Pricing Utility ROW mowing/clearing??

[KrayzKajun]

Finished up a 25/acre bushhogging job yesterday for a property owner I do a good bit of work for. On one side of his property runs a power line ROW. It is approx 200'Wx 1600'L. So approx 7 acres.

He asked me if I would be interested in cutting/clearing since the power company has not done so in over a year. He contacted them and they said if he wants to have it cut, they will reimburse him. (He already stated he will pay me as soon as job is done, great payer on any job we do).

I have two options to cut this with.

My tractor, nice and slow since the growth is over 10-12' tall some saplings in the 2-3" range maybe a few larger ones. My HD cutter will handle up to 5-6" material of needed. I would put my FEL back on to knock down the brush as I cut.

Or. Bobcat T300 w/ brushcat mower on front.

I'm still trying to figure out a price on this. It's definitly not your average bushhogging job. I would love to tackle this because this is the type of work I'm Persuing more. Make for good marketing with a few videos and pics of us clearing this.

Here are a few pics. I used my tractor to show the height of the brush.

 

[25002500]

What model Mahindra bush hog do you have that cuts 5" - 6" diameter material?

 

[ROWmulcher]

Think only bobcat with mower. You will destroy your tractor, and that nice glass. Or fully cage your tractor and try it, then replace shafts/pto and gearboxes. The options are endless and the painfull learning curve very big.

 

[PLMLLC]

I got asked by a utility company to mulch 2 miles of 100 ft wide powerline ROW that had 5 yr growth on it. They wanted it done for $1500 a mile which was impossible for me to do. I would agree with ROW mulcher that the Bobcat is the only way to go. Good luck!

 

[lumberjack1986]

Skid steer for sure.

PLMLLC, how fine did it have to be cut, or could it have been knocked down? That's over 24 acres for $3k. With a 6' mower cutting 5' at a time, you would drive ~41 miles in approximately 18-22 hours. I'm just curious, if it could be knocked down and it's on decent terrain, it's around the cusp of being doable with a heavy mower on a ctl.... I think.

 

[Heavyduty]

Somebody buy my Brown 9604 heavy duty rotary shredder, it's 10 foot wide and weighs 3600 lbs. All you would need to run it is a 100hp tractor and you could make some money at 24 acres for $3k.:thumbsup:

 

[PLMLLC]

Lumberjack, half the project went through a sub division so they wanted it mulched and as manicured as possible. There was a brook in the middle of that section that had to be worked around, hand cut and cleaned up to look like the lawn on both sides. The other half could be knocked down but the terrain had some good rolls with a lot of side hill. The numbers just didn't add up as doable for me in anyway with my mulcher

 

[lumberjack1986]

Yep, you made the right call! What would have been your number?