[BUSHMASTER]

we have talked lawn and other stuff..
Bushes you have the right to charge premium price for this service..its like air brushing a specialty....i try to estimate my time since thats what customers want to hear i try to figure $65. per hour i work alone so its only me. this price is just for bushes that i keeep trimed new service on ones i don't i'll get as much as $85. per hour just because of the mess. what do ya'll do ?

 

[steverino]

$85 per hour! You are actually getting that. Three hours over $250 yikes. It takes some real "horsepower" to do that.

 

[Cutter1]

I agree. There is great money in hedges. I hate doing it, but the money is great. I think, man I really do not want to do it, so I give them a high price. They still say, just get it done and bill me!! Unbelievable what people will pay for trimming bushes.

 

[BUSHMASTER]

Originally posted by steverino
$85 per hour! You are actually getting that. Three hours over $250 yikes. It takes some real "horsepower" to do that.

yea $85. per hour bushes that have not been touched in 6 mos
more clean up . as far as hp with my sthil ext.trimmer on a stick it cuts down on having a ladder on a hill you could reach all the way around standing in one place. you can do a lot in an hour most homes around here i can make it around the foundation bushes in about an hour..to save time on clean up take some tarps 2 or three place them in the ground and let the clippings fall right in save a lot of time that is if you can't hide the clippings under the bush.
it's nit cheating it recycling.Its also i great time to restaw or mulch and redefine the bed $$$$$$ more cheeze

[Edited by BUSHMASTER on 09-17-2000 at 02:15 AM]

 

[yardsmith]

Yeah that fig. sounds about right. Most folks don't want to mess with them, & if you have the tools, 'You da Man!'
Most homes have only about 1 hrs. worth of shrubs, some more, some less. Commercial work can get you lots of green...
I have the Stihl FS-85, but didn't get the hedge trimmer attatchment yet. There's always next year......

 

[eslawns]

I think you're right about that. Esp if there are a lot of them or they're really big ones. I factor in a higher charge if I need a ladder. I just got a Stihl FS85, and on the recom. of responses to posts here, an articulating trimmer attachment for it. Man can you ever cut tall hedgerows with this!

 

[bob]

Yea, I agree with the other posts! The right equipment, gas trimmers and FS-85 with hedge clipper attachment, make the job easy.

 

[Sammy]

I dont like doing them. I figure what I need for my time and add 50% of that to it. If they want me to do it its gonna cost.

 

[David Gretzmier]

I wouldn't wait til next year, at 200 bucks for the attatchment, get it now. I shoot for 60 per hour on shrubs/bush trimming, 80 on the fs85 articulater. no ladder, make mucho denero. dave g

 

[65hoss]

I have yet to figure out how to make money off them. People around here don't think its a premium service. They think its terrible if you want as much as the grass cutting part. Doesn't matter how long it takes. When I figure the job should be say $150, the customer thinks it should be $45. I don't mind doing them, I just hate dealing with the customers over the money.

The trimmer attachment for the stihl was a wise $$$ decision on my part this year.

 

[geogunn]

Originally posted by BUSHMASTER
....i try to estimate my time since thats what customers want to hear i try to figure $65. per hour....

bushmaster--if I understand you you are talking $65/hr with the customer. I never talk a rate per hour, ever. I bid the job, one price alone. it works for me because I work quickly. I would limit myself by the hour. good luck.

GEO

 

[gogetter]

I just don't get all these guys saying that they hate doing hedges??
I actually enjoy it. Probably more then cutting grass, not as dirty.
Plus per hour, I probably make out better then cutting grass.
If anyone in the Bucks County area of PA. wants to send thier hedge jobs my way, feel free!! LOL!

 

[awm]

let me guess gotgetter. you 6ft 6 inch long and wirey.
hedges the hardest thing i do. course arthur is always holding
my arms down.that dont help much. im not getting 85 per yet,
i dont think but its coming.

 

[TGCummings]

I shoot for $60/hour and hate to do 'em, too. The FS85 with attachment is the way to go, and I generally don't use a ladder much anymore at all. I figure my rate really high so that I walk away with at least the $60/hour rate, but with the FS85 I often make much more. Only in rare cases will I quote the hourly rate, though. If the job looks too difficult to assume time and I need to set a standard for the first trimming, I'll quote that rate. Subsequent cuts will then be at that same price, though they should take me less time being in shape.

-TGC

 

[Bluegrass Group]

My belief is sell them on any service to improve the landscape. If that is pruning, installing, designing, drainage, whatever! If you don't someone else will and once they get their foot in the door you may be out. If you can't do it sub it to someone who can. We aren't just grass cutters we are landscape managers.

 

[Runner]

My problem is that it takes me so long to do the things because I'm such a perfectionist. I trim, blow them off, then trim again to hit the sprigs that are sticking back up (or else they'll be there in a week) blow again, and sometimes dust them off one more time. As far as cleanup goes, I would never DREAM of leaving clipping under the bushes or in the beds. These bushes are CLEAN and perectly rounded when I leave. I am appreciative that I have a knack for symetry when doing these. Any advice?

 

[Kent Lawns]

I'm with you, Runner.

Need to triple shear to achieve (what I consider) proper results.
My own house I shear every 3 weeks and selective prune 3x/season so they don't "broomstick" too badly.

Obviously with that type of pruning philosophy, you need the right clientele & marketing to be profitable.

 

[powerreel]

I mostly do pruning,and I bid @ $40 a production hour,not a clock hour. Have you tried atrimec?