Recently purchased a 42x16w steel hull motorized barge with a Hiab 650 7500# crane on it. The original idea was to use it for an upcoming personal lake project. As time has progressed we are realizing the niche market this unit could fill. What we are trying to figure out is what would realistic billing rates could be. Local barges are around $175/ hr. CDN with Captain only. We are in lake country. This unit has a 6” draft so it has the opportunity to transfer from bigger barges to shore. Helicopters are also frequently used here at about $2500/ hr. Any thoughts/ input would be appreciated.
Is the difference between your barge and the barge at $175/hour the crane on your barge?
Regular barges with the captain charge out at $175/hr. I’m trying to come up with a value of which I could charge with this as a specialty.
At 16' x 42' (I'm assuming your dimensions are feet?) are you hauling the barge yourself, and how big of a project $ wise is it to mobilize it? or are you just going to be on one lake? Most of the dock builders by me have gin pole type set ups on their working barges. The hiab 650 isn't a very big crane, (15-20' reach?) its not going to pick or reach any more than what they do with a gin pole set up. Is the crane in the center or front or side of the barge? Engine drive I'm assuming? Do you have spuds on the barge to anchor yourself for working? With only 15-20' of reach, your going to have a hard time moving much of anything to shore. I could see you getting a extra $50-$60 a hour for the crane, over a barge without one. But that's just a wild guess on my part, work barges in my area aren't a big demand, and the small guys have gin pole mounts. I could be totally out of line.
Yes the boat is 42 feel long. Rating for the crane is 650# at 32’ Currently has an independent Deutz 2cyl diesel. The crane is center front of the boat, so I loose 8’ of reach. The barge will stay in the lake year round / frozen in in winter. It has 2 front mounted spuds with 4x4’ pads. She needs some love but nothing I can’t handle.
Yes the big difference is the crane. This unit is more designed to handle material with the crane as opposed to a traditional barge.
The end two sections that aren't live boom are a pain if you need to change them in length. The live is the important part. You really don't have a barge, you've got a work boat. Actually, its a modified old house boat, but that really doesn't matter, what matters is that you don't have much deck space. That looks like it was set up with the grapple, and maybe a tamper/driver for setting dock pilings. I guess you can charge whatever you want, or what the market will bear, but I don't think its a super specialized piece of equipment. Most guys wouldn't be splitting out the charge for a boat like that, its part of their regular dock business and part of the charge- $8,000 to build your pier or whatever, and the boat is how they build it. Not a line item per hour. You wouldn't get $175 in my area.
A big factor is what size jobs you'll handle, and mobilization costs. If you want to do one hour jobs on your lake, and can schedule them to do it profitably, I'd bet you could fill up a long workday at $200/hour. Every weekend the ice is out? 2 days a summer? You might be full time, I don't know your lake obviously. Lake of the Woods, I guess maybe it depends on how much you're willing to live on the boat maybe?
Usually the regular barges charge full rate for travel port to port. If there was a big enough job on one of the nearby lakes or the local river system, the whole unit could be moved by 53’ drop deck easily. But I expect that there would be enough work within a couple hours boat ride from our main port. At 5mph it is far from fast but typical for tugs with barges around here. It’s a big lake at about 65 miles x 65 miles, touching Manitoba / Ontario and Minnesota. I have had a few conversations with a salvage diver and it appears there could be salvage work available as well. Lots of options but we have to get rolling first.
From what I can tell, it has been its whole life as a work boat. Built way too heavy to had a life as a recreational boat. Good eye, yes it does have a grapple and drive for screw augers. I could be wrong, but the lack of deck space might be beneficial in that the other barge operators would not see this unit as competition but complimentary for when they can’t unload.