Hourly Rates - $9/ft of Cut Width ?

Bird · Oct 26, 2001

$30 an acre

Just depends on where you are. In Dallas or Ft. Worth, it would probably be about right. In my area . . ., wish I could get more work at $20 an acre, but don't know anyone who would pay more than $15.

Bird

Gatorboy · Oct 26, 2001

If you are paying someone a set price ($30/acre), you shouldn't care if they have a 21" push mower or a 15' batwing. You are going to get your property cut and know that it will cost you $150.

But if I was going to cut it with my 15 footer, it would take me less than an hour. I would suspect it will take the guy about 3 hours or less with a 6' mower.

Regards,
Dave "Gatorboy" Hoffmann
Fallston, Maryland

Anonymous Poster · Oct 26, 2001

...on average how long does it take to mow an acre with a 6' cutter?...

With my 6' rotary cutter, it takes me about 3:40 to cut about 11 1/2 acres, flat, mostly wide open field... and I'm moving @ 5 mph...

So approximately 3 acres/hour mowing... not serious brush hogging... {big difference!}

rbargeron · Oct 26, 2001

Buck - as with many things in life there are many factors contributing to "experience". Having put about 3000 hours in all on my tractors, I'm somewhat experienced at mowing operations, but probably less than somebody else.

What I don't have experience at is estimating what a new job might take. The lot in question had not been cut in several years - so had 3"-4" thick field pines, 15' tall poplar in one corner, and the occasional rock sticking up. Going slow enough to do a decent job, it took 6 hours (not counting time to reinstall the fan belt after a sapling got up in there and dismounted it). When I had walked the field, I thought it was maybe a chainsaw & chipper job but decided to try a heavy rotary cutter - it worked but might not have if another year went by. The landowner was quite interested in the tools and methods to be used - he thought $300 was a good deal compared to manual reclaiming.

I guess there is such a wide range in conditions my original question doesn't really have a concise answer.

Anonymous Poster · Oct 26, 2001

...I guess there is such a wide range in conditions... doesn't really have a concise answer...
{Yes, it's one of those "you've got to see it in person..."}

Dick,

Translate the area into acres?

Mowing my Dad's neighbor's 11 1/2 acres, I get $225. flat-rate plus fuel $ {$30.} and I'm flying through it... not brush hogging 3" or 4" stuff and crawling...

gordon · Oct 26, 2001

There is no single best way to price anything. If you do flat rate bids you can really put yourself into a corner quick. After alot of hours in front of a rotary cutter, it still varies alot. Safest way is by hour. I do it both ways flat rate and by the hour. Depends on who I'm working for and if I've cut that property before. If I have it's in the address book, how long it took last time and how tall/thick it was.

As for going by the hour meter----Don't. Go by your wrist watch. That way when the customer wants to tell you about his uncles tractor your getting paid for it. Remember time is money when the tractors running. Talking time is when the tractor is loaded and your getting the check.

Gordon

Bird · Oct 27, 2001

As for going by the hour meter----Don't. Go by your wrist watch

I'd agree that's the way you should do it if you're running a business, but doing strictly occasional jobs, never on a job where I need to hurry, etc. I do just the opposite. If the job is an hourly one, I go by the hourmeter; don't worry about time spent visiting or coffee breaks, etc./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

Bird

gordon · Oct 27, 2001

Thats why I started the post with There is no single best way to price anything. 

If it works for ya then run with it /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Gordon

Buck · Oct 30, 2001

OK. Gentlemen. If someone were to say: You've got an unusual lot.. - and I did.. then I'd be open to an hourly charge. But there after, I'd expect a fixed price.

Alternatively, If some prospective landscaper were to say: "It's difficult to judge these things without doing it once", then I'd be inclined to pay him -once- hourly.

I'll tell you this, I've done a lot of software development projects -fixed price- while having to deal with four or five $200 shoes telling me what to do mid course in the project.

Perhaps this is no worse than having one ill tempered wife watching you mow, but that is what I had to do to be competitive and to introduce my self to the market.

Buck

P.S. Please keep us informed on how well all this goes. For some reason, I think I wouldn't mind having a business like this myself.

ddl · Oct 31, 2001

The problem with your comparison is this: what would you charge to write a computer program if all you saw was an outline of the computer, without knowing if it was IBM or a fruit type of computer. You didn't know how much memory or harddrive space you could use for your program. You also didn't know if it had a cd drive or if it had a zip drive. That is what it is like when you look at an ovr grown field, with trees sticking up of different sizes. The people around KC will charge on what they want to make per hour, even if they give a lump sum for doing the job. Usually the second time they mow a field, they charge less or more depending on how the first mowing time went. I have mowed a lot where I lowered the bucket of the loader so it would hit anything hid in the weeds and grass before my tractor ran over it. You would be amazed of the junk that grows in a lot or field.

Dan L

rbargeron · Oct 31, 2001

Mowing with the bucket down acting as a feeler is exactly how I did that lot (now 2 weeks ago) - also used it to uproot the bigger clumps of trees and push them to the edges. I'm sure I could do the lot in 2 hours or less now the big stuff is gone and I know where most of the rocks & obstacles are. Buck's idea of charging by the hour for the first mowing and then by fixed price later makes sense - provided the lot is cut at least once a year.

Robert_in_NY · Nov 2, 2001

John, what model of tractor do you run? It is nice when the fields are flat and you can cruise thru them, I run between 6-7 mph on most of my fields because of how smooth they are. I spent the first couple years removing rocks and other obstructions and now have nothing in the way except for a few trees.

Robert Turk Jr.
Whitetail Splendor Deer Farms
Silver Creek, NY

Anonymous Poster · Nov 3, 2001

...what model of tractor do you run?...I run between 6-7 mph...

Hi Robert,

I've got a few tractors, but now mostly use the new JD5205. Especially after just getting a new 7' hog that makes my Massey 165 way too light in the front end {no weights}. So I guess the MF165 will be the next to go...

{What is that old saying... Never ever get attached to women, cars...and tractors...}/w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

Man...7 mph... that's really hauling with a hog... are your fields a golf course? /w3tcompact/icons/blush.gif

Robert_in_NY · Nov 3, 2001

No, use to be grape fields and brush fields, planted corn in them for a couple years and now have them planted to a clover alfalfa mix. I only run a 6 footer behind a TN 65 so it doesn't work it too hard but I mow it when it gets around 18"-24". Where abouts are you from? If you want to sell the 165 let me know, I am looking at getting one next week at an auction for a secondary tractor of like hp. I have a 135 but that is no use for the equipment I have now.

Robert Turk Jr.
Whitetail Splendor Deer Farms
Silver Creek, NY

Anonymous Poster · Nov 3, 2001

Robert,

I just sold my MF135 about 3 months ago. Now I'm looking for a clean MF150.

My MF165 is a row crop and it's actually been "presold" for almost 2 years and it will command top dollar... {This guy stops by every couple months to drool over it and keeps bugging me to sell it to him... OK, he twisted my arm enough.../w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif}

I kick myself...a few weeks ago, saw a MF175 that was so so at an auction... I was in a different row looking at something else and they sold it...$2400. Did I say KICK myself... 62 PTO HP running tractor for $2400. {I just knew it was going for $4.5-5K... the way prices had been running}

They had a 9N or 2N {didn't look at it that close} that went for $925... probably should of bid for that "yuppie tractor"...to resell it.../w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Well, there's always that next auction...

Robert_in_NY · Nov 4, 2001

I would have gladly paid that for a 175, the 165 bring around $5k at auctions if they are in good condition, the one coming up next week has 1800 hrs on it so I am hoping to get that and a 10' disc there. Do you have many 10' disc around you, I have only found a couple here and they are either beat beyond repair of the owner wants a couple thousand for it.

It is amazing what people pay for those little Fords, I went to my dealer and they would give around $2500 for them on trade or you can set it in front of you house and get $3500 with a fresh coat of paint.

I traded my old 4000 for the TN and had to force my dealer to give me 3500 and it had a loader and started better than any used tractor I have seen. The old MF's are a lot of fun though. Where abouts are you from and how come you never registered on this board? Just thought I'd ask. Later

Robert Turk Jr.
Whitetail Splendor Deer Farms
Silver Creek, NY

JohnMiller3 · Nov 5, 2001

...Where abouts are you from and how come you never registered on this board?...

Robert,

I "r" registered.../w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif but use customer computer's while testing/servicing units most of the time... and I'm from East Greenbush, NY...

Here's my Massey 135 I sold recently... everybody laughed at the "trip-loader"... but it's better than their shovel... /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

"You are what you eat, drink, think, say and do..."

PitbullMidwest · Nov 5, 2001

but it's better than their shovel... 

JohnMiller3,

My father-in-law has a 1950 IH Model C with a 3 ft wide "trip loader". I've been laughed at lots of times but I've also moved a lot of dirt with that tractor! The worst part is that the controls are on the hydraulic pump which is mounted to the rear pto and requires you to reach behind you to raise or lower the loader. But as you have already said, it beats their shovel!

Robert_in_NY · Nov 5, 2001

It looks like you have replaced the nose cone on the 135. That is something I have to do, my grandfather put the backhoe into it and made a nice dent. Mine is an old plastic one and I bought a steel one from a 135 diesel to replace it.

The trip loaders were a lot better than a shovel and was a welcome addition for a lot of farms. I will post a pic of mine one of these days. Later.

Robert Turk Jr.
Whitetail Splendor Deer Farms
Silver Creek, NY