I have been in business for over 10 years mostly working as a contract climber but now I have bought a bandit chipper and chip truck im excited but the only thing im still wondering about is what I charge per hour for chipping debris? but it has to be in cdn dollars as I know the industry costs are different in north American.
Chipper hourly rate in Canada?
- Thread starter tylee10
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2 ways I'd think about it:
1) Cost of chipper/expected life
-make sure "cost" includes purchase price, interest paid on loan if you borrowed, fuel, oils, teeth, belts, labor for maintenance, etc... then add a healthy profit margin in there too.
2) How much quicker does this get me out of jobs vs. hauling brush?
-so if it is a $1000 job hauling brush, it should still be a $1000 job chipping. Your clients don't care to pay for your equipment, they are paying to have you provide a service. So if that job took 8 hours hauling brush but 6 hours chipping, the chipper just increased your per hour rate by about $40.
1) Cost of chipper/expected life
-make sure "cost" includes purchase price, interest paid on loan if you borrowed, fuel, oils, teeth, belts, labor for maintenance, etc... then add a healthy profit margin in there too.
2) How much quicker does this get me out of jobs vs. hauling brush?
-so if it is a $1000 job hauling brush, it should still be a $1000 job chipping. Your clients don't care to pay for your equipment, they are paying to have you provide a service. So if that job took 8 hours hauling brush but 6 hours chipping, the chipper just increased your per hour rate by about $40.
KingBeee
ArboristSite Member
$140 per hour
If you are chipping piles of brush customers stacked, remember it's going to be many times harder than if you did it. They throw stuff in a pile with no two ends in the same direction. They say, we did all the hard work for you, all you have to do is grind it. Then you get there and they threw logs on top of the brush.
My personal opinion is I wouldn't clean up debris. The best money is in tree work. Debris is rough on you and your equipment, and falls below landscaping on the pay scale.
Unless you have skid steers or track machines and roll of dumpsters. With the correct equipment any thing can make money.
My personal opinion is I wouldn't clean up debris. The best money is in tree work. Debris is rough on you and your equipment, and falls below landscaping on the pay scale.
Unless you have skid steers or track machines and roll of dumpsters. With the correct equipment any thing can make money.
I didn't put a dollar figure because I'm South of your Border. I've seen many good climbers fail because they charged what the did for climbing, maybe a little more. Just for an example, before I retired, we were paying our climbers $25-$30 per hour, ground men $8-10, and if they could drive a chipper truck, $10-15. We charged the customers $85 per man hour for 3-4 man crews, with a 4 hour minimum. We charged the customer the same for the $10 groundie as the $30 dollar an hour climber. You are in business to make money, not just survive.
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