Is $300 to much for mowing 20 acres?

scesnick · Sep 23, 2006

My buddy knows a guy who has a field that is between 20-22 acres. He asked me if I wanted to mow it last year. I did mow it and when the guy asked how much I told him $250. He got all bent out and asked if I was going to bail it also. So, I said o.k., $200. He reluctantly paid me the $200.

Now, this year he called me and asked if I wanted to mow it again , I told him that since the price of diesel has went up so much I would have to get atleast $300 to mow it this year. He said no way.

It took me 2 full days to mow this field and about 20 gallons of fuel. It is on the side of a pretty good hill also. That is less than $15 an acre not to mention trailering my equipment up to his place and the wear and tear. Now, If he was not " Well Off " I would have probably just done for what he could pay me ( I have done that before for people) But this guy has 3 Cadillacs, Giant house and a big ol' John Deere. I guess he is just too lazy to mow it his self.
Am I being unreasonable or is he just one of those guys that wants something for nothing ? What would you guys charge to brush hog this field?

shvl73 · Sep 23, 2006

I wouldn't mow it at all. Let him find someone else this year who will do it for less than you asked. I'll bet he can't. The $300 you're willing to do it for seems to be too little for 2 days work, 20 gals of fuel and transport to and from the job. Any small breakdown and you're running a deficit.

RonR · Sep 23, 2006

I guess I'm getting synical in my old(er) age.

I don't need to work for minimum wage and/or not make enough to afford my equipment.

FINE, if the guy can find someone cheaper to mow it, good for him!

If people question me on my bids, which they seldom do, I simply say "I've bought this equipment, and I'm trying to pay for it, and make a reasonable return in my business. The bid I gave you is fair, but it is your decision if you want my services or not. If not, no harm, no foul. If you do, I'll do a great job for you for the price I quoted."

I don't need more seat time working for someone else and NOT makin' any money for the effort.

Just my style..............

Ron

Dweeks · Sep 23, 2006

Thats cheap, I wouldnt do it for $600.

wickedinhere · Sep 23, 2006

Yeah you were way too cheap. No one else will mow it that cheap.

kubotabilly · Sep 23, 2006

scesnick said:
My buddy knows a guy who has a field that is between 20-22 acres. He asked me if I wanted to mow it last year. I did mow it and when the guy asked how much I told him $250. He got all bent out and asked if I was going to bail it also. So, I said o.k., $200. He reluctantly paid me the $200.

Now, this year he called me and asked if I wanted to mow it again , I told him that since the price of diesel has went up so much I would have to get atleast $300 to mow it this year. He said no way.

It took me 2 full days to mow this field and about 20 gallons of fuel. It is on the side of a pretty good hill also. That is less than $15 an acre not to mention trailering my equipment up to his place and the wear and tear. Now, If he was not " Well Off " I would have probably just done for what he could pay me ( I have done that before for people) But this guy has 3 Cadillacs, Giant house and a big ol' John Deere. I guess he is just too lazy to mow it his self.
Am I being unreasonable or is he just one of those guys that wants something for nothing ? What would you guys charge to brush hog this field?

I get $45 an hour to bush-hog with my L3430, regardless if they drive Cadillacs or Kia's. I have no problem getting mowing jobs. That's why he has what he has, he doesn't want to pay his hired help the going rate. Let him buy a mower for the JD.

Bill

tractorworks · Sep 23, 2006

NO

He said no way. (This was good for you!)

It took me 2 full days to mow this field and about 20 gallons of fuel.
(20 gallons X $2.50 + $50.00 That is less than $10 an hour, not to mention wear and tear on tractor, truck and trailer, fuel for truck.)
I guess he is just too lazy to mow it his self. (So he needs to pay someone a fair price!)
What would you guys charge to brush hog this field? (Unless it is monthly, not less than $600 and more than likely more.)

radman1 · Sep 23, 2006

I wouldn't even consider $300 for that many acres. Maybe at $750. A friend of mine just paid someone $400 to mow his flat 2.5 acres behind his house. No rocks, few small trees. The past two years I let him use my tractor and mower for free. He lives 1 mile away and drives my tractor to his property. I think he feels a little guilty for letting him use it for nothing. This year a neighbor next door was having his mowed and he told the guy doing the mowing to also mow his property without asking the price. I think he will be back next year to borrow mine.

npaden · Sep 23, 2006

Yeah, that sounds way too cheap to me also.

B2400 · Sep 23, 2006

I mow 2 one acre lots for a couple of my neighbors. Being friendly I told them $30 each and they jumped on it. The previous person was charging $70 per lot. Obviously I'm not getting rich, but I figure 1hr and 1 gal fuel per acre( I've only got a 4ft brush hog) so I felt it was a fair deal for all of us.

johnk · Sep 23, 2006

He's too tight with the buck. That's why he owns 3 Cadillacs, Giant house and a big ol' John Deere. He uses everyone. Tell him to buy a mower and do it himself. Sounds like an ungrateful bast*** to me....Just my opinion. I hate when people try to scalp the last penny out of you..Tell him take a hike and let your tractor idle with PTO spinning on your mower on his property line. Worth 4 hours fuel....

Henro · Sep 23, 2006

Let's see...

Find a tractor with rotary cutter to rent: Maybe $150 per day if you are real lucky. Add something for delivery...

20 gallons of fuel...$60...prices are coming down...

2 days of time at minimum wage...about $80

That's $440 without adding wear and tear on your equipment, or adding value for yourself as a skilled tractor operator!

Seems like being a nice guy wanting to help you should charge $500 minimum...

RobertN · Sep 23, 2006

No way. Minimum $35/hr, up to the $45/hr another poster mentioned.

The other thing is, you are probably not insured. If you fin a rock, stick, piece of metal, and that mower throws it into his house, or you break something, you are hosed.

Even if he did it himself, it would cost $200/day to rent a CUT with a mower. There's $400, plus fuel and time.

Walk away. It aint worth it.

Birdhunter1 · Sep 23, 2006

$70 per hour minimum if I'm running my tractor on your property. Though I do have a few neighbors I mow for cheap to nothing but I also borrow from them time to time, basically I cover my fuel when I work for them, if that.

Nissan197 · Sep 23, 2006

I paid a neighbor to mow my 10 acres and he asked for 50 bucks an hour. It took him almost 2 hours and I happily gave him 100 bucks. IMHO I got off cheap.

SWB · Sep 23, 2006

The lots in my neighborhood are three to three and one half acres and the going rate seems to be around $75/lot. That works out to be $375 to around $450 for 20 acres and I think that is cheap.

ovrszd · Sep 24, 2006

scesnick said:
My buddy knows a guy who has a field that is between 20-22 acres. He asked me if I wanted to mow it last year. I did mow it and when the guy asked how much I told him $250. He got all bent out and asked if I was going to bail it also. So, I said o.k., $200. He reluctantly paid me the $200.

Now, this year he called me and asked if I wanted to mow it again , I told him that since the price of diesel has went up so much I would have to get atleast $300 to mow it this year. He said no way.

It took me 2 full days to mow this field and about 20 gallons of fuel. It is on the side of a pretty good hill also. That is less than $15 an acre not to mention trailering my equipment up to his place and the wear and tear. Now, If he was not " Well Off " I would have probably just done for what he could pay me ( I have done that before for people) But this guy has 3 Cadillacs, Giant house and a big ol' John Deere. I guess he is just too lazy to mow it his self.
Am I being unreasonable or is he just one of those guys that wants something for nothing ? What would you guys charge to brush hog this field?

I guess I don't understand why this is a discussion for you?? You are the seller of a service. It's you who decides what your equipment and time is worth. It's him who decides if he wants to pay it. Why would you even give this a second thought once he turned down your price?? It really doesn't matter what I or anyone else in this post says. You determined your price and he isn't going to pay it. Seems very simple to me.

scesnick · Sep 24, 2006

I usually have only ever mowed my fields. The first time I ever even thought of mowing someone elses was when this job came up last year. I guess that was why I was asking if $300 was unreasonable. ( I figured i was low ) I really haven't looked into the going rate.

My buddy told me that this guy asked him last night for his Brother in laws phone number to see if he wants to mow it. His B.I.L. told him he would not even think of doing it for less than $750 .

SO, I'm betting this guy will be calling me back here soon. I think after reading this thread and his attitude from the previous call the price might have to go up a little !!!! ( just kidding, I told him $300 I will honor that )
Thanks for the responses !!

roxynoodle · Sep 24, 2006

I have a neighbor with a good sized backhoe. I pay him $45 per hour for any work he does for me. To be honest, for me, it's cheaper than renting one. To rent one for half a day is $200. His backhoe can do the work twice as fast. So if it takes him 2 hours to dig a hole for me, that is $90 compared to the $200 I'd pay to rent a small one. I think $45 per hour is more than fair.