Mowing Pipeline / Utility Right of Way Pricing

[paulfun9]

No apartment owner has access without notice, anywhere. 24 to 48 hours notice is legally required.

Not sure you have that right!

 

[dougtrr2]

If I were the contractor, I would have called the sheriff myself. ROW permission is just that, you don't have to be notified in advance of anything. Any surface damage to your property might be paid for, but you cant refuse entry by the pipeline /electric/water etc company to suit your notion at the time or require written notification of entry. Yes, you could have called the sheriff but likely you would have been arrested, not the contractor. Legally, the ROW is no longer your property but has been leased to company xxxx, although most companies let the land owner use it for pasture, farming etc. but should they need to access it, any damage to crops is usually not recoverable by the lessee. The lease holder (company) has rights same as any other lease holder ( think apartment dweller)to freely access their property at anytime without prior notice.

I think you missed the point. I fully agree that the pipeline company or its duly hired contractors have the right to work on the right of way. However, I have nine acres of forest and when a guy without any documentation shows up in a ratty pickup say he is here to cut trees on the pipe line I don't think I am out of line to get some proof of who he is and his right to be there. Additionally in my case the pipeline company does not own or lease the land, they only have an easement to maintain it. The definitive answer to any of these issues lie in the legal documents for that specific property. I was just trying to give the guy a heads up on potential issues. Taking the advice from here without verifying the actual documents he is dealing with could get him into trouble that could have been avoided.

Doug in SW IA

 

[aspg4]

Guys thanks for all this feed back. I guess I can also ask....what's the best tractor and bat wing for this. I been stuck on kubota. ......... Let the shameless brand loyalty displays begin LOL

I talked to a lady once that had a company that did this type of work, and asked her if they used Kubotas, and she no that they had tried them, but that they would just not hold up to that type work. She said they had tried the kubotas twice because they liked the dealer. Said they used John Deere. Might try to find someone somewhere that does this type work, and see what they use.

 

[OkieDave]

No apartment owner has access without notice, anywhere. 24 to 48 hours notice is legally required.

Not sure you have that right!

Even if he does, an easement is not the same as a lease. They will have different rights, both of which may differ by jurisdiction. I've never seen a mineral or pipeline/utility easement that required the easement holder to give notice of entry to the holder of the dominant estate, though, and there are a lot of mineral/pipeline easements here in central Oklahoma. So long as the utility company has the right to maintain (i.e. mow) the property, and especially if it has a duty to do so, any restrictions on entry would have to be written into the easement; otherwise, absent specific statutes to the contrary, the utility (or its agents) can enter without restriction for that purpose.

 

[newbury]

<snip>
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.

You need to do some research on public records. Can't you access past contracts and see what the winning bid was?

,
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

You need to add overhead to the PD rates or you are shafting yourself.

The contact has a six month window to complete the 6000 acres. It also requires "hand trimming" fences and obstructions...likes the signs in the row as well as replacing signs as required. Any areas up to one half mile long that has to be "reclaimed" is left alone and not deducted from bid, over that they adjust or subtract money for contract value. That work is the contracted to someone with that equipment. Same with downed trees. I have the equipment for that so I thought that may be a selling point to the utility...yeah I'll charge extra but I am already there so there is a savings to them and an extra income to me.
As to the milage.. I may be off base here but 6000 acres is 6000 acres no real difference if it is square or 100 foot by a......uh. ..... Longways. I do get that narrower will take some time more due to obsticals...gates and such. Pleas tell me if I am missing something as I can't see it adding more than 20% to the total time. <snip>.

It makes a heck of a difference. It will take a lot longer to mow edges and hand trim than just barreling down the middle. Your looking at your "Longways" being about 500 miles long if it's 100 foot wide. That's a LOT of edge.

Have you mapped it out on Google Earth?

 

[4570Man]

How do you get to and from your equipment on a job this long? How do you get fuel to your equipment? I'm thinking a pickup truck is the likely solution to both questions, but what about the time that takes and what if it's not passable by truck? If it's as long as distances mentioned earlier, do you plan on shipping your equipment home?

 

[4570Man]

I talked to a lady once that had a company that did this type of work, and asked her if they used Kubotas, and she no that they had tried them, but that they would just not hold up to that type work. She said they had tried the kubotas twice because they liked the dealer. Said they used John Deere. Might try to find someone somewhere that does this type work, and see what they use.

I've seen a lot of New Holland doing the roadside mowing around here. Deere is a distant second.

 

[AGRIMAN]

I'm wondering If you have actually looked at any of it? Perhaps it's a fairly well maintained line, but most of the power line ROW I seen are not. Other than the areas where the land is being farm or used, it's normally over grown with good size trees and thick brush, not something I would want to be cutting with a bat wing.

Most of the people i know use tractors outfitted with full cages, 30 ply tires and brown tree cutters. But as I said maybe this line is different, it not you may want to look at the Woods Boss.

Home

Sorry, I tried to fix the name on the above link. It does work.

 

[reggie717]

I'm wondering If you have actually looked at any of it? Perhaps it's a fairly well maintained line, but most of the power line ROW I seen are not. Other than the areas where the land is being farm or used, it's normally over grown with good size trees and thick brush, not something I would want to be cutting with a bat wing.

Most of the people i know use tractors outfitted with full cages, 30 ply tires and brown tree cutters. But as I said maybe this line is different, it not you may want to look at the Woods Boss.

Home

Sorry, I tried to fix the name on the above link. It does work.

Thanks for the link, I live in Alabama so going to Atlanta to check out Wood Boss is no big deal.