Little info on what to charge?

[Wrencher2423]

As the title says I did my first pay job today. Not real sure what the proper rate of pay is for my bx25. Just wondering what every bodies thoughts are. We did about 200ft of ditch for French drain laid the pipe , hauled the stone to the ditch and back filled . Just some idea would be nice

 

[85Hokie]

As the title says I did my first pay job today. Not real sure what the proper rate of pay is for my bx25. Just wondering what every bodies thoughts are. We did about 200ft of ditch for French drain laid the pipe , hauled the stone to the ditch and back filled . Just some idea would be nice

Did you buy all materials? How many hours, did you have to haul the bx?

 

[Wrencher2423]

No I didn't buy the materials and hauled the bx about 15 miles one way

 

[Wrencher2423]

We were gone 10 hours

 

[Tooljunkie]

Well, figure your fair wage, percentage of wear and tear on machine and fuel burned. Grass cutting here runs 25/hour mini excavator rental 375 per day no opertator. Im thinkin 50/hour if it was me.
Mind you thats my shop rate in my garage.
What it boils down to is what dollar amount you are happy with.

 

[uncle carver]

Salary for the hours on site then 4 bucks per mile loaded. 25 bucks per hour on machine. just my opinion.

 

[OldeEnglish]

From a plumber's perspective, $25 an hour is not much. Hauling equipment, burning fuel, wear and tear, and laying pipe I would be at $100 an hour. Most plumbers charge more than that just to break out their hand tools. I worked for a company in Charlotte, NC that charged $200 an hour to just roll their kx 1213 off the trailer. And that was 10 years ago. It's always good to help out a friend once in while but you will always have work if you work for nothing.

 

[Wrencher2423]

We'll you can rent the machine at Home Depot for 225.00 a day.

 

[Ezlife45]

Wow some of these responses seem a little high. No wonder I like to do things myself.
Sure HD can rent it for XX an hour, I think my store is a little higher than $225 per day. Sounds like you did a full day's work.

I'm not a contractor by any means but for larger work (large rental equipment heavy cranes etc.) you're charged a mobilization and a demob charge. Perhaps the $4/mile is some person's estimate of that. Many places actually only charge a flat rate for transportation within XX miles. Personally I'd go flat rate within a few miles and maybe over 25 miles then charge a few bucks for fuel.

Finally for the machine work, factor in how you want to charge, hours on the machine plus hours manual labor etc.

For a full day's work it may be at least as much as it would be to rent the machine.

 

[85Hokie]

We were gone 10 hours

Lots of ways to look at this:

if for a dear friend that needed help ASAP, a 6 pack of beer and smack on the back.........btdt

but for a "real" job that you should be paid for:

10 hours, one hour was travel
8 hours on the job ? with one for thinking and planning?

I would say min $250 and that would be a steal on HIS part, but I would really expect something closer to $400. True - anyone can rent a machine for $250 ish a day, but they better be damn good once it is on site or otherwise they make a mess.

Most around here are 50/hour and there is a 4 hour min........so I would say for 10 hours - $400 is very fair. AND if it fixed his water runoff problem, p r i c e l e s s !

 

[Wrencher2423]

When we negotiated the price it was around 300.00 but I still think that's a little low. But you live a learn just figuring how to do all this. And on the plus side of this got another job out of it.

 

[navspecwar]

And on the plus side of this got another job out of it.

You obviously did a fine job my friend and the fact you got another job, in my opinion, is the "priceless" outcome!!

 

[koja]

When we negotiated the price it was around 300.00 but I still think that's a little low. But you live a learn just figuring how to do all this. And on the plus side of this got another job out of it.

That's really the way you have to figure it , by experience. After a while you will have a good idea of what to charge just by looking at a job . Myself I was a mason contractor for fifteen years and it was hard losing your butt for first few jobs but you learn quick. Most of the time for me it was whatever the material cost times two got me pretty close in price . You could also do that but you will also have to come up with a solid wage for the machine just like you would for an employee. Keep in mind three things about the machines wage. It has to pay for itself , it has to replace itself , and it has to make you a little too. Take a five year plan on replacement and figure that cost out weekly and shoot for making more than that per week. Hope this helps , its a hard life out there being a contractor of any kind. The "public" is the hardest boss you will ever have.

 

[85Hokie]

That's really the way you have to figure it , by experience. After a while you will have a good idea of what to charge just by looking at a job . Myself I was a mason contractor for fifteen years and it was hard losing your butt for first few jobs but you learn quick. Most of the time for me it was whatever the material cost times two got me pretty close in price . You could also do that but you will also have to come up with a solid wage for the machine just like you would for an employee. Keep in mind three things about the machines wage. It has to pay for itself , it has to replace itself , and it has to make you a little too. Take a five year plan on replacement and figure that cost out weekly and shoot for making more than that per week. Hope this helps , its a hard life out there being a contractor of any kind. The "public" is the hardest boss you will ever have.

Excellent words to live by:

The "public" is the hardest boss you will ever have

 

[OldeEnglish]

I hope my price didn't offend anyone, that's a realistic price for up here in Taxachusetts. $1000 for 10 hours of work using a $20,000 tool is not out of the ball park in my eyes. $300 cash is better than nothing. One major thing to think about is liability. Here in MA, if your a contractor of any type you need to be licensed, hold a OSHA 10 card, and be insured with both liability and workmans comp. Most if not all contractors here won't let you step on site unless you have WC insurance. Liability insurance is a must have today to protect you and everything you own from being sued. It's a sad thing but it is reality. I'm sure others will chime in or call me crazy but these insurances are not cheap by any means. So now if you factor in how much insurance costs, $100 an hour is very reasonable. If it was me, I wouldn't do any side work unless I had insurance and a contract signed by the property owners and general contractor if there is one (easily drafted by a lawyer for a few hundred bucks). A contract will state who and what you are responsible for, and also any clauses. For example in the excavation business they usually have a rock clause written in their contract. If you bid the job for a $1000 and hit rock while digging, your labor could easily triple. There goes any profit, and could easily wreck your machine. I've had rock blasted many times with TNT and have seen equipment damaged. Homeowners would love to hear that you are insured to protect them. What if their kid fell in your ditch and hit their head? What if a neighborhood kid fell in your ditch at night and got hurt? What if you drove the tractor through the side of their house? Too many ways for something bad to happen, and sadly it happens every day. Just my 2 cents....

 

[Daren Todd]

300$ a day seems a little low. Big thing is to try and find what other buisinesses charge for a machine and operator for the day. I think dad used to charge 50$ an hour for the tractor and implement, and 75$ for the mini trackhoe. And that was 20 years ago. Most of his jobs were flat rate for the job, and he would probably make double the hourly rate on a good day. It will take you some time to figure out what the jobs are gonna take. I would think a minumum of 500 a day for you and your machine, to make a livable wage off from it. And that would only be about 20$ an hour before the government got there cut

 

[D2Cat]

If you're digging in dirt you need to be sure you have locates on EVERY job. Many folks will tell you they know nothing is there, and encourage you to get to work.

You need insurance to cover your excavation responsibility.

If you ever hit a utility without locates (or not hand dig the 24" easement) you may very well wish you never owned a tractor!!!!

 

[MHTRAPPER]

I would say for a unit that size $50 hr is maybe alittle on the high side but every ones area rates are different. I run heavy equipment and we make good money totally different rate. I can remember operating a Cat 235 big excavator a few years back for a farmer I new pretty well. I did not charge the farmer at all do to his farm was completely destroyed by fire, barn, cattle, and some equip.,had to bury everything, was there 12 hrs start to finish, the trackhoe was the companys I worked for, they charged him $100 an hr which I thought was very reasonable. The biggest thing you run into a lot of people go out and buy these machines and they think they are a operator, I know because I know some that have bought these and are doing the same thing. I would rather pay them $25 for there machine and send them on there way and call them when you are done with there machine. I am not trying to be rude or mean I just think if you are gonna charge a fairly good rate you wanna have your sh** together is all I am saying. Sorry if I offended any one but I see this all the time.

 

[Tooljunkie]

If you're digging in dirt you need to be sure you have locates on EVERY job. Many folks will tell you they know nothing is there, and encourage you to get to work.

You need insurance to cover your excavation responsibility.

If you ever hit a utility without locates (or not hand dig the 24" easement) you may very well wish you never owned a tractor!!!!

Had a friends excavator here to do a few odds and ends, one was to fix a water line to my garage. Found the line 9 feet down, turned water on to see if we got close to the leak, buddy operating couldnt see, so took another scoop of dirt- pow! Hit the power cable to my pumphouse.
Had a buddy that worked for hydro, came and fixed it.
I was lucky it was on my property and was my buried cable.

Didnt think i was near it at all.
Anything can happen.

 

[redfernclan]

Around here, $50.00 and hour is a good deal. Cat work goes for $125.00 an hour.