What would you pay for good workers?

MTS247

Just currious of what you would pay for a good climber or groundy wage and suby? just ball park.

Firstly i would like to know what pay is like in other countries?

Secondly i am having trouble keeping an excelent groundy, as there are industrys around that pay 25+ wages or 35+ suby rates, for minimaly trained hard workers.

the highest rate for a good climber i have come across latley is 25 P/H wages

I run a business and believe tree companys should charge more and climbers should be payed more for dangerous work, dont get me wrong im a business owner and i like making money, but iv climbed for wages for a long time and i think its dangerous under paid work.

Eric Frei

Where abouts you are matters too, how saturated the market, types of trees etc.

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treestyle

i am a weekend warrior (and proud of it!).

i like to pay $25 per hour for a bloke who's got his chainsaw ticket and can work hard all day, with some minor experience but willingness and aptitude to learn more. someone who wont get killed or kill others! more for a groundie with their own climbing gear and abillity to aerial rescue. ($28 - $30).

minimum of $35 hour for a climber with own climbing gear. this is a "suby" flat rate, they pay super and tax. i provide work cover. ? i don't know if the super part is legal?

i have hardly any overheads, so for the most part if i quote properly it is a win, win, win situation.

letigre

ah yes the pay debate. well i know im not getting the best deal. im an employee climber on 22/h. ive been climbing for three years now and consider myself a "good" climber in comparison to some "excellent" climbers.


guns or "excellent" climbers in the syd area can get 25 to 28 upwards depending on there agreement with there boss as a employee. my boss pays for my gear to be replaced and my training and other expenses. another thing that changes the rate is other skills such as truck driving bucket tickets etc. subbys are paid anywhere from 35 to 65 again depending on there level of expertise.

MTS247

We are in a medium welth area, we do all size trees masive to tiny, i dont "Aim" for any market, that said we dont work for nothing, so by doing that i guess we aim for the higher end of the market.

I dont really understand when people say we aim for "lower end" or "higher end" if i go to a simple removal quote, my price is what i want to get for doing the job! its that simple.

A lopper hacking trees can still get lots of high end work if he gives the customer what they want.

To me aiming for the high end means, getting lots of calls so we can quote high and afford to lose a few. aiming for low end means bugger all phone calls so we need to get all the jobs we quote

TreeDimensional

Has anyone considered paying their employee (s) a percentage of the gross. Call it profit sharing with benefits! The industry is full of regulations that state who needs what training, and this varies from country to country. There are also Workers compensation requirements for MOST operations.

Here I am assuming the the tree company does ALL it's pricing by-the-job. Why I added "with benefits" is that if the employees are paid for working hard on a percentage basis, they would work efficiently, so they could get to the next job. This also helps keep employees from abusing the equipment (in most cases it is your equipment).

One more benefit to this scheme is that employee retention would be higher. If they perceive that they are being paid for efficient performance, they will be happier. A happy employee, tends to stay around longer, doesn't consider jumping ship to another company, and probably won't become your competitor.

There are a few problems with this senario though. First this probably wouldn't work for large employers. Secondly the owner would probably have to be willing to let the employees look at all the invoices (books).

Therrin

my completely untrained groundies start off at $10/hr.
The new-guy is getting a raise to $12/hr after just a week though. It depends on their work ethic and aptitude.

I'd start a climber out at about $25/hr.

But the workcover for my insurance is absolutely killer, so that puts things into perspective.

Drouin Tree Service

You get paid what your worth,If your worth it...

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

newguy18

They get paid depending on how hard and safe they work,i've had a couple people who stood under the trees i was working in.

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old schooler

Eric Frei

Well, times must be tough in Canada when you get fired over 16 cents.

Woman fired for giving 16-cent treat to toddler - Yahoo!7 News

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TrevMcRev

A share of the gross is NOT profit sharing! Its takings sharing. No good sharing that if there isnt any profit left after all expenses.

Profit only begins after Break Even Point. You need to pay them, yourself, all expenses plus include a budget for breakdowns and upgrades to equipment, tax obligations then meet profit goals for the company and then whats made after all that you can share a percentage of.

Dont be afraid to show them the invoices. They always think you make more money than you actually do. Then show them all the bills.

Bermy

If the climber is getting $20-25, what is he being billed out for?

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Therrin

Well as a rule I typically don't bill by the hour, I set it as a price for the job.

And..... I don't have a climber besides my self. (workin on that one though)

Not only could I not let myself pay a guy min/wage to do the climbing, but I probably couldn't find anyone around here to do it for that rate who actually speaks english either.

newguy18

Whats with the bandana in your avatar?

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old schooler

Therrin

Um... well, it's pretty windy in that area, and no matter where I stood I was managing to get a face full of wood chip and dust.

Found that it allows me to breathe easily without getting a mouth full of gack.

And it looks cool... c'mon now =)


The second day when I took the guys up there, I offered one to the groundies and they both declined. Then 10 mins later they were asking for them. <shrugs> Just works well for that area.

newguy18

ahh for a minute i thought you were the tree cutting bandit.

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old schooler

Therrin

You've found me out. It's my disguise when doing TD's in neighborhoods with lots of tree-huggers. Completely masks my features, even hides my six-and-a-half-foot tall frame. I'm like a ghost when I'm wearing it. Whirling through town leaving a path of tree chaos in my wake.


The Tree Bandit

newguy18

and here i am having spent 6 hours in a live oak with a handsaw and shears removing misltoe and deadwood.Next saturday I'm gonna spend the whole day traversing.Man this new diet is gonna suck no more than 6 cups of coffee a day=P,veggies and fruit=P,and more vitamens=P.oh well glad i got everything figured out heart wise.Gotta fell another 5 acres of trees on wed.Once again all by myself and gonna try and do it in less than 4 hours this time.

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old schooler

soutz

in old NZ good climber $25 up. Top subby rate $50. But has to be a gun.
groundie $15 up, real depends on the place, and company. But look at the nz dollar, we pay heaps for imported equipment-heaps.
Im looking at importing 2nd hand chipper from Aus as its still mega cheaper than getting in gear from the states.

Bermy

What I mean is if a climber gets $25 ph, what does the company bill him out for? Is that $25 his take home pay after deductions?

Over here a groundie gets $18-25, but the owner bills him out at $30-40. The climber is billed at $65 but his gross pay is probably $30-35...then deductions come out of that, pension, health, social insurance, payroll tax...so take home is probably closer to $25.

Here the employer must pay half the employees health insurance, payroll tax and Government and independent pensions. That's BEFORE the gross pay for the employee, then the other half is deducted from the gross pay, leaving net take home 'in your pocket'.

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soutz

Double above rates and you might make some money re charge out.

Grizzly

For my experience haveing helpers and actually working for other arborist arround town it was more of a daily wadge in stead of on a hourly wadge. at least you get a better idea on what you need to make to cover over head and what your profits might be by the end of the day.

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James Sayers

hi guys i am a contract climber in brisbane and a good climber would be on $400 to $450 a day depending on what sort of speed or volume of work the firm you are contrating to and that rate is for an 8 hour day as i have worked for some guys that think they can have you out there for 10 12 hour days and a good groundie should be on 250 a day that is if you can find one (even just 1) that can use a saw good at roping and can think 4 themselves

newguy18

9 times outta 10 i work alone and rig aloft.On very seldom occasions i get my dad to run ropes for me,hes pretty good and usually gets half of the price of the job at hand.

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old schooler

James Sayers

it is funny you go half way round the world and tree work seems to have the saame problems do you work alone or with your dad because you ????? find anyone that is good at there job,

Eric Frei

I'm looking for groundy work in Brisbane ... phone me, have ropes, equip, saws etc will do any deal, can aerial rescue and climb too but from my experience 99.9% of companies flog their climbers so I mainly will only climb for myself and own jobs.

Again, I'm looking for groundy work in Brisbane ... phone me, have ropes, equip, saws etc will do any deal.

Also available for consultations and writing reports.

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James Sayers

i will keep you in mind if i do any of my own jobs but from what i see on jobs you should phone up most tree firms in bris hope you have first aid because that would be very handy for patching people up

James Sayers

hope you have your own rake aswell

Eric Frei

You serious?

I might have to restock the medikit then with xtra's.

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Therrin

Don't forget the staplegun Ekka