Broken chestnut stem.

[Rupe]

but if you get a crane in, do the job quicker get onto another job you have still got the 350quid in you pocket because you did 2 jobs instead of 1 or if you finish a day early on a several day job your still earning alot more than not useing one, simple facts. do more jobs = more money + crane = easy work no manual lifting big lumps etc

 

Where are all these extra jobs coming from? Do you have more work than there are days in the year? If you have to win these jobs in the first place then you have to be cheaper than the competition. If you have to be cheaper and then pay a crane company, and then do twice as many jobs, and then run out of work sooner, you will be twice as stressed not twice as rich!

[Rupe]

James, just seen your video. Perfect job for a crane!! Tree behind garage, lift it out, all done in a day, good stuff.

[RC0]

Rupe I’ll reply in bold scattered around your quote

Reg your spot on, we got £450 for that job, but only because I thought it would be smaller and said "Minumum £450" if we come out tomorrow. Once I had mentioned £450 I was never likely to get any more out of the tight farmer than that! Anyway if I had priced it beforehand I might have priced it at £500 maybe even £550 but I doubt it. That paragraph was a good enough answer on its own i.e.the job was already arranged and priced based on the description you were given over the phone the night before. The job was perhaps a matter of urgency which is why you priced it blind for the next day....and more to the point, you not experienced with cranes anyway so a crane wouldn't generally be at the forefront of your mind when pricing up removals. Fair enough

 

So for £450.00 I turn up with a groundie that cost me £60 so I made one journey to and from a site and made initial profit of £390 happy days.

 

What you said next was more speculative and thats ok too, but I'll just comment here and there if I may.

 

£350 for a crane? Plus vat? I'm not vat registered so thats £420 I would have to pay. Thats more than my profit for a day!! So I'm down on the first job but if I want to I can go and empty the truck and find something else to do to make up the difference, I don't think so somehow. The chestnut job is 2 hours Rupe. Your on site a 8am, there's a whole lot of day still ahead of you. Assuming you have 2 more similarly priced or more jobs that can be pre-arranged so you might possibly triple that £390 mentioned earlier You right it does depend on what other jobs are available to do, but this is rural gloucestershire so my work is spread around a bit.

 

 

I can see that a crane making a two day job into one is good, make that 3 days Rupe as long as you have five days work that week, if not then you have just lost a days profit to another company.

 

MArk is right, why would I want to give a days profit to another company, when it can stay in my pocket? I'm sorry to hear things are still slow down there

 

Which is why I asked you that bold question. I assume then you have never paid for a crane? I dont think you would want to. Well why wouldn't I, assuming there is plenty to go at, you spend money to make money. you've still lost me on that one. Are you somehow suggesting that I would personally be afraid to put my own money where my mouth is? Boy you don’t know me at all if that’s the case Its none of my business what you charge for the climbing work, but I'm sure it less than that crane price?? (and thats just a small crane) so if you could go home with half the money for the crane on top of your normal day rate you would be happy I am sure? And if it meant you had to come back tomorrow a that same rate again you would be happy.

 

Cranes have their place, mostly when there is no drop zone, which is why I'm surprised you are suggesting it on this thread? We primarily favour them for all-round production and safety Rupe, from access, climbing, cutting to cleanup. You know I introduced crane work to the companies I work with....and they too were all non-believers beforehand. Now days they always, always looking for it....that’s no accident Easy job this one, not dangerous or labour intensive, just bosh it down, chip it up. Simples You described the job as a long day and challenging in an earlier post....and what with ratchet straps, Grcs, 2:1 rigging etc....I'm sure you have undertaken simpler jobs than this one at the same money. I'm going to p.m you something right now so look out for it. Cheers,

[Rupe]

Reg, I think I was getting a bit defensive (again) and over complicated my answer, but this job was never going to be a crane job and not a great one for discussion/comparrison because it was an over the phone job.

 

I dont have that much work that I'm always looking to squeeze more jobs into a week.

 

When I want a crane I'll get one.

 

That would have been a better reply.

[Mark Bolam]

Everything has it's place lads.

 

Cranes, MEWPS, even ladders!

 

I wouldn't rule anything out to make a job quicker/safer/more profitable.

 

Good discussion fellas.

 

James, you stay out of this one, you haven't done a crane jo...., oh bollocks!

[testcricket01]

Everything has it's place lads.

 

Cranes, MEWPS, even ladders!

 

I wouldn't rule anything out to make a job quicker/safer/more profitable.

 

Good discussion fellas.

 

James, you stay out of this one, you haven't done a crane jo...., oh bollocks!

 

i havent mark that was my clone

[Ian Flatters]

Everything has it's place lads.

 

Cranes, MEWPS, even ladders!

 

I wouldn't rule anything out to make a job quicker/safer/more profitable.

 

Good discussion fellas.

 

James, you stay out of this one, you haven't done a crane jo...., oh bollocks!

 

I agree. The only times in my arb career i've used cranes have been when rigging wasn't the safest option or, the tree was in a stupid open space inside a stupid 60's designed block of flats and the doors were all key fob open thingys. Or when working for the council and the drag was uphill:lol:

[Tom D]

I think that cranes do have a big place in tree work, despite the fact that I have never used one. I will try and buy a 22 m+ hiab this year for dismantling jobs, I think Reg is right in that making a 2 day job 1 day or 1 day into a half day is the way to go.

 

This job however is not a crane job..i would have put the winch on the butt, cut it off and ripped it out. Then a quick tidy up of the standing tree. It was a cheap job after all.

 

Sent from my Desire HD using Tapatalk

[Mark Bolam]

I know if you get one Tom, you will use it all the time. Look at Huck with his rig.

 

When Reg says there is no going back, I don't doubt it. I've never used 50T stuff, but more agricultural stuff with a Telehandler has shown me how much is possible in a day, even simply lifting the last 6' over walls etc.

 

I think Rupe and I are in the same boat in some ways, working in the country, working in tight country lane access areas, working for farmers who think £50 is a fair price for any tree job, and not necessarily having an unlimited amount of work to go on to.

 

Reg, have you got any footage of smaller cranes working? Off road even better.

 

Peace.

[Adam Bourne]

I've used several cranes on jobs before, but i'm with rupe on this one, being cost affective is a big thing when you don't have much work, i look to use cranes when its needed, but if i was to do 3 jobs in a day with a crane round here, people would start talking about how i turn up with a monster crane for 2 hours work and still charge them 450.

i would end up with no work, Because people like to see you work for your money plus its not always the case to just turn up with a crane, blocking roads is extra cost from highways then theres traffic management, so now the job has gone from £450 to £1250 now if that was me i know which quote i would choose.

 

nice job by the way rupe,