Tucker943
Bamboo Plantation Owner
I think any sensible business man is charging to put mats down. Charging for time, and wear and tear, and purchase of tool. Is anyone here surcharging as though the mats are a bonus service?
Billing for ground protection
- Thread starter arborworks1
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lumberjack
Young man on the go
Even that could be justified if working for a persnickety customer. The guy Adrian mentioned was once griped at for stepping on the same grass twice... why yes, there would certainly be a surcharge for working there!
Also, using the mats under the premiss of no ground damage increases your liability and the sensitivity to any damage. Liability is increased and thus you could justify charging more. For example, lets say that while carrying a piece out the machine tipped a bit and you had to set the load down in the grass. Subjectively, you just caused ground damage which you're liable for.
Along the same lines, working off mats is more time consuming than being able to drive wherever on the ground... meaning you have to follow the roads. That decreases efficiency, thus causing a decrease in production. Assuming you're charging hourly, that is absorbed by the increased time required. If you don't factor that into your bid, you're leaving some time out of your estimate, which would usually be absorbed by fat in another area, but that still doesn't make it "right".
Does any of that make sense to anyone else?
Also, using the mats under the premiss of no ground damage increases your liability and the sensitivity to any damage. Liability is increased and thus you could justify charging more. For example, lets say that while carrying a piece out the machine tipped a bit and you had to set the load down in the grass. Subjectively, you just caused ground damage which you're liable for.
Along the same lines, working off mats is more time consuming than being able to drive wherever on the ground... meaning you have to follow the roads. That decreases efficiency, thus causing a decrease in production. Assuming you're charging hourly, that is absorbed by the increased time required. If you don't factor that into your bid, you're leaving some time out of your estimate, which would usually be absorbed by fat in another area, but that still doesn't make it "right".
Does any of that make sense to anyone else?
Tucker943
Bamboo Plantation Owner
I can see that.
When I do an estimate, I give the client lots of choices when it comes to how we do the job.
Since Danes are notoriously cheap when it comes to treework, many will opt to do the cleanup themselves, which is fine with me.
Likewise opt for a few divots aerating the lawn soil instead of paying for mats.
If there is a small bush in the way of falling a tree, I'll even give then a price for piecing the tree out and one for doing a murphy on the bush.
If the difference is big enough, the bush is a goner.
Makes no difference to me.
Since Danes are notoriously cheap when it comes to treework, many will opt to do the cleanup themselves, which is fine with me.
Likewise opt for a few divots aerating the lawn soil instead of paying for mats.
If there is a small bush in the way of falling a tree, I'll even give then a price for piecing the tree out and one for doing a murphy on the bush.
If the difference is big enough, the bush is a goner.
Makes no difference to me.
lumberjack
Young man on the go
On the Airport job I've been working on... the job was bid to start in October (per the bid specs), however the city pushed the start date back to January. My bid had expired, so I could have refused it, but that's not my style! October was the second driest month of last year, no ground protection would have been required to do the job.
So far this year we've had 15" of rain, and the whole area is lowlands with poor drainage. Directly, we've spent $1500 on plywood, half of it is a total loss, half is still waiting to be used. Indirectly, I'll have to spend at least 3-4 hours grading out the disturbed soils, as well as we've easily lost 15 hours of production time due to the ground being soft. I will likely have to bring some additional soil in to grade the area back out, which will cost another few hundred dollars. All told, rain/ground damage has cost me $3k+ on this job.
So far this year we've had 15" of rain, and the whole area is lowlands with poor drainage. Directly, we've spent $1500 on plywood, half of it is a total loss, half is still waiting to be used. Indirectly, I'll have to spend at least 3-4 hours grading out the disturbed soils, as well as we've easily lost 15 hours of production time due to the ground being soft. I will likely have to bring some additional soil in to grade the area back out, which will cost another few hundred dollars. All told, rain/ground damage has cost me $3k+ on this job.
MasterBlaster
Administrator Emeritus
My buddy Mike just bought 12 mats and they are the cat's meow.
lumberjack
Young man on the go
I tried to become a dealer (Top Notch) for Alturna Mats. They sent us the dealer questionnaire, I made it clear that I was wanting to start off with 50 mats (one question was are you prepared to spend at least $5k on your first purchase). Couldn't manage to get a call or email back. Pretty lame.
MasterBlaster
Administrator Emeritus
My buddy didn't buy Alturna Mats, they are another brand. He bought them used, but they look brand new. One thing for sure, they ARE nice. I'm pretty sure he's the only one in town who has them.
CurSedVoyce
California Hillbilly
Bid the job accordingly.. I like a challenge.. the more challenge you present to me, the higher the cost... Rigging pays for my gear.. make my day... Wood road??? Make my day... NP
bonner1040
Nick from Ohio
I will crosspost this from the Timelapse thread:
We set up a plywood highway to get this willow out and you can bet we charged em out the arse for it...
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/SMCdgQD8EYs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
BobcatM52 was rented.
We set up a plywood highway to get this willow out and you can bet we charged em out the arse for it...
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/SMCdgQD8EYs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
BobcatM52 was rented.
bonner1040
Nick from Ohio
Because they are idiots.
RickyTree
TreeHouser
- Joined
- Feb 10, 2013
- Messages
- 80
bonner1040
Nick from Ohio
Hey Ricky, how ya been?
I believe Carl's broad strokes cleanup is wood/brush removed, thats it.
I believe Carl's broad strokes cleanup is wood/brush removed, thats it.
lumberjack
Young man on the go
Everything except what you would rake/blow up. I've expanded the term to include stump cleanup as well, we get the bigger part of the pile, they finish it up.
arborworks1
Treehouser
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #41
I prefer no stump cleanup here lately... But if I sell full cleanup, you best believe we are making good money to scoop chips!
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