Bush Hogging 8 acres - pricing?

[Skramps]

Hey guys. Sorry if this is the wrong forum to post this. I'm pricing out my first paid job with my tractor and rotary cutter. The customer wants 8 acres of knee/waist high fields mowed. It looks like it has been regularly maintained but not recently so there aren't any debris piles, wooded areas, briars or anything like that. Mostly grasses and some small wooded material. Slightly inclined and rolling but not steep. No large obstacles except a few large trees that have enough clearance around them to cut around. I live in Maine and am not new to landscaping or yard cutting but I've never priced this large of a cutting and not with a tractor.

I have my overhead and profit figured out on paper but I have no idea if I'm too high or low.
I'm assuming an hour an acre?
It's close to 40 miles (one hour) from my house.
Without knowing the market for bush hogging and going off my numbers (theoretical at this point) I would want to charge $750.

To me that seems outrageous for just mowing an 8 acre field but I do all of my own work around my property so I'm not accustomed to paying contractors. I've seen a few people on craigslist advertising $50 an hour but that seems way too low to stay afloat. Especially now.
Does this seem reasonable for anyone else?

 

[jeff9366]

We need your location to provide reasonable responses.

A price in Florida would be unrealistic in New York.

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The customer wants 8 acres of knee/waist high fields mowed. Slightly inclined and rolling but not steep.

Massey Ferguson 1526 Dimensions​

Dimensions
Wheelbase:	61.4 inches 155 cm
Length:	111 inches 281 cm
Width:	49.2 inches 124 cm
Height (ROPS):	95.5 inches 242 cm
Shiping weight:	1873 lbs 849 kg
Ground clearance:	11 inches 27 cm

Engine Detail
Iseki
diesel
3-cylinder
liquid-cooled
Displacement:	91.4 ci 1.5 L
Bore/Stroke:	3.43x3.31 inches 87 x 84 mm
Emissions:	Tier IV
Power (gross):	24.8 hp 18.5 kW
Rated RPM:	2600
Starter:	electric
Starter volts:	12

PTO (claimed):

20.1 hp 15.0 kW

Whether you own a 48" width mower or a 60" mower, with 20 PTO horsepower you will not be mowing thick grass in swathes wider than 48" on average.

With your light tractor I speculate your field mowing speed will be 2-1/2 to 3 mph. You will be operating your tractor at full throttle doing this work.

So, 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 acres per hour cut = 6-1/2 hours "pure" mowing time.

Mowing Calcuator | How many acres can I mow in an hour

www.landscapecalculator.com

I will speculate your tractor and implement cost at $30/hour, assuming dealer service. So your total tractor cost for 8 acres, AFTER ARRIVAL, will be somewhere around $195, valuing your time at "0". With travel of two hours and 6 gallons/ $25 of fuel for your truck, you will have around 9 hours in the job. I would not work for less than $50/hour as on owner/operator in the south, so a minimum estimate for me, in the South, would be $700.

You should not take on any commercial work without liability insurance.
T-B-N ARCHIVE:
1) So you wanna be a mowing contractor.

2)

Aren't you the lucky one(s)

Someone has to listen to my rant, so why not you guys? As many of you know, I own a mowing business. We bush hog large acreage for a number of regular clients, along with a few "one timers". MOST of my customers are happy with the job we do and the price we charge. But on occasion. I...

www.tractorbynet.com

 

[mikester]

Do yourself a favour and charge an hourly rate and charge for travel time. BTW I see commercial lawn mowing guys charging $100+/hr around here. Be prepared for surprises and breakdowns. Also be prepared for deadbeat customers.

If you call your insurance and get a quote on commercial liability you will think $100/hr is too cheap.

 

[hosspuller]

How many hours with your equipment do you estimate it will take ? You haven't done this before so there's an unknown hazard factor. One shredded tire will cost $750. You can always provide a second cut discount if no hazards found...

I was mowing a field with a bush cutter. I saw quick movement on the ground next to the tractor. I thought a snake. Turned out to be a barbed wire fence. I spent the next two hours cutting it from the shaft of the rotary cutter. ... before finishing the job. luckily it didn't take the shaft seal out. Otherwise, the job would have cost me.

 

[Have tractor did travel]

SKramps - how much do you want to make an hour ? Unskilled labor around here is $25 an hour and pushing for $30 I think you've got to get no less than $45 an hour, and high end $60 an hour, including time to load and unload. Add the cost of the tractor and fuel. Not less than $15 an hour. Charge for the travel at $2.50 a mile. I think the $750 is right in line.

 

[Hay Dude]

Hey guys. Sorry if this is the wrong forum to post this. I'm pricing out my first paid job with my tractor and rotary cutter. The customer wants 8 acres of knee/waist high fields mowed. It looks like it has been regularly maintained but not recently so there aren't any debris piles, wooded areas, briars or anything like that. Mostly grasses and some small wooded material. Slightly inclined and rolling but not steep. No large obstacles except a few large trees that have enough clearance around them to cut around. I live in Maine and am not new to landscaping or yard cutting but I've never priced this large of a cutting and not with a tractor.

I have my overhead and profit figured out on paper but I have no idea if I'm too high or low.
I'm assuming an hour an acre?
It's close to 40 miles (one hour) from my house.
Without knowing the market for bush hogging and going off my numbers (theoretical at this point) I would want to charge $750.

To me that seems outrageous for just mowing an 8 acre field but I do all of my own work around my property so I'm not accustomed to paying contractors. I've seen a few people on craigslist advertising $50 an hour but that seems way too low to stay afloat. Especially now.
Does this seem reasonable for anyone else?

Cracking up at the charts & graphs.

Don’t know your mower size, but we do custom mowing all day long (hay baling, field mowing and large lawns). I would mow 8 acres of the grass you describe for about $400-$500. It would probably take me 2 + hours and my goal is to get as close to $200/hour as I can get. Though most of the time I end up around $175-$200/hour. I am using either a 130HP tractor & 15’ mower or 200HP tractor & 20’ mower

 

[tradosaurus]

After 11,000 posts on T-B-N I find it baffling how few new members specify their location.

I find it difficult, sometimes impossible, to post solid information without knowing where the OP will operate the tractor.

Here are my reasons for wanting OP location.

Everyone on T-B-N has a screen name, as anonymous as they like. Any other profile information is contributed voluntarily, such as age and tractor brand/model. Relative to the massive data heists reported so often, with names, address, Social Security and credit card numbers stolen, this site is nearly anonymous.

Since you sold your tractor maybe take a long break from this forum if you get so bothered with people not putting in their location.

 

[seville009]

At the end of each summer, I would brush hog roughly five acres of field with my MF 1540 HST. First cutting in low range most of the time (the wetter areas of the field grow thicker and taller than other sections - about 50/50 though, so it averages out). Takes 3-4 hours. Probably used five gallons of diesel. Really not any other costs due to mowing (going to own the tractor anyway, so don't care about the actual equipment cost recovery).

I would then let it dry for a few weeks and do another cutting, but in mid-range. Main reason for the second cutting is just aesthetics - better mowed look to it.

So....8 acres will probably take you all day, mainly because you're not familiar with the land, and haven't figured out the best mowing pattern yet.

If you're comfortable with $750, then go with that. Don't overthink it too much. Worse case, it ends up being a nightmare, and you never do it again.

 

[Skramps]

At the end of each summer, I would brush hog roughly five acres of field with my MF 1540 HST. First cutting in low range most of the time (the wetter areas of the field grow thicker and taller than other sections - about 50/50 though, so it averages out). Takes 3-4 hours. Probably used five gallons of diesel. Really not any other costs due to mowing (going to own the tractor anyway, so don't care about the actual equipment cost recovery).

I would then let it dry for a few weeks and do another cutting, but in mid-range. Main reason for the second cutting is just aesthetics - better mowed look to it.

So....8 acres will probably take you all day, mainly because you're not familiar with the land, and haven't figured out the best mowing pattern yet.

If you're comfortable with $750, then go with that. Don't overthink it too much. Worse case, it ends up being a nightmare, and you never do it again.

Good points. I've become very competent in other areas of my business with pricing and am spot on. This is like I'm a new business owner again. It took a lot of nightmare jobs that were priced horribly for it to get tuned in. I think I'll fair a little better now but you're right.

 

[Skramps]

Cracking up at the charts & graphs.

Don’t know your mower size, but we do custom mowing all day long (hay baling, field mowing and large lawns). I would mow 8 acres of the grass you describe for about $400-$500. It would probably take me 2 + hours and my goal is to get as close to $200/hour as I can get. Though most of the time I end up around $175-$200

I appreciate the pricing info. Makes me feel a little more secure that I'm not daft trying to get my rate. I'm coming in with a $50/hr profit price point and a $32/hr overhead rate with a 10%/hour unforeseen amount.

Edit: I'll be using a 60" rotary cutter