a brand new chain. So I put it on. Started sawing just to realize that the chain was on backwards.

Well another 10 minutes of tinkering around I finally got on the tree with the echo. I notched it then went from behind to make the dropping cut, but instead of going forward the tree went back and got the echo saw pinched.

Now I have a tree ready to fall at anytime backwards instead of forwards with the neighbors saw pinched in it. Horrible day so far, I take the truck over and tie up on the tree so as to pull the tree with the truck, but the rope snapped like thread. Luckly though while my friend was pulling with the truck, I snagged the echo saw out of the tree. What eventually happend was the same drunk neighbor had a good long chain and ladder, so that took care of the tree. Then as I was cutting the stumps, the chain got dull. There was sand rocks somehow got grown inside with the tree!!

I grew up alot in that one day, even got a few grey hairs from it.
But I did get $300 per tree (just to drop) and $150 from Sears when I took that sorry piece of crap saw back. But as for that echo saw, that was a really nice one, it sounds like a harley davidson while its running.

The moral is, doing things by yourself is a lot different than if you were with someone else. But at least you have tree experience, which as I didnt have till that one day!

[drsogr]

I've been mowing my dads yard since I was 13. I guess that means I've been in "business" for......23 years then huh?! LOL!
:rolleyes:

Hey, if the guy's stupid enough to hire someone to take down trees that are hanging over his roof and near wires without checking to see if he's certified, then he deserves what he gets. Good luck to both you and him.

Your killing me man! It is amazing how people don't know what "years in business" mean. I don't consider gardening for 10 years being in business for 10 years.

The field "years in business" is there to give people an idea of your experience level. When people look to see that you have been in business for 10 years they wonder why you are asking 1st year questions. You will save yourself a lot of argueing when you are honest with people and yourself.

[jahseed]

Man Cut, talk about your growing pains, lol. I know what you mean, i had a similar experience a while back. I havent heard from the gentleman who i gave the quote to, it's probably for the best anyway, however, i did get 3 new residential contracts in the past 3 days, 2 yearly and 1 one time maintenance, so things are picking up.

[William J. L.]

Does it take alot of practice to be an ***hole or were you just born that way??? :D
Hey Jahseed - We're all just trying to help. I think Go was looking out for your own good. I would stick to smaller trees estimates. When I see a huge job like that, I just call a professional tree service. I try to keep my feet on the ground..LOL

I think when some of these pros sees you younger guys trying to take on big jobs, it can rub them the wrong way - don't take offense

[out4now]

Call utility provider. You're in over your head. Dangerous work. Asplundh or Nelson Tree may do it for him for free. If it is a service drop running through the tree they may charge to do it but none the less you would still need to be certified by the providing utility. Problem is you already quoted the job. Pray he does not take the price. Please read the following Program

EHAP CoverElectricity is a serious and widespread hazard to the arborist. Electricity causes about 30 percent of the fatalities in the tree care industry, making it the leading cause of worker fatality. Furthermore, almost all arborists in the field have at least some exposure to this hazard. A street lamp circuit, a cable TV wire, even a phone line can be energized with enough voltage to kill. Indirect contact through a green tree branch or other conductive object is an ever-present threat. One doesn't have to touch a wire to be electrocuted, and about half of all electrocution fatalities are the result of indirect contact.

Arborists should have the knowledge they need to not only avoid electricity, but to work safely around electrical conductors.

Not only does electrical hazards training make good common sense, it's an OSHA requirement. In 1994-95 a new standard took effect. OSHA 29 CFR, part 1910.269, better known as the Vertical Standard, impacts the utility industry, including line clearance contractors, as well as all residential/commercial and municipal arborists who must come within 10 feet of an overhead electrical conductor to do their work.

Arborists in California are governed by CalOSHA, which has a separate but very similar set of requirements.

The employer and the employee have certain responsibilities under OSHA:

The employer's main obligation under this standard is to train employees appropriately.

The employee must be able to identify energized wires and other electrical apparatuses proximate to trees, know the maximum nominal voltages, and the minimum distances to be maintained. When the arborist must work within ten feet of 750 volts or more, there must be a second trained arborist on the crew, in voice or visual communication with the worker exposed to the electrical hazard.

OSHA says that the employer shall establish rescue procedures and provide training in first aid, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and aerial rescue. It says that Red Cross or equivalent training shall be provided to at least two people on every crew of two or more. However, only one person on that crew must be certified if training of all employees is initiated within 90 days of hire.

Federal OSHA stipulates that employees must be trained in work practices and safety procedures to perform their every day operations. That training must be documented, and be on-going. Training must establish employee proficiency in the work practices involved and show employees how to comply with OSHA 1910.269

A critical point of the vertical standard that those who must comply should note: The standard requires that the employer self-certify that each employee has received the training required. Thus, the employer must verify and document the employee's proficiency.

Tree Care Industry Association's Electrical Hazards Awareness program, EHAP for short, provides an employee with the knowledge necessary to work around overhead conductors. EHAP is a correspondence course that can be administered by the employer or supervisor, or taken independently by the student. It's great training, but cannot replace the need for proper supervision and on-the-job skills development.