Bush Hogging rates for 2010

[LoneCowboy]

I very seldom can do 5mph. 4mph is about all I can do, and mow it good. Grass was pretty heavy, fields are not very smooth, the few jobs i do are guys only want it done when it pretty high and thick. i just did about 13 acres and it took a little under 11 hours. Bill at $45 an hour plus travel time. And i do pay attention, and not waste any time when turning. This was one big field. Keep in mind, I have to go by what the landowner says it is for acres, but it did look about right.

So, let do the math.
You billed 11 hours. $495

It took you 11 hours.
That's 300 dollars worth of maint/fuel/repairs/etc on the tractor (maybe not right now, but it will come)
there's some fuel/truck/car insurance, but let's assume that your travel time fees (1 hour? $45?) equal out your travel costs. So you billed the guy $550 (m/l).

Before liability insurance, registration, equipment maintenance (bush hogs break down, blades, welding, skid shoes, etc)), workman's comp, taxes, bank fees, business fees, etc, etc, etc.

You made about $195 for working 12 hours. About $16/hour
In a short season (you're from Maine, right?),for a field that is probably only going to need to be mowed once. That's not much money to get you thru the winter.

The guy above who does 3 acres an hour.
It would take him 4 hours to do it
AT A LOWER PRICE ($500). ($100/hour he said above) and he makes more money.
4x $30 = $120, travel time balances out, he nets $280 for 5 hours of work. $56/hour, plus he can go do another job that day.

13 acres takes my crew about 2 hours.
I don't bill hourly, I bill by the job.
but my prices are in the same range but certainly lower than yours.
but look at my costs.
$60 (2 hours of tractor time, travel time balances out) and I can do 2 or 3 more jobs in the same day.

And that's why I (or others) can do it for less and make more money.
I (or Atgreene) aren't low-balling even though our prices to the customer are lower than yours, you are. you don't understand your costs. This is not at you in particular (although it works) but many of you with small tractors who don't understand your costs. This is just a good example that you put up.


If you do a 1 acre job, you spent 2 hours on it (travel), and made $15. (that's $7/hour). (1 hour of mowing at $45, 1 hour of travel, $30 worth of tractor costs)


BTW, grass/weeds are always heavy, there's always stuff out there waiting to be discovered the hard way (concrete, fencing, etc) and people wait til it's real tall, that's the business.

 

[7snakes]

I am curious as to what height people are cutting to? Different people probably have different ideas as to what brushhogging results in.

 

[Lt CHEG]

I've been charging about $60 per hour. I don't usually get jobs that are more than 3 acres, because people with bigger equipment can do them faster and cheaper. If the place I'm cutting is within 15 to 18 miles of me, I only charge for the drive out and the loading and unloading, not the drive back. I cut down close to lawn height (maybe 3 inches) with a pretty nice quality cut. I usually look at the job and then give them a price, but if they are in a hurry I just give them the hourly rate and explain what I've just explained here. I've been getting calls mostly from suburbanites as I do my best work in smaller areas where my smaller tractor and more maneuverability shines. I haven't been overly busy but my real job keeps me busy enough and this is just extra money for doing something that I enjoy. I've made enough money this year to pay for the trailer that I purchased to tow my tractor with ($2650) so I'm happy, and more importantly so is my wife. I'm not about to work for free so when someone asks me to beat a much lower offer I tell them to hire the lower price as my price is more than fair for this area. I checked with a couple people including the tractor dealerships and the going rate for compact tractor work is about $75 per hour. Since I'm making enough to cover depreciation, don't have overhead costs, still turn a roughly $35 per hour profit and enjoy what I'm doing I think my price is more than fair.

 

[atgreene]

I've been charging about $60 per hour. I don't usually get jobs that are more than 3 acres, because people with bigger equipment can do them faster and cheaper. If the place I'm cutting is within 15 to 18 miles of me, I only charge for the drive out and the loading and unloading, not the drive back. I cut down close to lawn height (maybe 3 inches) with a pretty nice quality cut. I usually look at the job and then give them a price, but if they are in a hurry I just give them the hourly rate and explain what I've just explained here. I've been getting calls mostly from suburbanites as I do my best work in smaller areas where my smaller tractor and more maneuverability shines. I haven't been overly busy but my real job keeps me busy enough and this is just extra money for doing something that I enjoy. I've made enough money this year to pay for the trailer that I purchased to tow my tractor with ($2650) so I'm happy, and more importantly so is my wife. I'm not about to work for free so when someone asks me to beat a much lower offer I tell them to hire the lower price as my price is more than fair for this area. I checked with a couple people including the tractor dealerships and the going rate for compact tractor work is about $75 per hour. Since I'm making enough to cover depreciation, don't have overhead costs, still turn a roughly $35 per hour profit and enjoy what I'm doing I think my price is more than fair.

You sound like you're doing it right, you're finding a niche where you can provide a service that can't be provided by the big guys. That's what it really is all about, find a niche and capitalize on it. Word gets out and you can corner the market for doing what nobody else wants to be bothered with.

 

[fieldman12]

Wow, some of the prices you guys charge for per hour sounds cheap. I guess I thought price should be based this way. For example our local Bobcat dealer will rent you a tractor,BushHog, and trailer for $275.00 before tax. I know some places also require some proof of insurance or you have to pay an additional charge for insurance to use the machine. This also does not include filling up machine when you take it back,gas or diesel for pickup truck to tow it, maintenance, and replacement cost of truck and what ever your time is worth. I checked Sunbelts rental rate and it was $240.00 just for the tractor to rent. Now if you have an old tractor that is paid for thats fine but I kinda felt it was best to base prices not only on the rental rates but the average cost of a new machine over say five years. Now granted the per hour price drops allot if you put say 2,000 hours on the machine versus 1,000 hours. So for example say a new 60 hp tractor 2wd and new 6,Bush Hog cost $23,000.00 and say you want to get rid of it in thousand hours which is five years. Now I know you can get more hours out of a machine such as 4,000 but say you want to trade that often which equals out to $23.00 per engine hour to get machine cost back. Say the machine burns 2 gallons per hour at a rate of $3.20 per gallon. That's $6.40 per hour for a total of $29.40 per hour. That does not include insurance, maintenance,taxes and a profit for you. I guess I just don't see how anyone could run for less than $60 per hour and even then your not making much. Don't forget you need a truck and trailer to haul the machine around. In tall stuff about all I can get is .5 to .75 acres per hour. Granted I'm sure I could get maybe an acre per hour if I knew the property and where all the hidden treasures are.

 

[Diamondpilot]

I charge around $70 per hour to run my tractor. Does not matter if I am pulling my 7' lawn roller, 5' bush hog, post hole digger, 7' grader blade, or just using the FEL.

Chris

 

[doall]

I need a raise.

 

[johnrex62]

I have not started mowing my own property yet, and have had a local guy mowing for me for the last several years. I have about 2 acres more or less that is plagued with Bloodweed and more recently heavy Johnson Grass. I generally call when it hits 3-4 feet, but this year he has been kinda slow responding and it is 6-8 feet when he starts cutting. This last mowing he brought his small tractor and 4' cutter for some reason. It took him 4 hours and his tractor kept overheating. He said he should have brought his Ford with the A/C'd cab!

He has been charging $200 per cutting, even the first time when it was mostly Bloodweed and close to 20 feet tall and 1-2" woody stalks!

My new Kubota L3700SU with a 5' rotary cutter arrives Friday and I will see if I can keep it below knee high for a change.

 

[merrickvilleguy]

I charge $75/hr to run the tractor and myself. Thats for rock clearing/tree clearing/mowing. I don't clear any trees that I can't pull down with the tractor, thats another job altogether. This covers maintenance, liability and time nicely. I do about 2ac/hr tops in tall grass, but, in heavily saplinged fields can be upwards of 2hrs/acre when you take into account grubbing and mulching trees.

Most folks I find aren't particular about the windrowing effect, so I just run the gauge wheel low (mower at its highest) and do it in 1 pass. If they are picky, it's 2 passes ... but 2x the cost.

 

[Verticaltrx]

I charge between $30 to $35 per hour for bush hogging with either my B3200 or my Ford NAA with a 5' bush hog. I also charge a hauling fee and have a 2hr minimum. If I have numerous jobs close together I will split the hauling fee between the customers, keeps them happy and doesn't cost me any more. I try to schedule jobs so they are close together and so I'm not hauling my equipment all around to do little 1ac jobs. I average about an 1-1.5 acres per hour.

With these small tractors my overhead is low, they use very little fuel, and maintenance is pretty cheap. The Ford requires more maintenance and a little more fuel, but parts for it are dirt cheap and I've also fully depreciated it out so it's costing me very little. The Kubota uses very little fuel, and so far, ~200hrs custom work, has required no repairs.

For those wondering how to figure acres per hour, the equation is:

(speed in MPH x implement width in ft x efficiency %) / 8.25

So for me that works out to (3.5x5x.75)/8.25 = 1.59acres per hour.
I figure 75% efficiency for overlap, turns, etc.