Mowing Pipeline / Utility Right of Way Pricing

   / Pipeline / Utility Right of Way Pricing #1  

reggie717

New member
Joined
Apr 14, 2017
Messages
17
Location
st clair county alabama
Tractor
kubota svl95-2s
Not sure if this is the right place to post this, but here it goes.

We are in the process of starting a company with the thought of doing small tract clearing, Brush mowing and mulching etc.... I have an opportunity to bid a large acreage of Pipeline / Utility ROW, and frankly am a bit overwhelmed thinking about it. It is for 4000 - 8000 acres and must be done in a six month period.

We Own a new Kubota SBVL 95-S2 HFC, 6' tree slasher rotary mower (up to 7" trees) and several other tools. will be purchasing a loftness or fecon mulcher this month. We also have a ZTR, 4x4 crew cab ATV and several chain saws and trimmers.

So first, I know we will need a Tractor with a 12' to 15' rotary or flail mower, but what other equipment might one need to be successful?

With 4 men, and the equipment above how many acres per day is reasonable under average terrain, some hills, some flat and a little steep.

any thoughts as to pricing per acre??

Thanks for any help, just a new guy trying to get into a different line of work, I am tired of chasing shutdowns in oil refineries.
 
   / Pipeline / Utility Right of Way Pricing #2  
You need to figure out your operating costs. Fuel, insurance, maintnance, payments, repairs, hourly wages for you & your crew. If you don't have all that sorted out, you will more than likely end up paying more to do work for somebody than you are making from them.
 
   / Pipeline / Utility Right of Way Pricing
  • Thread Starter
#3  
I have all those numbers pretty well sorted out. I was more curious as to industry averages of price per acre, I do understand each job can be vastly different thus cost is different. in that same vein I was wondering a good average of acres per day. There will be some weed trimmer cutting that has to happen, that is the reason for the extra men.

I don't want to leave money on the table, and sure don't want to lose my shirt.
 
   / Pipeline / Utility Right of Way Pricing #4  
With running a batwing, you can get 8-10 acres per hour depending on how fast you and run and obstacles. Are you bidding on maintaining the 4000-8000 of ROW or clearing them for a future line? If just maintenance, you could get a lot done with a couple armored up tractors and a big nasty batwing. Don't skimp on the underbelly and operator station shielding either along with foam in the tires and a winch. Depending on what you spec out some of those shredders are good for up to 4" and would be much faster than messing with a mulcher

Brett
 
   / Pipeline / Utility Right of Way Pricing #5  
Sort of a side note, but I would check to see how the property owners on the route are notified. I have a pipeline that crosses my property and I refused access to a contractor until I was notified in writing by the pipeline company. I am very protective of my land and who I allow access. The contractor, who was very much small time operator, tried to tell me "All you have to do is call the pipeline company". My response was " I don't have to call anyone except the sheriff. " The whole situation was handled poorly. Just giving you a heads up of a problem that could delay you.

Doug in SW IA
 
   / Pipeline / Utility Right of Way Pricing #6  
Reggie isn't a contract that size just a little too big of a "first bite"? I'm not discounting your skill's or abilities' but to miss the mark (pricing) on a job that big could be fatal, so price it HIGH. Better to loose this one but still be on their "vendor list" for the future. Good luck Reggie:thumbsup:
How does this contract have a 4000 acre range (4000 to 8000 ac.)?
 
   / Pipeline / Utility Right of Way Pricing #7  
I'm watching 2 large batwings mow a pipeline right of way. They went about 5 miles in a day. It looks like they went back and forth 4 times. They have to stop and open gates a lot making sure cows don't escape and then it rained and they had to shut down for two days so they would not put ruts in the owners field. How many miles of pipeline is the contract for? Will you have to find overnight accommodations for the crew?
 
   / Pipeline / Utility Right of Way Pricing
  • Thread Starter
#8  
Yeah as I said I find the prospect a bit overwhelming, and most likely will continue on my job until I am better skilled in this. I have been working for about six months researching and slowly buying equipment, I work in refineries and honestly it is hard to walk away from the money I make doing it. But I want to work closer to home and own a business. I thought this may be a good opportunity as it has a six month window to do like 6000 acres.

But having a good idea of what can be done is in no way close to the knowledge of having done a thing....thus these posts. I really have no idea as to what companies pay per acre for a service such as this. I do have a pretty good idea of what it will cost per hour of machine time... Fuel, insurance, maintinance , wages taxes licenses...on and on.

I had figured averaging 6-8 acres an hour... Rustyshakleford says 8-10 above.....thanks Brett.

So if it is like 15 an acre... I'm losing based on the other requirements of the contract...hand mowing ... Side mowing as needed.. Signage upkeep....

I had read on o post somewhere that like in Alabama 42 to 45 an acre is about rate for ROW mowing. That seemed high to me...but I have nothing to compare it to as I Have no real acces to any verifiable info on the subject. Again...thus this post.

Thanks for all te replies fellas. Certainly appreciate them and any others that may come.
 
   / Pipeline / Utility Right of Way Pricing
  • Thread Starter
#9  
Reggie isn't a contract that size just a little too big of a "first bite"? I'm not discounting your skill's or abilities' but to miss the mark (pricing) on a job that big could be fatal, so price it HIGH. Better to loose this one but still be on their "vendor list" for the future. Good luck Reggie:thumbsup:
How does this contract have a 4000 acre range (4000 to 8000 ac.)?


It is 6000.... I was not sure of acreage earlier but it is 6000 in three states....
 
   / Pipeline / Utility Right of Way Pricing
  • Thread Starter
#10  
I'm watching 2 large batwings mow a pipeline right of way. They went about 5 miles in a day. It looks like they went back and forth 4 times. They have to stop and open gates a lot making sure cows don't escape and then it rained and they had to shut down for two days so they would not put ruts in the owners field. How many miles of pipeline is the contract for? Will you have to find overnight accommodations for the crew?
,


Not sure on mileage of row. It is 6000 acres. In three states so accommodations and food ect are one of the items I added to projection. I just used the GSA Per Diem table for meals and lodging to get a figure and calculated as a straight pass through cost
 
 
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