I was told the other day that guys up here are charging $100 for mid size skid steer work. Mostly because of fuel at $5.40/gal. What is the average rates where you are?
$ 85/hr for general work and minimum $125 hr for high flow attachments
Won't show up for less than $250. $125 an hr. otherwise. Thats for a TL 150
And in long island!
I'm new to operating heavy construction equipment, so I'm learning by asking sometimes stupid questions like this one...... Is what you guys are talking about is what you want per hour for what ever type machine your operating? Like with what Yellowdog was saying about wanting 85.00 an hour for general work is like what everyone else wants 125.00?... then when you say 125.00 for high flow would that be if you were to run another hydraulic attachment off your backhoe arm, lets say like a jackhammer?
well backhoe pricing would be a different ball of wax. I can't speak about that. My prices are general prices and work for me and my bills. I try to bid a job, though, so there is more profit. You gotta know your costs. Just throwing a number out there will not take you anywhere. You have to account for all of your costs and figure what it takes to make a profit while being competitive. If it works out that you can charge more or less than the competitor, then that's how it works out. You can't get far if you undercut and don't account for your costs and you won't get far if you price yourself too high out of the market for general work.. Then there is specialty work..that's harder to price because the costs are often difficult to assess unless you do the service all the time, however, get a few under your belt and you can get a better idea of the average costs of those specialty jobs and then you can price accordingly. My $.02
Well that makes perfect sense Yellowdog.... The reason why I was asking is I just picked up a 1988 JD 310c backhoe so I can build my garage and a lot of other stuff and landscaping... The new neighbor next door that I just met is building this huge home... he can use me to dig up 4 large tree stumps and a lot of other yard work to fill in low spots and dig out larger hilly areas.... So I'm wondering how should I charge? over here in New England is all rocks, from small to too huge to pick up, this is what I'm running into now as I move soil around in my yard next door, so his yard is no different. I can guess how many days but I might under estimate the job... then I don't want to charge top retail because I can't produce like a pro that has as many machines he needs to do everything faster than me... I guess I have to pay attention to what I'm doing and how long it takes me to do it to get an idea how long I'm in the seat....
First question how good are you at running that 310? because as far as the stumps I would probably charge per stump . then what will you be doing with them take away or dig and burry them? As far as grading and landscaping you can do it buy the hour or just figure out how long it will take you and give a lump sum price. but being your neighbor I think is harder because you want to do the work but not charge like you would a normal custome just to have good relations.I did a job for my neighbor and just charged for machine time did not make a killing but he got a good deal I got something.plus I did it as a fill in so was not something i had to get done right away.
I've found over the years that with experience comes speed. If you price by the stump and you are fast, make sure you make it worthwhile to fire up your machine or you might get done too fast and not make any money. Happens to me all the time! You should have a minimum. With that said, working for a neighbor and for the sake of experience, is a good reason to work for less. First of all, you might be practicing on their time, and secondly, you are working for a neighbor. I try to give my nieghbor's breaks within reason. If I was a richer man, I'd work for most of them for free just because I love to help out but unfortunately, breaking a tooth on a rock or busting a hydraulic line can be an expensive repair. Even a small hydraulic line is $50 plus your labor time. A big one on a backhoe could run $300 plus time, fluids, and clean up so know your costs before you bid.
I agree with pricing per stump idea. Like everyone else said, you really have to figure out how much it cost you to run your entire operation per day and per job. I look at it like this. I'm worth a minimum of $250 a day. I figure for $100 for fuel for my truck and machine combined. If I'm going to back fill a cesspool or new well, It will only take me 1 hr. at the job. Something small like that I only charge $250-$300 plus price of topsoil. I usually give the customer the option of paying me by the hr. $125 or $800 for the day. which for me is 7-8 hrs. I will do pretty much whatever the customer needs in the 7-8 hr period as long as its not doing damage to my machines.