Moral Earnings

[Highland Forestry]

The fact is round my way these days people are under cutting people sooooooooooooooo much time after time, day after day, people are asking "what have you been quoted so far?" and prices are going lower and lower, Theres a chap round here whos got himself a bit of council work, He's running a 3 man team, van/chipper, all saws/fuel and im guessing insurance as its for the council and i KNOW for a fact hes charging £220 a day, That to me is far to cheap but its obvious hes gone in real cheap to get the work

 

He'll go bankrupt eventually mate, undercutting and people that undercut stupidly create a false economy and a slow death.

[Tom D]

I'm with you on that point mate, i just wonder wether we should be proud of working so cheap.

 

I was really wondering where we feel we fit in in relation to nurses, traffic wardens, doctors etc. Not necessarily what we actualy have to get.

[Highland Forestry]

I'm with you on that point mate, i just wonder wether we should be proud of working so cheap.

 

I was really wondering where we feel we fit in in relation to nurses, traffic wardens, doctors etc. Not necessarily what we actualy have to get.

 

Not sure where I fit in really.. over 90% of my work is commercial, and alot of it is for safety reasons such as roadside felling, de-veg, remedial work etc.

I see myself somewhere up there with plummers, electricians ??

[Ian C]

The fact is round my way these days people are under cutting people sooooooooooooooo much time after time, day after day, people are asking "what have you been quoted so far?" and prices are going lower and lower, Theres a chap round here whos got himself a bit of council work, He's running a 3 man team, van/chipper, all saws/fuel and im guessing insurance as its for the council and i KNOW for a fact hes charging £220 a day, That to me is far to cheap but its obvious hes gone in real cheap to get the work

 

He won't be around for long though, once something like his van or chipper engine goes pop he wont have the money to fix it then he cant do the job. I REFUSE to work for just a wage, i give my rate for the job and thats it, i have to make a bit of profit plus a basic wage. Bumped into another local surgeon at the garage the other day, 51 plate tranny with knackered greedy boards, no sighn writing, knackered mid 90's chippit on the back and when i asked if he got a job we both quoted on he was smiling when he said yes, 5 30ft totally knackered pop pollards to take down in a nice garden and take away for 500 quid, there will be shite every where, no wonder they have knackered kit. I quoted £650 and the bloke said thats what i was expecting and a fair price!

[Highland Forestry]

has anyone found that customers who go for loads of quotes and hunt down the cheapest possible quote are always the worst kind of customers in a general sense?

The customers I like are like the one I had on friday... a reccomendation from another customer, and the contract was mine even before I quoted.

Fair price, nice work, everyone is happy and payment immediatley on completion...

Now if I could get that for every job I'd be a happy chappy.

[Ian C]

I'm with you on that point mate, i just wonder wether we should be proud of working so cheap.

 

I was really wondering where we feel we fit in in relation to nurses, traffic wardens, doctors etc. Not necessarily what we actualy have to get.

 

We should NOT be proude to work cheap, we are trained, provide expensive kit and a professional service, go to any garage and ask a garage owner if he will do your car for £10 an hour instead of £35 and see what the answer is!

 

My Wife is a sister in a big Hostpital, yes she earns a good wage but by christ does she work for it, works harder than me thats for sure and no one can say tree work is easy. Traffic wardens aint in our league, there tw@ts in a uniform when enjoy a bit of power and normally were abused as a child.

Edited October 25, 2009 by Ian C

[Highland Forestry]

We should NOT be proude to work cheap, we are trained, provide expensive kit and a professional service, go to any garage and ask a garage owner if he will do your car for £10 an hour instead of £35 and see what the answer is!

 

 

With you there... !

 

How many professions do you get where the contractor is mobile and can turn up with 20-30k (probably more in alot of cases) worth of specialised kit.

 

If you have a van, chipper, ground staff, all the saws, kit, grinder, climber, fuel etc - you're not long before your cost of operation is 500 a day.

[Stephen Blair]

i am not saying what i earn as i dont know, well i do know what i earn i just never know what i am going to have to spend. i always change things about and try different stuff to keep it interesting. just now with my set up, gloria and a van, i am doing great. cash flow is good and work is plentyfull. even if the wee chipper blows up it is still cheaper than my old mog tyres to replace and same with my van. but no where near as much fun

[Highland Forestry]

i am not saying what i earn as i dont know, well i do know what i earn i just never know what i am going to have to spend. i always change things about and try different stuff to keep it interesting. just now with my set up, gloria and a van, i am doing great. cash flow is good and work is plentyfull. even if the wee chipper blows up it is still cheaper than my old mog tyres to replace and same with my van. but no where near as much fun

 

Know what you mean, never know what you're going to earn because the costs can be unknown.

 

Same here, but what I do know is that I dont earn enough for the effort that goes in, but that's my fault - hence finding better customers.

[TimberCutterDartmoor]

has anyone found that customers who go for loads of quotes and hunt down the cheapest possible quote are always the worst kind of customers in a general sense?

QUOTE]

 

Oh yes! And then they ask for a discount after the job!