Cutting and Pruning Extra: Lost and Found

Unfortunately, for many contactors, pruning equipment is usually lost before its needs replacing.
 
Losing equipment only occurs a couple times a year, says Sam Hill, president of Sam Hill Tree Care in Dallas, Texas. For him, pruning shears disappear first. He and his employees spend around $500 a year replacing these missing tools.
 
Pruning shears, loppers and hand saws have the tendency to walk off the job site, says Rob Fanno, owner of Fanno Saw Work, Chico, Calif.

Their compact size also makes it easy for workers to leave them at a job site or lose them among the other tools in the trucks. Fanno calls these particular tools consumables because they are low cost and easier to replace when they disappear.
 
Every company’s policy on lost items is different. Some companies will have the employees reimburse the company for the lost items. Hill’s policy depends on the situation. “We replace tools that wear out,” he says. “But for lost items sometimes we have the employees pitch in and other times they pay for the whole thing.”