pine straw

[Ztwo]

What should i charge to spread 400 bales of pine straw?

[pc pinestraw]

What should i charge to spread 400 bales of pine straw?

dollar a bale is reasonable in my state.

[kaferhaus]

yep on 400 bales about a buck a bale. UNLESS you're removing what's already there then we triple it as it has to be bagged up and hauled away.

BTW what are you paying a bale for it? It's $3.50 a bale here and most places are constantly out of it.

[sandman23]

I wouldn't touch it for $1.00 per bale. At best you can spread 20 bales an hour. That's $20.00 per hour, no way.

I buy it for $3.50 and install for $6.00 (customers), $7.00 (non-customers). Not worth it to do it for less.

[kaferhaus]

I wouldn't touch it for $1.00 per bale. At best you can spread 20 bales an hour. That's $20.00 per hour, no way.

I buy it for $3.50 and install for $6.00 (customers), $7.00 (non-customers). Not worth it to do it for less.

Are you kidding 20 bales an hour? You need a better plan of work...

we drop em along side the beds, cut em open and spread them with small weeding forks (very narrow pitch forks) Takes maybe a minute a bale.

[pc pinestraw]

You too Kaferhaus! You guys get it shipped to you and everything for 2.85 a bale! You guys are getting ______ED at 3.50 a bale!

[cgaengineer]

$3.00 per bale here now...the cost is all over the place around here.

I charge $2.00 $3.00 per bale to install depending on the amount I am putting down.

[cgaengineer]

I wouldn't touch it for $1.00 per bale. At best you can spread 20 bales an hour. That's $20.00 per hour, no way.

I buy it for $3.50 and install for $6.00 (customers), $7.00 (non-customers). Not worth it to do it for less.

Hey sandman, $3.00 per bale at Super Sod in L'ville for contractors. Kinda far for you to drive unless you have a large trailer and would be coming this way anyway.

[sandman23]

Are you kidding 20 bales an hour? You need a better plan of work...

we drop em along side the beds, cut em open and spread them with small weeding forks (very narrow pitch forks) Takes maybe a minute a bale.

My work plan is just fine. I have been doing this for years and timed our installs over and over. I live in an extremely populated area with high end homes. This time of year there are no less that 200 LCO's out there laying straw (thousands and thousands of bales). I have never seen one of them use a pitch fork. It would not work for our applications. Our beds are fully planted and the straw needs to be placed not forked. I also roll the edges to give a clean look and to prevent from spreading to lawn. I guess it is kind of like the rest of the arguments on here (bag or discharge, which mower is best etc...). It all comes down to your area and the way you do things. People do not hesitate at $6.00 per bale around here. Also, I will be happy to sub all my straw out to you at $1.00 per bale. All day long!

I hear about $2.50 a bale and when I see them they are about 3/4 of the size that I get and full of sticks and pine cones. The bales I get are big, tight, and clean. I am not saying that good straw at a cheap price isn't out there, it is just the going rate in my area and I pay for the convenience of my supplier being a mile from my shop. There is no money in straw. I only do it because it is part of my service.

[DaughtryLC]

My work plan is just fine. I have been doing this for years and timed our installs over and over. I live in an extremely populated area with high end homes. This time of year there are no less that 200 LCO's out there laying straw (thousands and thousands of bales). I have never seen one of them use a pitch fork. It would not work for our applications. Our beds are fully planted and the straw needs to be placed not forked. I also roll the edges to give a clean look and to prevent from spreading to lawn. I guess it is kind of like the rest of the arguments on here (bag or discharge, which mower is best etc...). It all comes down to your area and the way you do things. People do not hesitate at $6.00 per bale around here. Also, I will be happy to sub all my straw out to you at $1.00 per bale. All day long!

I hear about $2.50 a bale and when I see them they are about 3/4 of the size that I get and full of sticks and pine cones. The bales I get are big, tight, and clean. I am not saying that good straw at a cheap price isn't out there, it is just the going rate in my area and I pay for the convenience of my supplier being a mile from my shop. There is no money in straw. I only do it because it is part of my service.

I agree, Im solo and always plan around 20 bales an hr!!

[Dean of Green]

My work plan is just fine. I have been doing this for years and timed our installs over and over. I live in an extremely populated area with high end homes. This time of year there are no less that 200 LCO's out there laying straw (thousands and thousands of bales). I have never seen one of them use a pitch fork. It would not work for our applications. Our beds are fully planted and the straw needs to be placed not forked. I also roll the edges to give a clean look and to prevent from spreading to lawn. I guess it is kind of like the rest of the arguments on here (bag or discharge, which mower is best etc...). It all comes down to your area and the way you do things. People do not hesitate at $6.00 per bale around here. Also, I will be happy to sub all my straw out to you at $1.00 per bale. All day long!

I hear about $2.50 a bale and when I see them they are about 3/4 of the size that I get and full of sticks and pine cones. The bales I get are big, tight, and clean. I am not saying that good straw at a cheap price isn't out there, it is just the going rate in my area and I pay for the convenience of my supplier being a mile from my shop. There is no money in straw. I only do it because it is part of my service.

I agree with Sandman on this one. Pinestraw is a real pita. I have a customer from time to time decide to put down their own pinestraw. It is usually trashy straw and they soon realize why I charge $3 to $4 per bale for installation.

[sandman23]

I agree with Sandman on this one. Pinestraw is a real pita. I have a customer from time to time decide to put down their own pinestraw. It is usually trashy straw and they soon realize why I charge $3 to $4 per bale for installation.

It never fails. The customer does it once and then calls me the next year.

[tinman]

Are you kidding 20 bales an hour? You need a better plan of work...

we drop em along side the beds, cut em open and spread them with small weeding forks (very narrow pitch forks) Takes maybe a minute a bale.

I agree with sandman. 20 an hour average. no way you can do a bale per minute for one hour much less consistently for 8 hrs. Most people around here just cheat the homeowners by quoting $3.50 per bale to spread it then charge for twice as many bales as they actually put out. They are door knockers . So I get very little pinestraw work since they think my prices are out of line.

[sandman23]

I agree with sandman. 20 an hour average. no way you can do a bale per minute for one hour much less consistently for 8 hrs. Most people around here just cheat the homeowners by quoting $3.50 per bale to spread it then charge for twice as many bales as they actually put out. They are door knockers . So I get very little pinestraw work since they think my prices are out of line.

I get beat up by these guys as well. My supplier says they are stealing it.

[jsw2008]

My work plan is just fine. I have been doing this for years and timed our installs over and over. I live in an extremely populated area with high end homes. This time of year there are no less that 200 LCO's out there laying straw (thousands and thousands of bales). I have never seen one of them use a pitch fork. It would not work for our applications. Our beds are fully planted and the straw needs to be placed not forked. I also roll the edges to give a clean look and to prevent from spreading to lawn. I guess it is kind of like the rest of the arguments on here (bag or discharge, which mower is best etc...). It all comes down to your area and the way you do things. People do not hesitate at $6.00 per bale around here. Also, I will be happy to sub all my straw out to you at $1.00 per bale. All day long!

I hear about $2.50 a bale and when I see them they are about 3/4 of the size that I get and full of sticks and pine cones. The bales I get are big, tight, and clean. I am not saying that good straw at a cheap price isn't out there, it is just the going rate in my area and I pay for the convenience of my supplier being a mile from my shop. There is no money in straw. I only do it because it is part of my service.

I agree with you completely on this. You can't use a fork to spread around a bed full of plants. I will never spread pinestraw for $1 a bale. I double my cost on all installs. If the customer wants to pay, great. If not, I have better ways to spend my time and getting completely filthy spreading pine needles. I only use big bale, long needle not those tiny little bales that are half dust and trash and you can tell a big difference in the end result.

[The Elements Group]

lol Pinestraw... we put out 1,750 bales in one day bed edged and rolled in 3 weeks ago for Chestnut Oaks ..... if any of you need pinestraw contact me or bcps here on lawnsite.....by the way there were 12 guys and we didnt start until 7:00 or and it took us 12 hrs... mind you it was long needle