What would you charge?

[Jeff Lary]

That works. It seems that with neighbors they either want it cheap or free. I'll do some free cutting here and there for the wood, but it's mostly as a favor.

Maybe you could offer to help him with the trees if you keep the wood, and he takes care of the brush.

The ABOVE IS AN OPINION FROM A DIFFRENT FORUM AND I WILL SHARE MY ANSWER TO HIM HERE RATHER THAT TYPE IT TWICE.

Well there is noothing there that I woud want.I own 100 times the land he does so wood is of no interest to me.He takes the winter off every year ( lay off ) and does not try to search for work .His wife has been out of work for 20 years she cannot go back to work as she is to stunninly beautiful and all the men constantly look,leer,and in general harass her.they own 3 useless horse's cannot afford to feed them and are always asking if anyone has hay Reasonable so they can afford it. In my opinion they bring it all on themselves.in the summer he has just recently gone back to work after being fired about 2 years ago.He drive 120 miles one way to where he works now in a 1992 F 350 Ford diesel pick up I am sure that gets great mileage

 

[teg]

So with that bit of information, I personally would not help them any more. Flat out, not even honor your $35/hour bid - because you KNOW his not going to be paying you in full (again). You are letting them get away with it... so of course they are going to continue doing it. Shoot, sounds like a good deal for the deadbeat. Just tell them you are busy working... and you can't help them.

 

[doelake]

Equipment operators and contractors charge $65.00/hr CDN in my area, so I have no problem quoting $50.00/hr. If you don't like my deal, you could always pay more with somebody else

 

[Bigfoot62]

$35 per hour is very reasonable. If he doesn't want to pay that, then good for you. As some have already suggested, this might be your easy way out, and if he calls back, raise your price.

 

[tift104]

Like most are saying $35.00/hr is very reasonable. You are supplying labor, saws and tractor. Cant even rent a tractor at that price. My problem with doing jobs like that is they usually end up costing me more than what the job is worth. After fuel cost, blowing a hydro line or popping a tire your in the hole for a favor. Not to mention the liability factor. What gonna happen if the neighbor cuts himself with your saw or a tree that you cut twist the wrong way and falls on a building or worse another person? Who is gonna be liable? Don't get me wrong, I do what I can to help neighbors and friends but line has to be drawn somewhere.

 

[namesray]

Like most are saying $35.00/hr is very reasonable. You are supplying labor, saws and tractor. Cant even rent a tractor at that price. My problem with doing jobs like that is they usually end up costing me more than what the job is worth. After fuel cost, blowing a hydro line or popping a tire your in the hole for a favor. Not to mention the liability factor. What gonna happen if the neighbor cuts himself with your saw or a tree that you cut twist the wrong way and falls on a building or worse another person? Who is gonna be liable? Don't get me wrong, I do what I can to help neighbors and friends but line has to be drawn somewhere.

i agree with the above quote and i think you are being taken advantage of. and your neighbors haven't stopped to think about the costs associated with all your equipment. buy up, maintenance, fuel, etc. it all adds up to a lot of money and time. what i have done with my neighbors is let them know right up front when they ask, there will be a cost associated with everything they want done for them with my equipment. in return if I need THEIR help they charge me. it keeps tension down and keeps things straight forward. we all try to settle for low end prices if we can. (don't charge top dollar, but enough to still walk away with profit.) i think $35.00 is fair for you to charge and if i didn't want to do it then like you said, tell them a price you feel is worth it to you, and if your neighbors don't like it, they will either learn to appreciate more the help you have given them in the past if they try to do it themselves,, or find out other people with equipment charge A LOT more then you asked for in the past. it may sound a little selfish, but there is a fine line between helping people out and being taken for granted or advantage of. good luck.

 

[MVM]

Can someone get me a price for clearing some very dense, trees and brush on 15-20 acres for pasture and farming land (photo attached).

Stumps would need to be ground down and land smoothed over.
What are the average costs for this in Deland/Pierson Florida area?

Is it less costly if I let the contractor keep the trees for milling or is it the same, in which case I can possibly get a miller to cut them for cross fencing myself...

Also, I would like a price to dig out an acre for a pond/lake.

 

[ddigger]

No good deed goes unpunished. For that price stay home and save your back and skills for those that apreacite it.

 

[Jeff Lary]

Well I said 35.00 and I will do it this time for that but he already knows this is the last time 50.00 per hr from now on. He really has no clue supposedly used to be a wood cutter.Told me "if we start early 7 am or so should be able to do this by the atfternoon" I said I thought you said 6 coards or so ? to me I know I cannot put up 6 coard of anything in one day. He then said well it is only 10-15 trees. Well which is it 6 coard or 15 trees? both he said they are pretty big trees. I guess I did not know we were cutting redwoods. Around here it takes between 8 - 15 trees 8" to 12" on the stump to make a coard.

 

[Cat_Driver]

I wouldn't even turn the key on my equipment for that money.