What's the going rate?

[Rowski]

What\'s the going rate?

Hello everyone!!!!!!!

I have a great opportunity to do some work on the side. It will include tractor work (backhoe, grading, chipping, moving stones etc.), brush cutting (with a walk behind brush cutter and harness trimmer type), chain saw work to supplement the bruch cutting, and hand work seeding small areas of grass maybe even some field stone work. I was wondering how much to charge and how to beak it up. How much for the tractor? Should it vary with the type of implements? Should I use the hour meter on the tractor for tractor time. How much for the walk behind brush cutter? How much for manual labor?I know rates vary across the counrty. It would be nice to know rates from other parts of the counrty. I'm from VT. I would like to stay way from a flat rate to do the job due to the complexity of the job, lack of estimating skills and that it is a job that may last all summer.

Thanks for your help, again!!

 

[bgott]

Re: What\'s the going rate?

I've been charging $30 an hour if I don't have any idea how much time it'll take. People jump right on that so I'm probably low. I'm still in the learning stage so I'd feel guilty charging more. Same price on the tractor or off. Time starts when I get there and ends when I leave. I haven't had to deal with any breakdowns or flats so I haven't figured out how I'm going to deal with that. If the tractor breaks it's on me but I might negotiate tire problems in nasty stuff. I was worried that my TN65 would be too big for a lot of stuff but, suprizingly, I've had a lot of people comment favorably on the bigger tractor, they say they've hired people with smaller tractors and paid the same hourly but it took twice as long and I didn't have near the problem breaking up dry clay.

 

[rancar]

Re: What\'s the going rate?

$40-50 per hour for simple tasks such as brush cutting, tree cutting, brush clean-up , etc. This is going rate in eastern upstate New York. Beyond that and for bigger jobs, do the labor breakdown (this has to be gotten right), then provide price for the whole job based on appropriate labor rate.

 

[Rowski]

Re: What\'s the going rate?

I was thinking $35 to $45 dollar per hour. I thought of using the hour meter because it count extactly one hour at around 1700 rpm. If I use the backhoe I'm at 2K rpm and chipper at 2.4k rpm so the hours at up faster. Then charge $15 per hour for manual (hand) labor. But I like you idea of one price for all. It would be much easier to keep track of and figure out come billing time. I know what you mean about little tractors. Not that they are bad or can't due the work. I'm kind of in between with a 43hp 4wd tractor. That could bad or good, time will tell. I know the tractor is to heavy with the ag tires to drive on finished lawns. I'm meeting with the guy today to discuss price. I think I'll mention 30 to 40 per hour and see what he says. He likes my work I've done and doesn't have enough time to use a tractor if he had one. It seems like this will work out great for both of us. Again this is just side work for me and not my profession.

Thanks for you input.

 

[gordon]

Re: What\'s the going rate?

Throw $38.00 an hour at him for a price, that would be about $300.00 for an 8hr day. You would not be making a killing but it would even out in the end. Instead of trying to go lower for a manual labor rate and higher for the tractor/operator rate.

With the shorter working season up your way, the $38.00 number would appear to me as pretty much a lowball price. But a decent way to get your feet wet and get paid to do it.

Also keep close track for yourself how long some of these jobs take you and write each down in a notebook for future reference. That way you are building your own time book. So on future jobs you can look back at what you have done in the past and then can give a flat rate on the job. Some people want the total cost up front others just want an hourly wage number. You will find in the end you can take more to the bank with the flat rate qoutes.

But for now until you fill a few pages in that notebook just do the hourly thing. That way your assured a decent pay at the end of the day.

On some flat rated jobs I"ve made a killing and then again on some I lost my tail. But that doesn't happen very often anymore. It's that live and learn thing.

You also might want to look into drawing up a simple contract just to cover your tail as well. With your hourly wage on it and exactly what the customer wants done. Also when the money is due you is key as well. Just so you don't end up doing all that work for free. Like I said live and learn. I've been screwed a couple of times in the past and it's no fun.

Good luck and I hope the baby is doing well, my mrs should be down loading in the next week or two. Don't know if it's a boy or a girl yet, on all my other childern we knew ahead of time, it's more fun not knowing, but harder to pick a name out also./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Gordon

 

[Rowski]

Re: What\'s the going rate?

Thanks Gordon for the great info as always. I'll try the $38 per hour. I'm actually leaving know to meet him. I never thought about writing down how long it takes for future reference. It's basically going to be after hours work and weekends. The contract idea I had though about but not sure how deep to go into details. He is a pretty easy going guy but its no excuse not to have something written.

The baby and family are doing well. I'm trying to get him into it early /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif, see attachment. Hope all goes well with your new one. It must be pretty hard for your wife in this humid heat carring around the package. Again best of luck and I'm sure you'll let me know what it ends up being.

 

[bgott]

Re: What\'s the going rate?

I've had to get off the tractor to clean up with a flat shovel and when I filled the pool I had piled the extra dirt in the middle. It was just a little far to reach with the loader and it had rained in the meantime and I wasn't about to drop the front wheels in the pool like I had when I put the dirt there. I only had a half an hour knocking the high spots down. When I have a lot of manual labor I pay Manuel $7 an hour and lunch. I still get $30.

 

[alan40]

Re: What\'s the going rate?

Hey Derek and Nick, nice pic. Your pretty much on target for the hourly rate. Talked to a guy at work who has a simular situation.
Have fun!!!!!/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif
Al

 

[dmccarty]

Re: What\'s the going rate?

Derek,

So, what happened? Did you get the job at the rate you asked? /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

The other approach is to figure out how much it costs YOU to
pay your bills. Add up the cost of the truck, tractor, equipment,
fuel, misc expenses, INSURANCE to cover same, how much to pay
your labor, and then your profit....

Then figure out how many billable hours you will have a month.

Divide your expense/profit by the billable hours and you have your
hourly rate... If your hourly rate ain't the same/near as your competitors....

Later...
Dan McCarty

 

[Corm]

Re: What\'s the going rate?

Hi Derek. I've been doing a few small backhoe jobs with my Cub. I've been charging $50 for the first hour, and the clock starts when I leave my door yard. $35 per hour after that. I've had no one complain or even try to haggle with me on that price. If I had to do it for a living, I'd probably up the prices another $10. Right now, it's still fun, and it helps me justify the price of the tractor and hoe. Good luck with your project!

Corm

 

[Rowski]

Re: What\'s the going rate?

Dan,

Yes I did. I ended up charging $35 per hour. It would have been nice to be at the $40 dollar mark. But on the other hand there will be some hand work so I think it will even out. I'm not working on a strict time frame, more at my leasure. I did mention to him that he will pay my hourly rate to grease my equipment and service the chipper. He was all fine with it. He is a "neighbor" so driving the tractor there takes about 15 minutes which is part of my billing time. I guess I'll see how it goes. I have about 5 to 6 hours of chipping at this time with about another 4 to 6 hours by fall. I will also have to ditch a log road that runs up a hill to divert water away from their gardens and house, that could be an on going thing. Cut some brush. Remove rather large windfallen trees from his log roads and remove the skidder ruts (some are 3ft to 4 ft deep). Possibly finish landscaping about 1/3 of an acre with grass (used to be the log landing). So if he holds true to what he told me I'll have my work cut out for me. I was helping him (shopping advce) with the purchasing a smaller tractor "B series" with implenets. But he mentioned that at his age, the amout of time they spend at the house (second home), no tractor experience and the price tag of the tractor with proper implements... he figures its bet to do it this way. Not to often you get to do something you really like and get payed for it.

I do like your way of figuring out how much to charge. I'll have to sit down and figure it out and see where I'm at.

 

[Rowski]

Re: What\'s the going rate?

That's interesting too. I will probably do the same if it is smaller one time job. This guy will probably give me, I'm guessing here... about 30 hours of work this summer. Pretty hot & steamy lately? Was chipping yesterday in the early eveing, talk about sweating! The bugs didn't even want to have anything to do with me! Maybe we could have a get together again soon?

 

[snowman]

Re: What\'s the going rate?

It's common practice to charge for the machine and labor time separately. In other words, charge $45 per hour for your time and $70 per hour for your machine time.

I had a bill come in the other day where they charged an hourly rate for the foreman's pickup!

 

[lblair]

Re: What\'s the going rate?

I charge 25.00 per hour for all times. So far im doing ok. Its a side thing for me and not my main income. I could be busy every night and all weekend. But this last job i did, brush hogging...what a mess. Most people will tell you, oh theres no junk in there...yeah right well. I ended up using the front end loader more than the Brush hog. needless to say junk wasnt the word. How about 3 flat tires on a burried deck. I hope that slime stuff works. I read about it here and TSC had it. My 50.00 dollar job used 30.00 to fix the leaks. So far this is the first job i had that i about lost money. I put slime in all my tires just in case. any comments on slime would be great. Gotta go now my tires are still up and i got 2 jobs today to do. Both are about 3 hours each and i charged flat rate for them...both easey work and 125 bucks each and both people said DO IT!!! so if all goes well with my payed day from work this will be a 500.00 day!
Larry

 

[Rowski]

Re: What\'s the going rate?

Well... The moonlighting is going well. I have some minimal manual labor of cutting brush and trees, moved some field stone, piled up some old half rotten brush for burning (thumb worked well for that), started reclaiming some overgrown stone wall (not an actual wall, mostly larger rocks pushed in a waving line), and my most popular service.... the chipper. I have over 20 hours of chipper time.

Many thanks for the input on the hourly rate. The amount seems fine with my customers and works for me, could always be more/w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif. I do have a question regarding the hourly rate for the chipper. Does it seem to make sense to charge a little extra for the chipper say an extra $5 per hour due to the expense, complexity, and future service costs of the chipper? I'm sure it makes sense to me or the owner of the equipment but more from a customer's point of view.

Picture attached.

Thanks again!

 

[rancar]

Re: What\'s the going rate?

Derek

Sounds like you could do even better by charging at least $10 extra per hour. Just explain it to your customers the way you just told TBNers and you'll do just fine. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

Bob

 

[bgott]

Re: What\'s the going rate?

I'd go $20 an hour or more extra for the chipper. I have no experience with a chipper but I'm willing to bet the knives or whatever they use in them don't last long and aren't cheap. The object is to profit, not break even! I notice you're an auto tech, so was I. I spent too many years making the same rate no matter how technical or equipment intensive the job. I have a KR1000 and 1001 combo full of tools I paid big bucks for to use one underpaid time. It's hard to break the habit. When I still frequented iATN I noticed a lot of shops were going to double rate for technical jobs. That is something to think about. If you are doing a job with an implement with no or few moving parts, such as a box scraper or plow, charge your standard rate. If the equipment is more expensive to buy or maintain, such as a mower or your chipper, bump the rate. You might not be able to get double for a shredder, there is too many people that own them and will work them for base rate. That chipper, on the other hand, isn't very commonly owned by the small or part time operator.

 

[Turfman]

Re: What\'s the going rate?

Here are my rates:

$45-50 per hour tractor and me.
$40 per hour if it's in the neighborhood and I don't have to trailer (friend/neighbor rate)
I charge tractor time all the time the engine is running from the time it hits the ground at the job site.
If i have to hand labor it's $35/hour which includes use of my hand tools.

Figure this, cost and replacement of tractor and attachments, maintenance, insurance (liability, nice to have when you hit the natural gas line), truck with insurance fuel, etc., fuel and your setup, load and unload time. $45/hour is pretty cheap and $50 is the going rate here.

 

[jhburke]

Re: What\'s the going rate?

Just go to a rental place and check their prices. For the simple equipment, the hourly rent is much cheaper than for the equipment that is more expensive. IE chipper, post hole digger, rotary brush. That should explain it to your customers.

 

[Steven]

Re: What\'s the going rate?

I do some side work with my bx22, loader and back hoe stuff. I try to quote the jobs by a set price. so far I have been averaging $100. an hour plus. I have even gotten more than quoted price after job was finished without asking for it. Just be nice to customers and do a good job as if it was your yard. I have found that if you throw out what you may think is a high figure in your mind, the people you are doing the work for do not think it's that high and they are not going to do it by hand. If they think it to much tell them you will get back to them with a new price after you run some figures and come in a little lower then they think they are getting a better deal. Use some of your money to set up a tractor fund to make the tractor self efficient to pay maintenance and buying extra attachments,and insurance. Just make sure you have liability insurance, use dig safe if needed, you never know what can happen and one mistake could cost you a lot of money and then some.