ok so tuesday- my husqvarna chainsaw blows up which ive been having problems with for almost a year now, the drive bolt on the left wheel of my stump grinder snapped during a large stump job- leaving me with 1/2 the driving traction to get the the dirt, i tore off the CV boot on my four wheeler, that costs 120 to get fixed, and i turned my back on a 400 dollar customer job because i couldnt stand the guy anymore..... on a day like this i normally go home to a few beers but i managed to deal with it otherwise. ( lady friend )

but the 4wheeler is in the shop, i ordered a new chainsaw i think ill be happier with, i fixed the stump grinder and bid jobs for new customers who hopefully wont be complete idiots.

i should have never left the house tuesday morning!

thanks for letting me rant

 

what kind of chainsaw ya get?

 

well they gave me $ 100 dollars for trade in on the Husqvarna 261 ( 20 inch bar )with a crapped out motor and alot of abuse, and i ordered a 265 Husqvarna with a 24" bar, he is selling it to me without tax and i think at his own cost. i have quite a few family and friends who keep him busy so he is treating me good as far as i know. its gonna cost 569- 100 for trade. he even moved me up from a 20" bar - 24" without extra charge

 

husky makes pretty good saws. what do you do most of your cutting? dropping trees or pruning or just firewood? we got rid of our old stihl 044 last week and got a new one, 18 inch bar and a 24 incher for it too.

 

i need it for dropping trees, cutting them up, cutting down stumps before i grind them, cutting firewood and driving the neighboors crazy.

for climbing i have a Echo c.s. 300- great little saw for only 200 bucks, each time they fall out of a tree they run better.

for pruning i have a 14 foot extendable Stihl powered pole saw. man that takes alot of time and work out of it....stand on the ground and drop 6-8" branches that are 20+ feet up. my brother thought i was nuts for spending $500 on it but her used it one time and fell in love, i think hes buying one soon. tree removal is a family business so i work for my bro and father alot, and do work with my own company.

 

my bro bought that same echo for climbing, he loves it. sure beats an old school pruning saw. you gotta tie it off so you quit dropping it! he does tree work in the winter when he can't do his normal job- likes it alot. i like helping him out too. ive noticed there's decent money in it if you get with the right people who are willing to pay a pretty penny.

 

ah.. the money part... ive made more in one day than i use to in a week and a half at my old job, and i was working full time at $16.00 per hour. i think i can step things up when i get in the phone book this year, then maybe i can get some commercial accounts. im thinking about JUST doing stump removal and lawn care, that is so much safer ( stay on the ground ) less stress, no over head falling objects, but still doing tree removal for people i personally know. plus its easier to give an estimate without over charging,or even worse- undercharging. as for the Echo saw ive only dropped it twice! they are great saws, they cant keep them on the shelves at some places.

 

If there were trees out here on the Great Plains I would have to think about that. It sounds fun. Is your F-250 your work truck for this venture?

 

BobbyL- yep my F250 is my work truck, my daily driver, my shooter to give estimates, and my pickem'up truck for the ladies

i love this truck, for the fuel economy i should have gotten the diesel BUT for the excelleration and easy starts in the winter i love the V-10. it never seems to bog when im towing, but then again i dont pull houses or anything, i just do small jobs.

 

how'd the customer t you off? I know how it goes though, I tried to run my own "business" (didn't have a liscence) last summer with two push mowers, a rake and a weed eater. Always got the crap jobs with grass 2 feet tall (have to weed eat the whole lawn, then the weed eater breaks cus the grass gets tangled in the head or some other thing happens) as well, got the jobs where people didn't rake all year and the town won't pick up their leaves so you have to lift 300 pounds of leaves into the bed of your truck with a sidekick that helps some, but gets a better cut because he's not paying for gas in the truck (couldn't figure a fair way to work it out so I said 50/50 doh!!!!!! Then your pitman arm seal lets go altogether so your spending 8 bucks a day trying to keep the thing filled with fluid . I agree, making more in a day than i usually did in a whole week, not having a boss, and making my own hours was nice, but in the end after all the costs I about broke even lol. I'd like to do it professionally so I don't get screwed and don't hav epeople look at me funny because I have a push mower (this leads to lack of confidence in my work on their part and often lost business) and be a little older so people'd take me serious. Everyone was always happy when we were done though and I found out Asian people pay the best. One guy gave us 200 bucks to trim all his hedges and take away the clippings. If we hadn't been so tired from his request to have us there at 7 am (45 minute drive + eating at Denny's = had to leave at 5:30 am.) We could have gotten it all done in four hours. Split down the middle that's 25 bucks an hour for 2 17 year olds (at that time). Now I'm 18 and work a crappy job at the mall and make 7.50 an hour....it stinks beacuse I don't get any exercise and I don't get to use my truck for it.

 

im a lifeguard making 8 dollars an hour sitting on my @ss for 5 hours a day. i make alot. all of it goes into the truck though. by the way im 17

 

I worked for a gunsmith through my junior year in high school. Depending on the stuff I did I was making up to $40 an hour,utt. It was good stuff until my boss decided to move to alsska.