Sticker Shock

[used red MN]

$150..................1 hour and about 45 minutes. This guy is an artist. Did the whole thing with a very long gas powered pole saw, while standing on the roof.

Uranus Inc wins!

 

[farmersamm]

Uranus Inc wins!

I got LUCKY. I had no idea whether the guy was actually good at what he does. You could see it the first few minutes he started working, but until then................................

 

[farmersamm]

One very cool thing, and it sort of puts my blah blah blah about not wanting an electric chainsaw to shame.

For the thicker stuff that was too large for the pole saw, he used a Makita battery powered chainsaw. THAT SUCKER WAS THE BEE'S KNEES.

Edit: It was this model https://www.homedepot.com/p/Makita-..._-301211102-_-0-_-n/a-_-n/a-_-n/a-_-n/a-_-n/a

 

[farmersamm]

You can look at all the stupid "reviews" on YouTube...................but when you actually get to watch a guy put one through the paces....THAT'S A REVIEW

 

[rustred]

View attachment 109321
View attachment 109322

$150..................1 hour and about 45 minutes. This guy is an artist. Did the whole thing with a very long gas powered pole saw, while standing on the roof. For the last North-South long limb (parallel to the house), I hooked 3 cargo straps to his rope, which he'd tied to the tip of the long limb. My end was tied to the bumper on the 1 ton. Put stress on the line, he cut it about maybe 2/3 through, then signaled me to back up. Cleared the doublewide handsomely.

He wanted to down the long limb in the second pic. It was getting late in the day, and was getting dangerous to walk around in all the trash, let alone setting up a ladder. I decided it was a good days work, and paid the guy. We'll get it next time. I have more work for him when he gets caught up on his other stuff. It was doggone decent of him to come over after supper so that we wouldn't be facing dangerous 40-50mph overnite winds with the tree hanging over the house. Besides.......he was wanting to go beyond the original deal. All I'd asked was to remove anything overhanging the roof. Now that all that weight is gone, it's bought us time to get the rest of the tree down.

K'kins told me to call him in the FIRST place. I didn't know he was set up to do this type of work, and called the other guy. This fella does tons of work for her Mother in town.

Moral of the story. There are still people out there that work as hard as I did in my younger years. And get by with the minimum bit of equipment. They make up for it with skill, and smart work practices.

Insurance......................probably doesn't have insurance I'd guess. My risk, which I was willing to take. I have good liability coverage on the farm should somebody get injured. The house........if I'd done the work, any damage would have been on my dime anyway. I call it a wash.

This whole thing brings to mind the last 2 contractors that worked for me. One was a guy with a skid steer, and a Turbo Saw..........hired him to clear Cedars off the pasture. He worked like a slug........slow as molasses......and I caught him sitting staring at his phone a number of times. The second was a fence builder. Kept hitting me up for more money, or he was gonna quit. Ran 'em both off.

I do all my own fence now.............and bought my own Turbo Saw to use with rented skid steers.

That’s more like it. Experience always wins. That’s my motto , don’t tell me what you can do,…show me.

 

[Mule Meat]

One very cool thing, and it sort of puts my blah blah blah about not wanting an electric chainsaw to shame.

For the thicker stuff that was too large for the pole saw, he used a Makita battery powered chainsaw. THAT SUCKER WAS THE BEE'S KNEES.

Edit: It was this model https://www.homedepot.com/p/Makita-..._-301211102-_-0-_-n/a-_-n/a-_-n/a-_-n/a-_-n/a

I will stick with my Echo 56 volt
Two year longer warranty out of the box
Larger volt battery
Larger Ah battery
Uses the same 16" and 18" bars and chain as my gas powered CS 400
Cost $100 less

 

[UncleTom]

Nice work. I told you how they all want to GOUGE. I would love to watch this guy work.

 

[Sprint 6]

$150, for all that work AND risking injury? Sad how some people never know their worth.

 

[Jim.ME]

Good, you got it done cheap.

A one man show with no insurance and minimal equipment has a different overhead to cover than the guy with insurance, equipment, and likely help most of the time. (And if he has hired help he falls under labor laws, like OSHA, the one man show doesn't.) Not saying the first guy's price wasn't high for what you wanted, but you are comparing two different business models. As well, you told the first guy what you would pay when you said if it was less than 2 thousand, even if you thought it was a joke price.

 

[Fixingfarmer]

One very cool thing, and it sort of puts my blah blah blah about not wanting an electric chainsaw to shame.

For the thicker stuff that was too large for the pole saw, he used a Makita battery powered chainsaw. THAT SUCKER WAS THE BEE'S KNEES.

Edit: It was this model https://www.homedepot.com/p/Makita-..._-301211102-_-0-_-n/a-_-n/a-_-n/a-_-n/a-_-n/a

If you have makita tools anyway it’s a fantastic saw no messing with gas and I put an 18 inch on mine that was off the poulan pro so I have 2 blades the 16 that comes with it and an option to get through something a hair bigger. I have not wished to have my gas ones back you can fully process most trees into ready to split firewood off one charge and that’s honestly enough for me but by then your second set batteries are charged anyway.

I dropped 4 ash trees with it yesterday and need to do as much today just to get them down onto the ground and out of the field where they had to land.

They do get a lot of heat for the small batteries but they charge quicker too so if you forget to charge anything you still haven’t wasted a whole Saturday if you sat waiting for the big dewalt ones dad has you might as well pick a different thing to do today.

Either way if you have a tool brand you have started the battery chainsaws have come a long ways and are worth the investment if you have trees at all in your yard no matter the brand.

 

[560Dennis]

Did you at least give him a tip ?

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

Nice work. I told you how they all want to GOUGE. I would love to watch this guy work.

You're right. He charged way too much. Should've done it for $50.

 

[showcrop]

Technically not lasso.
I usually tie a good size rock with end of rope tied around it.
Many times a string tied to a 1 inch hex nut launched with a sling shot. Then use the string to pull up the rope.

OK, I have done that myself.

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

That’s more like it. Experience always wins. That’s my motto , don’t tell me what you can do,…show me.

All well and good, until they show you they can't, by dropping the tree straight on the house.

 

[Mark Poss]

The Dood abides

 

[caterpillar guy]

It's pretty easy to tell if they can cut limbs and trees without a problem. When they come in the yard and ask what a tree is they need to leave before getting the saw out if they know what that is. Like hiring truck drivers. you can tell if they can drive by the way they attempt things;. If they ask where the steering wheel is they can't drive.

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

It's pretty easy to tell if they can cut limbs and trees without a problem. When they come in the yard and ask what a tree is they need to leave before getting the saw out if they know what that is. Like hiring truck drivers. you can tell if they can drive by the way they attempt things;. If they ask where the steering wheel is they can't drive.

It's rarely that obvious. What's far more common is someone who fancies themself an expert, and you don't find out until its too late.

 

[Crazy Horse]

It's rarely that obvious. What's far more common is someone who fancies themself an expert, and you don't find out until its too late.

You got that right Barney. Like those of us who pass judgement on a social media site to others even though few of us are real experts on anything, let along on cutting down trees, insurance, business costs, safety, etc.

 

[paul]

One very cool thing, and it sort of puts my blah blah blah about not wanting an electric chainsaw to shame.

For the thicker stuff that was too large for the pole saw, he used a Makita battery powered chainsaw. THAT SUCKER WAS THE BEE'S KNEES.

Edit: It was this model https://www.homedepot.com/p/Makita-..._-301211102-_-0-_-n/a-_-n/a-_-n/a-_-n/a-_-n/a

I plan to use my gas chain saws for a long time yet on the big trees. But trimming out a fence line or grove line that’s grown up too big along a field, the Dewalt 12 inch 20v saw I got sure is handy and nice! Can crawl into the tangle of branches and don’t need the saw idling or need to start it when in there. Just push the trigger. They work a little ‘different’ than a gas saw, but they work well. Anything up to arm thick, maybe leg thick that saw does well. Great trimmer.

I’m sure all the name brand electric saws are pretty good, I happen to have a lot of Yellow tools so went with the Dewalt saw as well of course.

Paul

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

You got that right Barney. Like those of us who pass judgement on a social media site to others even though few of us are real experts on anything, let along on cutting down trees, insurance, business costs, safety, etc.

Yet people keep coming back for our "expertise."