Hourly Rates - $9/ft of Cut Width ?

MChalkley · Oct 23, 2001

Bird - Ok, I understand now. That takes it from an unbelievably low price to an absurdly low price. /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif All things are relative, though, as you said from the beginning. I think things are fairly balanced around here, with the exception that most folks get somebody who charges $15-25 an hour to do a job once, just because they're readily available. But after they pay somebody to spend 3 times as long on it as somebody with better equipment would, they're in the market for more "reasonable" prices. I guess that's my point. I don't feel right charging more than the average for the same job done at the same level of quality. But there's no way to convince the average person that an hourly rate of 3 times someone else's will work out the same in the end, or even be less expensive, if the quality of the work done is factored in. And I'm not talking about the expertise of the operator, even. I know I couldn't do as nice a job as some of the guys around here do for $25 an hour if I had to use their equipment, so they're clearly better operators than I am...

MarkC

ddl · Oct 24, 2001

A person must first decide if he is doing the job for a living or for fun, e.g. brushhogging. I for one do it for fun, tilling, mowing and such. So I figure, I am not going to sit on the seat of the tractor for nothing. Tilling I can make $70 an hour, Mowing is boring and slow and I charge $35 an half hour of mowing time. If the tractor sits in the yard is Ok with me. Around KC, some people charge about $35 an hour for mowing, but I can enjoy my day and not sit on the seat of the tractor for only that amount, but I am not trying to earn my money that way only.

I agree with you about equipment and being able to use it instead of just driving it.

Dan L

rbargeron · Oct 24, 2001

"A person must first decide if he is doing the job for a living or for fun...." Or for some other reason - in my case I've noticed that many parcels of western Mass open land are coming up to brush because new owners don't maintain it. Once it gets to the chainsaw stage, its gone as a field. In addition to my 10 that's open, I'm cutting about another 15 acres for adjacent neighbors - it's been as a favor up to now but we need to establish a fair rate so nobody feels obligated. (I've been the one resisting the idea - rather be their friend than their employee) Sounds like $50 for 60 hp and 6-foot brushhog may be ok.

wdn · Oct 24, 2001

The local landscaping company had wanted to charge $128 each time to mow my yard 2.2ac I figure 1.5 of it is lawn. Outrageous but that's what they are charging, some of the neighbors pay $600 a month. And figure 30 times a year that is $3840 a year just to mow. Now I do it on the BX2200 in about 45 minutes using the 60" deck. The cost will break even in 3 years on what they charge for just mowing the property. Plus the tractor is mine (which is the best part) and get to use it for everything else around the house including: yard cleanup, gardening, digging orchard, spreading mulch, snow removal etc.

Bill

ddl · Oct 25, 2001

What I meant was that if you are doing it for a living, your prices must be set to the current charge in your area. If you are doing it for your fun, you can cahrge more and do it less or charge what ever you want at the cetain time in your life. The problem with doing it for your living, is that there is always some guy who buys a worn out tractor and mower and then charges the same price that was charged when the tractor was new. And a lot of people only hire different people each time, because they are lookiong for the cheepest not the best job. The long or short of it, you must enjoy the task and then you can worry about making money.

Dan L

Buck · Oct 25, 2001

rbargeron,

You asked for honest feedback...

For mowing, I wouldn't hire someone by the hour. I wouldn't even want to talk to them. What equipment you use and how you do it is irrelevant to the customer.

Pricing by surface area and possibly other factors such as tree densities is the only way I'd hire someone. Pricing mowing by the hour suggests inexperience.

Buck

Bird · Oct 26, 2001

<font color=blue>Pricing mowing by the hour suggests inexperience</font color=blue>

Buck, do you mean inexperience with mowing, or inexperience with location? I have an idea you meant the former./w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif Most of what little tractor work I've done for pay has been jobs on which I gave a flat rate in advance, but there can be reasons to not do so, because of experience! I've done both brush hogging, and custom hay baling with a neighbor. And when you look at a field with 2 to 6 foot growth and a customer wants you to cut and/or bale it, they will inevitably tell you there are no obstacles, debris, or trash to worry about./w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif And so far we've only found 6" stumps, fence posts (both wood and steel), steel pipe, logs, baling wire, barbed wire, railroad crossties, scrap lumber, bricks, chunks of concrete, mobile home anchors, and a few little things like that. I know one guy who quit baling hay for anyone other than his own fields because of the damage to his equipment./w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif So, yep, the last job I did, I quoted hourly only and told the customer there'd be no hard feelings if he wanted to find someone else to do the job. He didn't./w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

Bird

fishman · Oct 26, 2001

Bird,

Do you run a baler with your 2710? If so, it must be a square baler, right?

BTW, that seems like a few obstacles to me!/w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

mwagoner · Oct 26, 2001

I ask a guy the other day to bush hog my 5 acs (really cutting only 3.5, the other is lawn), anyway he claims $30 an acre, I don't know if that is good or not, but sounded fair to me. My land is clear but hilly, on average how long does it take to mow an acre with a 6' cutter?

Matt