Trenching rates

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wendirt

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Joined
Sep 11, 2006
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9
Hello all. Long time reader, first time post. Recently I was asked if I would quote some trench work with my T-190 to install field tile. I would have to rent the attachment from the local dealer. Should I charge my hourly rate with attachment, or by the foot? Along those same lines, in average soil, how productive can I expect to be with a standard flow machine going 6 inches wide at about 3-4 ft depth?
 
You will have to be careful charging by the foot, all you need to do is hit rock that will slow you down and you will loose money on the job. I would personally add it to your hourly rate then no matter what you are covered. You have no idea what is hidden underground.
 
You will have to be careful charging by the foot, all you need to do is hit rock that will slow you down and you will loose money on the job. I would personally add it to your hourly rate then no matter what you are covered. You have no idea what is hidden underground.
If you're fairly confident of what lies beneath, I'd say you could probably come out better by the foot. That being said, rocks and heavy clay can bring you to the end of your sanity in a hurry. If there's any question, you'll be covered at your hourly rate + attachment. We installed an irrigation system for a university soccer complex (3 fields). Bid the job off of a blueprint before the site prep was done, only to find out when they were ready for us that the material was pure sticky brown clay. I had figured one average day for trenching. Started at about 7 am and finally got done at about 11:30 that night without ever shutting down the machine. I've had more profitable days, but I guess I learned something.
 
If you're fairly confident of what lies beneath, I'd say you could probably come out better by the foot. That being said, rocks and heavy clay can bring you to the end of your sanity in a hurry. If there's any question, you'll be covered at your hourly rate + attachment. We installed an irrigation system for a university soccer complex (3 fields). Bid the job off of a blueprint before the site prep was done, only to find out when they were ready for us that the material was pure sticky brown clay. I had figured one average day for trenching. Started at about 7 am and finally got done at about 11:30 that night without ever shutting down the machine. I've had more profitable days, but I guess I learned something.
Frank
Any foot per hour estimates for heavy clay and on down to sand. I just got a 6" (expandable to 12) by 4' unit myself that I intend to run on a 16 to 18 gpm machine. Would love to hear some figures.
Ken
 
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