How much is it worth to brushhog 10 ac?

DmansPadge · Jul 13, 2005

A friend of a friend has called me about brushhogging 10 acres for them. The land is grown up about 3 foot tall. I have a B series Kubota and a 4 ft. hog. I'm sure it will take quite a bit of time. I've kindly mentioned to them they might want to hire someone with a bigger tractor/hog. The insist they'd like me to do it because "they know I do good work."

Anyways... any idea what I should charge to cut 10 acres with a 4' hog?

Thanks.

Gatorboy · Jul 13, 2005

I think somewhere in the neighborhood of $150.

DmansPadge · Jul 13, 2005

( I think somewhere in the neighborhood of $150. )

Thanks. I should have read a little in the forum. There is a post similar to mine just down the first page! Ooopps! I was thinking between $150-$200. I'm not hard up for money and I can see myself out there all day burning in the 95+ degree Texas heat. Think I'll tell them $200 the more I think about it! How does that sound?

Soundguy · Jul 13, 2005

WEow.. I used to hog my 10 ac pasture with a 5' hog.. and it took in the neighborhood of 5 hrs... I'd get a nice comfey seat cushion If I were you...

Soundguy

Slamfire · Jul 13, 2005

When I was wiorking I charge twice what my employer paid me, per hour. Salaried, your monthy stipend divided by 174 hours seems fair. That covers me and any hand tools, the tractor would get the same amount as I would. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif Now that I'm retirned anything I do is bartered for. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

crown · Jul 13, 2005

I use to pay a guy $50 dollars to hog 3 acres for me before I bought my tractor and hog. I hog 6 and 1/2 acres on another piece of property I own and it is a long day. 1/2 hour to drive the tractor to the site, 6 hours to cut counting water breaks and raditor screen cleaning, and another 1/2 hour back to the house. I do have lots of rock formations on the land which does slow me down.

Farwell · Jul 13, 2005

$150-$200 sounds reasonable but keep in the back of your mind the potential damage you will do to your hog if you hit a few big stones, tire rims, etc. I have yet to hog someone else's property with out hitting at least two or three surprises.

DmansPadge · Jul 14, 2005

( $150-$200 sounds reasonable but keep in the back of your mind the potential damage you will do to your hog if you hit a few big stones, tire rims, etc. I have yet to hog someone else's property with out hitting at least two or three surprises. )

Good point. I'm gonna go look at the land Friday and see what it's all about. I plan to keep the FEL low the the ground to turn up anything too big.

Indydirtfarmer · Jul 14, 2005

10 acres is just about the break-point on big job/small job.... You need to consider travel time if there is any. For what you described, I would venture a guess at $150 if close to home, and add to that for traveling....

Also consider number of trees to dodge around, hills, ditches, and other obsticals. Consider surroundings..... Is it near someones home? How about a road nearby? They add a certain risk factor that's always worth a few bucks.

And finally, I've seen enough evidence on TBN to indicate there's a HUGE fluctuation in price from state to state.

("Going rate" around here figures at $17.50 per acre/ $1 per hr. per HP. i.e. 60 HP tractor with suitable mower, $60 per hr.....)

DrRod · Jul 14, 2005

These prices seem a bit low to me. If memory serves, people generally charge $35 - $50 per hour for man and machine. Afterall, you've got sunk costs in the equipment plus fuel expense for the job. Plus your supplying a big convenience factor just by showing up.

A big factor in the price I paid for the last guy to mow my field was the amount of tree overhang he had to deal with. He had to back up a lot and also had to climb down to retrieve his hat after a branch knocked it off.

If I could get someone to mow my fields I probably wouldn't argue with any price. The guys who can are to busy or too far away and the guys who have the time don't want the work -- which is probably why they have the time. That's pretty much why I'm on this site -- time to get a tractor and do it myself.