Mowing Brush hogging rates

[johnems]

I have a neighbor who want me to brush hog his property that is next to mine. He has officered to pay me to do this. I am running Kubot 3050 with a 6 feet brush hog mower. I do not want to over charge him but I do not want to give this away. At any rate what seems to be the going rate for brush hogging.

I figure my cost to be

2 gallons or fuel per hour at $5.00 per gallon
I have a 400 hour service coming up soon so and I am figuring that to be $400.00
New Blades on the Brush hog 140.00

Does say $20.00 per hour seam reasonable. I know I need to figure my time per hour into this. I am just trying to figure my cost. Is my thoughts on cost reasonable or am I out of line. Thanks John

Thanks John

 

[Coyote machine]

Most charge $60-80/hr for machine and operator. You could cut him some slack at $45-50/hr. If you want to protect yourself and him/his property you need insurance against liability in case you throw a rock and do property damage or personal injury. No insurance- something goes wrong, you are on the hook.

 

[2458n]

Someplace on here is your mowing speed and cutting width. Using this you could figure your time. Insurance or risk could be your biggest cost here. If you are to high there is always someone with a 2N and a five foot bushog and no insurance. Ask him what it is worth to him.

 

[Midniteoyl]

Ya.. around $75 per hour seems to be about right.. Could always say $75 first hour, $45 per hour after to give the 'neighbor rate'. Remember, if it hasnt been hogged in awhile, the first time will be the toughest and slowest..

 

[RickB]

$7 to $9 per width of cut measured in feet.

 

[Rick52]

Where I live, we charge by the acre. I charge $20 / $25 a acre if it's just pasture growth with out stumps and holes. If it has a lot of under growth the price goes up.

 

[LD1]

My rates typically work out to between $35 and $50 per acre. Some are a little more, some a little less.

Size of the field has alot to do with it. Obviously I cannot cut a 1/2 acre plot that is 30 minutes away for $17.50-$25:laughing:

But when it comes to pricing, I bid by the job. One flat price I tell a customer, take it or leave it. I dont charge by the hour, or by the acre. Because every acre is different. And by the hour, the customer always asks "how long do you think it will take". And if you go over.....:mur:

So when I price, I like to get $50 per hour from my drive, back to my drive, with a $150 minimum if I have to trailer, and a $100 minimum if within 4 miles or so and I just drive the tractor. So if I have a job an hour away, and one acre, its $150 for that 1 acre.

Other things to consider (and since this is your neighbor you should know), when is the last time it was hogged?? That is the first question I always ask. Cause thats a good indication of how dense the vegetation is and how slow you need to go. Also a good indication of weather there is any junk laying in the field.

Now all that said, when I do work for a neighbor or someone I know, I never name a price. I just tell them to pay me what they think its worth. And how much they pay, tells me alot about what kind of person, neighbor, or friend they are. Only you know the circumstances and weather you consider this guy a "friend" or not. I personally dont like making money (profit) off of my friends. Just so long as I make enough to cover my expenses, I am happy.

 

[bigbull338]

i dont know how big the place is he is wanting you to shredd.but around here i figure $15 or $20 an acre for shredding.smaller places like 1 to 10acs would be more.

 

[Tx Jim]

Someplace on here is your mowing speed and cutting width. Using this you could figure your time.

MPH X width divided by 10 will give you a per acre per hour estimate that allows for breaks that will come very close to reality. 4 mph & 6' width = 2.4 acres per hr. On that size tractor & cutter I think $45-$50 per hr should be plenty.

 

[DT86]

MPH X width divided by 10 will give you a per acre per hour estimate that allows for breaks that will come very close to reality.

Have to remember this one. I just checked it against my known figures of A/H. You are right it is close with a little play room.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Most charge $60-80/hr for machine and operator. You could cut him some slack at $45-50/hr. If you want to protect yourself and him/his property you need insurance against liability in case you throw a rock and do property damage or personal injury. No insurance- something goes wrong, you are on the hook.

Real numbers and good advice from my experience. For most they can never charge enough to cover full costs of tractor ownership but any reasonable rate helps with the cash flow.

 

[LD1]

Yep. Thats a which and easy formula. It assumes 82.5% efficiency.

Long form is mph x 5280 x width = square ft per hour

Divide that by 43560 to get acres per hour.

Then factor in efficiency.

So take the constants..(5280/43560) x 82.5% EFF and you get 0.1

So...mph x width x 0.1 ......or.....(mph x width)/10...same thing

 

[Grant1]

I charge 60 per hour. I usually can mow an acre within the hour. Remember the neighbor wont be around when its time to repair your equipment. If they are a good friend, then I would do it for free.

 

[JeffTerry]

I do bush hogging on the side. I personally charge the following: $60.00 for the first hour (doesn't matter if it takes me ten minutes) 35.00 an hour after that. its a little low but it gets me work,

 

[JeffTerry]

like Grant1 says, if they are a true friend and have been for a long time. do it for free or ask them to fill your tank. But make sure to ask, is there anything out there that might cause a flat. flat tire are expensive.

 

[Complete Turf Care]

I charge $65 per hour with a 3 hour minimum. I have a 45 hp tractor with a 6' bush hog.

 

[fieldman12]

I think most will agree if you have not ever mowed a property before and it is tall there are tons of things out there to hit or possible holes to drop a tractor in. I have mowed since i was 12 and now I'm almost 40. I charge a minimum of $60.00 plus per hour. Most of these people don't want it mowed anymore than once a year and there are allot of them that have not mowed it in years and have a huge mess to deal with. I see these problems all the time they have the money to purchase the land but have no equipment at all to maintain it and want you to do the job for nothing. If your damage a back tire it can cost you big dollars. My dad when I was small ruined a oil pan on a tractor when he got it stuck on a small stump he did not know was there in the tall weeds. I was mowing a fence row for a buddy several years ago with his dads tractor in stuff at least 6' tall. It's a good things I keep the bucket low to the ground because I dropped the front tires in a whole just wide enough for the front tires to fall in that you never would know was even there. I'm confident if that bucked had not been on it would have been allot worse. I try to walk allot of places I mow but I understand that is not always possible and you have to deal with the bugs lol. In bad stuff I can only mow about 3/4 an acre with a 6' bush hog an hour.

 

[DT86]

I charge 60 per hour. I usually can mow an acre within the hour.

I charge $65 per hour with a 3 hour minimum. I have a 45 hp tractor with a 6' bush hog.

That would be way out of the question here.

What I'm getting at is rates vary vastly by the area.

For example I've been mowing with a 15' hog, about 4-6 acres an hour for $75/H. They act like I'm really f**king them over.

 

[Rayster]

There is a guy here that charges $30 an acre. I think it's $130 initial service fee (on arrival).

 

[Kenneth in Texas]

Its worth about $100 an hour or more but i cant get that, but i can and do get $55 an hour with a 3 hr minimum.