Cost of clearing a path?

[Blackhammer]

I am bidding a job that is installing about 10,000 of fence and I am going to rent a PT100 with a mulching head to clear out the fence line the path can be no wider than 10'. assuming I am clearing 2 acres what would you look at making on a fence line clearing job. I dont want to know what you would charge just looking for some profit #'s. I have the equipment rental cost and the labor costs just not sure what is fair for clearing 2 acres. There is a good ammount of trees most under 10" but not too bad should be done in 1-2 days. The contract stipulates that the prime contractor must clear the property no subing out the work. I think my numbers are close but I am curious.

 

[Robbie Hegwood]

That is a slightly tough one. But here's a few numbers I come up wth.

10,000' long x 10' wide= 100,000 sp ft. divided by 43,560 sp ft acre = 2.3 acres
Not knowing how experienced an operator you are let's go conservative. A good skid steer operator does not automatically equal a good mulcher operator, a good start but still a big learning curve.
Usually it takes about 5 hours per acre. Given the newby factor that goes to 6. Then add the material size that would go to 7, then add limited area to manuver and that can easily go to 8 hours per acre. Plus you will have to stop for lunch in there, fuel the tractor and blow out the radiator.
Now if you were charging by the hour it should be near 150.00 per hour. An 8 running hour day should be 1200.00 or by the acre 1000.00 per acre. If you can go faster better for you. If you can get either of those your still good.
That would leave you at 2 days if things go well, 3 days if slow. Have you walked the whole fence line yet?

Now I know you asked profit numbers but you can figure from what I put above and see where you are. I can imagine the rental isn't cheap and I'm surprised you found one for rent. Too bad you can't sub it out beacuse that would be the best for you and a mulcher. A contractor with a large machine could knock that out.

One idea is Oh, that guy running the mulcher works for me. They really can't expect you to literally do ALL the work. See what you think about that.

 

[cbturf]

That is a slightly tough one. But here's a few numbers I come up wth.

10,000' long x 10' wide= 100,000 sp ft. divided by 43,560 sp ft acre = 2.3 acres
Not knowing how experienced an operator you are let's go conservative. A good skid steer operator does not automatically equal a good mulcher operator, a good start but still a big learning curve.
Usually it takes about 5 hours per acre. Given the newby factor that goes to 6. Then add the material size that would go to 7, then add limited area to manuver and that can easily go to 8 hours per acre. Plus you will have to stop for lunch in there, fuel the tractor and blow out the radiator.
Now if you were charging by the hour it should be near 150.00 per hour. An 8 running hour day should be 1200.00 or by the acre 1000.00 per acre. If you can go faster better for you. If you can get either of those your still good.
That would leave you at 2 days if things go well, 3 days if slow. Have you walked the whole fence line yet?

Now I know you asked profit numbers but you can figure from what I put above and see where you are. I can imagine the rental isn't cheap and I'm surprised you found one for rent. Too bad you can't sub it out beacuse that would be the best for you and a mulcher. A contractor with a large machine could knock that out.

One idea is Oh, that guy running the mulcher works for me. They really can't expect you to literally do ALL the work. See what you think about that.

Yeah, what he said, but I would only add that you need to consider the species of wood to be removed also. An oak tree is going to take a LOT longer to grind than a pine tree!

 

[AX MAN]

Robbie gave you some good info. I would add that the mulcher on your rental more than likely wont handle 10" material. You will also need full coverage insurance.

 

[Blackhammer]

Thanks Robbie.

I am a licensed General Contractor. I have a 2 million $ policy that covers equipment owned and rented. I have seen the mulcher in action and this one is no joke. I have also seen several of the mulchers on this site and there is some serious equipment on here as well. I have been running asv's for years and am good at it. There may be a learning curve with the mulcher but I should get it quickly. I want to sub out this aspect of the contract but it is not doable. I kind of figured around a $1000 per acre that is why I wanted to sub out this portion of the contract. The government is a stickler to the rules of the contract. They want to see where I am getting the mulcher from, if I own it, or renting. I have done some of these government contracts before and this in normal. You also need an army of office staff to deal with the paper work. lol
Thanks for the replys and the words of caution.