How much would you quote?

j4o6s2h

Hey all,

Recently my landlord has asked if I could remove this gum as a "backyardy" at

my house in Canberra.

I can do the job but i don't deal with quotes at work.

He wants to keep the wood and cut to ground level.

The red line is a phone line running through the center of the tree.

You could also use the classic Aussie hills hoist as a reference.

So...how much?

Cheers

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Eric Frei

It's very hard from pics.

We cant tell if it can be bombed out or has to be lowered, lowered with tag line etc.

Wood to stay on site but how big bits?

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Jeff Darby

You need better pictures showing this job from all angles including the base of the tree and then we need to see what type of access you have?? its going to make a big mess when its all on the ground..

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j4o6s2h

Ok so i took a few more pics. Half of the tree can be lowered into the neighbors driveway (a few have to be swung to avoid his car port and house) The other half can be bombed after take the clothes line apart but the top branches above the phone line will need a bit more time and care.

Keep in mind this is MY back yard so I just suggested to the land lord to keep the wood and I will use it. But probably 15 Inches.

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Eric Frei

$1200

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Drouin Tree Service

yep worth every bit

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Drouin Tree Services | Excavator Hire - Drouin and SE Gippsland | Landclearing Melbourne

Garry Brockley

yep! take the fence down before you smash it this will give you better access for removal and it's easier to put back up when its kinda whole not in little splinters, personally i would lower all of that tree it has too many variables to go wrong like aerials, wires, roofs, ect, its quicker and easier for the groundies too.

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Eric Frei

But the big wood of branches stays, and not cut up into 1' long firewood either, some-one else can do that or pay extra for slicing into firewood. Just the foliage goes.

Once the trunk is low enough to drop, I'd drop and leave it.

Stump grind is extra.

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jim1nz

The big question is how long would it take you? We have no idea of what you can do... So how long would it take you and two groundies to get it on the ground?

Im with Eric, looks like a easy day for a climber with 2 or 3 groundies to have the lot done. $1200 is good. You might want to put the chipper hire costs on top if thats how its going down.

Brent Ferris

I agree with Eric and Jim1nz $1000-1200 with a climber and 2 groundmen - don't go any lower; cheaper prices just mean you have to work faster and likely make more mistakes.

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My business: Tree Pruning and Removals -- Strump Removals -- Advice -- Consulting -- Arborist Reports
If you want an honest opinion, call Brent Ferris...because, Trees want to Live Too !
We do great jobs, even in small yards.

Free Estimates Oakville to Oshawa - North to Bradford (Will travel further if cost of travelling covered)

j4o6s2h

Thanks heaps guys,

He ended up talking me down to $1000 in cash.

Get stuck into it tomorrow. Ill upload some pics of the job getting done if anyone is interested.

KevinE

I reckon you did OK. I was thinking $900. And I would most likely have cut it into firewood for him too.

Brent Ferris

So do you have pics?

__________________
My business: Tree Pruning and Removals -- Strump Removals -- Advice -- Consulting -- Arborist Reports
If you want an honest opinion, call Brent Ferris...because, Trees want to Live Too !
We do great jobs, even in small yards.

Free Estimates Oakville to Oshawa - North to Bradford (Will travel further if cost of travelling covered)

KevinE

I'm just curious as to how much you guys would quote to clean up these 2 palms? I've already quoted them, but am interested to see if I'm in the correct ball park.

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Eric Frei

LOL, janitorial duties .... I no longer clean, just cull.

Thing is, how are you going to do them if not spiking up them? That is an influencing factor, if you own an EWP and going that way instead of hiring one etc it all makes a difference.

Also I'd say all those dead petioles up the trunk need to be removed, tell tale signs of pole pruning in the past.

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KevinE

I know what you mean but it's for a very good customer Eric, the type that provides year round work. So I bend over as far as I can for her

Yup, got to hire an EWP!

Yeah, they want them gone. I'm thinking of an angle grinder with a diamond cutter?

Sunraysia Tree Solutions

$150 plus gst or there abouts, depends on time to tip, tip costs.
should be at the tip in two hours max

Eric prune them twice before you remove, more money that way

Rob Chace

1 palm 110
2 palm 195
3 palm 260
each there after 65

unless some have very little on them or are small/easy, then would do cheaper. Or worse like on the rare occasion u get a 8m tall unserviced for many years, then he is more.

KevinE

Thanks for the replies guys! Looks like I over quoted this one! I quoted more than 3 times that. Thanks again!

Rob Chace

???? just pull them off, most times you can. or pull as much as possible then cut a little with hand saw or 200T

KevinE

???? they're Cocos' Rob. I might be able to pull one or 2 of the real old ones off, but the rest will stick.

bill24

G'day Kev,

How you could hire an EWP and pay tipping fees for some of the prices that guys quote here is beyond me.

The costs could well exceed the price they quote !

You would need to be up toward $5 or 600 to do much good out of it IMO.

Only other way, pics don't show it, is if the street had very low traffic at certain hours and the parking nearby is vacant....could be an option to fall and direct with rope.

The other day I quoted round $400 for a very large, say 1200 dia Cedar stump surrounded by roots out to 3 metres from it. Would have needed to take out a panel of fence to get grinder access. By the time I tidied up the site, replaced fence I figured I'd put 2.5hr on machine and 1.5 on labour.

Customer didn't take my quote, had another for under $200 !!!!

Most times we are very competitive, occasionally not in the ball park.

The amount of repeat business I get tells me that my prices are competitive and the site left pretty much pristine is part of that too.

I reckon you were on the money with your quote.

Bet others not far from you at a quess, for the exercise of it - what say you Eric ?

Eric Frei

I say that cleaning palms without spiking sucks. To get an EWP in blows the cost out of the water and for 2 stinking cocos palms it simply will work out too expen$ive.

If you can get volume then fair enough. But even then if using an EWP the costs are significant.

At some places I have been cleaning palms for years, had they had taken my initial advice and felled them then replanted it would all be easy sailing now, but no, the cost goes up as does labour, dumping and EWP hire costs.

It is not like pruning a tree, it is frankly an absolute waste of money, remove and replant. That's what I say.

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KevinE

G'day Bill,

Thanks for your reply mate Yeah, the EWP would have cost me $270 to hire for the day & then traveling time & dumping etc. As you said, sometimes it's better to let the other guy get the job rather than lose $$$ just to be busy.

KevinE

Cheers Eric......... It's always good to have someone like yourself back up what I was thinking.

Eric Frei

Or lump together a few jobs and do them all sharing the cost of the EWP.

But that becomes a PITA.

Or buy an EWP.

Turnover is vanity - profit is sanity.

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KevinE

I'm thinking of buying a re-cond/re-ticketed hydralada ATM. The big thing holding me back (& I do mean BIG!) is that then I'd have to hire someone to help me out (again!). Been there, done that quite a few times & it has never worked out for me. I seem to attract either good people looking for a short term thing & then they're off, or good people who move on after learning the ropes (usually into their own business!), or absolute knuckleheads!

Eric Frei

It's not you, it's the industry standard.

1. Short term and move on
2. Get the experience and go out on their own
3. Knuckleheads you tolerate until they have an accident or you just cant take it anymore and bin them

If they are stayers then they'll likely migrate to more permanent style employment, holidays, sickies and even council jobs where they get a 9 day fortnight. Everyone wants to better themselves, it's employment evolution. Small tree businesses you either climb or lug and labour, no polishing the office chair.

I wonder how many do this job because they cannot get another?

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KevinE

If my experience is anything to go by Eric, I'd say the percentage of those who couldn't get a job elsewhere rocking up to drag branches all day is pretty high.

I reckon I've had them all over the years! The ones who think they can dictate their hourly rate to me, the ones who stop work every time I'm out of sight, the ones who think it's OK to stop for smoke breaks all day, the ones who try the old workcover thing on day one, even had one disappear from a job site before morning tea, never to be seen again!