Mulching, Rock: Pricing?

[SpudsM15]

I'm trying to find a good price range for mulching services and rock...
I usually bid jobs at $60 per yard for mulching. Plus the cost of mulch and I mark up the mulch $10 a yard...
Rock I try to get 80-100 per ton depending if a skid steer will be used again I mark up $10 per ton

Is this a comfortable price? The mulching unless there is a serious amount of edging works out really well. But, I seem to get a decent amount of resistance with the prices....
Just wondering how much everybody charges for mulching and rock...

[Coffeecraver]

if your cost on mulch is in the 18-21 dollar range per yard,then that is normal
If you are charging 10.00 on top of that per yard and still charging 60.00 a yard to install then I Think you are asking for too much. Your potential clients must think the same.

If you need to make more money on mulch jobs then the edging could be calculated by the ft. and be a line item after the estimate of mulch.

ex. 21 yards of mulch installed = 1365.00 ( based on 65.00 per yard )
278 ft of edging @1.75 per ft = 486.50

If the bed has a maintained edge then the price should be
.75 per ft. x 278ft. = 208.50
:)

[SpudsM15]

Let me see if you understood me,
I charge cost of mulch hardwood $10 color $25 ceder $35 then add $10 per yard
and the labor cost is 60 per yard so essentially I'm charging 80-115 per yard...
is that to much

[bettercut]

I bidded on a job that need 80 yards @ 46.00 a yard.
cost 16.25 a yard
labor 30.00 a yard
How does that sound?

[Coffeecraver]

In my opinion -Yes you are charging too much :eek:

Mulch is normally priced at 65-75 dollars a yard installed
This includes the mulch.

Stone is a different item and that charge can be justified

Are you paying sales tax on the new price ? :eek:

[cwlawley]

Bettercut, I would charge $55.00 yard.

[sheshovel]

Correct I agree with the above..too much.Need to know what you are paying per yard.If you are already getting a good discount on your mulch...
say your paying 16.00 a yard..and your marking it up 10.00 a yard..that is way too high a % markup.
You are then making 70.00 a yard thats without the price of the mulch.
So you want to only charge like 35 or 40 a yard to install then not mark up the mulch so much.$65 to 75.00 installed is the highest you can usually get and that includes the mulch like mentioned above

[Travel'n Trees]

How long does it take you to install a ton of rock.

[SpudsM15]

I would have to say a ton of rock would take anywhere from 2-3 man hours to install..
Mulch I average about 1 man hour with minimal Edging...

[E-Z Green]

This is a great topic..please...more!!!

[Green Fields]

This thread is really helpful. Boy I was charging $40 a yard here in Cent. VA and went up to $50 this past year and got raised eyebrows from some friends that I know that are in the field. I'm going to go for $55-60 this yr. $65 for clients who want in done in the summer months when the heat is highest

[samk]

I charge 68.00 a yard for the mulch in stalled. Edging is extra and for that I charge a 1.00 a foot.

[bigjeeping]

great post, but have a question......

when somebody was talking about edging earlier in the thread and charging seperate for it..... what are you referring to? running your sidewalk edger along the bed and just cutting out the grass? installing that rubber edging stuff? Just a little confused.....

:cool2:

[GarPA]

I think they mean cutting in the natural bed edge with a trenching machine or cutting it in manually with a the half moon type edging tool.

It would also be more helpful if folks would note if they are using dyed mulch versus "real" mulch as I know I have to pay almost twice as much for the dyed material.

[amar]

Let me see if you understood me,
I charge cost of mulch hardwood $10 color $25 ceder $35 then add $10 per yard
and the labor cost is 60 per yard so essentially I'm charging 80-115 per yard...
is that to much




How many CU YD's are you putting down a year at those prices. If your only putting down one yard an hour you need to get a 10 cu ft wheel barrow if you have one work faster! We get from 55-75 a CU YD. If your selling a lot of mulch why lower your prices. I think any one paying those prices your charging is getting the shaft. Unless your only doing one yard at a house with the landscape beds from hell with flowers everywhere.

[SpudsM15]

Man with two guys on a hot day... You have to cut the edge, put down a pre-em, shovel the mulch, transport it, and spread it out nice, then clean up loading area.
1 hour per yd is about our average...
At those prices I spread out about 150 yds... That was about all I could handle. I did think my prices were a little to expensive.... Hence the reason for this thread...
I do use a 8 cu.yd dually wheel barrow... and no we do not use pitch forks to shovel the mulch we use grain scoops.. you know the big grey shovels...And we use a metal tine leaf rake upside down to get the mulch looking perfect...
Now for this season we have a dump so we may be able to cut down on the loading time....But, I don't know if that will be much faster

[Crabtree]

Bigjeepin--"edging" or "trenching" is done with flat shovel or trenching machine, also called "trench edging", it defines the bed lines
Some places you can get away with carving an edge with a weedeater if you trenched it the year before and it was maintained throughout the year during mowing.

Most edging is easy with a shovel. If it's never been done, I would recommend a trencher.
As long as it is easy and I don't have to haul away a bunch of grassy dirt clods, I will not charge extra for trenching. Sometimes you can use the extra soil and sod to fill in low spots in the lawn. I do charge a little more for that too.

For mulch I recently went up $5.
Hardwood delivered and installed = $65
all other (black, fines, nuggets) cost me $10 more per yard so they are from $75 to $80 per yard delivered and installed
Rock is a little harder to deal with and permanent. You won't be remulching next year on those. The cost of rock is more than mulch here, maybe at most $30-35 per yard or ton.
I try to get 90-100 per yard (ton) of gravel. That's with the 8cuft wheel barrow, a shovel and a rake.

[sheshovel]

Crabtree your loosing on your delivery..you need to charge that in of itself and not include it in your $65.00 and $75.00 per yard price.Those amnts should be for the material and installation only.

[amar]

I do use a 8 cu.yd dually wheel barrow... and no we do not use pitch forks to shovel the mulch we use grain scoops.. you know the big grey shovels...And we use a metal tine leaf rake upside down to get the mulch looking perfect...
Now for this season we have a dump so we may be able to cut down on the loading time....But, I don't know if that will be much faster


You need a big mulch fork around $75+ worth every $. They are easyer to get into the pile and they hold two times as much as a shovel. 10cu ft wheelbarrow is a must. One load of the 10 cu ft heaped holds about 11-12 cu ft Thats about 40% more mulch in each load.

[SpudsM15]

Amar, Can you show me a link or a picture of such a fork.... The grain scoops are pretty big not to mention are heavy enough to make your back sore after a larger mulch job... Man 10 cu.ft I was looking at one while at a supplies store... My back said no....

[amar]

Amar, Can you show me a link or a picture of such a fork.... The grain scoops are pretty big not to mention are heavy enough to make your back sore after a larger mulch job... Man 10 cu.ft I was looking at one while at a supplies store... My back said no....


http://www.amleo.com/index/item.cgi?cmd=view&Words=1427f


This one is expensive. Shop around make sure its at least 14" wide. I have seen them at Lowes, Home Depot.

http://garden-supply.hometownhardware.com/Hay_fork_scoop_fork/Ames_Co/Ensilage_Fork-s750217.html (Cheeper)

http://garden-supply.hometownhardware.com/Hay_fork_scoop_fork/Ames_Co/Ensilage_Fork-s701636.html



I have the second and third link fork's. The third is the better of the two it has the turned up tines at the end which holds alot of mulch.

[SpudsM15]

Jeez, those are big I'm going to measure out the grain scoops tommorrow... I can see catching my foot with that thing and putting a hole in the boots....

[justanotherlawnguy]

I price rock jobs 5 times higher than mulch. Take it or leave it, absolutely no negotiating. Rock jobs are a major PITA..................

[drsogr]

I price rock jobs 5 times higher than mulch. Take it or leave it, absolutely no negotiating. Rock jobs are a major PITA..................

I don't blame you at all. I hate doing rock jobs. I charge about $65 a yard for mulch.

[Meadowbrook]

Yea, I beleive that it's too much also. I charge $64.00/yard installed with a price break at 50 yards and another at 100 yards. When I'm at 100 yards, I charge $52.00 per yard installed.

Chris

[Team-Green L&L]

One of our clients had a gutter problem causing mulch to dry out enormously fast. Do I charge for touch ups in the middle of mowing season?

[YardPro]

if you are getting these prices then good for you...
charge what the market will bear..

[Ramairfreak98ss]

In my opinion -Yes you are charging too much :eek:

Mulch is normally priced at 65-75 dollars a yard installed
This includes the mulch.

Stone is a different item and that charge can be justified

Are you paying sales tax on the new price ? :eek:

well in my previous jobs, im not just purchasing, delivering and unloading/spreading mulch in gardens.... for $80 a yard doing that yeah thats not bad.


ALL times ive done this type of work ive had to prep the garden bed areas, clean up, remove some old debris, remove old weed fabric if there is any, level areas off, add topsoil sometimes then apply the mulch.

Sometimes im de-weeding etc, so i dont really go by the mulch price since the other labor is more involved than the laying of the mulch itself.

[prizeprop]

Spuds, $75 a yard is what we charge and I know most companies in our area charge less. We include edging in that price if we mulch every year, if its a first time job we charge $35-$40 a man hour for prep and then the $75 per yard to install the mulch.Snap shot(pre-m) is extra on any job. Were taking the standard root mulch from say Generated Material or KLK.Still have yard space available if your still interested in renting some.

[Travel'n Trees]

I think you guys fight the rock too much we may be releasing a product designed by my dad 30 years ago, We can do a average of the tons of rock per hour by wheel barrow.

[qualitylawnmanagement]

Charge $10.00 or $15.00 more then what the price of mulch is costing you, then charge your hourly rate. There anit no way you would get I would get that much per yard of mulch. If I could I would quit mowing yards and do all my landscaping for my customers.

[befnme]

Let me see if you understood me,
I charge cost of mulch hardwood $10 color $25 ceder $35 then add $10 per yard
and the labor cost is 60 per yard so essentially I'm charging 80-115 per yard...
is that to much

i think it is too much . i do mulch jobs at 45.00 installed . i get plenty of business and that is about the going rate in my area.
if you advertise 80.00 to 115.00 per yard here you will go under in no time.i do not edge for that price ,edging and site prep are extra.

[Ramairfreak98ss]

I think you guys fight the rock too much we may be releasing a product designed by my dad 30 years ago, We can do a average of the tons of rock per hour by wheel barrow.


that sounds neat, it would be nice to plug in #s for wheelbarrowing, using a loader etc.

[bigjeeping]

I gave 5 mulch estimates last week, all on the same day. Pricing mulch at $75/yard delivered and installed. DOES NOT INCLUDE ANY BED CLEAN UP OR EDGING.


And they all signed up with me! Yes it's good but also frustrating because it shows I should be charging more.

FYI the mulch costs $26.35/yd after tax and contractor discount.
That leaves me with $48.65/yd income.

Does this sound alright?

I think as of now I might start charging $85/yd.