what to charge for welding and fabrication job

[jinman]

a neighbor has asked me to fabricate a cattle cute for him just like the one i recently made for myself. I agreed to do it for him and i will be using my own tools in my shop, my only question is how much do i charge him per hour for fabrication and welding?

Is this a portable chute? Since you say you can build it inside your shop, it makes me wonder if this is a squeeze chute like ones you could buy at a farm and ranch supply store? If that is the case, you need to consider what the chutes at the store will cost. If your chute is comparable in operation and size, you cannot charge more than the commercially available ones. If I could not beat the price, I'd tell the neighbor that and then consider everything folks have suggested about a good neighbor. If he wants you to do it anyhow, then maybe he can help or he can buy and deliver the materials to you. Sometimes people see things and don't realize what it takes to produce them. You have to be creative in "educating" them and not offending them. That's especially true of some things you do for yourself and then discover that someone else could have done it cheaper or better. I'm an expert at that.

 

[bdog]

I will agree with what the others said. I used to live out in the middle of nowhere and my only neighboor had a large farm. Him and his wife were both killed in a car crash and his son had to take over the farm. He often needed help with things like welding, etc. I did these small jobs for him for free. I knew him and his dad before the crash and they were good peoploe and I just wanted to help out. They repaid the favor many times over. Their family owned a meat market and about once a month they stopped by and gave me a box full of ribeyes. They let me use their tractors, etc when I needed them, They let me hunt their land. I hated moving from there because we had developed such a good relationship with our neighboors.

On the other hand I knew another guy who wanted me to help him weld up some fence braces. I offered to do it for a minimal and he was grateful but he got the impression that I was hungry for work since I was working for so cheap and he tried to get me to do a lot more for him and I declined.

You know the relationship you have and want with your neighboor as well as the type of person he is. Is he the type that would return a favor or the type just looking to get something done for cheap? Base your price on this.

 

[joes_427_vette]

I'm not in a business so charging is something I don't want to get into.. for labor that is. Maybe for the backhoe.. fuel but I haven't done this so far. Don't mind helping friends and I like it this way. If it is a long and complicated task I will pass. Retirement is a full time job.

 

[beenthere]

Couple things to consider.
Might be one price for your neighbor (like $25 an hour plus materials, or as mentioned a fixed price).

Then consider the neighbor getting his built by you and he tells someone else how reasonable your prices are. Then others come to you for work (be it another chute or something else). Need to consider what you will do for those requests.

Good to sort that out ahead of time.

A pic of what you made would be great to see. We like pics.

 

[spruce Deere]

What goes around, comes around. Dont need money all the time. Bartering works good for me. For neighbors and such I have done different duties for and insist on "paying" me I just tell them some goods from the garden I tilled will do or I'll take the manure I just moved for my garden. One neighbor looked at me funny when I handed him an empty 5 gal diesel jug when he wanted to get "squared" up. Fill'er up next time your in town. He returned back few days later with five gallons diesel and a frosty 6-pack and demanded we enjoy a few in the lawn chairs in the shade. But if money is the ONLY thing a neighbor thinks they have in compensation, that will be just fine. Just remember you do live by them

 

[beenthere]

spruce Deere
Your story reminds me when I moved to this place in the country, had a farmer neighbor who was very good at welding, and other farmers would drop by with welding jobs. He charged like $5 an hour (60's). One farmer dropped by to get a job done, and when done jumped back in his pickup to leave. The old farmer said "if you don't have time to talk a bit, then don't come back". So he was doing it for the social interchange as well. I use to hear some great stories from that guy, and could spend a lot of time getting a welding job done too.

 

[two_bit_score]

Two bit, you sure work cheap!!!

Personally I don"t think it matters what other welders get in this situation. As others have said, since it is a neighbor it will pay to be "real" reasonable. I have one neighbor that is basically a transplanted "city slicker", but he is a good guy and always asks for opinions like fencing and regular farm stuff, he also allowed me to have the elec co. clear a right of way for my property. He wants a 3 car carport so i will do it for free, he will supply the help and materials. On the other hand, my other neighbor is a "drug store" cowboy, has ruined his land and just annoys everyone around him, the only help he would get from me is directions on where to move..

Only you know the relationship you have with this guy and what kind of future relationship you want, so go with your gut and live with the decision..

My post was all in jest as you could tell. It's kinda a moot question anyway because since it's for a neighbor and the OP obviously isn't in the business then he should not be concerned about what he can 'charge' the neighbor but how can he 'help' the neighbor.

 

[tthopskin@yahoo.ca]

I have done several things from welding to "custom woodwork" infact i just got back from a 2 week stay in tuson as. all i asked from them was the price of ticket an my food. we used all his tools an it was a great stay. rember if you get paid youll never again ask him to help kift or move anything withought paying him,,i would let him pay for all welding, grinding materals. an ask for a good meal. the rewards look at you every day in the mirror. just my thoughts.
Army Grunt

good advice when it comes to cash you can lose friends fast ,,one idea is take a pic have him take it to a shop and get a quote so he will know how much you done for him but i have done stuff for friends they pay me **** and to them they payed so never ask them for a favor for it was already payed back ????? it is a tuff call

 

[tlbuser]

I'm in agreement with the neighborly route. Part of being a decent neighbor is helping each other out. At cost and you owe me one. If I ask for help and don't get it, then I'm only out one.

 

[tlbuser]

He returned back few days later with five gallons diesel and a frosty 6-pack and demanded we enjoy a few in the lawn chairs in the shade.

Wow, the best kind. A tax free bonus