am i being pessimistic?

[john p]

he had a conifer hedge about 5meters long x 3 high a small cherry that wanted 3 branches taken off and a 7 meter spruce to be took down , now he quoted £300 for a mornings work and £200 for an afternoon he said it would take 2 days

 

was the hedge to be trimmed or felled?would they have to drag everything 300 yds?does sound steep though!

[conkers]

Our commercial work is ok, but private work is sliding. Since VAT went to 20%. No way around it.

It looks like the only way to be busy and successful is to do as much cash as you can, put it in your back pocket. Do not pay insurance or staff properly and live off the state where you can! This must be why I am struggling to make things work.

The goverment do not take micro companies seriously so they will not help make a level playing field. The VAT threshold and increase is testiment to that.

[dave fox]

i am not a tree surgeon but am not shy to hard work too the point being is that i went there and done the job for him in 6 hours , if you are quoteing £300 for a mornings work and £200 for an afternoon then you have to be bloody efficient, its unfair to use this as an example but i can see why people choose to use "un quallified tree surgeons" .

[MattyF]

Dave that's shocking in IMO ...mark I totally agree with your comments !! tree surgery will reach a saturation point that's inevitable as for prices look at forestry and what a days graft working compared to us arbs is .... Swings and roundabouts ,we have had it good for too long, if no body likes it then get out ....have seen many people join and leave the industry in my time in it and if you have a good rep you will never struggle for work.

[TimberCutterDartmoor]

I seem to notice more people who are asset rich (ie house plus land all paid for) coming in to tree work or firewood from other higher paying careers. Also, it seems that more people do trees, logs etc. as weekend sidelines than they used to. All of these sorts of people seem to work for buttons.

 

Yep many surgeons seem to have big houses, a few vehicles, plenty of plant, lovely wood stores, acres of space etc etc. I dream...

 

look to be honest about this and as an outsider looking in at your buissenes (arborists) some and i mean some of the profession may be over chargeing! i know i will be dragged over the coals about this but , i give you an example, a friend of mine phoned up a tree surgeon to come and have a look at his garden at some work to be done , he had a conifer hedge about 5meters long x 3 high a small cherry that wanted 3 branches taken off and a 7 meter spruce to be took down , now he quoted £300 for a mornings work and £200 for an afternoon he said it would take 2 days now this guy is a very good surgeon a true pro but surely unjustified to be asking this sort of money, i know he has insurence to cover public liability to cover and thats the hidden money that the general public dont take into consideration .

 

£1000 for that is high indeed! Slow worker too.

[Lee Winger]

30 years ago every man and his dog would take a tree down, usually for free/ for the wood, these days every man and his dog seem to be doing trees, the only difference between now and 30 years ago is they have fancy certificates and want paying to take the tree down.........

[easy-lift guy]

Dear John: All industries reach a saturation point. Moving to other areas may help with more work but not higher pay. I believe you should continue to keep up with your schooling and focus on the things you are really good at and really work hard on improving those skills.

Remember no one can pimp yourself or your service better than you. At least that is what I have done.

[Pete Hart]

Conkers, Mark B...bang on the mark!

What the public (in general) don't see or have an awareness of is this 'wee list' of expenses:

 

Purchasing Truck (s), other vehicles

Insurance - Truck, landy, pick up, tools, chipper, stump grinder etc.... Public liability,

Road tax

Employers liability, proffesional indemnity

NPTC tickets and updates

Waste carriers liscense

Disposal of green waste, chip etc

Purchase of new machines, equipment

Cost of getting old kit LOLER inspected

Wear and tear + depreciation on the above

Fuel (say no more!)

Advertising

Admin, phone, website

Wages, nat ins, tax (income/corporation)

Bank charges

Sundries

 

im sure there are many more to add to that list that i've missed.....

 

All of the above plus danger element and skill/knowledge, i don't think our collective proffesional prices (as an industry - pikies excluded#!!) are in any way over the top, and as previously mentioned, please guys, keep prices at a level that represents this....

[Pete Hart]

i've just re-read my post and i'm going to go and sit in a dark room as a result of reminding myself of my expenses!!

[Taupotreeman]

Funny, I had a lady email me the other day and told me she thought my price for clearing around the power lines was "a little dear" as the other company she had used for trimming a hedge was cheaper. This was after she had accepted the job. I decided to email back (if she refused to pay for the completed work) and outline my expenses. As I started working through the list I kept stumbling across another expense that I hadn't even taken into consideration such as retesting of insulated tools, first aid certs etc. Yaffle trees' post just reminded me of this. Sometimes we ourselves don't realise exactly how many expenses we have and the general public certainly don't. They seem to think it's just a man with a saw and a truck, all of which run for ever without fuelling, replacement or maintenance. Don't get me started on the time and costs involved in running around to look at work that I never get. My two closest towns are 50 and 80kms away respectively so to look at work can sometimes be a whole day job. Some people like to call be in for a "quote" only for me to find out they just want to know how to take the tree down themselves put pick my brains. That's fuel, time and money I could be earning elsewhere down the drain.