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Originally Posted by TreeDimensional  Quercus, I never laught at anyones equipment, its not what you have its how you use it. I entered the tree industry in an unusual way, and soon learned that there are things that you can improvise with, But there are things that just have to be designed and tested. I am anal about things that keep people safe, and would never use equipment that has been comprimised (See coments about newguys rope  ) The tree care industry is full of options of speciality. Climbers to stump grinding people are like teeth of a sprocket. If the tree is still standing the grinder guy might go hungry, and if the climber doesn't have the equipment to finish the job (Stumper) the client might think twice about hiring any arborist again. All The specialities CAN work together to do one job. (SEE counterfeit arborist thread)
My son works as a utility pruner for a very large company, He asked me a question at Christmas that took some deep thought to answer, the quetion was, "?f I were to go out on my own, what should I Buy first?". My response was: 1. Find out what the market needs in the area you live. 2. Know what you need to live on, and buy equipment that will allow you to succeed. 3. Keep an open mind to education, honor what you tell your clients, and be honest to yourself about your success. Then determine if you should grow your business or continue on the way you are.
Our equipment was mostly purchased used over several years, the exception is PPE, Saddles, ropes and chainsaw.... We never knew that we would be so popular, and unfortunatley our travel (work) area is a 150km radius from home. We are kicking the hell out of 50 years old, I can live on a lot less now as the little uns' are moved out, I buy equipment that makes my day-o-day life easier.
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I'm not implying that we do not have the proper equipment here, but what I'm saying is this... You guys have a complete rig at your disposal... Which means that it has a storage area, an aerial platform (wich is also a crane, so it seems ), a tilting container system for chips and logs, and a strong and relyable truck with winches and everything. All of this in one truck. Add one chipper as a trailer you have a complete system. I've been looking at prices for these and I'm shocked because they are so cheap. Out here, to get the same equipment, one had to buy:
-1 truck with aerial platforn :175.000 euro's at least
-1 2.7 tonne trailer for chips and or wood :6000 euro's
-1 truck with storage area for gear :25.000 euro's
-1 digger or crane : 35.000 euro's for a small one
-1 trailer for transport : 5000 euro's
-1 chipper (6.5 inch) like my new chipper: 35.000 euro's
This makes a total of 281.000 euro's or 415655.2 USD
And the you have good, but medium sized eqiupment, so nothing too fancy or anything....
So to get all of this at once to a job site, you need three guys at least.
With your rigs, only one guy is needed.
I'm gonna post pictures of my equipment so you guys can gat a good nights sleep about how fortunate you guys are with your complete rigs. If it would be possible, I'd come to the USA to buy a new rig and had it shipped out here. The only problem is that no-one can service aerial platforms like you guys have, out here, and it wouldn't be CE certifeid so it wouldn't be insured for work at height. This is the equipment I'm dreaming of...and the price of a new truck like that is ridiculous...