More crap found in a stump!

[J Beyer]

Found some interesting objects in a stump yesterday. Nothing out of
the ordinary, that is if you call fired shotshells and trailer hitch-
balls ordinary. No wonder my chians dulled so fast. The dirt in the
center of the stump had a little to do with it, but hitting metal
really kills the chains.

Would you guys charge a little extra, after telling the customer your
charge for cutting the stump to ground level, for having to sharpen
two chains twice each for hitting the unknown foreign objects? What about adding a fee to cover the risk factor of hitting an unfired shotshell?I
knew about the dirt but it was impossible to detect the empty
shotshells and hitch-ball. I also found pieces of glass about the
size of a quarter in the center of the stump.

The stump in question was 3ft high, now it is 2ft tall at 6ft
diameter. What would you guys charge for cutting this big stump to
ground level?

Jeffrey

[Tom]

Jeffrey,
I think your request for damaged equipment in cutting a stump is well founded.  Over the years, people leave things leaning beside a tree or throw trash to the base of it while cleaning the yard.  Those things eventually are overgrown.  When one offers to cut a stump, it should be understood that he is cutting wood, not metal.  I think the dirt is something that a chainsaw man should accept, but not the foreign, manmade stuff.

In custom sawing, I don't charge for wear and tear.  It is a cost of doing business.  If I hit a foreign object that damages my blade when cutting a yard tree, then the customer has bought it......or at least part of it.

You can always forgive a debt if you so desire but it's hard to charge after-the-fact, so, include this clause in your price. "The Customer will be responsible for damaged chains due to foreign material inside of the tree up-to the cost of each new chain.  Filing of damaged chains will be accessed at the equivelant of $50 per hour."

Something like that will cover you and still allow you to give them a deal if they are good folks.  Make sure they understand you gave them a deal, if you do,  or it won't count.

[Kevin]

I wouldn`t take a stump that size to the ground  for anything less than $100.

[Bro. Noble]

We cut a lot of trees off low (ones that are in pastureland) and then grind the stumps.  I would charge $50 per hour right from the start if I were going to do it for someone else.  It's hard work and hard on a chain even if you don't hit metal.  Several times we have run into rocks that were surrounded by wood 6 or 8 inches above ground level.  It doesn't have to be a huge tree for this to occur.  

Anyone who reccomends saving old worn out chains to do this hasn't cut many stumps.  I want something that will really cut because it's a lot of work.  A lot of times I have used more than a tank of fuel in an 066 getting one stump cut.

Letting them set for even a year makes sawing and grinding go a lot faster.

Noble

[J Beyer]

Thanks guys, I'll work on my contract for future jobs to include this clause.  I'll see if the landowner will be willing to work out the foreign object problems.  I've encountered many rotted logs in the past, just never anything like empty shells.  I saved the shells to show the guy.

Jeffrey