Bush Hogging Pricing

[LD1]

Since I have been laid off and not having any luck finding a job I thought about posting an ad on Craigslist for bushhogging services but I'm not sure what/how to charge.

I was hoping someone on here has some experience either doing this or having services performed.

Should I charge per acre or per hour?
And how much to charge per Acre/Hour?

Thanks

 

[DJCohenour]

Should I charge per acre or per hour?
And how much to charge per Acre/Hour?

In my opinion, I think that depends on the job. If it were me, I wouldn't talk money until I looked the job over. An acre of flat pasture is going to be a lot easier to cut than an acre of hillside covered in multifloral roses.

Make sure you build in a little cash into your job price to thoroughly walk the site to check for rocks, dips, holes, chevrolets, or anything else that I have seen people stash in the briars. If you were to hit an unseen obstacle and rip open your mower's gearbox, well it might take six or eight jobs just to pay for the repairs.

You might want to check about some insurance or liability waivers. You never know in today's world and especially in the economy we are in now.

Just some thoughts.

 

[crashz]

I agree - make sure you insure yourself and your new business properly to protect yourself. That really is a priority.

If I was to pick a starting point for pricing, I'd look at my cost for operating per hour first:

- Fuel usage, equipment wear and maintenance
- Payroll (your hourly rate)
- Overhead costs (insurance, billing, paperwork, facilities, etc)
- Mobilization / Demob

These can all be broken down to a hourly cost by analysis. This is the cost at which your business breaks even. Operating below that will cost your business money. If you have to price yourself out so low that you forego a paycheck, you are personally losing money. So I would figure this cost out, then do a little investigating to see waht the local market will bear. If you figure out that your break even cost is $45/hr (with a $10/hr paycheck) and find out that the going rate is $35/hr, you will struggle to find customers or you will be working for nothing.

I did this when I wanted to plow snow for side work. Even with marginal operating costs (as in: I already own the truck and plow), I couldn't get the numbers to work. The reason is that guys are out there in new trucks and plows without insurance and over their head in debt. Or guys are just plowing for beer money. Either way I could not justify it, in fact I would have personally lost money.

I don't want to talk you out of it, but just make you aware that the current going prices may not work out in your favor. Good Luck, and I hope you getting working soon!

 

[LoneCowboy]

apparantly the search function doesn't work here, cuz I post this about once a week.

1. liability insurance.
2. workman's comp/ Unemployment (depending on your state)
3. truck/trailer have to be commercial tags (depends on state), has to have commercial insurance (which is about double personal insurance)
4. If the truck trailer combo is over 10,001lb GVW (clearly it would be) you are now a Commercial Motor Vehicle. in some states (mich for one), you need special licenses and USDOT #. No matter what you need a DOT medical card and drug tests. (although not necessarily a CDL, depends on what it weighs out at and your state).
5. Maintenance.
6. tires (don't shortchange this, I spend a ridiculous amount on tires. One cut rear tire is $800 down the drain)
7. depreciation on your tractor, mower, truck, trailer
8. fuel
9. taxes (you wouldn't believe, some states (NY for one) tax services)
10. business account, EIN #, tax returns, etc (even just a schedule C for a sole proprietor)
11. advertising, business cards, name and phone # on truck (required for a CMV, can be just a magnetic sign)

Beginning to get the picture??????

Oh, and somewhere in there, you're supposed to make a wage.

 

[JJT]

Since I have been laid off and not having any luck finding a job I thought about posting an ad on Craigslist for bushhogging services but I'm not sure what/how to charge.

I was hoping someone on here has some experience either doing this or having services performed.

Should I charge per acre or per hour?
And how much to charge per Acre/Hour?

Thanks

I have a friend with a 5' brush hog, he gets $40/hr on the tractor clock. In my opinion he's working for less than $10/hr, but he's retired and likes his seat time. I have a 6' mower and will do the easy fields for $15/acre, (~$60/wall clock hour), if the fields are rough it's $20/acre.

 

[TerryJ]

This is what I charge. Under 10 acres, priced per job ($100 minimum). 10-30 acres, $30/ac. 30-60 acres, $25/ac. Over 60 acres $20/ac. I've been doing this as a side business for a few years now and thats about the going prices around here. For the small jobs I run my Kioti DK45s with a 7' hog. Medium jobs I run the Case IH JX80 with a 10' 3pt hitch hog. Large jobs get the JX80 with the 15' batwing.

 

[jb62901]

I do this type of work on the side (FEL & Brush Hog) with a BX2360. My charge is $40.00 per hr and charge one way road time. Yours my tiffer....

 

[milkie62]

Large jobs I get $40/hr with a 5' bush hog.Plus $50 to show up.Just did a job today that I do twice a year.It is about 3 acres and takes just under 3hrs and I get $300.I also get $45/hr for sidehill work with my DR brush mower.