How much to charge bush hogging per acre

[LD1]

Where do you advertise? That's a lot of mowing for a side gig. CL or word of mouth?

Brett

Clist and word of mouth is my only advertising.

LD1, that website is slicker than sliced bread (findlotsize.com). Am I the only one that picked up on that??? Thank you very much for sharing that!!!

No problem. I use it all the time.

I NEVER charge by the acre... I charge by the hour...

SR

My question is the same a ovszd??

 

[Sawyer Rob]

I agree Rob. But, let's just say I want to hire you to cut for me. I say how much? You say XXX dollars per hour. I say how many hours will it take you??? What's your response?? It must be specific or I'm looking for someone else. Unless I know you personally and trust your honesty. So if your response is a specific amount of money, didn't you just figure out how much an acre you are going to charge??

This is like bidding a job. If dealing with an honest vendor, a bid price is always going to be higher than if you just turned the guy loose and he billed you when he's done. If he's going to be held to a "bid" price, he's going to "pad" that price. And so would I.

I'm like you, I'll just tell you how much an hour, keep track of my time, and bill you when I'm done. But the person spending the money probably isn't going to go for that.

AND, how do I know how many acres the spot is?? Trust what YOU tell me, OR do I have to measure it??

SR

 

[Sprinklerman]

From a customer point of view .. I want a price ,firm to do a job . Bush hogging , tree removal ,or lets say digging a foundation. If I need a foundation dug , I dont care how far you have to drive , what type of equipment you have or if it takes you a week or a day , I want the price ,you could dig the hole with a shovel its the same hole in the end .

This is why I bid jobs with a price , not hourly , its to my benefit to be more efficent and faster . I factor in all my costs and give a price , I have lost my shirt in the past but once or twice will cure that . But after you get it down the $$$$ go up

 

[Sprinklerman]

From a customer point of view .. I want a price ,firm to do a job . Bush hogging , tree removal ,or lets say digging a foundation. If I need a foundation dug , I dont care how far you have to drive , what type of equipment you have or if it takes you a week or a day , I want the price ,you could dig the hole with a shovel its the same hole in the end .

This is why I bid jobs with a price , not hourly , its to my benefit to be more efficent and faster . I factor in all my costs and give a price , I have lost my shirt in the past but once or twice will cure that . But after you get it down the $$$$ go up

 

[LD1]

AND, how do I know how many acres the spot is?? Trust what YOU tell me, OR do I have to measure it??

SR

Findlotsize.com.

Sprinkler man...I agree 100%. Just a firm price. If you want to go see the job in person, measure, or whatever it don't matter. At the end of the day, here is the work that needs done, here is how much it costs.

Besides alot of my jobs, the customer pays me then leaves while I am cutting. I don't like having to arrange a meet after the work is done. I always end up waiting. And i think if I charged hourly I would tend to have more customers wanting to lurk and watch my every move. And question why I had to stop and clean the radiator screen, or fuel up, or get a drink, or wonder why I am not going faster, or when it done the customer says " I didn't think it would take that long" it just opens a big ole can of worms.

The guy with the 8n and 5' cutter may charge $40/hr
Me with a 6' cutter may charge $60
Guy with a 10' cutter and 90hp might charge $100/hr.

All the customer sees is who charges less per hour, and not who may be cheaper overall

 

[LD1]

AND, how do I know how many acres the spot is?? Trust what YOU tell me, OR do I have to measure it??

SR

Findlotsize.com.

Sprinkler man...I agree 100%. Just a firm price. If you want to go see the job in person, measure, or whatever it don't matter. At the end of the day, here is the work that needs done, here is how much it costs.

Besides alot of my jobs, the customer pays me then leaves while I am cutting. I don't like having to arrange a meet after the work is done. I always end up waiting. And i think if I charged hourly I would tend to have more customers wanting to lurk and watch my every move. And question why I had to stop and clean the radiator screen, or fuel up, or get a drink, or wonder why I am not going faster, or when it done the customer says " I didn't think it would take that long" it just opens a big ole can of worms.

The guy with the 8n and 5' cutter may charge $40/hr
Me with a 6' cutter may charge $60
Guy with a 10' cutter and 90hp might charge $100/hr.

All the customer sees is who charges less per hour, and not who may be cheaper overall

 

[Poopdeck Pappy]

LD1, I agree on the firm price. Paying by the hour is like hiring a lawyer, and nobody likes to do that.

What do you do if you see the property and it looks like it hasn't been mowed in 10 years, and you know darned good and well there could be old T-posts, barbed wire, landscape timbers, engine blocks, clothes line posts, etc. hidden in there that could damage your equipment? Do you charge a premium for it and just price it into the job? All those unpleasant "surprises" is what would make me not want to do contract mowing.

I ask because I was mowing part of my 30 acres that's never been mowed in the 2 years I've owned it, and I found an old cistern. It was a miracle I noticed it and didn't run over it. Sheesh.

 

[STx]

LD1, I agree on the firm price. Paying by the hour is like hiring a lawyer, and nobody likes to do that.

What do you do if you see the property and it looks like it hasn't been mowed in 10 years, and you know darned good and well there could be old T-posts, barbed wire, landscape timbers, engine blocks, clothes line posts, etc. hidden in there that could damage your equipment? Do you charge a premium for it and just price it into the job? All those unpleasant "surprises" is what would make me not want to do contract mowing.

I ask because I was mowing part of my 30 acres that's never been mowed in the 2 years I've owned it, and I found an old cistern. It was a miracle I noticed it and didn't run over it. Sheesh.

That's exactly why the first cut is ALWAYS billed on an hourly rate. Once it's been cut and I know where the obstacles are and what the terrain is like, I can give a firm price for maintenance mowing but not before I've cut it once on an hourly rate and maintenance cuts in the summer need to be no more than 6 - 8 weeks apart.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

I guess that I'm lucky then, as many of the fields around here have too many point rows to know an "exact" acre figure.....per hour takes care of that. IF you are a farmer, you already know what I'm talking about... (I guess the rest of you can google it lol)

Little tiny jobs, well they CAN be based on a per job basis, as they are small and it's obvious that they won't take long... Anyway, i've never, not even one time had some one insist on a firm price per acre for a bigger job.... as the folks I deal with already know the problems with that, and I don't get much townie work around here...

"IF" they did insist, I'd just turn it down, as I really don't need it.

BTW, "almost" ALL of my work is from repeat customers, so I must be doing something right!

SR

 

[LD1]

Fortunately I haven't ran into many bad jobs. The ones that are, I price them high enough to make it worth while