LK12

Not all four guys were there the whole time, at times one or two came and went to what I assume were other jobs. There might have even been 5 at one point.

I imagine the job could of been done much quicker if they wanted to but it was a nice sunny day and they were lounging around a bit and not in a major rush.

I imagine they gross much more than the figures mentioned here.

36 minutes ago, Richard 1234 said:

Why does a knee replacement cost £15k. It’s only a few hours work......

Are you comparing the skill of a surgeon who can make lifechanging changes to someones body and quality of life to a group of guys that chop down trees?

Surely you wouldn't be so thick and low IQ... but nothing surprises me

I caused quite a storm on here

You guys should have handbags not chainsaws

The tree was at ground level by 1pm. After that it was all grinding the stump and removing the wood.

On 15/04/2021 at 19:03, Clutchy said:

I think the real real question is 

 

Did they turn up on time?

Did they break anything? 

Were they professional? 

Did they clean up well? 

 

If all of the above is good then the OP has done well and can't be faulted IMO 

 

Thanks for the update.

 

Oh one more question... did you have to pay cash? 

They turned up on time first thing in the morning

Didn't break anything and were extremely professional. A team of 4 and they cleaned up very well.

There were no payment requirements

Just to update you guys, tree felled and stump ground = £1050

I think part of the problem here is that you guys from other parts of the country see that the job is in London and assume that we are all made of money and jobs should cost much more.

two of the arborists that have visited in person and said it is a job that can be done in a day or less and they have priced it accordingly, it's easy to throw about these 2k figures online but I highly doubt you could look a customer in the face and tell them you are charging them 2k for one days work and if you do then I'd align you with the roofer types that go around scamming pensioners.

Very hostile

Just an update for you guys, I had another quote today which was £700 for just the tree cut down and then another £350 for stump removal.

From a local company that covers the Greater London area.

how much did it cost.. 3 grand? lol

3 minutes ago, Kent Arboreal said:

So basically you’re in the ball park, and by asking here, which is a reasonable idea, you’re getting the inside track on rates and how everyone goes about pricing jobs. We’re all running businesses so our aim is to get the best return on our time and investment, which isn’t cheap. For example, I work with one other bloke, for bigger jobs we get subs in, for yours I’d want three of us. Some guys might do it as a pair, some might have 4, and that’s up to them, there’s no standard that everyone does, it’s their call and that’s gonna be reflected in the prices we’ve all got bags of kit which is expensive to buy and expensive to maintain. We’ve gotta keep all that somewhere, I for example live in a regular sized semi detached, so I need to rent a yard to keep it. Because it’s expensive gear it’s attractive to the light fingered, so I pay more for a yard with cctv locked gates and people on site at night. That’s another cost. It all needs fuel, the tickets cost money, we spend our free time out quoting jobs many of which you won’t get, odd days where you’ve gotta service your saws, have a proper sharpen up on a bench, none of that’s getting paid for, expensive ppe. hell even my trousers cost £250. Turnover is a completely irrelevant barometer of the health of a business. If someone says they’ll do it for ten grand then they’re taking the proverbial, if someone says 500 quid, they’re probably gonna fell it onto the neighbours conservatory, but £1500 to £3000 isn’t unreasonable and it’s up to you to know what you can afford and choose who you think is gonna do the best job of it for that money. And bear in mind the reality of it is that none of us are interested in a race to the bottom because there’s plenty of well paid work out there if you do a decent job of it.

I had originally come here to try and identify which oak tree it was, only in the last few days it was decided it was going to be cut down.

In any industry it should be fine to question a quote you get. I don't see questioning why something costs £2000 for one days work is such a surprise to anyone.

7 minutes ago, carlos said:

have you actually had a tree surgeon come and give you a price?

I have one quote for £1250 + vat so far and some lower ones elseware

1 hour ago, eggsarascal said:

 

The best part of this is, they are building an extension on a house in London which ain't going to be cheap, it will also put a mass of value on the property. I like most others would try to get the best price for the job, but £2k (arguing over £500) in the grand scheme of things is amazing.

What has that got to do with anything? why should you over pay for something just because of that

the logic of some of you guys is amazing

2 minutes ago, trigger_andy said:

 

How do you know that a team can do more than 4 of these jobs a week? What are you basing that on?


You’re certainly entitled to have an uneducated opinion.

I'm happy to be uneducated if it means I don't pay double the price for things

Just now, trigger_andy said:

 

There’s an old adage banded around here that I’m sure someone will post up.

You seem to think that’s £400k is one mans wage, it’s far from that. That theoretical figure does not take into account most crews are 2-3 men. Whilst not divided equally it certainly takes the wow factor off of £400k.

Then there’s the machineries outright cost and maintenance and all the fuel costs which can be substantial.

And when do you think they go around looking at potential jobs and quoting for them? This cuts into earning potential as does maintenance and down time for damaged/maintenance.

I’d not be surprised if a £400k turnover resulted in a wage under £60k for the owner.

it was theoretical and only assuming that the company is doing 4 of these trees a week, which they can do many more

anyway I'm not here to break down anyones business. I was just clearly stating that 2k seemed a bit excessive, which is my opinion and I am entitled to that

while being an arborist is a very respectable job and deserves to be paid well for the high level of skill, risk and knowledge it takes.

If you done 4 of these trees a week at 2k you would be turning over 400k a year. 

I'd expect to pay 2k if it had all it's branches and was 15m tall. that could be a 2day job

18 hours ago, Clutchy said:

What part of London? Also, they almost always insist on stump grinding for some reason. 

 

We have felled many trees at various properties to allow the homeowner to save on the cost of having piles and the engineers/architects have always specified to grind the stump.

 

If North London we can get it done for £2k inc vat if you have side access. Would need to see a pic of the base/stump to confirm that price.

2k is too much lol it's a 1 day job

I doubt anyone would be planting oaks or big trees again knowing what we now know about the ground conditions

you are right though piling is not that expensive. I will weigh out the costs of piling vs removing the tree.

22 minutes ago, Boo Who? said:

Surely if the tree has been cut down and the stump poisoned to kill it and prevent any regrowth, then there would be no need to pile the foundations or grind the stump. Even splashing out on a few ecoplugs would be cheap enough and demonstrate it has been done “properly”...

I was thinking the same regarding the stump, I will try and get them to leave it and just throw some poison on

the tree removal is being done in order to remove the need to pile the foundations

22 minutes ago, trigger_andy said:

How nice of them,.....

 

If its in their garden and hacked back as good as it is:

 

1, why do you need it gone?

 

2, Why grind the stump out? Surely thats their problem? 

it's only 7m from a proposed extension and the bco's will insist on piled foundations

the stump being removed was one of their requests, still cheaper than piles

it was a diy job done a few months back, but my neighbours have agreed to get rid of the tree at my cost.

I was advised to post it in here, the others can be deleted I don't want to clutter up the forum😀

Sorry I posted in the incorrect forum before

Oak tree needs removing, anyone interested let me know (London)

In London if that makes a difference

I'm talking to myself here lol but I'm thinking it might be an oak holm. what do you guys think?