ChainsawCharlie

That sounds about right. My rates triple when I work around power lines.

ChainsawCharlie

Infinite wisdom there.

ChainsawCharlie

Best stay where you're at goes both ways. You'd go under pretty quick over here at that rate.

LNG24

Every year I hear about another. Does not matter if its a pro or a homeowner. Dropping trees takes real skill. Yes, anyone of us with an ax, forget chain saw can drop a tree that wants to drop where it wants to drop, but how many of us know what to do when it starts to GO WRONG. If you think you know, So did they: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&r...e&aq=f&oq=&aqi=

Read each of these stories next time you want to try it. Dropping trees is not an art, its a science. We lost three people in my area last year. Everyone of them had a family. Everyone of them were just going to drop the tree. Everyone of them were killed instantly!

So did you charge enough? What's your life worth?

__________________
Larry Jensen, Broker/Owner
St. Lawrence Properties, LLC
LNG Contracting, LLC

Tinstaafl

Hockey pucks. You don't know me or the other posters in this thread, and you insult me and them by implying that we're not intelligent or experienced enough to (a) possess the skill to do the job, or (b) take a pass on it in favor of someone who is.

Folks here aren't your average clueless pasty weekend warrior who tempts fate by running his riding lawnmower on a 20° slope. We climb ladders, walk roofs, play with electricity, squirm into nasty crawl spaces--and take our lives in our hands every time we venture out onto the highway in order to do those things for other folks.

Methinks thy comment belongs in the DIY forum.

ChainsawCharlie

LNG has a valid point. You have a contractor asking a question about something outside his trade. Technically, that makes him a DIY'er.

And dropping trees can be extremely dangerous if you don't know what you're doing.

480Sparky prefaced his post with "OK, I'll admit it..... I'm just a dumb electrician. But I'm cutting down a tree for a good friend only because things are slow and I have a chainsaw."

To me that says "I'm not an arborist, buy I know at least the basics of chainsaw use".

I'm a contractor. I know how to properly install a ceiling fan and can swap out outlets and switches. But I won't go any where near the breaker box unless it's just to flip a switch.

And there's only one house I will do those things in-my own.

BobsLandscaping

Word.

I used to do all my own tree work. Hanging from a thin rope, 100' in the air, with a screaming chainsaw. Got to the point I just did not want to pay the insurance premiums anymore and deal with the risk.

Got tired of dealing with homeowners that didn't understand why it cost thousands of dollars to remove a tree. Well when my insurance premium is $6K a month...

Now I sub out anything that I can't do from the ground w/ a 16' pole saw.

Got a good tree service contractor that I work well with. He charges $300/hour for climbing work and $200/hour for ground work. 4 man crew. Competent, insured, and punctual.

480sparky

But my question was as to how to price the job, not how to cut down a tree.

HUGE difference! Just because someone asks how much he should charge to change the oil in a vehicle does not mean he just bought his first socket set down at Sears yesterday. I've been changing oil in my own vehicles since I was 16, but I've never been paid by someone else to do so. That makes me unpaid, not unskilled.

As an electrician, part of my job is cutting down trees as well as trimming them. Although I am an electrician, I own 3 chain saws. Yes, three. Trees and overhead power lines don't mix well, a fact not lost on either of us. I am required by electrical codes to maintain certain clearances from trees. Hence, the chainsaws.

All of us in the construction trades are hit hard when 'weekend warriors' watch a couple episodes of This Old House and Hometime and feel they are empowered to do anything for their next door neighbors for twenty bucks, a six pack and a large pepperoni pizza with extra anchovies.

The reason I asked for price is I do not want to cheapen the profession. If this was a $1,000 job, my doing it for half, that would make it more difficult for you to get work because there's one more person out there who will say, "Well, last time it only cost me $500!"

So when you install ceiling fans and swap out outlets, do you charge a rate comparable to 'real' electricians, or do you charge 'hack' (read: DIY) rates that lower the bar for electricians?


Sidebar: Two months after you fell a tree, is that tree any longer a danger to anyone? Now what about two months after you install a ceiling fan?

__________________
By the time you can make ends meet, they move the ends.

ChainsawCharlie

6'3, 250 pounds and climbing ropes don't mix, IMO. I'll climb the tree itself if it's big enough to support me and I can do it without spikes.

I was dropping some trees last year. Cutting upper limbs from the ground. I misread one and it damn near landed on me. It came so close to me, it actually pulled my glasses off my face but didn't touch me otherwise.

BobsLandscaping

I do not miss wearing spikes everyday. My arches hurt just thinking about strapping on a set.

I'm 6'0" and 260, the skinny little synthetic ropes made me nervous. My oh my how would they stretch.

480sparky, the contractor I use charges $200/hour for groundwork (crew of 4 counting himself) plus a mobilization charge of $2.00 per mile. Can you use that formula to price your job?

ChainsawCharlie

yeah yeah yeah...I know...calm down Homer...

Your initial post gave no indication to your experience. I have flat head screwdriver and some wire cutters...I meant on offense, and I'm sure LNG didn't either. we're just looking out for ya...whether you need it or not-we're not mind readers.

You think that's bad? You should see what I have to deal with when someone watches Desperate Landscapes or Yard Crashers. The all want mature plants at seedling/sapling prices. Or don't get it when I tell them it'll take a couple years to look like that with the young plants they bought.

I got that. And appreciate it. Look at my first post in this thread.

I sent an invoice for tree fiddy, but the cheap bastard never paid me.

ChainsawCharlie

He might to reconsider the mobilization charge. He'd probably get around 37 cents considering it's his neighbor.

Your tree guy sounds pretty fair on his pricing.

BobsLandscaping

Mike is really fair on pricing. He's reliable too, which is a big plus. Unless there's a really high wind he shows up when he says he will.

His minimums are reasonable too, half day within 40 miles of Moscow. Farther out and it's a full day.

Believe it or not HO's still bitch about the price.

480sparky

But!: Soon after you cut down a tree, it's no longer a danger to anyone. Even if you didn't do it properly.

But do electrical improperly, and you imperil every person who ever walks through the door until the house is gone.


Electricians can kill from the grave.

__________________
By the time you can make ends meet, they move the ends.

ChainsawCharlie

That's why i stay away from the circuit box. I don't add lights, switches, etc...I just daisy chain a few power strips if I need more outlets.





FYI-if you google "electric overload" turn safe search ON.

BobsLandscaping

Are you referring to this?

http://thisgirl.wordpress.com/2007/1...h-electricity/

WARNING: THE ABOVE LINK IS NOT WORK SAFE, WIFE SAFE, CHILD SAFE, OR SOMETHING YOU WANT THE GUY AT THE COMPUTER SHOP TO FIND ON YOUR HARD DRIVE. CLICK AT YOUR OWN RISK AND AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!! IF YOU HAVE ANY MORALS WHATSOEVER DO NOT CLICK THIS LINK. IT IS DISTURBING. IF YOU ARE UNDER THE AGE OF 25 THE IMAGES SEEN IN THIS LINK COULD CAUSE IRREPERABLE PSYCHOLOGICAL DAMAGE.

I believe this is an adequate disclaimer.

ChainsawCharlie

Yes.

I could have gone my whole life without seeing that.

BobsLandscaping

Me too, why did you feel the need to arouse my curiosity?

Wolfgang

I just had three 50+ trees and one mulberry tree taken down last week. The lowest bid I had was $2200. which included haul away for the three 50' trees. My neighbor who did this kind of work years ago cut them down for $1050. He has been layed off all year from his job as a heavy equipment operator.

Sparky made a few valid points in his reply. There's alot of electrical work that I could normally do myself but have been subbing out to the electrical contractor because he has been slow. These guys, and a few in other trades, are my friends and if there is something I can send their way to help them out, I will.

Believe it or not, there are some things you gotta let the pro's handle.

tkle

As you said... It amounts to unfair competition against responsible tradesmen. He's out of work, so are they. Play fair. If it is a good friend. Do it for beer money. Otherwise stay away.