Appreciation post: the local stump grinder who saved my back

Last Wednesday in Lansing I had a huge cottonwood stump I was dreading. Rented a grinder and spent 4 hours making barely a dent before giving up. Called a guy named Dave who runs a one-man operation and he showed up at 7 AM, finished it in 45 minutes. Charged me $150 cash and left the site cleaner than when he got there. Anyone else got a go-to contractor they call when the job gets too big?

3 comments

3 Comments

roberts.leo1mo ago

Ngl it's always the small one-man operations that deliver the best work. Big companies send out three guys and a massive machine but they're gone by lunch and leave ruts in your lawn. Dave probably takes pride in his work because his name is on the line every single job. Plus $150 cash is a steal for that kind of turnaround, he's probably not paying for a fancy office or a fleet of trucks. Glad you found a good one, those guys are getting harder to find these days.

gavin3651mo ago

Is it really that simple though? I mean, yeah Dave might be great for a quick fix, but what happens when he gets sick or goes on vacation? You're stuck waiting until he's free again because he's the only one who knows his system. Big companies have backup crews and warranties, at least you know if the guy breaks something expensive you can actually get someone to fix it without chasing some dude on Facebook. Plus that $150 cash sounds nice but if Dave doesn't have insurance and his equipment catches your fence on fire, you're the one paying for it, not him. Idk, maybe I've just had bad luck with the "one man band" types, but I've seen way too many of them ghost on warranty work after the check clears.

west.casey1mo ago

Yeah but can we talk about how that "backup crew" is usually some random kid they hired off Craigslist who doesn't care if they break your sprinkler lines? Give me Dave who actually knows what he's doing any day.

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