priceing

[sharpcut]

hey guys , this may be a little vague I'm not sure but ... i wanted to know a round about way for pricing ..mowing , pruning and stump grinding????

1) how much do you charge for mowing say for 5,000 sq' i just eyeball it and do pretty good that way but i wanted to know if you guys us any formulas......chart type thing .set price for the size.

2)pruning has always stumped me ....alot of customers don't like to hear 40 -60 dollars a man hour for this service...how much should i charge per bush to make a good dollar ? bushes below the knee $5 and then anything needing a ladder $15-20.. i don't know ...

3)stump grinding......i wanted to get into this alittle this year ...how do you guys charge per inch...i've heard anything from 2.50-5.00 dollars ...

i just wanted to get a feel for this I'm going to be making a price guide for the guys that are going to be doing my estimating that way there can be no bad estimates or at least try not to have any.
thanks guys

[bob]

Mowing and pruning, $35-$50 per hour. Depending on your area.
I don't do stumps.

[o-so-n-so]

The stump grinding business is just like the lawn care business. There will always be competition out there. Some will cut-throat to get the job, some can work cheaper than others due to low operating costs. I bid every job basically the same no mater what "joe stump" man bids. MY operating cost is not determined by "joe stump".

I have a set drop fee based on mileage to job site. Min. of $40.00. And then its a price per stump. For an average size stump (size of a 5 gal bucket) no more than 6" above ground level the price is $10.00 each stump. Additional charges for extra wood more than 6" above ground level, roots, mounds, trees to maneuver around, slopes, rocky soils, etc.

A job that is 10 mile away that has 10 average stumps with no additions would cost $150.00 for me to grind and would take me approx. 45 min once I started grinding.

I have a Vermeer SC502 with auto sweep. Its a 50hp diesel tow behind unit. Serves my purpose very well.

I also draft with two tree service companies in my area that really help in the off season. They get a better rate than above because they continuously feed me jobs all year long.

Stump grinding is a great addition to my lawn care operation.

[mklawnman]

Well for lawn mowing, I usually eye ball it because I can already imagine how long it would take me and my brother to mow and trim and blow a lawn. For a 1.5acre lawn $50 and up from there, smaller lawns obviously would be less.
For trimming of trees and shrubs I've been doing it at $35/hr. Though for me it would be hard to estimate how long it would take to trim shrubs ahead of time considering I'm still new at the whole estimating thing. Learning as I go :cool:
Matt