What to expect when your expecting a tree service

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TreeHouser
Joined
Feb 26, 2012
Messages
999
Location
Eastern PA
After doing years of tree work I feel like I need to write up something to educate home owners who are having tree work done. Mainly that I can’t float the f*ing tree out to an abandoned lot where we process it. Sometimes even when you rig things down and use mats and try to be as easy on the ground s possible, you may end up with a divot or there may be some saw dust around. Today I finally finished a job that has been rescheduled 7 times due to rain and soft ground. I removed a bunch of trees boardering 4 properties. Everyone wants the work done but no one wants me to come in their yard. The best spot to get in was through a fire lane but no one wants that either for some reason. We finally convinced one person to let us in the lane and I put down 170’ of mats. As you may have guessed the guy is bitching about ruts. Or as I see it, bent grass. I explain before jobs all the same shit you guys probably tell customers but it’s never enough for the few that just want to be mad about stuff. I’m done ranting for now...
 
I just pass on those finicky customers... life's too short to suffer fools. Let Kilroy's Tree Experts deal with them. :drink:
 
2 places I worked for had it right on the contract.
" We are not responsible for turf damage that may occur " or something to that extent.
Of course we'd make efforts with driving on plywood and postponing work if the ground is soft or muddy.
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Raking the grass back up or useing a blower on it make those “ruts” disappear most times. There are always PITA customers and jobs. I’ve become good at recognizing them from the get go but occasionally one slips in. Give them a hundred off of the price and they usually are ok. Some people need to feel like they got away with getting a good deal. I have one guy that has to find something wrong no matter what we do. After the first job we just doubled our normal pricing for him. Give him a few bucks off the estimate and he feels happy and pays up. Been working for him yearly for 15 years now. Also the more customers involved the more head aches. I despise working at nieggboring properties the same day or even within a few weeks of each other. Always seems that one feels cheated.
 
I would have walked. I am getting to the point where I am more choosey about who I will do work for. Once my little inner voice starts talking I start walking.
 
We offer the David Copperfield Disappearing Tree package deal. It's great, throw a big cloak over the whole tree, we go to work under it using all quiet battery equipment. Then the blimp comes in and silently lifts everything away. It's great, no mars, no ruts. But it'll CO$$$$$T you!
 
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We offer the David Copperfield Disappearing Tree package deal. It's great, throw a big cloak over the whole tree, we go to work under it using all quiet battery equipment. Then the blimp comes in and silently lifts everything away. It's great, no mars, no ruts. But it'll CO$$$$$T you!

Yes
 
I've always thought someone could use a huge military helicopter to just haul off whole trees after 1 stump cut to a place where they can be processed (a field to burn them, or mulch making plant). Such a helicopter could stay busy in Nashville, but it would sure cost a lot. Makes me wonder if the money saved from time and wear on the usual equipment would be able to pay for such a service if every tree company got together to use a helicopter. $20-50M for the helicopter, 10 ton capacity, unknown fuel cost...
 
My guess, heli-craning whole trees over neighborhoods is a no-no. Fun, but a no-no. What is the wind speed and force under a helicopter?
 
Erickson sky crane.
"Your removal will cost $40,000.00 for a 10" dbh ash with absolutely no turf impact" might be a tough sell.
 
Heli loggers do it all the time. But there are no tops in the tree. The tops would catch so much wind it would probably double or triple the weight of the tree. I had a customer once that stopped me from leaning a ladder against the roof because of the "dents" in the yard due to the feet of the ladder. I told her that she probably wouldn't want the bucket truck and the tractor in her yard either. She had already been told what equipment we would be using. Older, wealthy lady in a very rich and fancy community. I won't even give estimates there anymore because most of the folks that live there are exactly the same. Can't be pleased and love to gripe.
 
It would be interesting to give them the PITA rate, and then the conditional rate... conditions that you don't see them or hear from them. Any difference between the two rates could go to any remediation of ladder feet, saw chips in the gutter, and stick removals from asses.
 
I've hooked enough howitzers to Chinooks to think that it isn't pleasant. I lost a detachment once. 7 guys. Blowing away in the breeze. Loadmaster laughing his ass off.
 
I think the Chinook downdraft blew his men off their feet...
Helicopters in the bush is bad enough when they are only water bombers...got to watch out for dead stuff getting blown down. LOTS of dead stuff in the bush on a fireground...
 
Can’t think of any Cory, but have been following it with interest and pondering.

I reckon all of us biz owners, large and small have had bad experiences where a job has turned sour, it cannot always be the clients fault.

I think there is usually a point in the quoting procedure where there’s a kind of dislocation.

Client: ‘will there be any damage?’

Tree guy: ‘we will certainly do our best to avoid it’

Now 99% of the time the client understands that nuance, but occasionally they take you at your word and it hits the fan.

Underpricing can also cause problems, it’s not the clients fault you screwed up the quote, but it’s difficult not to resent them when they complain about something innocuous when they’re getting it at cost.

Anyway, gotta go, looking at this chipper in 30 mins.
 
It's cool.








I general tell them dirt is way easier and cheaper to fix than zero- impact, and ask if they want zero impact?

I think that is clear enough that there will be impact.

We then go from there about acceptable impact... Divots, craters, rakings into woods, always with the full meal-deal offered... Tree Magician.

People sometimes get sticker shock, sometimes not.
 
A guy I worked for made the mistake of telling the customer an hourly rate. She timed everything from when I stopped for a sip of water to a quick talk with the neighbor. He told her to never call us again and she never did. Another old bag liked to think we were booked for an entire day while she followed me around the yard nit picking as I trimmed hedges and shrubs, telling me to take the hedge down to the "quick" which meant no leaves left at all on top. One visit we left after 4-5 hours to fit one more job in and she was dissatisfied feeling we "rushed" out of there. The best customer is one that isn't there when you are.
 
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