Rotary Cutter Acreage per hour question

[Arc weld]

I've done some landscaping and commercial mowing. When cutting tall grass and weeds in a field you've never been in, all bets are off. Mowing a lawn is a lot easier to give a firm price. You can see everything. I didn't have too many problems charging by the hour. If you have the right equipment for the job, then it's fair for both parties. Very similar to drilling post holes with a skid steer. The place I rented the auger from is very experienced in skid steers and they said to charge by the hour for post holes. You can seriously under price yourself if you charge by the hole because of soil conditions. Sometimes you don't make much because you can do 50 holes an hour but the customer is paying a fair price for your time. You charge by the hole and get sticky clay that has to be manually cleaned off or the auger gets stuck and you might be lucky to get a 10 holes an hour. With mowing a strange field you never know what to expect either. Once you've cut it, then you can give a more firm price. Do you think the customer is going to tell you or remember the roll of barb wire or big rock laying in the tall weeds from 10 years ago. A lot of custom work is by the hour to make it fair for both parties. What if you cut the field and have to go over it a second time because it was too tall to do in one pass. I always walk through a field to see what I might encounter but if it's 1/2 an acre or more, there's no way to see everything that might cause problems.

 

[irsmun]

I agree Arc Weld. The problem with bidding by the hour (unless the customer expects it) is that it can create distrust. I mean, its like I have a blank check in my hand to write on his account. Even if I am trustworthy and quick, the client doesn't know that, if we have no history together. Better a happy repeat customer than an unhappy one. I think the only professional way to handle it is to sharpen my estimation skills and give the landowner a solid number. Even still I would generally bid an initial cut alone and quote a set recut price afterwards.

Thanks for everyone's input. I am going to use the 3 acres an hour as a general rule for estimation purposes on the 8' cutter. As an aside to the question I had about HP ratings on the cutter, an email from the dealer said it was rated at 35-65 tractor HP not PTO HP. That means this tractor is sufficient for this cutter in tractor HP and it does meet the minimun for PTO HP as well.

 

[Complete Turf Care]

I do some commercial cutting with my tractor. I have a New Holland TC45 which is 45 hp, with a 6' cutter. I would say that I average about 1 acre per hour. Sometimes more, and a few times less.

I think that 3 acres an hour with your cutter might be a little high.

What I have done with new customers to help me get the job is I will give them a maximum price.

For example, if I think the job will take 10 hours, I tell them $650 maximum, even if it takes me 12 hours, and, if it takes less than 10, I will only charge for the actual hours. Sometimes the customer will go along with this plan.

I have been doing this for a living for 11 years now, so I've gotten pretty good at it.

Also, keep in mind that when cutting a place that has not been cut in a few years, there will almost always be something hidden out there.

 

[irsmun]

Thank you CompleteLawnCare. I think thats valuable advice. There is no substitute for experience. I'm on first year of experience with the bushhogging (what do you really call it? Bush Hog is a brand). I will learn fast.

 

[Complete Turf Care]

Thank you CompleteLawnCare. I think thats valuable advice. There is no substitute for experience. I'm on first year of experience with the bushhogging (what do you really call it? Bush Hog is a brand). I will learn fast.

Glad to help steer you in a direction. I remember when I first started, I had a really hard time getting anyone to give me any advise.

"Bushhogging" is probably the most commonly used term, but I've heard it called 'clipping' and 'shredding' too

 

[sd455dan]

I've done some landscaping and commercial mowing. When cutting tall grass and weeds in a field you've never been in, all bets are off. With mowing a strange field you never know what to expect either. everything that might cause problems.

Isn't that the truth, we did a 12 acre?? property that had not been mowed in over three years (also new field to us)

We hit large pieces of broken concrete, and at least 5 truck tires ( Now those do make a racket) and then the rotted fence posts and 6 x6 s-also lots of tansy-

I wish we were averaging the MPH that most are talking about but for us it didn't happen... even though we used 2 tractors with 5 and 6 foot brush hogs . and @ or above 40 hp ptos

this was our last mow, I think the biggest problem is mowing a (NEW to you field) and any that have not been mowed at least once every year. my:2cents:

 

[ksbrdmkr]

Think about double mowing really rough fields. hitting the steel post, fire wood, rocks and hedge post slip out from under the mower better with a tall cut. If the customer wants a lower neater job charge for it.

 

[Arc weld]

You could give a maximum price or you could have a cost plus contract to cover any hidden obstacles that will slow you down or damage your equipment. If I was looking at cutting a field that hadn't been cut for a year or more and the customer wasn't at all flexible on the price or was trying to dictate what I should charge, no matter what, I might walk away from the job. In my experience most people have enough common sense to realize it's hard to give an exact cost for a job they've neglected for a long time.

 

[Chilly807]

This thread reminds me why I don't mow for money, unless it's a friend that just wants to cover my costs on fuel.
Sean

 

[classacthollow]

That program (freemaptools.com) is great! thanks for the posting, I just mapped out all my pastures and it told me a lot about my farm.

8ft pull-type and 64pto figure around 3/3.5acres,an HR,as stated above is pretty close,in good conditions. I use freemaptools.com" area calculator",type in your city state(may take zip),then hit the sat.view(zoom in),mark your pins(gives you acreage),cause the pasture is always smaller when you ask.

 

[foreman Etexas]

Isn't that the truth, we did a 12 acre?? property that had not been mowed in over three years (also new field to us)

We hit large pieces of broken concrete, and at least 5 truck tires ( Now those do make a racket) and then the rotted fence posts and 6 x6 s-also lots of tansy-

I wish we were averaging the MPH that most are talking about but for us it didn't happen... even though we used 2 tractors with 5 and 6 foot brush hogs . and @ or above 40 hp ptos

this was our last mow, I think the biggest problem is mowing a (NEW to you field) and any that have not been mowed at least once every year. my:2cents:

3acres an HOUR,in good conditions,that my friend is not good conditions. I would have left it laying

 

[irsmun]

Thanks for all the warnings...got it. New cut = lots of unknowns. I think thats a given. Its seems the nature of this business. That cannot make it not need to be done. It can dictate the pricing. I think if you are going to do it professionally then you need to be all in. That means having proper insurance, and cash on hand for repairs. I do understand not wanting to do it with your "personal" tractor. I don't own my tractor, my company does and he is bent on starting this. :laughing:

With that said, the technique I plan to use is to run the FEL or grapple low to hopefully hit hidden things first. I am not sure of the problems with this technique. Most people I see doing it either don't have a loader on or its up.

 

[LD1]

Well, I am a little late, so forgive me if I say something someone else already said, but I'll give you my :2cents: based on my experience doing commercial mowing.

As mentioned, TOO many variables. I have done jobs that I cant muster more than an acre an hour with my 6' cutter. And other jobs I have been up to 3 acres an hour. Those 3 acre/hr jobs are wide open, nothing to go around, smooth, and done once a month.

The jobs that are under an acre an hour, is overgrown stuff that hasnt been done in years, lots of thick briars that need backed into, tons of trees to go around, and/or odd shaped lots.

So first and foremost, you have to know what you are dealing with. Is it going to be mowing a field? Or clearing brush from a field?

On an average job, that gets cut maybe once per year, and the average 2-3' weeds and grass, I average about 2 acres per hour. I would imagine you could muster 2.5-3 per hour on an average job. But smaller lots will slow you down too. So keep that in mind, you need to have a minimum charge.

Pricing is very location specific. My target is 50/hr. from my drive back to my drive. So if a customer calls, we discuss acreage, condition, obsticals, etc. I can figure in my head a ballpark time, and multiply by 50 and give them a quote.

My quotes have ranged anywhere from 35/acre (10 acre field that was corn last year, so smooth, and not much grass). That job took me 4 hours to do, and an hour travel each way. I charged 350 cause they wanted a small pile of dirt feathered out too.

My highest was 300/acre. It was a 1/2 acre job around a foreclosed house. Tons of garbage, old tires, fence, etc laying everywhere. My minimum is $150. So just be weary of those small jobbies around a house thats been foreclosed. Those arent fun jobs.

 

[foreman Etexas]

That program (freemaptools.com) is great! thanks for the posting, I just mapped out all my pastures and it told me a lot about my farm.

Glad it helped out...

 

[coss]

I just got done bush hogging the overgrown fields on my new property. I used a 6 foot cutter. Here are my average productivities:

1.7 acres/hour: flat field, hadn't been cut in 3-4 years. That was fun, except for the area where a neighbor had thrown some 10" thick firewood logs into the field. That made for a memorable noise.

1.2 acres/hour: flat field, hadn't been cut in 5-6 years. Some of the white pines were 8 feet high. You can burn up a lot of fuel on terrain like this. At least I felt a sense of accomplishment when I finished. No mishaps in that field.

0.25 acres/hour: sloped field that hadn't been cut in 8-10 years. The alders were about one foot apart and 1.5 inches in diameter. The evergreens were about 3 inches in size. My estimate did not include the time I drove into a ditch you couldn't see from 3 feet away and required a neighbor to come pull me out with his tractor. It also didn't include the time I spent walking multiple paths up and down the field to make sure it didn't happen again. (I found another ditch even deeper and more hidden than the first.) It doesn't include the time I spent replacing shear pins, which happened several times. That was really no fun at all, and at least a little dangerous. Someone would have to pay me plenty to do this job for hire. I did it because I was maintaining my own home and hearth, which makes a difference. When it comes time to mow it again, it is unlikely I can exceed 2 acres/hour if only because the bumps in the field make for a hard ride at ground speeds above about 3.5 MPH. Pounding along faster than that is bound to break something, perhaps me.

The take home message is similar to what others have said. On ground that hasn't been maintained, all bets are off. You might be wise to quote an hourly rate. Once you've paid your dues and the terrain is cleared, then a per-acre charge would be reasonable.

 

[ksbrdmkr]

Sounds like a dozer and a roan disc would have been a better tool for the that last field.

 

[coss]

Sounds like a dozer and a roan disc would have been a better tool for the that last field.

Yes, that field falls into the category of "hindsight is always 20/20".

Finding the ditch the hard way was the one part that gives me the most pause. It would have been pretty easy to get hurt or worse. I now have a much greater wariness about a new field with thick cover and unknown hazards lurking beneath the tangle. If I were doing bush hogging for a living, I'm not sure I would be willing to take on projects like that. When you multiply the daily risk by weeks, months, or years, the cumulative chance of a big problem gets awfully high.