where have all the big jobs gone ?

[Tom D]

I was really quiet 8 weeks ago, now I'm really busy, with as much work in front of me as I've ever had. Need to take on a new guy actually.

Its not worth panicking, just stay focussed and think smart with your marketing and you'll be ok. Still quoting for big jobs too but more than happy to do 3 £200 jobs a day instead.

I'm still seeing loads of vans and chippers going about which is a good sign, if they have got work that means there's work to be had for you too.

[Gavin]

That's the way.

 

yeah

my groundys exspecting another baby just want to keep everyones bills paid and happy

im in it for the long game though

[Highland Forestry]

yeah

my groundys exspecting another baby just want to keep everyones bills paid and happy

im in it for the long game though

 

Know the feeling - we've got a baby on the way.. if there was one time when I want work to be going well it's now but thats not the way it's shaping out.

 

I heard on the radio today that the recession is due to get slightly worse shortly and may then come back a bit...

[combined tree services]

private work is dead...some of the figures i hear being talked about are shocking....not worth even trying to compete with!

 

i think this is the biggest problem with the industry at the moment , down here i have noticed a sizable increase in the ammount of tre surgery compnies down round me , the problem is not the ammount tho! the problem comes when a select few start pricing work at a silly price (i have heard of half day qoutes for two men being as low as £80) which means that when a well established firm goes to quote the same job they charge an ammount that will just cover there overheads they are seen as too expensive

 

what really takes the p**s is that most of them do not have qualified staff , the correct insurance of do they actually care what they are doing to the trees (lack of knowledge) i saw one chap advertising that he will give free advice and consultany which worries me when he only has his nptc tickets .

 

i think this is another reason that anyone wishing to opperate a tree surgery company must be liscenced by the goverment .

 

as for the origional question - yes i have found the domestic work has all but gone !

[Simon Rotheram]

Exactly the same here mate.

 

Haven't priced anything over a day for weeks.

 

I used to like little £200 jobs. Easy day, early finish.

 

They won't make us into millionaires by this time next year though will they?

 

Its ok when you can get in 3 or 4 of those £150-£200'ers in a day but there isnt the quantity of them.

 

Maybe the third quarter of the year will pick up alittle in the domestic market

[gibbon]

I have looked at several big jobs over the last few weeks. A big dead Ash to be craned out. 2 big poplars also a few days with a 50t crane, 7 big wrc, again priced to lift out timber and today a large Monterey Pine. The thing is I don't expect to get any of the jobs. I reccon a lot of big take downs just aren't happening when people get the prices in.

 

Out of interest how do people price these? If it is faster, safer and less mess to use a crane and timber lorry do you price it this way? Several of these jobs could be rigged down for the same price, more days on site meaning more profit but with a lot more cutting and lots of disturbance, but I havent been planning to do this.

[skyhuck]

Out of interest how do people price these? If it is faster, safer and less mess to use a crane and timber lorry do you price it this way? Several of these jobs could be rigged down for the same price, more days on site meaning more profit but with a lot more cutting and lots of disturbance, but I havent been planning to do this.

 

If I have loads of work, I get the job done a quickly and efficiently as poss, sub out the stump grinding, get trailers in to take away more timber, BUT if I had less work, I would do everything with just me and one man, minimize expenditure and maximize profit.

[Khriss]

God-it does sound bad .......hmmm, hate seeing the work go to dodgy village tree services. Tho' I'd aluss price the big stuff to a crane, just lots less risk and betterere if you arrive that day an the rain is like 0.30 calibre

 

K

[Stephen Blair]

we are just part of the big bargain machine, everything is cheaper than ever before, my mortgage is half the price it was going to be, my insurances are half what they were 11 years ago, saws are cheap as chips and so is most arb kit, think how hard justin has to work for his money, at the aa show he was making 4 quid on a saw, 4 QUID!!!i sat down just before chrinmbo with a sore back, expecting wife and owed 5k from someone i thought wasnt going to pay me..i went through all my bills and outgoings..saved 3k straight away on insurances, 600quid on phone costs. the good lady cut our food budget to 50 quid a week and gas+electric by 150 a month, and a 60quid lawyers letter got me my 5k...i even put some threads up about it and i know a few others saved some money aswell..you might think what i am about to write is nonesense but it is all about frame of mind and how you look at things, and also how you operate, if you dont need it sell it or leave it in the yard, cut things back to the bare minimuim...speak to others, just like you are doing here, it really helps...when i went to the AA, i picked up skyhuck and spent the weekend with him and others, he has an amazing can do attitude and lets nothing get him down, also mike hill made a big influence on me, once again confidence, i came home and have looked at life very differently and i am a lot happier than i was and have changed my ways and tweaked my working methods too. just now it is pouring with rain and i couldnt be bothered all day, the first job was a waste of time and i lost 3 hrs did one job and came home feeling pretty sluggish, but found my new boots had been delivered and i am feeling well chirpy now, they are so comfy..take it easy mate and try and chill out, put all your problems and money issues on paper, and then look at it, never seems as bad as it is, good luck

[Gavin]

we are just part of the big bargain machine, everything is cheaper than ever before, my mortgage is half the price it was going to be, my insurances are half what they were 11 years ago, saws are cheap as chips and so is most arb kit, think how hard justin has to work for his money, at the aa show he was making 4 quid on a saw, 4 QUID!!!i sat down just before chrinmbo with a sore back, expecting wife and owed 5k from someone i thought wasnt going to pay me..i went through all my bills and outgoings..saved 3k straight away on insurances, 600quid on phone costs. the good lady cut our food budget to 50 quid a week and gas+electric by 150 a month, and a 60quid lawyers letter got me my 5k...i even put some threads up about it and i know a few others saved some money aswell..you might think what i am about to write is nonesense but it is all about frame of mind and how you look at things, and also how you operate, if you dont need it sell it or leave it in the yard, cut things back to the bare minimuim...speak to others, just like you are doing here, it really helps...when i went to the AA, i picked up skyhuck and spent the weekend with him and others, he has an amazing can do attitude and lets nothing get him down, also mike hill made a big influence on me, once again confidence, i came home and have looked at life very differently and i am a lot happier than i was and have changed my ways and tweaked my working methods too. just now it is pouring with rain and i couldnt be bothered all day, the first job was a waste of time and i lost 3 hrs did one job and came home feeling pretty sluggish, but found my new boots had been delivered and i am feeling well chirpy now, they are so comfy..take it easy mate and try and chill out, put all your problems and money issues on paper, and then look at it, never seems as bad as it is, good luck

 

love your attitude:001_smile: