What kind of equipment would you be using?

The right tool would make the job easy.

 

I have an ego hedge trimmer, both the regular and the one with extension attachments.

 

I'd be at $400-$500 leaving clippings on site. $100 to haul away for disposal on my property.

 

That's pretty much what I was thinking! Thank you!

 

I would send a 2 man crew for the day to take care of this.... $1260 plus another $196 for diposal cost.The clients credit card would be billed at the end of the day. I would also consider subing this out to @Brucey.

 

Are you calculating that 16 hours of labor with hand shears only?

 

4 hrs of trimming and 12hrs of break time or what?

 

Just sharing what I would quote.

 

Having to stop and charge batteries it might take 2 days 😂

 

Realistically 6 hours but price a full 8 hour day with setup and disposal for 1 person. Charge $825. That’s a realistic price as I’m close to Victoria and know many people only charge like $60/man hour

 

I thought the same, about 6 hours of labor plus the travel, loading, and disposal. May as well just price out a full day for one person.

 

You have roughly 15 - 18 6' to 8' shrubs there. I've been in business 26 years, so from my experience and pricing here in NC, we would charge $30 per shrub which would be $450 - $550 and $125 an hour for debris pick up and whatever the landfill cost is $30-$60 here per 7' x 14' dump trailer load. Or instead you could also pocket the $30 to $60 dollars if you live in the country and can burn the debris, then burn it. as long as there is no burn ban in place of course.

 

I do a similar hedge on a regular basis. Takes me 45 minutes to do the trimming and my 2 employees 20 minutes to clean up. Of course that applies after the initial trimming. I would be at $500 for the first time and $300 on a recurring basis, providing that the customer was agreeable to a reasonable timeline between trimmings. I've been at this for 38 years and can't see the initial job taking more than 3 hours in total.

 

I was basing my 6 hours with cleanup on a similar one I do which is a bit taller but not as long and takes me about 3 hours but its a privet and very easy to cut, no thick branches.

Beaeuse this one is overgrown and its a California lilac it looks like, these branches always tear and usually looks pretty bad, definitely some touchup work.

 

In my opinion, The reason that you are seeing such a large difference in opinions for times and prices is because some people maybe factoring in that these bushes don’t appear as if they where trimmed recently. They do not have a clear and definable shape. I can kinda see what they should look like, but that’s different than a very defined cut location. This means your taking off a lot in the form of trimming but your also having to step back and define what the bush needs to look like, and then make adjustments. The second problem with 5 foot tall- you might need a ladder and that will significantly slow things down. If the top of a bush takes 30 mins to trim, it will take 75 if a ladder is needed. Even if it’s a small ladder. You have to move the ladder, walk up it, stand, balance, use your trimmer, then walk down, and move the ladder 4 feet, starting that cycle again. If the bush was very clearly defined, I would do that job without a ladder. But because it needs shaping, your going to want a good view from the topside to ensure that your straight. I also can’t tell what the land behind the hedge row is doing, if it’s elevated 18” compared to the front side , then no ladder would be needed at all. The other problem is the top will take longer than the sides. Clean up can’t really begin until the entire bush is done. So one guy does the sides while the other does the top…. But the guy on the sides will finish first and need to wait for the top guy to finish, unless you have 2 pole style trimmers.

So assuming 8-12” trim, no defined shape, possible ladder needed.
Trimming both sides and the top.

90 mins x 1 guy to trim per side. X 2 sides.
30 mins per side x 2 sides to clean up
3 hours to trim the top
30 mins to clean the top.
30 mins of break time.

8 labor hours total.
I would probably bid 9-12 labor hours.
$130 disposal.

 

Anyone trim taller bushes on stilts?

 

Would like some opinions for a quote on a hedge trim job! It's about 60 ft, 4 to 5 ft deep, and 5 to 6 ft height. Not sure if we will be taking away the refuse or not, so suggestions for with disposal and without would be awesome! Oh and the other side has some obstacles, several other shrubs planted too close, so u View attachment 519187 View attachment 519188 p against in spots.

If it took 2 guys more than 6 hours, they would be written up. That’s not an easy job, but it’s not hard either.

I have recieved a fair amount of grief for sharing what my quote would be on this hedge. I stand by my quote and I would probably get the job. It would look beautiful when we were done.

 

Your talking about 3 different things that most people want to be related, but they really are not.

your price to the client might be based on the amount of time we think to do the job, but it’s actually what the customer values the job at which determines if you can sell it for a given price. And if you can get $1200, that’s great take it.

quality wise, I would expect it to look great no matter what price you charged.

production wise- I still would write up a crew of two guys that took more than 6 hours , (12 man hours) to do that job. It’s not about well you charged them $1200 so take all day….Pricing is equal to “income”. Production times are equal to cost control or “cogs”.

I would expect my crews to do 2 of those jobs per day. And if I could get $1200 each, I would be thrilled doing $2400 per day with 2 guys. Lost opportunity because of poor production is important no matter what your charging.

 

I had a post about a employee who quit/let go last month and the dispute was over a job with a similar hedge to this which an employee did in 5 hours the year before and it was time and materials. I think we ended up with 9 man hours on it so I questioned what went wrong. He was definitely a bit more detailed than the other trim but that's what set him off and ended the relationship.

 

I'd be around $1,000 with disposal. It's overgrown and needs to be "found" and shaped. That takes time. Cleanup time will be substantial as well.

I might even bid it higher because I've grown cold towards jobs like that and would rather not do it.

I don't work on tarps - they're a trip hazard. Pitch fork for the rough cleanup. Rake & blower for the fine cleanup.

 

Nobody on the stilts eh? It was a serious question. I've seen drywall tapers on them all the time. Seems like a short set of stilts, in the right situation, would be a lot better than up and down a short ladder a hundred times.

 

Do a video for us!

 

I'd be down with Brucey in the $400-500 range (USD). Let's not confuse CAD with USD. I'd have the hedge trimmed in a total of 5 hours or less. Helps that I'm tall, but I'd have one of my crew who is pretty good at this join me...we'd be running Stihl KM131 articulated hedge trimmers plus a lightweight Husqvarna gas trimmer. That would cut the total time on this jobsite down, and we'd be on to something else. And the hedge would look very nice. Those hand battery powered trimmers will take forever.

 

I wouldn't write off the appropriate battery powered hedge gear. I have a kma130 battery powerhead and it will easily max out the 145 degree articulating trimmer. Battery Hsa94r will cut thru thick branches that are too big for the articulated. Both of those using an ap300s battery on hip belt. And the hsa66 trimmer is my preference for light trimming as its so damn light (with ap100 battery).

I can't speak to the cheaper consumer focused gear though.

 

Ap300s is $250. 281 Wh. Charges in 45 mins with al500 charger.

 

I have thought about battery hedge trimmers but I can't find anything over 25" so far. My current machine is a Shindaiwa HT231 with a 40" single sided bar. Been down 2 weeks waiting on a part!