Hello all, I just bought a 1974-ish Huber M-500 road maintainer to help maintain our clay road. We've got about 2 miles of road to keep up and I also have the opportunity recoup some of my money on the purchase of the grader by charging the property owners association for my efforts. What's the going rate these days for grader work? Since I'm on the board of the property owners association I want to make sure I'm not gauging them on costs and at the same time I don't want to waste a contractors time asking for an estimate on work we will never do. Any information would be greatly appreciated. I'll try to get some pick of my new grader up as well. Tom
Some places go by horse power some by weight. Here in New Brunswick, I think the government rate is 120 bucks an hour for our 940 Volvo. Our little maintainer graders get about 65 with the operator. I guess you need to factor in the operators time, your fuel, wear and tear as well as fees, and insurance costs.
In Manitoba, the last time I checked the rate book, a 946 Volvo was at $170.00 per hour. There is about a 20hp difference from a 940 to 946,so the gov't rate would be a bit less for the 940.
I have a similar situation with my home owners association. We have four miles of road to maintain and I plow snow in the winter. Will run about fifty paid hours per year. As a grader is a high maintenance item, especially when they get older and need to be well looked after. It is also quite a learning experience. I can cut costs somewhat by not being on public roads, (not carrying insurance, no SME plates, run red fuel, don't have to road it very far and I read Heavy Equipment Forums for all those great tips and help with repairs). My formula is have it paid for in ten years, including all repairs and other expenses. I started at $65/hr in 2009 and have found some equilibrium at $80/hr now. I expect to have it paid off at end of this year and will to start a fund for some more expensive work after that, (tires). I have not made a dime for my time, which is considerable since I do most all the maintenance and repair work on it. However I enjoy the learning experience and being a service to the community I live in. I expect to evaluate my position in 2018 when the ten years is up. It is physically demanding and there is much potiential for injury, (getting on and off,changing tires and blades, and so on), so be very careful around your machine. Don't get discouraged with break downs, as that is part of the game with equipment. Keep tract of all your time and expenses so you can show the people just how much it actually costs for road maintenance as many to most of them won't get it. I am the treasurer of the association so I can stay on top of the situtation. My exit plan is to have the value of the machine remain high enough to cover most of my "learning experience" costs when I sell it. Good luck and I hope you have the maintenance, repair and parts manuals for reference. -Bob