Your bid on 2 oak takedown?

pantheraba

pantheraba

More biners!!!
Joined
Jul 31, 2005
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I got a request for a bid yesterday from the neighbor where I did 2 trees last month. These 2 oaks, one on each side of a storage bldg. are declining and the owner wants them removed. I should be able to flop the one that is "part of the building" with a top rope and wedges. It can go straight away from the building into a wooded lot with good openings to throw it.

I plan to bid $300 to do that...may include cutting it up, too...the owner only wants the trees down, he does clean-up.

The other tree has targets everywhere...everything will have to be roped, with at least 2 or more cuts for each limb...they are long and pretty large. I figure to use fishpole system with 2 blocks for most everything. I want to spread out the force on the blocks since some of the wood may be compromised.

He has some 1/4" hardboard (like thin plywood) around which I hope to be able to put on the roof of the storage unit to protect it from deadfall/breakoff.

I figure I need to bid at least $1800 to remove the one tree that has to be rigged down...maybe more? It will probably take me 2 days to do it.

What would you bid?
 

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2 days, no clean up with probably only 1 groudie, I'd shoot for around $1500-$2000 right now. But that's because I haven't had a phone call in 2 weeks and I'd do just about anything for some work right now. If I was booked up the usual 2-3 weeks, I'd probably bid around $2500.
 
Plenty of good pictures but it's still hard to get a grip on scale. We are talking the one that has only brown leaves, no green at all, right?

If it's the size I think it is, say about 80' or 90' at the tips and I couldn't chuck ANY of it including the trunk... annnddd it has a good single rigging point that I can use on all the laterals... with no cleanup, maybe bucking the big stuff into 48" sections... $925, should be able to bag in a short day unless it's like, 110 degrees outside. EDIT: I know that sounds low but I'm talking no heavy metal on site with one groundie. I target $800 per day on jobs that I sell myself. I've done lots of trees like that, right over houses and stuff for a $250 day rate... makes me sick when I think about it.

... but that's just looking at pictures. I think a lot about my rigging points during a bid like that and try to visualize the swings. The more I have to move the rigging anchor, the longer it takes getting everything on the ground.

If you fishpole and only cut each limb into two chunks you're gonna be screwing around with the rope a lot... which I'll admit can be fun, especially if girls are watching but it eats up time like crazy.

Dead oaks with hypoxolon all over them are scary but usually strong enough to rig on as long as you keep the pieces a reasonable size. I always remove the tips first if I'm using a natural crotch. You can double crotch rigging points on dead trees if the branches are sketchy.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #4
Bounce said:
2 days, no clean up with probably only 1 groudie, I'd shoot for around $1500-$2000 right now. But that's because I haven't had a phone call in 2 weeks and I'd do just about anything for some work right now. If I was booked up the usual 2-3 weeks, I'd probably bid around $2500.
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Bounce, that's pretty much where I am at in my thinking...and there will only be one groundie.

Blinky, rigging points is a big problem...each one will probably have to be rigged off itself...there is only one kinda decent central vertical rig point and it isn't as thick as I would like. I probably spent 20 minutes visualizing rope swings, rigging points and it will be a lot of resetting.

The pictures do make it hard to tell the real scale, I understand. It is about an 80 feet tree. I removed the last picture from the original post...it was from the neighbor's tree a few weeks ago.
 
I just can't bid from looking at pictures. If I did, it would always be on the high side just cuz I don't know the entire story.
Just glancing at it, I say $1200 to put it on the ground.
 
Gary, I have a bad habit of working too cheap. Looks like about $2100 for both cleaned up to me. -maybe 1100-1200 cut it and leave it.
 
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  • #7
MasterBlaster said:
I just can't bid from looking at pictures. If I did, it would always be on the high side just cuz I don't know the entire story.
Just glancing at it, I say $1200 to put it on the ground.
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MB, I understand about hard to bid from pictures. Is $1200 what you would charge for YOUR time and skill...assuming you would have groundie(s) working for you being paid by whoever hired you as a contract climber?

Justin, I usually work too cheap, too. My original idea for the rigging tree was $1100, but the more I studied how much work it would take the more I kept inching up. I appreciate folks trying to come up with a number anyway.
 
Me climbing and someone working the ropes, maybe another groundie. We's some cheap bastids 'round here.
 
Gary, what is your normal climbing rate? Around here, good climbers are $300 per day and I get $500 per day with my bucket truck. If you're covering an employee then I could see $800 per day since you have no heavy equipment on site and you're not hauling anything. Your only expense is fuel. A lot of climbers could get that on the ground in one day, so to charge top dollar for two full days because you're not as fast as other climbers is a bit excessive in my mind. Blinky's rate of $800 per day is plenty high for you and a groundman in my opinion.

Are you really worth over $100 per hour as a climber? I wish I could charge that much.
 
Are the both removals,if so I would say that even leaving the material behind its still 3/4 to a full day of work , with that being said , I would be comfortable with between 1500 and 1800 for the day . Theres work in the tree over the shed its tight . If someone emailed those pics then that would be my price. A bucket truck would be ideal on that canopy work ...
 
I work for a guy right now that has a deal going on, any tree put on the ground no clean up or cut up just safely on the ground for $275. When I heard he was doing this I thought he was crazy, but after working with him these past two weeks I don't think so anymore. We've ran into only one large cottonwood, 90 footer that I climbed and took down in 3 hours, other than that it was smaller trees that he used his 45 foot boom on. We would do 3 - 4 trees a day at that rate. He says if he gets a massive tree that he loses money on, it makes up for it because the homeowner tells all his buds what we did, and end up with more of the smaller simpler jobs. So my bid would be $275 no joke. :lol:
 
Burnham said:
Cutting your own throat, just my opinion.
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I'm not planning on starting my own business, I'm going to stick with just taking down trees for other guys.;) Sorry for the thread jack. In all honesty I don't see anything wrong with your bid, other companies I've worked for would have probably bid with in 200 give or take of yours. Good luck with that tree by the way.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #20
Skwerl said:
Gary, what is your normal climbing rate? ....Are you really worth over $100 per hour as a climber? I wish I could charge that much.
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I guesstimate the hours required and multiply by $100...figuring to cover 2 guys with that. If I estimate 4 hours it often turns into 6-7...I'll often end up rigging more stuff than I thought I needed to. I'm not a production climber by any means.

I'm leaning towards $1500 for the big oak to be rigged.
 
Syther, I gues si'm glad that your buddy's plan is working. it wouldn't work with me. Flat rates for varied work registers with me as "sales gimmick". Either the people offering are going to have exclusions that drive up the price beyond advertised for many people, they are over charging a percentage of people to cover the percentage where the flat rate is insufficient or they are just incompetent dingbats. It all adds up to "I'll seek out a pro" for me.
 
Stumper said:
Syther, I gues si'm glad that your buddy's plan is working. it wouldn't work with me. Flat rates for varied work registers with me as "sales gimmick". Either the people offering are going to have exclusions that drive up the price beyond advertised for many people, they are over charging a percentage of people to cover the percentage where the flat rate is insufficient or they are just incompetent dingbats. It all adds up to "I'll seek out a pro" for me.
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It might be a scam and I just don't see all the ins and outs of it right now. He pays alright. I know everything he does is legit, I've been with him when customers have asked for proof of insurance. I carry my own liability insurance because I have tree company's call me and just work short time, so I'm legit too. Those other companies trucks don't move unless the job pays a min of $1000 and alot of them are sitting and waiting right now. I figure if I end up finding out hes doing something real shady, there is plenty of other tree companys here in Flint, MI. Somewhere around 40 and I've worked with about 7 I can think off. I do enjoy working with someone who goes outside the box and tries something new. Than I can see for myself the results.
 
Gary, to even think of taking on this job your job level skills and confidence must be improving. I'm proud of you. And if you sharpen your pencil you just might make something to show for it.

Some good advice here. Price wise? Figure it based on your skill level and how much time it would take to complete the job,,, and then figure how much your time is worth.

If you complete it on time then you should do good on the worth of your effort.

Luck, and may all positive things come your way.
 
How tall are those trees? Looks like easy pickings from a bucket. Prices seem high to me, but maybe it's a market difference. If the one tree can be fell and left, and the other just bombed out. How much room for the spar? As in how tall can it be dropped down that driveway?

To me the one to fall, looks almost like a natural. Like it might not need any wedges or rope, although I always put a rope on anyways as that's what my insurance stipulates. If so on the straight fell, $300 is steep for that imo. Not steep if you have to limb it and buck it up too, so make sure to clarify. The other tree looks like it would be a real easy bucket baby tree, and it appears like the spar could be taken quite tall once skinned. If so I'd be saying around $600-$800 to put it on the ground.
 
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