That chat with a retired climber changed how I bid removals

Met an old timer at the coffee shop in Lancaster last Tuesday, been running rigs for 40 years before he hung up his spurs. He asked what I charge for a big oak removal and I told him my usual number. He just laughed and said I was pricing the tree, not the risk. Said he lost a fence line and a shed door once because he underbid the lean and had to swing it blind. That hit different because I did the same thing three years ago, cost me $1,800 in damage and a pissed off homeowner. Now I walk every angle twice before I quote, and I add a buffer for the stuff you can't see from the ground. Has anyone else had a job where the lean or the rot made you rethink your whole pricing setup?

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king.dakota12d agoMost Upvoted

And that fence line story reminds me of the time I watched my cousin take out a shed with a pine tree that looked fine from the street.