It Beggars belief!!!

[artme]

Been in dispute with a neighbour over a tree. quotes for removal range from $800 to $3600!!! :o

[kiwigeo]

$800 is cheap but I'd be checking that the operator has all the appropriate insurances and I'd also talk to a couple of his/her previous clients.

[ian]

does $3600 include on-site chipping of the tree?

[artme]

Should read ''Ït Beggars Belief!"' 'puter Brown Thumbs has struck again!:B

The $800 quote comes from a fellow doing work for the local council so I have assumed his ins., etc is up to date but will check before decision is made.

The two highest quotes are definitely up to scratch with ins. etc.

The highest quote includes onsite chipping. The others will simply cart the stuff away.

On site chipping or not, this is a mystery to me as 6 months ago the same firm quoted $880 to do about 3/4 of the same job.

[mark david]

What kind of tree is it ?
Might it be viable for slabbing,that way is has some value.

[ian]

The $800 quote comes from a fellow doing work for the local council so I have assumed his ins., etc is up to date but will check before decision is made.

The two highest quotes are definitely up to scratch with ins. etc.

The highest quote includes onsite chipping. The others will simply cart the stuff away.

On site chipping or not, this is a mystery to me as 6 months ago the same firm quoted $880 to do about 3/4 of the same job.
Last year I had a dead tree removed from my back yard. The cost (very inner city, difficult access) was $1600, without chipping. I was able to dispose of the tree via my local council's green waste collection service. On site chipping would have added nearly $2000 to the cost -- which is the day rate for the truck, towed chipper and 3 blokes, plus tipping fees. So I'm not surprised by your quote.

Chipping a tree's trunk is a whole extra level of cost compared to chipping leaves and branches.



But why the whole tree?
I thought you just wanted to get rid of the branches overhanging the site for your garage / shed.

[Bedford]

Should read ''Ït Beggars Belief!"' 'puter Brown Thumbs has struck again!:B

:fixed:

[artme]

The tree is a peltophorum pterocarpum with several trunks branching out at about 1.5M above ground level.

Not suitable for slabbing. The wood splits within seconds of cutting as the neighbour removed one large limb
and cut that into sections. I noticed he has it stacked for firewood!!

This tree has been a pest to us. It is at least 13M tall and probably closer to 15M. The thing spreads 5.7M into
our property - very close to 25% of the property width - and an aerial photo from council shows that 50% or
more of the the canopy is on our side of the fence. Simply trimming to the fence line will not solve all the
problems it causes so removal is, somewhat sadly, the only viable option.

[ian]

according to Dr Google
"The wood (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood) has a wide variety of uses, including cabinet-making" (McCann, Charles. 1966. 100 Beautiful Trees of India. (3/ed) Taraporevala, Mumbai. Pg 259)


Given the price difference between trimming and removing (including chipping) I think I'd be opting for trimming

[artme]

Thing is once cut and trimmed this tree will sprout again and grow very rapidly.

This means that we will soon be faced the same problem we are wanting to eliminate.

We do not want the tree simply trimmed for this reason.

A complete felling and removal will only cost $800 according to the lowest quote Felling
and chipping will be $3600 according to the highest quote.

[elanjacobs]

:fixed:
I need that on a T-shirt :rolleyes:

[Bushmiller]

Arthur

Shame you are not closer to Millmerran. Our local tree lopper charged me $600 to cut down two large trees and one small tree. They were right next to the house and about twice as high. He arrived late at about midday and was finished by 1700. That was with me carting away the tree.

If your bloke is removing the tree too, I'd say that is a very good price. Just double check his insurance is current.

Regards
Paul

[62woollybugger]

About 10 years ago we had a large scribbly gum removed from our yard & I think it was around $2k back then. They were one of the cheaper ones because they took it all away, they sold what they could for firewood & everything else went through the shredder, which they sold for garden mulch.

[Wood Collector]

The main reason that tree removal costs so much is that youhave insurance that covers the business and the people on the job, then youhave the consumable products and maintenance of the equipment and wages and soforth. The other reason that some treesand moderately sized shrubs cant be pruned back to the boundary is that indoing so it can unbalance the tree significantly and the new epicormics shootsthat come off the branches are weekly attached so if they get to be any sizethey can break off in storms and cause a lot more damage than the originalbranches.

Cheers Pat

[artme]

The main reason that tree removal costs so much is that youhave insurance that covers the business and the people on the job, then youhave the consumable products and maintenance of the equipment and wages and soforth. The other reason that some treesand moderately sized shrubs cant be pruned back to the boundary is that indoing so it can unbalance the tree significantly and the new epicormics shootsthat come off the branches are weekly attached so if they get to be any sizethey can break off in storms and cause a lot more damage than the originalbranches.

Cheers Pat


Got all that Par but it still does not explain the disparity in the quotes.

[Wood Collector]

It also depends on how much work the business has to if they will bid high or low for a job, and if that they think that they think that they can charge more for a job and still get it. sorry that I can't explain it better but it just depends on how much profit and how big the company is to what the price is.

[ian]

Got all that Par but it still does not explain the disparity in the quotes.I'll have a go

Tree Lopper A
Self employed, as is their off-sider.
In terms of "wages" is paid what is left over at the end of the week.
Makes no provision in their job costing for non work days, paid holidays, inability to work due to illness or superannuation.
Likewise makes no provision for replacing their tools of trade -- chain saws, ladders, truck, etc. -- doesn't charge travel time.
Will dispose of the tree by dumping what they can at the local council tip and burning the rest. Expects that the customer will keep the bulk of the tree for firewood.
Job is costed something like this...
It'll take a whole day.
$200 to pay the off-sider
$150 for Tip fees
$50 for fuel and consumables
$400 retained by tree lopper as "profit"

Total $800.


Tree Lopper B
a proper company structure
employees work for wages and are paid for public holidays, annual leave, sick leave, superannuation, plus any other entitlements. Collectively these are known as employee overheads
each employee's costs also include an amount to cover the company expenses -- insurance, owner's salary, etc -- sometimes called general overhead
company makes provision for replacing / maintaining the tools of the business, including the truck.
company owner and his wife (and some of the kids) are each paid a salary by the business plus a dividend (= retained profit) at the end of the year.
all of the tree will be chipped on site
Job is costed something like this ...
$2000 -- day rate for four employees, including their employee overheads
$800 -- day rate for the company's truck, towed chipper, saws, etc -- covers the use, maintenance and depreciation of these items
$500 -- general overhead for four employees
$150 -- travel costs
$150 -- Tip fees

Total $3600


At the end of the day, it comes down to how many people will be on site, how much (and how) they are paid, and whether you are dealing with a company or sole trader.