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hedge trimming est. pricing Help needed

6K views 36 replies 13 participants last post by  Greenlandscaping 
#1 ·
A customer referred me to this crazy property. I don't really want the job of hacking these hedges and shrubs back into shape but if i get it for top dollar than i'll consider doing it.

What would you charge from looking at the pics. to trim and cleanup the clippings?

How long would you expect it to take?

I have some idea of cost and time but this could be a nasty job and am no way going to risk under cutting myself.

thanks...

I got more pictures if anyone wants to see them... lol.

Plant Building Window Road surface House


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#2 ·
I would charge around 600-750 I think from when you get there to the time u leave is probibly going to be around 2 hours.
 
#3 ·
LOL ....... i have a similar project tuesday, probably about the same amount of bushes plus about 1 yard of mulching, weeding, edging, weed wacking, are you cutting the grass to, i charged 820 for my job, that includes mulch, delivery, and disposal of clippings, branches, and weeds... i would charge 600-650, and i would cut the grass and trim...... good luck
 
#4 ·
that household will never pay 600 to 750 to have those hedges hacked down.
it's quite obvious they don't care about their landscaping. you'd be lucky to get them to pay 2 bills for that job.
i say give them an estimate based on 4 hours of work (that covers if you run into any problems, along with dump time) , and tell them you won't be able to do it for a couple of months. keep this job for the backburner when grass slows down, and you don't have much work in july and august. will they be willing to wait that long? from the looks of the place, I'd say they would.
 
#5 ·
if you trim the burning bush now it will not bloom untill next year, anyway to do it right is a big job. Please note I am the only poster so far in your area so I know going rates. What I would charge 750.00 890.00 a full and entire day their is lots of ladder work, 3 Packed pickup truck loads to haul out mabey 5 loads. the guy who quoted you 4 hours has a job waiting for him at my house.
 
#7 ·
that household will never pay 600 to 750 to have those hedges hacked down.
it's quite obvious they don't care about their landscaping. you'd be lucky to get them to pay 2 bills for that job.
i say give them an estimate based on 4 hours of work (that covers if you run into any problems, along with dump time) , and tell them you won't be able to do it for a couple of months. keep this job for the backburner when grass slows down, and you don't have much work in july and august. will they be willing to wait that long? from the looks of the place, I'd say they would.
These people want the work done asap but i can't get to it until everyone elses work that has already been schedualed is complete. If i wait longer then these place will just get worse.

2 hours? please tell me this is a typo if not please come work for me.
I think that person meant to say 2 DAYS unless you got 10 guys working with you.

I was thinking in the $700 - $800 range even then its not going to be the most beautiful trim job because the things are so out of wack. Alot of hack work. At most it would take me 2 days to do it solo and around 3 truck loads. If i have a helper then i bet i could wack it out in a day.

I already have a price to hack down the lawn: $150 - $200. They seemed alright with the 150 when i was looking at the property but i didn't have estimate or signature on paper yet. They also want someone to cut the lawn biweekly.
 
#8 ·
Sorry I forgot you were running solo. Ya i looked at the pics again and its defintly not two hours. I was thinking as if I were doing it with 3 guys. Good luck
 
#9 ·
Sorry I forgot you were running solo. Ya i looked at the pics again and its defintly not two hours. I was thinking as if I were doing it with 3 guys. Good luck
Not a problem, but man if you were serious that would be awesome.
How long would you expect for a solo guy?
 
#10 ·
In lowell labor rates per man is what ? 35.00 to 50.00 per man per hr.?
load removed (pickup truck) 35.00 40.00 per load ?
What are you chargeing for the trimmers? I charge 8.00 per hour.
useing the low numbers only you can figure this.

2 guys 10 hours @ 35.00 per hour is 700.00
4 loads @ 35.00 is 140.00
trimmers 8 hours @ 8.00 per hour is 64.00
the grand total for your bill is 904.00 if you do not know these people I suggest billing them this amount in advance on the day you cut at the very least they should know it is going to be this expensive and payment is due in full that day it is super important that you know what their expectations are.
 
#12 ·
for me that would be a full day job 8 to 10 hours one person including dumping and hauling.......$900/10hrs is $90 an hour for one person thats alot of money for trimming bushes and cutting grass...... say you get a helper and pay him $10 an hour, it might get done in 5 or 6 hours, thats 150 DOLLARS AN HOUR, pay $10 to helper, YOUR AT $140 DOLLARS AN HOUR, "904 seems a little low" ???????...... wtf your crazy
 
#14 ·
Running solo I think it will take you around a day by the time you trim everything,collect it all,load it up, drive to dump or where ever taken then unload it should be around a days work. Good luck with it.
 
#15 ·
for me that would be a full day job 8 to 10 hours one person including dumping and hauling.......$900/10hrs is $90 an hour for one person thats alot of money for trimming bushes and cutting grass...... say you get a helper and pay him $10 an hour, it might get done in 5 or 6 hours, thats 150 DOLLARS AN HOUR, pay $10 to helper, YOUR AT $140 DOLLARS AN HOUR, "904 seems a little low" ???????...... wtf your crazy
No it is not 90 dollars for one person re-read my cost breakdown useing the lower numbers it is 35 dollars per hour for 2 men for 10 hours, what kind of math are you useing? useing my math I come up with 70 dollars per hour for 2 men,do you run your trimmers for free? I don't I charge 8.00 per hour when they are running. you will haul the 3 or 4 truck loads of clippings for free? no dump charge? WoW how do you pay for insurence workmans comp and pay taxes with your pay scale? is your truck insured?
 
#18 ·
early on I made some serious mistakes being afraid to charge what the job cost. I remember years ago looking at some of my billing and saying to myself WTF I can't charge them that that is insane. it takes awhile to get out of that phaze and frame of mind. Being confident in you ability and knowing you are worth it and getting it takes you a long way down the road to success. estmateing jobs is not always easy. what appears easy cut and dry can often turn into a nightmare. other times what can appear to be a involved time consumeing job can be a breeze.
 
#20 ·
In lowell labor rates per man is what ? 35.00 to 50.00 per man per hr.?
load removed (pickup truck) 35.00 40.00 per load ?
What are you charging for the trimmers? I charge 8.00 per hour.
using the low numbers only you can figure this.

2 guys 10 hours @ 35.00 per hour is 700.00
4 loads @ 35.00 is 140.00
trimmers 8 hours @ 8.00 per hour is 64.00
the grand total for your bill is 904.00 if you do not know these people I suggest billing them this amount in advance on the day you cut at the very least they should know it is going to be this expensive and payment is due in full that day it is super important that you know what their expectations are.
I charge $50 an hr. for most work. Jobs that reqire alot of equipment usage like mowing i figure more at $60+. I don't really have an hourly charge for each piece of equipment except for mowing, most just gets figured into my hourly rate. makes everything simple imo. I won't even start the trimmers without having a signature and atleast half down if not paid in full before i start.
$150 to hack down the Lawn? that seems like a lot, is the yard bigger than the front pics??
Well its really overgrown, very steep, can't fit anything larger that 21" because of the retaining wall all the way around. I will just use the string trimmer to hack it all and blow it out then cleanup the clippings. No the yard is very small, just an L shape around that street corner. It will take me a couple hrs. to do it nicely. They can always get someone else if they don't want to pay that much.

I'll help you out with that job red max. I'll bring my chainsaws and we can have all the bushes laying on their sides in 30 minutes.
I actually thought of doing that, just firing up the saw and do a massacre. But i don't think they want them all leveled out because they hold up the hill and provide privacy.
 
#22 ·
looking at them from the other side they dont look that bad what appeard to be ladder work is not. I would mow first so I dont have to rake clippings out of the tall grass I would charge 35 mabye 40 to mow that the bushes look a lot smaller in these other pictures that is not a 900 dollar job as I stated before.
 
#23 ·
looking at them from the other side they dont look that bad what appeard to be ladder work is not. I would mow first so I dont have to rake clippings out of the tall grass I would charge 35 mabye 40 to mow that the bushes look a lot smaller in these other pictures that is not a 900 dollar job as I stated before.
Only 40 bucks to mow this stuff? thats seems way to low. I did a lawn last week it was overgrown it the backyard some places close to 16" but not really thick, took 1hr to mow over 3 to 4 times, trim, and blow - cost $70.

I still think the trim job on the bushes is worth more than $400 and i think a ladder would be helpfull on the sidewalk and i will also use an extended reach trimmer. the hedges around the edge next the the wall are the worst, the single ones in the grass aren't to bad but need a good trimming.

What do ya think? thanks.
 
#25 ·
Doesn't look like there is that many bushes, it looks like different angles of same shrubs. What is the total count of shrubs/trees?
Using our Stihl extended trimmers I would think an hour would trim what I can see. I would use my 4' quick racks on my dump truck and one maybe two loads would do it. The lawn cut is easy, cut it back up to the wall and fork the crap on. $900 would be a nice dream around here.
 
#26 ·
I would bid $400-500 for everything. I think my crew of 3 guys would have that done in 2-3 hours. So 6-9 man hours. All of the debris would fit on my 12' flatbed dump... easily.

I would try to sell them on a landscape renovation... there isn't anything there worth keeping.... it looks like a house in the projects w/ that landscaping.
 
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