Back step or weather the storm?

[Mark Bolam]

I think reducing rates is a very bad idea.

 

Just be prepared to work harder for them.

[Mike Hill]

  On 25/05/2023 at 15:40, Mark Bolam said:

I think reducing rates is a very bad idea.

 

Just be prepared to work harder for them.

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Then you already have reduced your rate surely?

[Mark Bolam]

Sort of, but you still end up with as much money.

[Mark Bolam]

Luckily I don’t really do much work for the ‘12 quotes and cheapest wins’ crowd.

2 man crews out there for £300/day isn’t a dance I’m prepared to join.

 

One of my old customers is delaying pressing the GO button on a £700 ash takedown  ‘because things are a bit tight at the moment.’

 

He has two Ferraris.

[doobin]

  On 25/05/2023 at 10:14, Mike Hill said:

 

 

I am free hold with lots of spicy kit, I like to dance but allways knew the music was going to stop.

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Yup, but kit will hold some value and cheaper to keep kit on the team than staff!

[Canal Navvy]

  On 25/05/2023 at 17:32, Mark Bolam said:

Luckily I don’t really do much work for the ‘12 quotes and cheapest wins’ crowd.

2 man crews out there for £300/day isn’t a dance I’m prepared to join.

 

One of my old customers is delaying pressing the GO button on a £700 ash takedown  ‘because things are a bit tight at the moment.’

 

He has two Ferraris.

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To be fair to him that £700 is a good chunk of the cost of the bit that goes in the middle of his alloy wheels that some oik prised out as a trophy . 

[Dan Maynard]

  On 25/05/2023 at 17:32, Mark Bolam said:

One of my old customers is delaying pressing the GO button on a £700 ash takedown  ‘because things are a bit tight at the moment.’

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Tell him I'll do it for £600.

 

We had a song and dance over money last week, reasonable size job but customer has range rover and Bentley on the drive. Difficult to figure sometimes.

[oldwoodcutter]

A friend of mine , and a big player in our tree world has had a very good run these past few years .

At least 2 teams out, and often 3, and machinery that smaller firms can only dream about.

Like most of us recently, invitations to quote have dried up, and big bread n butter commercial contracts shelved or cancelled.

He was telling me last week that his leasing and rent payments are constant at 20k per month .

I asked him what he was going to do and he said he just doesn’t know yet.

 

[Domino]

If everyone lowers their prices and spends money on SEO that'll fix it for everyone.......oh, hang on a minute 😀

In answer to the original question - yes things seem to be increasingly competitive in my area, which is a competition I'm not happy to partake in, much to my demise possibly.

Using existing machinery in other areas to bump up income is a solution...flail mowing with the Avant seems quite sort after, and meadow mowing with the collector flail (rented attachments) is getting popular amongst the well healed folk who enjoy such indulgences.  Only thing is finding the clients in a slightly different sector can be challenging. 

 

Best of luck. 

[doobin]

  On 25/05/2023 at 22:34, Domino said:

If everyone lowers their prices and spends money on SEO that'll fix it for everyone.......oh, hang on a minute 😀

In answer to the original question - yes things seem to be increasingly competitive in my area, which is a competition I'm not happy to partake in, much to my demise possibly.

Using existing machinery in other areas to bump up income is a solution...flail mowing with the Avant seems quite sort after, and meadow mowing with the collector flail (rented attachments) is getting popular amongst the well healed folk who enjoy such indulgences.  Only thing is finding the clients in a slightly different sector can be challenging. 

 

Best of luck. 

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Trouble is then you're up against us contractors with actual tractors 😀

 

What does an Avant flail collector cost to rent? I've always thought it an absoloute abortion of an attachment, as well as horrendously overpriced. No visibility, shit laods of hydraulic losses and knocks the hell out of the loader when you lift it up to run it to the collection point. I guarantee I could cut any meadow you cut with it in less than half the time with my cheap compact tractor and secondhand flail collector.

 

If you're getting plenty of that kind of work you could buy a secondhand tractor and flail collector for around £5- £4k for a 26hp Iseki or Mitsubishi and £1k for the collector. You'll quickly see just how much more efficient the tractor is for all other mowing also.

 

Flail mowing possibly an exception as front mount is nice, but thats why you buy a reverse drive tractor! McCormick G23 reverse drive hydrostatic alpine tractors come up occasionally for around £4k.