How To Price Out A Tree Job? Non Professional Version!

Hi everyone we are going to talk about 5 things I consider when "pricing" a tree job! I am NOT a professional but these are things to deff consider when looking at tree jobs!

[davesauerzopf]

We would sub out a tree climber due to insurance, it did not pay to have one on the payroll all the time, we had a cherry picker that we would use for cutting and also got other side jobs other than cutting down trees, we would rent a stump grinder once a month for a day or 2 to grind any stumps that people wanted ground down. It does not pay to actually own one of them due to maintaining them. The chipper was great to have because a lot of people wanted the mulch or you can sell it to other people. Get hooked up with a logger/sawmill for some of that good wood that will bring you more money instead of just making firewood. We did not have a place to dump logs so we had/found people that wanted the wood for firewood and we had a few people that would take the logs as well. Some will even give you some cash for the logs. And there is nothing like a good storm to make a ton of money when you learn how to work with the insurance companies and the local townships. It is hard back breaking work and not easy to find people to work for you that know what they are doing as well. Good luck with your new endeavor. I look forward to more videos.

[LitltsLogging]

You hit every important aspect right on the head. It's very important to consider the 5 things you talked about to be successful on doing tree work. I've been doing tree service, logging my whole life and started in the same spot you are buddy. Just keep on doing what your doing and you'll be very successful. When I have a couple extra minutes I will email you my contact information and you can get ahold of me anytime to ask questions or whatever. Stay safe my friend

[buildlife]

I wish I had YouTube 30 years ago so I could look back and see how I started. I remember doing roofing jobs on the side and then the tipping point when I made double the money in half the time as my day job (pouring concrete for my dad) and it was off to the races!

[austingriffith]

This doesn't explain how to price a tree job, but it does explain some of the factors that would tend to increase the amount of time or effort involved in a job.

Here is how to price a tree job.
Decide how many full days and how many half days you'd be working in an average week, and how much income to need to generate to cover your costs. Might be $400/day, might be $1500/day, depending on the level of income you are trying to achieve and the amount of expense/overhead you are carrying. If you aren't sure yet, just start doing work for people for a random amount of money. At the end of the day, if you feel like you got screwed, ask for more the next time.
Then, use your pricing model along with the experience you have gained through work and decide when you look at a job how many full days, how many half days, etc it will take to complete. You could add a percentage on, add a rental fee if applicable, etc.
It's that simple. If you are wrong on your estimate about time, you will learn through experience and get better at bidding jobs in the future.

[happycamper]

Can you please talk about actual dollar amounts?

[mcrage]

In other words the customer isn't just paying for tree size height but mostly your time to contend with risk and time factors

[dollab]

I’ve watched 4 videos on HOW TO PRICE A TREE JOB…. Not one has given a damn price with equation🤦‍♂️

[Billster]

Most people want a firm price. I try to average $100 per hour. If you tell them it will cost $100 per hour, you probably won't get the job. I chatge more if there's a lot of rigging or the tree is sketchy, as in rotten in places. It take a while to be a good estimator.

[supercalifragalistic-zf]

Price it by how many hours you think it will take. Do you need to make $150 per hour or $50? It's really that simple. Having done the work in various scenarios, you should already know how long a job will take by assessing it.

[richardhayes]

I have a tree job I don’t normally do tree jobs I’m a carpenter but the guy wants me to cut 25 trees down and into firewood and pile brush 3 are hanging over a garage I don’t know what to charge but I know how to run a saw I was a logger for many years I was thinking 250 a tree for the 3 and 200 a tree for the rest they are all storm damage bent trees

[shayn]

I think that last tree job was red oak,

[tanyabohrson]

Do require a Arborist Cert to quote a Job?

[mttrapper]

Good video but I would have liked to have seen video footage of what you're talking about.

I cleared my 20 acres of mountain pine beetle killed ponderosa. It took me several years part time. I have an L3560 Kubota with a Wallenstein PTO chipper. I burned the logs for firewood and gave away over 100 cords. Montana is a semi-arid climate and I didn't want to burn slash. I broadcasted the wood chips back onto my forest floor. It kept the weeds down and I found it helped with the natural flowers and plants. If I were doing this commerically I would stress that advantage to the customer.

A neighbor who also has 20 acres asked me what I would charge him to do the same tree work on his property. He liked that I surgically cut the dead trees but left a variety of species and generations of trees alone. I told him he couldn't afford me. He insisted on a price. I told him $500, 000. He was insulted. I said, "I told you I REALLY don't want to clear the dead trees from your property because there are hundreds or maybe thousands of widow makers hung up on live fir trees and many hundreds more tangled up on the ground."

He doesn't talk to me any more.

Another thing of interest. Insurance companies are sending letters to homeowners in the urban interface telling them they need to do fire mitigation on their property or lose coverage. Try selling a house to someone who can't get insurance.

[kevinbrayshaw]

I hope you are bonded as well as carrying workman’s compensation insurance

[happycamper-uxpv]

i remove wood cut it up i charge 500.00 and up