how'r we supposed to compete

[Stuart A-C]

I always 'inform' customers that there are people who will do it cheaper than us and to get a few quotes, but if someone does come back with a stupidly cheap quote to check insurance, certs etc. and explaing that it could end up costing more than the original quote. I know it may seem a bit unprofesional, but its more about educating people about the industry. I still get people asking me if I need a power socket for the saw!!!

[dillsue]

its happened to me and i know its annoying but just laugh and forget about it! some idiot has worked his but off to earn £20 for a load of logs:lol:

 

felled a couple large ash trees today. costumer tells me he got quote from guy who turned up to do last job with kids helping out. the guy quoted him 3000. I quoted him 700 and done.. it was easy..just felling them and leaving them. 3 guys 1 easy day. 500 profit.

 

Makes you think though...some people will pay that much...and maybe our skills are worth that much.

 

Though there will always be assholes who think we are just ' wood cutters ' and want us to do it for beer money.

 

Guys. I'm new to this forum and to tree work but consider this-

 

We installed a log burner to do our heating and hot water because LPG is too expensive. I had regular log deliveries from tree surgeons, and a chainsaw and splitter to process the wood. A couple of years ago the supplies all but dried up when fuel costs started to soar and the tree industry realised that there was good money to be made out of selling logs. What should I do? Pay the LPG bills, go cold and dont wash or collect my own logs? Cheapest option was to do CS30,31,32+34 get PPE and a trailer and collect my own wood. Taking down good quality wood for next to nothing seems fair enough so £20 per tree would have been a good deal to me at that time. Remember two good sized trees is a years heating which would have saved me £1000 in LPG. So the "value" of that job could have been as much as £1040 to me!!!!!!!

 

Regarding the £500 profit for the day "felling a couple of large ash trees", I hope your customer isnt reading this posting because he wont be paying £700 for "an easy days work" again. You may well be finding that next time he tracks down the guy who'll do it for £20 a tree and the logs!!

[Andy Collins]

I see the landscaper/tree surgeon thing from a different angle (slightly). My son has just started out as a landscape designer, in the middle of his first big project right now. He is the designer, he hires in the necessary people to do each task, digger drivers, chippies, tree surgeons and so on. He puts in the region of 25% on the costs of each skill. This is necessary to cover his costs and earn himself a living. I hope I'm educating him in "people skills" as he goes along, ie the correct way to treat them, as this is something they aren't taught in college, but have to learn as they go along. Yes, you have to be "hard-nosed" to deal with the mickey-takers, to suss out the people who talk the talk, but cant walk the walk, such as a certain pond "expert" who it turned out had only done small fish ponds in town gardens and couldnt do the basic maths to calculate areas and volumes required in order to purchase the right amount of liner etc. There are many time-wasters and chancers out there in all professions, and to waste time sorting the wheat from the chaff is down-right annoying.

Edited November 2, 2009 by Andy Collins
spelling

[Andy Collins]

Guys. I'm new to this forum and to tree work but consider this-

 

We installed a log burner to do our heating and hot water because LPG is too expensive. I had regular log deliveries from tree surgeons, and a chainsaw and splitter to process the wood. A couple of years ago the supplies all but dried up when fuel costs started to soar and the tree industry realised that there was good money to be made out of selling logs. What should I do? Pay the LPG bills, go cold and dont wash or collect my own logs? Cheapest option was to do CS30,31,32+34 get PPE and a trailer and collect my own wood. Taking down good quality wood for next to nothing seems fair enough so £20 per tree would have been a good deal to me at that time. Remember two good sized trees is a years heating which would have saved me £1000 in LPG. So the "value" of that job could have been as much as £1040 to me!!!!!!!

 

Regarding the £500 profit for the day "felling a couple of large ash trees", I hope your customer isnt reading this posting because he wont be paying £700 for "an easy days work" again. You may well be finding that next time he tracks down the guy who'll do it for £20 a tree and the logs!!

Good on you, this was how I got into tree work, many years ago going out with my dad to cut down trees for farmers for the wood. This fuelled my interest for went on to be a "proper" career. Saying this, I now have to compete with people such as yourself, and that throws up a whole load of issues as addressed above. I'm pleased that you have taken the trouble to buy the right kit, and the right training, I think (you dont say) you ought to take out some basic PL insurance to cover yourself against any claims, perhaps with the realisation of extra costs the "cheap' wood wont be quite so cheap? I cant and wont blame anyone in these tight times for trying to make their own lives a little better.

[skyhuck]

Guys. I'm new to this forum and to tree work but consider this-

 

We installed a log burner to do our heating and hot water because LPG is too expensive. I had regular log deliveries from tree surgeons, and a chainsaw and splitter to process the wood. A couple of years ago the supplies all but dried up when fuel costs started to soar and the tree industry realised that there was good money to be made out of selling logs. What should I do? Pay the LPG bills, go cold and dont wash or collect my own logs? Cheapest option was to do CS30,31,32+34 get PPE and a trailer and collect my own wood. Taking down good quality wood for next to nothing seems fair enough so £20 per tree would have been a good deal to me at that time. Remember two good sized trees is a years heating which would have saved me £1000 in LPG. So the "value" of that job could have been as much as £1040 to me!!!!!!!

 

Regarding the £500 profit for the day "felling a couple of large ash trees", I hope your customer isnt reading this posting because he wont be paying £700 for "an easy days work" again. You may well be finding that next time he tracks down the guy who'll do it for £20 a tree and the logs!!

 

 

I reckon if you had just offered the guys who had been dropping off the wood a few quid it would have kept coming.

 

There is now way you could fell and remove trees for less than the cost of bulk timber in lengths, unless you put no £ value on your time.

 

I got into this line of work though felling for my own fire, but the trees were in the field across from my house.

[Rupe]

Cheapest option was to do CS30,31,32+34 get PPE and a trailer

 

Thats a lot of time and money investment to re coup!!

[Dean Lofthouse]

You may well be finding that next time he tracks down the guy who'll do it for £20 a tree and the logs!!

 

I take it you have a day job to pay the bills and to pay for your saws, equipment, insurance.

 

I also use logs for heating etc

 

You might save £1k in fuel bills, but my insurance bill alone for everything is over £5K, my fuel bill is around £6k, wage bill around £15K and so on

 

Thats an awful lot of £20 takedowns, you can never educate the ignorant....that comment is not aimed at you but the man who thinks it can be done for £20.

 

You can take down trees for £20 but not many

 

Oh, and just this week alone, I have spent nearly £600 on PPE

[Yorkshireman]

Going back to the first post

 

the beauty of offering a quote is no-one is bound to it

 

Anyone can give away their time, its there choice.

I doubt very much it would be so in their day job & I doubt if you asked them to go to work for £20 a day they'd be somewhat relucant & if the guy cant see the difference then its no loss really is it.

 

horses for courses & donkeys on beaches

[skyhuck]

Going back the tittle of the thread, "how'r supposed to compete", I would say we should NOT even try.

 

There are guys out there who devote the evenings and weekends to restoring an old car, do you think mechanics loose any sleep over them???

 

The guys who spend their spare time cutting down trees for fire wood either do it for the love of physical work or put NO true value on their spare time.

 

If they are happy and don't put others in danger doing it GOOD LUCK too em I say!!!!

[Tom D]

Many clients wouldn't even dream of letting some amateur cut their trees just for the wood, and if some do, like huck says, let them.

 

Imagine getting a plummer who worked for the scrap value of the radiators and copper pipes he replaced, would you let him work in your house???