Small easement and ROW clearing job procurement

[Cooter Brown]

There are quite a few of you who have pretty impressive mulching operations and while it looks enticing too do what you guys do I doubt I would ever get into it at the level you guys are at. I recently won a bid too do a small clean up mulching job on a small property and I am finding there may be a hole in the market for my equipment and jobs too big for normal maint crews and too small for consideration by most mulching contractors. Of course most of this will be for local counties and I am working on finding as many bids as possible and was curious if there are any tips that any of you are willing too share. All work is done with compact equipment and I am limited too 6 inch and smaller stuff so I have no aspirations of this being a full time gig but it will be a perfect compliment too my existing work and considering I am doing work that will fall between the crack so too speak I am finding that the profit margins are excellent so far on the jobs I have bid on and been awarded. I really enjoy this kind of work and hope it is something that I can continue too do but only time will tell. Thanks in advance!

 

[Ken45101]

FWIW, I've seen the local rural electric coop using contractors (I assume) with CTL mulchers for ROW clearance.

 

[Cooter Brown]

FWIW, I've seen the local rural electric coop using contractors (I assume) with CTL mulchers for ROW clearance.

I am contacting my local coop's and I hope that will lead too some work. Thanks!

 

[Ken45101]

The same coop also used a helicopter saw for trimming branches, probably out of your price range:

 

[yellowdogsvc]

There are quite a few of you who have pretty impressive mulching operations and while it looks enticing too do what you guys do I doubt I would ever get into it at the level you guys are at. I recently won a bid too do a small clean up mulching job on a small property and I am finding there may be a hole in the market for my equipment and jobs too big for normal maint crews and too small for consideration by most mulching contractors. Of course most of this will be for local counties and I am working on finding as many bids as possible and was curious if there are any tips that any of you are willing too share. All work is done with compact equipment and I am limited too 6 inch and smaller stuff so I have no aspirations of this being a full time gig but it will be a perfect compliment too my existing work and considering I am doing work that will fall between the crack so too speak I am finding that the profit margins are excellent so far on the jobs I have bid on and been awarded. I really enjoy this kind of work and hope it is something that I can continue too do but only time will tell. Thanks in advance!

There is a place for what you are describing. I fit into that in many ways though I can do some larger trees. I like to fix the mess that some of the bigger equipment makes. It's a little tougher to bid since the folks have generally already spent a fortune and either weren't happy or the contractor never finished. Having smaller equipment helps leave a smaller footprint but everything takes longer. Even though I'm trying to hit the in-between market, I always wish I had more horsepower.

Good luck and let us know how it works for you.

 

[TomSeller]

The same coop also used a helicopter saw for trimming branches, probably out of your price range:
<img src="http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=343226"/>
<img src="http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=343225"/>

If the saw isn't out range, the helicopter might be. Wow, I never heard of such a thing and I am wondering how well it works along power lines, I am assuming that was what it was made for.

 

[TomSeller]

Saw this image on a google search. It looks like the helicopter saw mounted on an excavator.

 

[Ken45101]

If the saw isn't out range, the helicopter might be. Wow, I never heard of such a thing and I am wondering how well it works along power lines, I am assuming that was what it was made for.

I had no idea either until I saw it happening a mile away from home! There are a bunch of youtube videos, search on "helicopter tree trimming". Here is one:

 

[300UGUY]

I heard that a chopper about that size, used for drug surveillence, cost about 2K per hour. That saw looks like it would be prtty expensive to operate. Unless you really couldn't access the trees from the ground, it looks like a expensive solution. But it is kinda cool!!

 

[Ken45101]

I heard that a chopper about that size, used for drug surveillence, cost about 2K per hour. That saw looks like it would be prtty expensive to operate. Unless you really couldn't access the trees from the ground, it looks like a expensive solution. But it is kinda cool!!

We had a crew clearing the power lines on our farm last winter. It's a slow process when they have to rope up and climb each tree. Yes. the cost of the 'copter is high, but what's the cost of a five man crew that takes ten times as long?