tree surgeon,s

[gemini52]

A neighbour of mine has just had a price to cut down a dead elm tree,its about forty foot high and cut back an oak tree,around six decent sized branches,which are over hanging my garden,she was quiet happy to pay for both that was before she got the price,it was 680 quid cash that was quoted,the guy said he could do it in a day,no chipping needed as she wanted the logs herself,the question i ask is does this sound a fair price to do the work for two men and one days work.

[spandit]

Sounds quite high but I can ask on arbtalk if you like

[Konnie]

At that price ask to see insurance incase owt goes wrong. cash cuts corners.

[chrisjpainter]

That sounds high for a non chip job. I'd be seriously wary of a job that big paid for in cash. I'd also be checking reviews of the company first! 

[oowee]

I have just had a quote 950 +vat for a 40 foot ash taken down to 4 feet and a 1/3 crown on two Chesnuts (about 30'). Chipping the brash and leaving me the logs. 2nd quote comes Thursday. 

[chrisjpainter]

Ah didn't see the second job on the oak. Still perhaps a bit high. Would the oak still need to be roped to complete the job? If so, it's closer to the mark than I originally thought. 

[old'un]

My neighbour had two 30 foot leylandii cut down and removed, £300 and that was 3 years ago.

[spandit]

Tree surgeons will quote high if it's a job they don't want to do. If access is poor for example, it's going to be a pain. Training is expensive - if you want it done properly then you have to pay professionals. Any monkey can chop a big tree down if there's no worry about which way it falls

[chrisjpainter]

3 hours ago, old'un said:

My neighbour had two 30 foot leylandii cut down and removed, £300 and that was 3 years ago.

In fairness, that's not a complicated business though. a mite time consuming but it's straightforward. A 40ft high dead elm, on the other hand, could be a horrible job. The more dead it is, the more risky it becomes. It's certainly a job for professionals. But then again, if they're professionals, I'd expect them to be doing a proper invoice rather than a big wad of cash!

Edited July 31, 2018 by chrisjpainter

[scotslad]

I'd 2nd wot chris has said above.

Without seeing the job its impossible to comment if expensive of not.

But when was the last time u had the car back from mechanics even for a small job and it wasn't hundreds ££ or any other tradesman round?

 

How much do u get paid for a days work?? Or more relevant wot does ur boss charge u out at for a days work??

If the 2nd man is a subby u could be looking at anything between 120-200 a day for his wage alone, u then have various other expenses, insurance (PL and EL, not cheap in arb business) running costs of vans saws, LOELER'ing ropes, rigging kit and gear every 6 months, probably £3K plus in training expenses/tickets.

Possibly hiring in a cherry picker for the dead tree??

And wot happens if the tree turns into a bigger ****** than they thought? If they come out a 2nd day would u offer them extra?

 

And then throw in the fact ur climbing a dead tree?? Have u ever seen a dead elm hit the deck? They're  usually fairly strong until they decide to go and then splinter into a million pieces, i wouldn't fancy placing my life in its timber

I'm not a good climber but u wouldn't catch me going up a dead elm no matter wot u offered

[Cant hit them all]

dont sound to bad to me and i'm a tree surgeon myself 

[scotslad]

It's fairly easy to check, just tell ur nieghbour to get a few more quotes in.

 

Must admit the asking for cash does sound a wee bit dodgy, but i think down south its more common to a pay a job on completion.

I know my mate says a few of his english customers always pay  before he leaves the house as he finishes as that was wot they done when living down south.

[Mice!]

my neighbour recently had a BIG willow taken down to about 20ft, he had several quotes from £800-1400, bad access over a river, when someone eventually did the jib as two didn't show it was around the £900 mark and i gave him half.

it turned into a much bigger job than they thought, the amount of timber that came down was unbelievable, think they spent the second day shreading.

They have had more work since off other people and did more in my neighbours, now they worked hard no doubt but some of the trees they "cut back" shocking, they asked my misses if we wanted anything doing while they were there, err no thanks the shape of some of the work they did was shocking.

They apparently asked for half the money upfront in cash rest on completion.

[Cant hit them all]

good tree surgery is not cheap and cheap tree surgery is not good. a well known firm in norfolk i know off who do alot of council contracts and nhs contracts  and few hi way projects know for a fact he charges 1 grand per man per day   and he have a 6 to 8 week waiting times constantly 

Edited August 2, 2018 by Cant hit them all

[hod]

2 hours ago, Cant hit them all said:

good tree surgery is not cheap and cheap tree surgery is not good. a well known firm in norfolk i know off who do alot of council contracts and nhs contracts  and few hi way projects know for a fact he charges 1 grand per man per day   and he have a 6 to 8 week waiting times constantly 

I’m in the wrong job. 

[chrisjpainter]

4 minutes ago, hod said:

I’m in the wrong job. 

Depends how back-breaking you want your work to be! It's about as much of a full body work out as you can get. Hour upon hour. and of course when you get tired, it gets more dangerous. one slip and you're just left swinging in mid air, with a running chainsaw swinging around - or you have a chainsaw kick back into your neck, as happened recently to one arborist in his 20's. Yes, it's fun. but unpredictable and dangerous. As Cant Hit Them All says, you pay for what you get - and good quality, safe work is worth paying for. 

[Prospero]

Any trade that INSIST on cash should be avoided. We all have to pay our taxes and cash only enterprises are usually avoiding tax, insurance and without qualifications.

[Cant hit them all]

unfortunately the gear is mega expensive  my boots are £180 pounds and may last 9 months my saw trousers are just shy of £200 and get up for 12 months if im lucky before they're fit for the bin my helmet is £120, that just to meet health and safety. ropes harness all have to be safety inspected every 6 months at a considerable cost. thats befor be get on to saws and other tools needed. a wood chipper not cheap to buy or maintain blades need replacing every 20 hours or sooner if stones and grit about when pulling the brash around. then there is the trucks and insurances all to be paid for my average fuel bill £150 pound a week that's all before i make money to pay myself 

[gemini52]

Thanks for the replies guys,its certainly an eye opener,so maybe he was asking a fair price for the work,have to admit its not a job i would be able to do so fair play.thanks again.

[mossy835]

my brother had a very big willow tree cut down.2 years ago £900 with all wood taken away.

[chrisjpainter]

2 hours ago, gemini52 said:

Thanks for the replies guys,its certainly an eye opener,so maybe he was asking a fair price for the work,have to admit its not a job i would be able to do so fair play.thanks again.

If you're around when it happens, get some pictures up here!

[Mice!]

3 hours ago, gemini52 said:

Thanks for the replies guys,its certainly an eye opener,so maybe he was asking a fair price for the work,have to admit its not a job i would be able to do so fair play.thanks again.

I had thought me and my neighbour could have done it, so glad we didn't.

And they hired a chipper, working damned hard all day, certainly wouldn't need to go the gym later.

I helped move timber for an hour brewed up and lent them some wellies, much easier.

[leeds chimp]

On 02/08/2018 at 21:34, Cant hit them all said:

good tree surgery is not cheap and cheap tree surgery is not good. a well known firm in norfolk i know off who do alot of council contracts and nhs contracts  and few hi way projects know for a fact he charges 1 grand per man per day   and he have a 6 to 8 week waiting times constantly 

you try and get unseasoned logs round here....got no chance

[Cant hit them all]

On 04/08/2018 at 17:34, leeds chimp said:

you try and get unseasoned logs round here....got no chance

I give away as much logs as i can i treat them as a waste many days  paying to dispose of them, but there are a lot of people what they only want the best burning logs, 

likes of ash beech and sycamore and so on. and refuse to take likes of pine and conifer as apparently is soots up your  flue, that's a load of rubbish if its seasoned and you sweep your chimney every year no problems.

 To me firewood is simply not worth my time, by the  time i spent cutting and splitting it putting diesel in a van that only do 20 to 24 mpg  and delivering it  i could have earnt far more on taking a tree down a lot of firms now buying biggest wood chippers possible and chipping everything they can, logs are now done by guys who get quite times in autumn and winter to help keep things ticking over

 

[oowee]

1 hour ago, Cant hit them all said:

I give away as much logs as i can i treat them as a waste many days  paying to dispose of them, but there are a lot of people what they only want the best burning logs, 

likes of ash beech and sycamore and so on. and refuse to take likes of pine and conifer as apparently is soots up your  flue, that's a load of rubbish if its seasoned and you sweep your chimney every year no problems.

 To me firewood is simply not worth my time, by the  time i spent cutting and splitting it putting diesel in a van that only do 20 to 24 mpg  and delivering it  i could have earnt far more on taking a tree down a lot of firms now buying biggest wood chippers possible and chipping everything they can, logs are now done by guys who get quite times in autumn and winter to help keep things ticking over

 

Thats interesting as the tree surgeon who has just quoted me for the work here said i was welcome to as much wood as i wanted from his yard which surprised me. Quote came in at £1400 (inc vat) for removal of an ash tree about 12m high. Polarding a horse chesnut about 11m high and thinning another chesnut about 10m high all brash chipped and logs to manageable size.