start up costs

[geoff]

Twenty grand will get you going with decent enough kit unless you want a landy tipper,thirty would be a nice setup.

[fergusonforestry]

i did a wee homer meself recently a coupla reductions and a coupla fells nowt big all material left on site so was jus me my mate and ma wee c15 van even the basic equip i took for that climbing gear and a coupla saws etc i recon there was £2600+ in the back alone

[Mark Bolam]

Just had a browse on the Argos website.

 

2-section extension ladder £99.99

Spear and Jackson petrol chainsaw £99.99

 

So under £200.

 

That's all the equipment a few advertising 'tree work' have!

 

[Robert_S]

If you have a car then-

 

A small trailer, second hand hedgecutter, saw and step ladders, make some leaflets up and go and undercut everyones price and away you go.

 

£600. Good luck:thumbup1:

[easy-lift guy]

just your ppe will cost over 400, then add you hand tools 300+, saws 1000+, climbing gear 600, etc

thats only £2300 it all adds up very quickly and the worst is that most of these things will have been replaced at least once in 5 years but more like twice, if you using it day in day out,

and you still need

your tickets and the groundy , strimmers, hedge cutters, leaf blower, truck, chipper, trailer, fuel incurance, road tax, wages, a yard and these are just the basic costs so,

minum 15K but more like 20k if you buy relable gear

 

NI, I believe your very close to the mark. Over here it could be up wards to $30,000 to $50, 000 depending on how well prepared you want to be. Whats in your budget is most important. Work and save for other things later on, later on will be there soon enough if your work speaks for it's self!

easy-lift guy

[Tree-Fela]

All the above advise is genuine but theres things you havent even considered

 

How much do you have to spend?

You need another person who is trained to either be your groundy or climber?

Can you drive and tow trailers?

What CS's have you got all togather?

Where are you based?

 

There like a few of the main points you need to consider am just starting out meself as i have nearly finished my level 3 diploma in arboriculture and it sounds like you havent got a clue about tree surgery and the costs it involves. I have been getting alot of my own work lately and being new to it all theres been times i havent even made any money at all. You need to sit down and complete a checklist of what you need as people say you need to buy equipment which if bought new is not cheap, buying secondhand isnt cheap either, then buying or renting vehicles and then can you tow chippers, then buyiing insurance, your other person like groundy or climber, cost of each job, and the last thing can you even undertake any chainsaw operations as i have seen alot of people who are GARDENERS OR LANDSCAPERS AND HORTICULTIRISTS who think they know everything about tree's and were we have been trained about the theory side havent got a clue.

 

I think you need to sit down and think long and hard about weather having your own company or wether to be self-employed which relieves you of some stress of being a company holder.

[Matthew Storrs]

Or the OP might just mean start up costs for becoming a tree surgeon, in which case the cs30/31/38/39 would cost £2000, ms200 and climbing kit/ppe etc near another 2k.

Thats a basic minimum, the rest is just speculation.

[alex_m]

Strictly speaking, you don't need a chipper or truck.

A small van, trailer, saws and climbing kit. The old boss of our company started with that exact setup 25 years ago.

[Matthew Storrs]

thats true, i used to use an ifor with cage sides, made do for 1.5 years untill i got fed up of brash bashing. but you could get a decent truck/ifor trailer/climbing kit/saws/clearing up gear and tickets for under 10k and really make that work for you untill you get the work for a better setup.

[hazzygawa]

Has anyone mentioned the cost of insurances each year?