i am working on a fertilizer bid

[nvrstsfd23]

I need some input. I am placing a bid on 30 acres of grass. The fertlizer I am going to use for the bid is calling for a spread of 12,500 square feet per 50lb bag. The calculation for this coverage is 120 bags or 3 tons. Does this sound about right or not. I'm just a little unsure have never done a job this big before.

[jose85]

well ur right with 4 bags per 1 acre or 3 and 1/2 and if just cost alone for the product is going to be 1680.00 at 1 bag per 14.00 bag .... so i you charge 30.00 bucks for the product and labor i would charge the 14.00 for the product and and 11 for labor to get the bid thats just me lol which would be around 1320 for labor and 1680 which would be like 3000.00

[standeruser]

sounds good or just double the cost per bag what ever works for u. Thats quite a big Job,What are you going to use to apply the Fert? that may come into play with the price. Good Luck.

[jose85]

yea thats would almost everyone would do double the cost per bag thats why i said to take off 5 bucks so he can get the job instead of 30 bucks per 1bag which would include labor and product you can charge 25 cheaper :hammerhead:
sounds good or just double the cost per bag what ever works for u. Thats quite a big Job,What are you going to use to apply the Fert? that may come into play with the price. Good Luck.

[standeruser]

:dizzy: Whatever man, I was just putting my 2 cents in:cool2: :waving: :drinkup: :sleeping: :dizzy: :hammerhead: :clapping: :dancing: :confused: :usflag: ;) ;) :) :nono: :walking: :laugh:

[turf hokie]

I think the above formulas basically amount to working for free. Way low in my opinion.

Double the price of a bag??? Not good math.

But equipment does play into it a little. How quickly can you get it done? How wide open is the turf? Is it a condo or ball fields?

Just b/c it is a big job does not mean it will make big money.

[nvrstsfd23]

It's open turf and we will use a tractor with a 500lb spreader.

[ThreeWide]

My advice would be to establish a price per acre and then go from there.

This would also make it easy to determine if your pricing was in line with what other companies charge. If you asked for my rate, each application would be around $130 to $150 per acre for a job of that size depending on many other factors.

Like others said, multiplying the product cost by some factor is a recipe for losing money.

[jose85]

wow take your risk it by losing 17 bucks a acre...thats saying if you go with 130 and if you go with 112 which doubles the price of 4 bags at 14 then not only are you doing cheaper but you can get the bid and since you are ussing 500 lbs at a time it should be real eazy

[teeca]

just because the bag says to apply at a certein rate doesnt mean you need to.. if you have the customer on a fert program, then you can tweek it to what you want. first, what is the fert? 30-2-8? well how much N do you want to put down? at 30-2-8 @ 3.5# perK that is about 1# N, do you realy need that much? or can you adjust it down to 2.5# perK and put down .75# N. that way you can be more competitive, make more money, and still have a happy customer.

[Runner]

What fert. will you be using? What ap. is this for? Will you be doing different aps through the season? Also, why will it cost you 14 per bag?
At a pro-rated rate for wide area like that, we could do that for somewhere between 25 and 2700. My fert. cost would be about 1270 incl. tax. This is for a higher grade fert., though (24-0-12 50% SCU w/2% fe).

[nvrstsfd23]

its for a four stage app. using lesco fertilizer. bids due I ll let you guys know how it comes out

[jose85]

how much was your bid if you dont mind me asking

[GrazerZ]

Some of you guys need to get a grip with the whole "double your cost for the bag" junk. Are you kidding me? Do you evn fertilize? Does a plumber double the price of a faucet to figure his price? Or triple it or whatever. Figuring out your prices if you want some help should start with the search feature on this site. Then figure out your costs and what you want for profit. Thats how you get a price. A job might sound great if its 30 acres for fert. what if its 30 acres of cut up islands with 20% being thrown into a parking lot? Is you double the bag pricing going to work or will you x the bag by 1.20 in those cases??? Give me a break.:laugh:

[SodKing]

This is all assuming he is licensed to do the application in the first place...

[Shades of Green LService]

I usually just go by what i want to make on the job and go from there. Just doubleing the price of the bag is way to low if you ask me. JMHO

I realize i'm late on this one. My Bad