2013 is full!

emr

emr

Cheesehead Treehouser
Joined
Nov 5, 2006
Messages
2,193
Location
Neenah, Wisconsin
I can't believe it! We are scheduling into Jan 2014. This has been an amazing year for us and I am feeling completely overwhelmed. Other companies around here are able to turn work around in a few days to a few weeks. I guess I should be happy with all the work, but wow, it's a bit much for just the two of us. Maybe it's time to hire some help. I would love to hear some insight as to when to male that plunge.

I want to keep things small but I just have a feeling that things are going to go bad if we don't change. My biggest concern is having previously loyal customers go elsewhere because they don't want to wait that long for us.

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If you have that much work then justifing buying a mini skid should be a no brainer. What is the majority of the type of work you do?
 
Cursedvoyce can help you manage that huge backlog. I'll never be able to figure that out though. 4-5 weeks is the max I can go without risking losing good jobs. And as FJR and Paul say, you need to get mechanized to get more done easier and faster.
 
I burn up work, i need a vaca to get back logged. Usually two, or three max. All about the iron. Locals here haul wood in the back of there stepside f150. They are always busy. I think after two three weeks, they will have someone else do it.

Good for you though!
 
I could stop booking January and coast till February, but I will keep booking less one week per month.
Advantage I have for the bookings is, 1) I don't care if a lose a couple a month... I can fill it right back up with monthlies. 2) I live in rural, people are more lax here than in a city. If you are worth it... they wait.
 
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  • #7
It it was up to me alone, I would have a mini. But I'm not alone. And I agree with the reasons not to get one....but i also think it would be good to get one. My partner and I need to sit down and look at how we are going to invest in the company. That was never really an issue before. Again, that's a good problem to have.

Since we mostly do prunings and removals with limited access, we have never really seen a need for equipment. Our rates are already to high to compete with the competition that has all the toys, so we don't even want to try and get those bigger type of jobs. Small, technical, low impact is how we make our living.

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  • #8
Here's a thought... Wraptor!! I bet we could both agree one of those.

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Same here Erik, but the mini helps big time. Granted, I had to weed out some of the tougher terrain jobs (the amount we usually have) to use it enough to have it. But it and the Wraptor are huge game changers.
 
If you are that booked up, its time to take a look at your production and find where you can shave the most time off of each job. If handling wood is the weak link, purchase a machine accordingly. Chipping brush is the issue? Bigger unit with winch maybe. Only you can decide that. But start burning through that work. Turn into money as quickly as safely possible. Each market is different. Some markets are small and have a small town feel to them and folks are willing to wait forever to have so and so's company come do their work. Other markets are fast paced and no one gives a shit who you are, they just want the work done. My market is a combination of both. I can book out a bit, and some people will wait a long time for me. A lot wont. Once they decide that tree is going to come down on their house, they don't become more relaxed about it. They get impatient and nervous.

1. Find your weakest link in your production, and purchase accordingly.
2. Evaluate your customer base and decide if it will tolerate a few months of waiting. If it can great, keep booking. If it cant, see #1 and get busy.
 
Chris, you are the Dear Abbey of tree work, good post;)
 
I am of the opinion that being really busy like on a daily basis as a tree worker, is something rather unique to very select parts of the world. Many people living in the US don't realize the great potential compared, that exists there in many endeavors (donut shops too), like almost no other place. It presents very rare financial opportunities within that line of work, and is reason to try and take advantage of it, with caution about developing your business somewhat a lesser concern than what more maximizing your potential will bring.
 
I still find it a bit hard to believe that I and the whole rest of the tree armies are out there every day of the year cutting cutting cutting, ceaselessly
 
What they said. If you're booked that far out man, invest in a mini or a wraptor or something to up the production. Running a small crew like you do, I'd go with a mini. A two man crew with a mini can really burn through some work. And it sounds perfect for your tight access, technical removals.

A two man crew usually means a lot of brush dragging/wood moving once you're out of the tree. I would know since that's mostly how Dad and I roll. And having the gehl or even the mini makes it go so much faster and easier on you. One guy with the mini can normally keep up with whatever the climber throws down at him.
 
Only reason I am working every day is still working in the brush. There is just not enough tree work to fill everyone's schedule up here. I work 2-4 days a week strictly tree work and the rest is ladder fuel reduction (brush reduction and mitigation), often times on a rotating schedule...
Hopefully we will keep taking over more and more market share.
 
Dragging brush by hand just really sucks, unless you occasionally want to remember the past for a bit. It does help keep you from getting fat, however.
 
rangerdanger said:
What they said. If you're booked that far out man, invest in a mini or a wraptor or something to up the production. Running a small crew like you do, I'd go with a mini. A two man crew with a mini can really burn through some work. And it sounds perfect for your tight access, technical removals.

A two man crew usually means a lot of brush dragging/wood moving once you're out of the tree. I would know since that's mostly how Dad and I roll. And having the gehl or even the mini makes it go so much faster and easier on you. One guy with the mini can normally keep up with whatever the climber throws down at him.
Click to expand...

Yeah, screw the mini, get a loader, your head will explode.:thumbup:
 
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  • #22
I really appreciate everyones input. I almost want to rent a mini on regular days just to see if it would improve production. I have a hard time believing that it will be worth it when you figure in a second vehicle to tow it, the time it takes to load and unload, fuel costs, potential lawn damage, skid marks on concrete, etc. Most days we are on 2-3 properties working at each one for 2-3 hours. How much time would a mini really save?

Thinking of what areas slow us down, I would have to say that stump grinding is the area that slows us down the most and costs us the most lost bids. A new, larger stump grinder is on my short list.
 
Sounds like you are already but if you can specialize your business down some more to the things you love to do and make you the most money. I steadily book one to two months out, this year being my busiest by far. Now I only do large tree pruning and removal. No shrubberies, no chip piles, no stumps I haven't made. I never miss a day so doing those jobs that I dislike just means I'm missing out a day of large treework.
 
emr said:
I really appreciate everyones input. I almost want to rent a mini on regular days just to see if it would improve production. I have a hard time believing that it will be worth it when you figure in a second vehicle to tow it, the time it takes to load and unload, fuel costs, potential lawn damage, skid marks on concrete, etc. Most days we are on 2-3 properties working at each one for 2-3 hours. How much time would a mini really save?

Thinking of what areas slow us down, I would have to say that stump grinding is the area that slows us down the most and costs us the most lost bids. A new, larger stump grinder is on my short list.
Click to expand...

Stumping was a huge bottle neck for me as well before buying a larger unit. I went from a 27hp to 65hp and production has jumped ten fold. The only downside is I want a separate trailer for it, next year.
 
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