RDrancher
Veteran Member
No kidding! Even at $750 for tw0 days it's a losing proposition. Those are the guys that either go out of business in the first few months or learn real quick!
How much to charge for clearing light to small brush off of a 1.8 acre lot?
- Thread starter tylertown
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No kidding! Even at $750 for tw0 days it's a losing proposition. Those are the guys that either go out of business in the first few months or learn real quick!
varmint
Elite Member
- Joined
- Mar 17, 2003
- Messages
- 2,572
- Location
- Northern Maryland
- Tractor
- Kubota B8200, then a Kubota L3130 HST, now a Kubota L3400 HST
Seems like a deal that's fair to both parties might be so much an hour (equipment owner knows how much he must have to feel okay about the job) times whatever it takes for job to be completed, especially if there are unknowns. That way, nobody is gambling.
Lastkidpicked
Silver Member
Varmint is exactly correct!
If MessMaker is right, then let's use his number of $ 75.00/ hour. I've heard the boys set up deals like this, and here's what they say-- "Since neither one of us really know what we're getting into, let's just keep it simple and do it hourly. I get $75/ hour for my machine."
This usually works out well for everybody and they shake hands on it and set up a time to get started.
Sometimes a contractor has to have a firm quote for the job. In that rare case, the boys simply say, "We just can't get a good enough handle on this thing to bid it that way since we've never done your lot before."
They've been burned enough that they would rather lose the deal than get the deal and end up losing money on it.
P.S. That might have been partly my fault. Here's why:
I've given a firm number to a guy for taking down a barn, brush hogging a property, or removing trees. On occasion the job ran into problems and what I thought would take one day takes three. (We've all been there, I'm sure).
In those cases, I've told the boys, "We are going to lose money on this because I didn't know there were this many stumps. But we are going to finish the job, shake hands with the man, and thank him for allowing us on his property. Because we are raising you to be honorable men. I'll try to bid the next one more carefully."
If MessMaker is right, then let's use his number of $ 75.00/ hour. I've heard the boys set up deals like this, and here's what they say-- "Since neither one of us really know what we're getting into, let's just keep it simple and do it hourly. I get $75/ hour for my machine."
This usually works out well for everybody and they shake hands on it and set up a time to get started.
Sometimes a contractor has to have a firm quote for the job. In that rare case, the boys simply say, "We just can't get a good enough handle on this thing to bid it that way since we've never done your lot before."
They've been burned enough that they would rather lose the deal than get the deal and end up losing money on it.
P.S. That might have been partly my fault. Here's why:
I've given a firm number to a guy for taking down a barn, brush hogging a property, or removing trees. On occasion the job ran into problems and what I thought would take one day takes three. (We've all been there, I'm sure).
In those cases, I've told the boys, "We are going to lose money on this because I didn't know there were this many stumps. But we are going to finish the job, shake hands with the man, and thank him for allowing us on his property. Because we are raising you to be honorable men. I'll try to bid the next one more carefully."
RDrancher
Veteran Member
MESSMAKER
Veteran Member
People sometimes balk at a by the hour price, but it works. Sometimes a job goes better than expected. The land owner wins. The only way to flat rate quote it is to figure out what you think it will cost and then at least double it to cover your *****. Almost always extra work or unseen problem.
I agree that this type of work is best done on an hourly basis. I do some land clearing, mostly grubbing and raking smaller mesquites pastures and acreages. I have kept pretty careful records of the time it takes to do the jobs that I have done. I currently charge $75.00/hr for me, my skid loader and any implements I own. I charge additional for implements that I have to rent and for mobilization.
What I have found is the the cost per acre to do this type of work is all over the board. I grubbed and raked a 34 acre pasture a few years ago that wound up costing just under $300.00/acre and last year I did the same on my neighbors 5 acres and it cost just under $1000/acre. When you start a project like that, you can never be sure what you are going to get into. I just estimated a clearing job in a city 150 miles west of me where the customer just wanted the vegetation scraped off of 8 acres and piled onsite. My estimate for that job was about $400/acre, but the mobilization cost was high and the price of lodging in the middle of an oil boom was ridiculous.
The burning is another animal altogether. My neighbor wanted me to burn their piles for them. After thinking about it awhile I told them the only way I would burn their piles was as an employee of theirs at a fixed hourly rate. We are in a severe drought here where I live and the danger of fire is great. I told them that for $35/hr I would provide a firefighting trailer and myself to watch the piles burn. There are five piles and I would only burn 1 per day. The property is in a development of 5 acre lots and there are several homes nearby.
Hope this helps,
Tim
What I have found is the the cost per acre to do this type of work is all over the board. I grubbed and raked a 34 acre pasture a few years ago that wound up costing just under $300.00/acre and last year I did the same on my neighbors 5 acres and it cost just under $1000/acre. When you start a project like that, you can never be sure what you are going to get into. I just estimated a clearing job in a city 150 miles west of me where the customer just wanted the vegetation scraped off of 8 acres and piled onsite. My estimate for that job was about $400/acre, but the mobilization cost was high and the price of lodging in the middle of an oil boom was ridiculous.
The burning is another animal altogether. My neighbor wanted me to burn their piles for them. After thinking about it awhile I told them the only way I would burn their piles was as an employee of theirs at a fixed hourly rate. We are in a severe drought here where I live and the danger of fire is great. I told them that for $35/hr I would provide a firefighting trailer and myself to watch the piles burn. There are five piles and I would only burn 1 per day. The property is in a development of 5 acre lots and there are several homes nearby.
Hope this helps,
Tim
