mowing bid

[grass1]

:confused: :confused: :confused: How much should be bid for a mowing job that takes 25 man hours 2 mowing and 3 trimming and blowing thanks :confused:

[guntruck]

Im sure we would be glad to help, but that all depends now on lots of things. Dont feel bad i used to ask the same questions here too lol. What are you paying your guys, whats your insurance costs?, what equipment are you running?, after depreciation, travel etc etc you need to come up with a figure that is pretty darn close to what it costs you per hour to operate your business from head to toe, then what you want as a profit and then you can go from there on the bidding. Beleive me its easier said than done, i still am somewhat unsure of EXACTLY what it costs me per hour to run my business but i guess thats where experiance comes into play, seeing the unforseen!!! Good luck

[crazygator]

I agree with what Rich said. But also you have to know what your market can stand, high and low. Say for example, you bid the total at 35.00 an hour and the low point is 45.00 then you just shot yourself in the foot. But also on the other hand, if the high point is 50.00 and you bid at 65.00 then again bang! So do a little research in your area and you will get very close to where you need it all to be. And as Rich said, you also have to know where your bottom line is too. And remember, it's always easier to negotiate down in price than up!!!

[LAWNGODFATHER]

for once i am glad some one answered a question the way it should have been answered for this type and didn't just blow him off or give a ridickuliss price

now you are asking a question I get paid for to answer

I own my LCO and consault on the side

but here is a ballpark

low side $875

high side $1125+

good luck don't pull any hair out LGF:blob3:

[strickdad]

on this same subject do you guys price your labor out at a flat rate or does it vary... example i look at a job like this if i need a 48" inch mower on the job i try to get 42.00 and hour if i need a 52" i get 45.00 and a 60" i try to get 50.00 and hour i try to get 20.00 and hour for weed eaters blowers provided one of the above mowers above is also working thanks for any replys

[guntruck]

20.00$ an hour for a trimmer? That sound a little off the deep end =). Terrain plays a big part in my bids all the time. It seems that around here all the new developments and so forth are being built on cliffs!!! So the price goes up accordingly with that in mind. I have or think I do anyway:D of what it costs me an hour to run my equipment, so in some cases if I have to use my smaller mower the price goes UP UP UP but if I can get my 60" ztr in there it will goes down cause the time difference will be tremendous. So you see its not all about pricing where you can get what mower where as far as paying more for a bigger mower. I just make sure my stuffs getting paid for even if it’s sitting on the trailer, which is included in my direct overhead. Hope this helps.

[JLC]

You first need to figure out what you want to make per hour. This will be the largest influence on price. Most guys here run from 35 to 45 dollars an hour. This is to cover their costs (insurance, etc.) and give them a paycheck. Now you need to know how much each piece of equipment costs to run. If you are going to run a 10000 dollar mower for 1000 hours it will cost 10 dollars an hour to run. Likewise if you have a 500 dollar string trimmer and run it for 1000 hours it will cost you .50 cents an hour. After knowing the size of a property you will be able to figure the time involved to do the lawn. Take the time you will be there and add the time for each piece of equipment used when you are there. This will tell you how much to charge. If you don't know your costs, how do you know if you are making money or not? How could you be bidding this property if you don't your costs?

[TLS]

Grass1

How do you know how many man hrs it takes? Did you get info from the previous LCO? Did you mow it already? If you know how long it takes, then follow LGF's advice. I'd go with his higest # and make that your lowest bid and go all the way up to $1500 for high end. Estimating time is the hard part, estimating how much per hour is easy.

[LAWNGODFATHER]

all of you guy are giving good advice
thank you for not giving direct basic answers

I gave you numbers for $35 an hour and $45 an hour thats what most of you are using for your price scale

I bid all jobs by the crew
truck, trailer, all hauled equipment (even if it doesn't get used on that job), labor, fuel, ins, and so on and so forth
you also have to remember when you bid your jobs, you have to add drive time, load up time, and shop costs, phone and other office supplies

that why I start at atleast $60 to $70 a man hour mowing

you aslo take in to consideration that your not a bank and the empl. get paid before you get paid for the job(s)

so i gave you a good low ball bid amount
question how do you know how long it will take and what to use?

if I were to bid it would be around $1500 to $1700 per a cut
do they want any thing else?

it will also depend on how bad do you want the job!

good luck LGF:blob3:

[kris]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by LAWNGODFATHER
[B]you aslo take in to consideration that your not a bank and the empl. get paid before you get paid for the job(s)

What? Explain what you mean in this quote?

[kutnkru]

Originally posted by LAWNGODFATHER
... or give a ridickuliss price ... now you are asking a question I get paid for to answer ... I own my LCO and consault on the side ... As STONE has stated before: Education, Education, Education!!!!!

Kris

I hope that what was meant is that we need to consider start-up costs when bidding a job, so be sure that you have all avenues covered.

I always submit two months billing at the first billing cycle because we need to have the costs recovered from waiting 30-45 days for payment.

If we submit the first bill ONLY - then we will be behind all season long.

Kutnkru

[LAWNGODFATHER]

while your at it KUTNKRU expalin this

I want to die in my sleep like my grandfather ...
Not yelling and screaming like the passengers in his car!



KRIS empoyee's get paid weekly
you get paid monthly

all of your venders get paid on terms


which means your not a bank


and KUTNKRU what you don't like my spelling go back in the hole you fell out of!

as far as the quote you reqouoted some of the members on LS give some very high out of "maket" prices

and education has nothing to do with it

and I was commending the posts that were given

but now I need to take it back

also it would be nice if you actualy read the whole thing but by your reply sounds like you didn't

[kturner]

I guess.:D

[Scag48]

Well, I'll post a bit of info I guess. This thread might get out of hand later...Anyway, I figure I get about $25 an hour for running my 44" Groundsmaster. Not to bad for a 14 y/o :). But with all your insurance, payroll, etc., you could probably charge a little more. Your market is probably a little better than mine too. My prices might seem low to some of the guys here but if I tried to charge what some of the guys would charge on here, I wouldn't have any jobs. It all depends on the market you have and how much people are willing to pay for your service. I try not to lowball, and have made sure that I don't. So, depending on what kind of equipment you're running, you could get anywhere from $40-$60 an hour for the service. This also depends on the market as well. Heh, my 2 acre job takes me 3 hours to mow and trim, and that's $75 for 3 hours of work, including the trimming. 2 hours to mow, and 1 to trim. $25 an hour for trimming, not too bad. I didn't bid it this way, I just gave a set price and figured out how much I was making an hour. Or, I could be making $30 an hour mowing and $15 an hour trimming, however you decide to split it up. I hope this has helped you out a bit. I'm sure some of the other guys here can help you a little more than I did. There's my .02 Later.

[JLC]

25/hour for your running your 44 groundsmaster? Hope you don't ever want to do it full time. You'll have to raise your prices and you'll loose your customers and then you will be out of business. The mower probably costs 5/hour to run leaving you with 20 dollars an hour to pay insurance, fuel, taxes, etc, and for what you will have left as your paycheck your business will never be anything more than it currently is. Take a serious look at whether you are making money. What happens when you have to buy a new mower? You'd be better off to work at walmart.

[kris]

JLC

Check his profile..he is only 14... not much chance he is paying anything you mentioned.

[Scag48]

Yeah, I don't pay for insurance, not yet anyway. I want to get some next year. The mower only cost me $1,000 and it's almost paid for. After that, I'll have enough money to pay for insurance, if I get some. Fuel isn't a problem, we have a huge tank and pump since we have an orchard we have to have enough fuel to last us a while to keep the tractors running all the time. My market is pretty messed because the people are cheap. I mean REALLY cheap. Drop by here sometime, you'll see first hand how it is.

[Guido]

You would think a consultant would at least know how to spell Konssoltante!

and by the way LGF, it has a lot to do with education!:rolleyes:

[Eric ELM]

I know a very successful business man that could not read or write, but he knew his math and that's a big part of a business. Lets not start this spelling thing again. Some of the most critical persons of posting about how bad someone's spelling is, made spelling mistakes in their post telling about how bad some spell here. ;)

There is some good information here, so please don't post anything here that will make us remove this thread.

BTW, I used spell check in the above, so I know it is spelled perfeck. :)