How to charge for stump grinding?

[TerryJ]

Hey guys, I'm new here so bear with me. Here's the deal.........I own a small land management buisness that does bushogging, clearing, light dozer work, gravel work etc. I bought a 3pt Woods stump grinder for my Kioti DK45S to do some work on some land that I had timbered. After the work is done I would like to intergrate the stump grinding into the business as another service offered. Here's the question...........how much should I charge per stump after fuel and time are figured in? I know it depends on how many stumps are at one job, but I am looking for a good starting point on how to charge for this service. Thanks for any and all replys. BTW this is an awesome forum!

 

[schmism]

per inch-inch of diameter.

a 6 inch trunk cut flush to the ground takes a lot less work than a 36" stump 8" tall.

so inch-inch... 6" stump 6-0 36" stump 36-8

 

[LD1]

About two months ago a guy I know had a tree taken down and we were cutting up the firewood. Big old maple. He said he was having the stump taken out. It was cut flush (or fairly close) to the ground. He said the guy charges $100 per foot of stump. It was 36" across so it cost him $300.

 

[daBear]

Ouch, that's high for around here. The going rate is $20 per stump providing you have at least 5. That's as of two months ago, maybe its more today with gas prices. I recently had about 20 stumps from 6" to 30" which were flush cut to the ground, done for a flat $300. That's why I can't even begin to justify my own stump grinder.

 

[AlanB]

At the end of the day, you will need to be competitive with the others in your area if you want it to keep going.

In my area, stump grinding was not paying what it cost to keep the equipment going for me, so we stopped.

I would talk to folks and see what others are charging in your area, and be aware that in my opinion, that is one of the hardest on equipment tasks out there.

Good luck making it work.

 

[Farwell]

The guy I hire for grinding my stumps has a minimum charge depending on the tree stump size. I had him grind 40 stumps a few years back and it cost me $400. He has a very large hydraulic powered grinder that will grind the stump down 18 inches into the ground.

 

[BruceWard]

The price here is $10 a stump with a 4 or 5 stump minimum.

 

[AndyMA]

The price here is $10 a stump with a 4 or 5 stump minimum.

I don't know how anybody could survive that low. Where are you located?

Andy

 

[ToadHill]

It is about $75 per stump in this area if you are only doing 1 stump. More than 1 and the price goes down to about $55 per stump.

 

[BruceWard]

I don't know how anybody could survive that low. Where are you located?

Andy

Located in central Arkansas. I called a guy last year who came to our neighborhood. He took care of three stumps in my yard for $40, 10 in another neighbors yard for $100 and picked up $40 more from a third neighbor.

 

[dqdave1]

Around here; the charge is normally by the inch; they measure the widest part of the stump and charge anywhere from $1.00 an inch to $1.75 per inch. Deals done when you have more than one stump.

 

[midstatetiresystemstx]

$65.00 per hour seems like a good starting point, 85 and above are ideal depending on your location though. Don't forget that u can add fuel charges, soil & terrain variances, travel, & whatever other factors are in your area.

 

[greggh]

$65.00 per hour seems like a good starting point, 85 and above are ideal depending on your location though. Don't forget that u can add fuel charges, soil & terrain variances, travel, & whatever other factors are in your area.

Boy this is starting to sound like the utility companies...

 

[jsboening]

"Note to self. Never start a stump grinding business in Arkansas."

 

[Treemonkey1000]

I have a guy that is going to grind 14 stumps for some very large tree's at my Church. He charges by the inch as well. His estimate was almost $1300. By the inch seems to be the norm here in the Seattle area. If it weren't for the fact of another piece of equipment to buy and maintain I would add that to doing tree work. There are enough Stump grinders in the Yellow Pages so ask them how they charge.

 

[AndyMA]

Years ago when there were very few stump grinders out there and my Dad was in the nursery business, the charge was $1.00 per inch-inch. In other words if you had a 30 inch diameter stump and wanted to take it down 10 inches it was 30 times 1 x 10 or $300 for one stump. Prices have come down a lot since stump grinders are now so inexpensive and there are so many around. The problem with charging so little is that rhe maintaince on them can be high if you keep busting carbide teeth.

Andy

 

[debushau]

I had a stump ground out in suburban NJ a while ago, it cost about $350 for a 36 inch stump so that's in line with the $10 an inch rate.

 

[Sackett2]

dad and the neighbors just has some done- averaged about 100$ a stump, but the calculations were by the inch. stumps were 18"-30 inches across

 

[tb8100]

any of you guys operate near the DFW area? We have some 6-8" stumps we need to grind up!

 

[bandit99]

I know this an old thread but I had an Rayco RG stump grinder that cost $39500 with custom trailer. You can't run something like that and make money with it unless you have a major storm. I had a 54 inch Rock Maple that took me 4 hrs. to grind with a telephone pole, sidewalk and steep slope to contend with. Cost the City $600.
I found it was best to look at the job. If I told someone $120 an hour they would choke! They didn't realize I could do a large pine stump (36") in a half an hour.
My first job I figured I'd be 1 1/2 days doing all the large stumps on an estate so I quoted $140 an hour saying it would at least a day. Took me 4 hrs and the guy was happy as heck!
All depends on the size of your machine. If you got a small machine you won't be able work as fast. A powerful machine will do 10 times the work of one of those little ones that look like a rototiller.