hourly rates?

[bobbie-g]

We are $75 to $100 for most general skidsteer work. (higher for stump grinding and severe service work) There will always be someone who can maybe do it for less. Chances are they don't come with the arsenal of attachments and maybe the experience to do the best job. I don't try to compete with a low price, most customers can be sold quality. If they can't pay what I'm worth, then I may as well stay home.
Always trying to beat the last lowest price you were told will only result in everyone working for nothing.
I try to bid most work by the job, and keep my rates to myself. The customers ultimately just want the total cost anyway, no point in giving them a number to compare too.
We are in northern Ontario
Ken

I get $65/hr for mowing brush and chewing up slash. No minimum, and $50 bucks for travel each way. Not enough to pay off the machines, pay me, and fix the machines. Next year, it will be $85. I only mow for neighbors on our 17,000 acre subdivision, but I still have to buy $900 worth of liability insurance each year. I can see that wear and tear on my T180's tracks and undercarriage are pushing me to get more per hr. Others here have highflow machines with Fecon or bullhog mulching heads, and get $130 to 165/hr. ---RC

 

[jklingel]

I get $65/hr for mowing brush and chewing up slash. No minimum, and $50 bucks for travel each way. Not enough to pay off the machines, pay me, and fix the machines. Next year, it will be $85. I only mow for neighbors on our 17,000 acre subdivision, but I still have to buy $900 worth of liability insurance each year. I can see that wear and tear on my T180's tracks and undercarriage are pushing me to get more per hr. Others here have highflow machines with Fecon or bullhog mulching heads, and get $130 to 165/hr. ---RC

I've settled on a flat rate, round trip, of $60/hr. That is cheap, but I am only a part-time guy and my main concern is getting my machine sort-of paid for. Several folks appreciate what they are getting, and have generously tipped. I've really been too busy working on my own property/projects to advertise much, but word of mouth seems to be getting around. I think next year I'll have to charge $65; that is what my neighbor charges for a smaller machine. He is much more in business, too; mostly running his cat and dump truck. I don't know what the full-time guys charge, but they are not eating well if they only charge $60.

 

[siduramaxde]

I've settled on a flat rate, round trip, of $60/hr. That is cheap, but I am only a part-time guy and my main concern is getting my machine sort-of paid for. Several folks appreciate what they are getting, and have generously tipped. I've really been too busy working on my own property/projects to advertise much, but word of mouth seems to be getting around. I think next year I'll have to charge $65; that is what my neighbor charges for a smaller machine. He is much more in business, too; mostly running his cat and dump truck. I don't know what the full-time guys charge, but they are not eating well if they only charge $60.

Lets do some math here...If you buy a new track loader and say it cost $50,000...lets say it's life expectancy is around 4000 hours(before you get another new one). If fuel averages $3 per gallon and you burn 3 gal/hour thats $9 per hour or $36,000 for the life of the machine just for fuel. I'll say that over the life of the machine it will cost another $25,000 in maintenance costs ( this includes 16 oil changes, 4 sets of tracks, a new under carriage, and other misc. things. NO MAJOR REPAIRS). Already I come up with $27.75 just to run the machine. Now add a truck and trailer. Lets say a if you get a decent truck thats going to haul the machine around for the 4000 hour life of the machine it's going to cost $30,000 at a minimum. A decent trailer will cost another $4500. Add fuel and maintenance for the truck and trailer...lets say $25,000 (fuel for 4 years @ $5000/year, set of tires for tuck and trailer, and oil changes). Now we get to insurance. I know what mine costs and I think I might be low by saying $3000/year. So if you run 1000 hours/year for 4 years your costs would be.......drum roll please.....$182,500. So that puts you at almost $46/hour machine time. Are you still going to charge $60 per hour? That leaves you with $14/hour profit. If you work an 8 hour day you made $112 per day....thats not going to make my house payment or put my kid through school. I think to make a decent living with a track loader you need to be charging $80+ per hour. Even at $80/hour thats only $34000 a year if you work 1000 billable hours.

 

[jklingel]

Lets do some math here...If you buy a new track loader and say it cost $50,000...lets say it's life expectancy is around 4000 hours(before you get another new one). If fuel averages $3 per gallon and you burn 3 gal/hour thats $9 per hour or $36,000 for the life of the machine just for fuel. I'll say that over the life of the machine it will cost another $25,000 in maintenance costs ( this includes 16 oil changes, 4 sets of tracks, a new under carriage, and other misc. things. NO MAJOR REPAIRS). Already I come up with $27.75 just to run the machine. Now add a truck and trailer. Lets say a if you get a decent truck thats going to haul the machine around for the 4000 hour life of the machine it's going to cost $30,000 at a minimum. A decent trailer will cost another $4500. Add fuel and maintenance for the truck and trailer...lets say $25,000 (fuel for 4 years @ $5000/year, set of tires for tuck and trailer, and oil changes). Now we get to insurance. I know what mine costs and I think I might be low by saying $3000/year. So if you run 1000 hours/year for 4 years your costs would be.......drum roll please.....$182,500. So that puts you at almost $46/hour machine time. Are you still going to charge $60 per hour? That leaves you with $14/hour profit. If you work an 8 hour day you made $112 per day....thats not going to make my house payment or put my kid through school. I think to make a decent living with a track loader you need to be charging $80+ per hour. Even at $80/hour thats only $34000 a year if you work 1000 billable hours.

My only comments would be: (1) sounds reasonable, but perhaps a tad generous? (2) You should also look at investing (safely) the $50K instead of spending it on a machine. That could easily be another $3K/yr out the door. (3) You won't be throwing the machine away after 4000 hrs, either. It will be worth something. All that said, you won't be in the Bill Gates Club after 4, or even 40, yrs; roger that.

 

[siduramaxde]

My only comments would be: (1) sounds reasonable, but perhaps a tad generous? (2) You should also look at investing (safely) the $50K instead of spending it on a machine. That could easily be another $3K/yr out the door. (3) You won't be throwing the machine away after 4000 hrs, either. It will be worth something. All that said, you won't be in the Bill Gates Club after 4, or even 40, yrs; roger that.

I have been in this business for 12 years now and the numbers I gave are probably LOW compared to my books. I guess when you say investing you are talking about financing the equipment? I do more than just skidsteer work. My loaders are more of a tool for what I do (landscaping) and they really just allow me to do more work in less time with less back breaking labor. Some people do scoff at the price I charge vs. the time I am on the job but they really have no idea of the costs involved to get the job done in a minimum amount of time. I am eating every day but I am not eating steak every day. By no means am I rich

 

[jklingel]

I have been in this business for 12 years now and the numbers I gave are probably LOW compared to my books. I guess when you say investing you are talking about financing the equipment? I do more than just skidsteer work. My loaders are more of a tool for what I do (landscaping) and they really just allow me to do more work in less time with less back breaking labor. Some people do scoff at the price I charge vs. the time I am on the job but they really have no idea of the costs involved to get the job done in a minimum amount of time. I am eating every day but I am not eating steak every day. By no means am I rich

By "(2) You should also look at investing (safely) the $50K instead of spending it on a machine. That could easily be another $3K/yr out the door", I was referring to investing the $50K in relative safe investments and getting a day job working for someone else. Sometimes people forget about that little issue of letting their money work for them, instead of just them working for them. If you have $100K stuck into equipment (or, worse yet, borrowed) you have to earn your first (approx) $6K just to be where you would have been if you had put the money into a safe investment. That may mean your first two months of work, which is depressing. I had to laugh when a tech showed up at a friend's house to tune/clean his boiler. He had a van, a vacuum cleaner and a tool box, and after 1 hour charged $250. So a guy should show up w/ $100K worth of equipment and charge $60-80 for an hour? Hmmm.....

 

[siduramaxde]

By "(2) You should also look at investing (safely) the $50K instead of spending it on a machine. That could easily be another $3K/yr out the door", I was referring to investing the $50K in relative safe investments and getting a day job working for someone else. Sometimes people forget about that little issue of letting their money work for them, instead of just them working for them. If you have $100K stuck into equipment (or, worse yet, borrowed) you have to earn your first (approx) $6K just to be where you would have been if you had put the money into a safe investment. That may mean your first two months of work, which is depressing. I had to laugh when a tech showed up at a friend's house to tune/clean his boiler. He had a van, a vacuum cleaner and a tool box, and after 1 hour charged $250. So a guy should show up w/ $100K worth of equipment and charge $60-80 for an hour? Hmmm.....

This is all good discussion and hopefully more people do their homework before just jumping into the skidsteer business. Right now people will scoff at an $80/hr for skid work because there are so many people doing it cheap or they think they can just rent a loader. Most people don't account for experience. I wish I could charge $250/hr.

 

[farmboy55]

This is all good discussion and hopefully more people do their homework before just jumping into the skidsteer business. Right now people will scoff at an $80/hr for skid work because there are so many people doing it cheap or they think they can just rent a loader. Most people don't account for experience. I wish I could charge $250/hr.

I very seldom have anyone ask me my price. They will call and I ALLWAYS ARRRIVE at the job when I'm suppose to and get it done for them. All my advertisement is by pass and present customers spreading the word. My Base price is $200. min. local area / 2hrs then it goes to a cheaper rate. I may have 2 Bobcats and a dump truck working. I'm operating all 3 for a discount rate per hr. The main thing if you can't make a good profit on the job. Don't do it.

 

[frankie]

What if I'm the one who is supplies the equipment should that operator still make 100 per hour?