Unregistered, whatcha workin on right now?

Bob Tooley

Designing a whole ledge-slope erosion program using tree-base cables and ledge anchoring sites... The entire side of the hill is 'coming unglued' and headed toward the water like a giant moving carpet... approx. 3-acres involved...on a 1'-in-4' slope...(problem with glacier ledges are in having been smoothed off...and everything can 'slide off' once loosened)
I guess we could call it a 'tree job'..............

treevet

We made a $hit load of firewood yesterday as there was no room as logs had piled up. We have been waiting for the rain threat to end to paint the BC2000 chipper. We got it all taped up and ready but I have painted prior to rain and then if it rains up it all is ruined. We got plenty of work. I don't get too much as I am not the cheapest guy around. I like to stay in the upper tier of bids. If we get too much, I know I am bidding too low.

Just put a removable roof on our Mack dump yesterday. It comes off with 3 pins with cotters on each side and can be taken off by hand. Then it can have logs craned into it if other log truck is full. Also reinforced sides as some big honkers rolled over and bent it outwards.

My website is sending some work but yesterday I clocked the bid at 36 miles one way. Not good. The bid was decent in the nborhood of $5k but the distance takes all the fun out of it. This is the first time I have gotten any action from the site and I have had half a dozen calls but all are far away. No complaints in the winter when it gets here I am sure tho.

Eric Frei

Sounds like you need some Geo-targeting there Vet.

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TrevMcRev

Treevet, let ekka play with your site if you want more traffic

srussellim@bellsouth.net

I'm not in the tree business, just a tree lover. Hoping to learn a lot from the rest of you. Still haven't had any luck with my tree with spikes, but will wait for the fruit and take more pics.
Are new trees still being discovered?

kflood74

Hello there, love the web site!
workin on getting my contractors liscense so i can run my own show
and hustling up work in the mean time

Treeson

Been working on trees in neighbourhood, just getting by. Nothing on the go for next week so hopefully something will come through. Still on the lookout for a employer who will take someone on for just a few months before we shoot off on our O.E. -North Shore based.

Bob Tooley

Differing trees, as we recognize them today, are all the result of a long term cross breeding evolution with other compatible tree species. I opt to believe nature is still providing an ongoing evolution process, though the 'slight' changes in visible appearances may not be easily recognized in our short lifetime... As far as announced 'new discoveries', I haven't heard of any.

stargazer

Every time I mow a field I discover new trees trying to take over the open space, and mow them down!

newguy18

right now,selling my 60 f-350,i really like the truck,but it needs someone who will restore it,and who will enjoy it.Also this is the first weekend in 2 months I've been sober.

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old schooler

treevet

Thanks for the offer Trev and Ekka. I think I will wait til nearer the slow season and take you up on it. I prob am just pi$$ing off people by not responding now as I am a little overloaded now.

treevet

Yesterday we get a call down the hill from my house. Big blow went thru previous night and knocked a stink tree (Ailanthus) over into the people's pool.

Well, the weather has been way hot and humid so I naturally thought jumping in the pool to aid getting it out would be in order. What could stop such a relief from the mass heat????

Well my gm pulls up the pool filter cover as it is ajar and what is in the filter location but a dead rat, so dead the skin was just about gone and maggots all over it.

We got the tree out but man, I went home and scrubbed for about an hour.........eeeeeeeuuuuuuuuccccccchhhhhhh

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treevet

Luckily the pool had recently been shock treated. You cannot even see the tree because of the ivy but from the blow the house took you can tell it was a pretty decent sizer.

We were lucky to fit the Dingo in the fence up the hill and pulled out the logs from the pool and took them around the house to the crane.

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Eric Frei

Sure increases the surface area for blow overs that ivy, like attaching a parachute to the tree. Prevents the natural movement and "ear folding" of the tree too.

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treevet

Yeah I agree. I have to take down the other 2 stink trees this week and the ivy also makes that a major pita. Can't see spikes set or cut locations and it is hard to rig,.... etc etc.

Therrin

Nothing 5 gal of gasoline, a spray rig and a match cant take care of....

Muhuhahahahahahahaha.



ok ok j/k.

Tarzan

Workin on getting back to work! I have been out of commission for a week now and I am starting to get a little antsy. Get the splints out of my nose today, and should be able to resume normal work on Wednesday. Oh well, I have plenty I can do at home. Gonna talk to local phone book about an ad, maybe newspaper, and was thinking of having a sign made for my pickup. Was thinking of having it made to look just like my business card but I am not liking the picture:

Don't be too critical...my wife made these cards I was thinking of having her Brother, who is an artist, make me a cool logo. Maybe a Tarzan lookin dude with a loin cloth swinging from a tree with a chainsaw in his hand? We will see!

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Tough times never last, but tough people do.


Cody

Therrin

Cody, I like where you're going with that but I have a couple questions.

Is there really no tree too small?
Is there really none too tall?
That's important, when using as headlines for your business. Do you have a crane rig setup of any kind, or access to one? What if it's a really tall tree that you can't fell in place, but since you do "removals", needs to be craned down in sections? Is no tree still too tall?

Liscenced and Insured for.....which? Actual PRUNING, or just timber falling or removals?
When I got my insurance, there were seperate clauses which had to do with things like stumpgriding (working below grade), along with specific mention of different equipment that was allowable or not. Have you looked into all of that and are you claiming what is full and accurate or does it just sound good?

Are you really tarzan? Are you able to ascend and move about in a canopy WITHOUT using spikes while pruning?


I'm not trying to be negative, only trying to give helpfull criticism based on things I learned while going through the same process.
Hope it all works out for you! Post up revisions and changes as you make them and lets see how it goes!

(btw... the loincloth thing is cute, but I wouldnt want a loinclothed guy working above MY eyelevel)

Therrin

Ahh, and after having said all that...

My "new job" in the landscape position that I was brought on for just got...what did he call it... "liquidated".

Back to square one... Apparently they found a crew of mexicans who would all work at the same price that I was being offered the position for for just myself. (at $10/hr, 40hrs/week). So much for getting a side job in the crappy economy.

Now I know how much you Aussies hate the kiwi-door-knocking-scum! Argh!

treevet

Thought you'ze gave up the liquidating (hic), Ken (jk) harhar

Therrin

Lol.... not what I meant TV...that hasnt been a problem. Thankfully!

"Liquidated" is the word the operations manager at that place used when he called me today.

What he was saying is... "We decided not to hire you afterall, because we can get 3 mexicans to do the work we originally wanted you alone to do."

Afterall, more is always better....right? (right?...hmm)

BinderbergerAustria

Hi at all,
I'm Armin, employed at Binderberger, Europe's premier manufacturer of firewood processing and forestry machinery. I'm currently dealing with that intension in finding distributors worldwide.
Is there anyone in Down Under who is possibly interested in becoming an importer and dealership?
Any questions? Come on and tell me your ideas about.
I want to go to Australia at latest in 2012 attending at AUSTimber.
What's going in that business in Australia? How about the economic situation there?
Here in Europe we cannot complain in our branch. It isn't that bad as always spreaded in the news.
Curiously looking forward getting your response...
All the best,
Armin

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Graeme

Been pruning and deadwooding whole streets with a Hydralada & polesaw since about February, no work has been coming in so to keep us occupied we prune whole streets of trees, I wish a good blow would come through and create a bit of work thats not pruning street after bloody street. Luckily I work for the Govt. otherwise I might be looking for another job altogether. Had a little work with a private tree service, on days off recently and that was good, so much more laid back than the Govt. job, less stress = happier workers = more productivity.

Tarzan

Therrin, thanks for your input. I have definitely thought about the slogan. Have had it since I started in '06...yes I am new to tree work so I am learning. There is definitely "no tree too small", as I have not found one yet that I could not handle, nor have I found a "job" that was too small, as I am trying to build my rep, I will take about anything to get my name out there and build a good rapport with people, and it is starting to pay off...People like me As far as "no tree too tall"; have not come across one yet, and yes, this was the big question in my head when I came up with the slogan, and I figure that if I come to one that is just too tall for me, I will then revise my slogan, but after all, I live in Montana, and the trees are nothing compared to coastal redwoods. Besides I have gotten a lot of positive feedback about the slogan (and my business name) from friends, family, and most importantly...clients. Like I said...it is Montana, and a little more laid back here. If I was going to start a business in a big city, I probably would contemplate things more. I did do some research on my business name just to make sure that there were not any in my state, and I found them in Atlanta, Dallas, Tampa, Fowler Ohio, and a couple in Washington State, so I guess that it must be some-what okay.

As far as my insurance...Industry standard of 1mil, 2 mil. The only thing that I am not covered for is spraying. Right now I just do "Pruning and Removals"; Once I do some stumpgrinding, or maybe a crane removal, I guarantee you I will give my agent a call to make sure I am covered. There are hacks in all parts of the country, and I did not want to be one, which is why I am starting small and making sure that I have all my bases covered.

Am I Tarzan? No way man, there is only one Tarzan! But, I can move freely in a canopy when I am pruning, and I have yet to utilize my spikes on anything BUT a removal. I do prefer removals, because the pruning is too tedious for me, as I am new to it, so I am vigilant about how much I do and how I do it (I always point out to the HO that I am not a Certified Arborist, (probably will be though), so pruning jobs take me a while, but I have not had any complaints! Another thing...I started climbing trees when I was a little boy...no ropes...no gear, nothing but my agility, and I was agile! (i know free-climbing is not smart, but if you're gonna be dumb, you gotta be tough) My parents used to call me a monkey. I used to love going to work with Dad so that I could climb trees all day. We lived on site, where he was logging for two years, so I spent a lot of my time climbing. I would jump from on tree to another, climb a big, bushy blue spruce and climb out on the tips of the limbs and slide down (that used to make my mom tense), and I could even shimmy a tree up-side down. I only fell once, and I am glad that I learned from that, because I was getting too cocky, and tried something very stupid. I don't think that it is a coincidence that my little boy is in gymnastics...he is a chip of the old block

Now, the loincloth...you would not beleive how many women have said how they would love to see that. My other job is horse-shoeing and, since most clients are women, we always get comments there too. Last year a gal told us we should shoe horses in nothing but our chaps!


Sorry about the long post...I am ocd! Thanks for your help and I look forward to learning from all the wisdom on here.

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Tough times never last, but tough people do.


Cody

Therrin

Sounds good man! I managed a horse ranch for 2 years for a friend, nice pics you got there, but THANK YOU for not posting anything in the "chaps only" line of thought.

Glad to hear that you've thought over you business and slogan for a while. When I was forming my business I was reading up on the way people make mistakes advertising their skill sets and the "no job too big or small" was a common one that people seemed to over-advertise and then have some trouble with.

Sounds like you're starting out well with the insurance too. Sounds almost like my exact same first policy I had too!

As far as those who start while un-certified, you seem to be branch out (ahem!) along the normal path. Seems like you've got...good roots (doh!), but I'm sure that if you follow up on the cert stuff and dont accept jobs that you arent qualified for that you'r business will grow nice and strong and...have...a.. um... good... ... canopy? (damn....) Ok that last one didn't work out so well.

Therrin

Say, do you end up having to use ACE much with the pesky ones? How do you handle them?

We had a kid come out and insisted that he NEVER needed to dope any animal whatsoever and then he ended up darn near getting his head kicked off... I wasnt sure if he spooked her with his gas torch or what but she wasnt happy. I was over in our round corral when it happened and remember that it turned into quite a mess.
Memory's a lil fuzzy but I dont think he used a quick releasing knot either... we never had him back after that.
Seemed like we had one serious hell of a time finding a decent farrier.

Tarzan

Please don't patronize meI am SURE that there are a lot of "certified arborists" out there that I could make look pretty stupid if I wanted to critique their timber falling skills, But I choose not too(maybe when I was ten years younger I would have though)...I know that everyone has certain skills that they possess. Now if I got on here and told some "certified arborist", not to be falling any trees that they are not qualified for, I am certain that their chest would puff up. I grew up with a chainsaw in my hand (first one at 10, first brand new 535 Jonsered at 12) and Have Fell timber Professionally for about 12 years in a multitude of different geographies, so that deserves some respect. So, I will only take jobs that I am qualified for, and you do the same.

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Tough times never last, but tough people do.


Cody

Therrin

Tarzan.... my sincerest appologies sir, but you misunderstood me completely.

It being 3am coupled with my natural sense of humor and flippancy might have caused some of that.

I am by no means badmouthing your business. Though, doing true arborist work is a far cry from felling timber. It seems you understand that though.
Ack, how do I parallel it... you wouldnt want a guy who specializes in car stereo wiring to do all the electrical in your house right? Related stuff but two different fields.

Many of us have taken on jobs that were over our heads in the infancy of our actual "tree care" professions (especially while uncertified), which all of our previous experience and time spent with the tools combined couldnt rectify. It was meant only as a constructive notice, not a call to arms.

(I really am interested in how you handle frisky equines though.... )

Tarzan

No, I won't use any drugs unless a vet tells me too. When I am working with my mentor, we just nose twitch them if they get too ornery...usually after a couple of good kicks to the gut, all the while remembering the 3 second rule.

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Tough times never last, but tough people do.


Cody

Tarzan

We are good man! Yes it is 4 a.m. and time for bed. Peace out!

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Tough times never last, but tough people do.


Cody