Bush Hogging 8 acres - pricing?

[bmaverick]

What profession are you that are mowing or doing tractor work selecting on the Next Insurance website, General Contractor?

I didn't see one more fitting.

Pick "Lawn Care."

Pricing under the middle plan was $172 per month for my zip code. Basic, when picked, was a mere $72 per month. I would need a minimum of at least 5 pastures to mow each month to keep ahead of the insurance costs.

 

[bmaverick]

Landscaping. It will ask for your general tasks in checklist form and mowing is the closest.

I did the landscaping, it gave a price of $292 per month !!! Just stick to mowing only.

Landscaping includes tree trimming, land improvements and planting shrubs. It requires the person to have much more equipment and a greater potential of getting injured or property damage.

 

[crashz]

Hmm- that's strange. It allowed me to pick the tasks and excluded tree clearing and removal, excavation and a few other items that I don't do. My renewal came with a letter stating that they changed the terms. It disallowed any and all tree work in general and gave a list of those tree related tasks.

My insurance rate is way lower. $39/month for General Liability. Keep in mind that I insure the tractor, truck and trailer separately. Next is for Liability only.

 

[Snobdds]

Snobdds - does your guy have a lot of acreage to cut? Or is it Mr. Snobdds that does the work for Mr. Snobdds? Or both?

For what it's worth, my customers typically have enough acres to cut as a field, but not enough to hay. Typically 1- 6 acres and the ones that have the larger properties are all thinking of hay next year.

Little Bitty - yep, Next Insurance is the name. They are online and pretty easy to set up.

I just have him cut around the house, the sides of the long road to the house, and around the lake. It's right around 35 acres.

My neighbor that runs the cattle is responsible for haying the meadows.

 

[Hay Dude]

I dont charge by the acre because conditions can vary so wildly. Here’s an example why:

Customer 1 has a 20 acre meadow with straight grass and no “issues”. If I charge by the hour, I would get it done in 5 hours and make $1,000.

Customer 2 also has 20 acres, but hilly pasture with woody invasives and goldenrod to clog the radiator. It takes much longer because you have to go slower and be more careful, blow out radiator, etc. If I charge by the hour and it takes me 8 hours, I get what Customer 1 above pays me, plus extra money because it took 3 hours longer. Thats the way it should be. You get paid for you time spent working.

If you charged by the acre, you get paid the same for Customer 1 and Customer 2, but Customer 2 took you 3 more hours. Who would do that?

You’d lose money on Customer #2. Lose enough money and you’ll sell your equipment.

Let the hours you run your equipment dictate your gross income on a job.

The only other way might be charging by neither the hour or the acre, but by the job.
You give the customer a set price “not to exceed $x,xxx“. I don’t usually do this, but if I sense a customer doesnt like being charged by the hour, I do my best to estimate the # of hours and multiply by ~$200/hour.

Has worked for me for 30 years, so I must be doing something right

Here’s some typical more complicated ground to cut with power lines, fence lines,
railroads, etc. It slows you down, so hourly helps you make more money.

Here’s a hilly meadow with trees and a creek at the bottom. Probably takes an hour to do 2 acres. I wouldn’t want to mow 2 acres for $35/acre…... $70 would be far too low.

 

[Hay Dude]

$35/acre on easy ground would be a little low for me. Should be able to do 4 acres per hour factoring in average amount of circles around trees, mowing along fences and the typical obstacles normal to MY area.

Here’s a 20 acre easy field to mow, except the cut-in at the right side. Generally I can mow at top speed and there’s few obstacles.

Below: finished product

Below: Here is much rougher crop (browned out goldenrod) along trees and fence lines. Would not want to mow this on a per acre because it’s much slower than the meadow above.

Below: Here’s some soft ground I cut loaded with noxious weeds. Can’t go too fast.

The other thing about per acre pricing is small jobs. What if someone want’s you to cut 2 acres? Are you going to hook up and road your equipment to cut 2 acres?
We charge from when we leave our shop/farm. That way I’m being paid soon as the key is turned on.

 

[ROUSTABOUT]

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.

Guy said was in Maine.

 

[crashz]

Thanks for the photos Haydude and Snobdds! Something about a nicely cut field that looks so clean and inviting.

 

[dodge man]

I can’t add a lot because there are people that know more about this than me. I can give you an idea on your machine cost. I own a JD 2025r, I think a similar tractor to yours. I have roughly calculated my per hour cost based on some assumptions. I tried to figure everything, such as residual value, initial cost, fuel, maintenance etc but not insurance. I figured about $15 to $20 and hour. Assuming your estimated time is correct I think your price is fair. I think $100 per hour is way to high for the tractor but by the time you figure your time to get there, trailer and truck I think it balances out.

 

[Buzzard7]

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?

I am in East Texas, near Tyler. Saw an ad on Craigslist yesterday for mowing pasture for $65/hr. Equipment seems similar to yours. Don't know how the guy would bill for travel time.