New to the game. Need Help with first quote.

[hotwired]

So I am going to lay it out. I am in the process of starting a Land services business. I want to focus on land cleanup, clearing and forestry mulching. I am taking the proper steps. License and insurance keeping it all on the up and up. I am located in North Alabama. Currently the only employees are my wife and I. Both my father and father in law will probably help out time to time.

I have the opportunity to quote some cleanup from a mess that a timer company made. Cleaning up the slash and removing the stumps. (Grinding) in total there is about 60 acres and it all looks like the pictures posted taken from different areas of the farm. I was thinking it will take somewhere around 2-3 weeks to complete and would be in the 25k-30k range figuring about $150 a hour. Am I thinking that right or am I way high or way low thoughts?

I am thinking that I can go in and pile the slash in rows and mulch them and them tackle the stumps.

How do you all quote large jobs like this or jobs in general? Per hour, Per job?

 

[Del_]

That kind of job is best done with heavy equipment and the dug up stump and slash are burnt onsite. I suggest you stay away from this job and concentrate on small jobs.

 

[hotwired]

That kind of job is best done with heavy equipment and the dug up stump and slash are burnt onsite. I suggest you stay away from this job and concentrate on small jobs.

You don't think that a Mini X and a Skid steer will handle it?

 

[WmTreeCo.]

You don't think that a Mini X and a Skid steer will handle it?

What size is your excavator?
Do you have grapples and mulchers for both machines?
How much experience do you both have as operators?

It's best to learn the capabilites and limitations of your equipment on smaller contracts and build your way up to bigger projects like this, then you'll have the experience to tell how long this would take and what you'd need to charge.

 

[ATH]

They want you to grind 60 acres worth of stumps after a timber harvest??? Are they planning to farm the area? Slash is a normal part of a harvest and is healthy for the next forest...

But aside from that, it sounds like a mini-x and skid steer are a little light for the job. Especially if you are billing by the hour. Kinda like painting a whole room with a 1" brush and being paid by the hour.

Ultimately I estimate the number of hours a job will take and quote it per job. I've asked if I can do some as "not to exceed" quotes if there are a lot of variables. This seems straight forward, but maybe too big for a first job??? But even if that takes longer than you anticipate, are you going to loose money if it takes 5 weeks and you make $25K?

So you thinking 60 hours per week for 3 weeks to come to that $25-30K price at $150 per hour?

 

[AGoodSteward]

$1000/day
Low for what we do. Dunno what your market will bear. Quote your number, stick to it, mess up, break stuff, learn your lessons. If you Stihl make a profit, you win. Otherwise, maybe consider a career in sales or something.
Sounds like it'll be a challenge on your marriage as well. Be careful and good luck.

 

[Sherman]

So I am going to lay it out. I am in the process of starting a Land services business. I want to focus on land cleanup, clearing and forestry mulching. I am taking the proper steps. License and insurance keeping it all on the up and up. I am located in North Alabama. Currently the only employees are my wife and I. Both my father and father in law will probably help out time to time.

I have the opportunity to quote some cleanup from a mess that a timer company made. Cleaning up the slash and removing the stumps. (Grinding) in total there is about 60 acres and it all looks like the pictures posted taken from different areas of the farm. I was thinking it will take somewhere around 2-3 weeks to complete and would be in the 25k-30k range figuring about $150 a hour. Am I thinking that right or am I way high or way low thoughts?

I am thinking that I can go in and pile the slash in rows and mulch them and them tackle the stumps.

How do you all quote large jobs like this or jobs in general? Per hour, Per job?

My experience for land clearing is slim at best. Your wife should be paid as a worker, not taken for granted. Depending on your equipment arsenal to work with you ought to plan the phases in your head. It will not hurt to walk it four times so you will see things you didn't see before. Several views will give you new ideas to get it done better by renting what you need from a reputable rental yard (plant hire) or you will see enough to know it's better to let someone else do it. I've been in tree work 30 years most of it is domestic and some commercial arboriculture. CYA for expenses. If you try to be generous or plan short you lose. Read the book Checklist Manifesto by Dr. Atul Gawande 'cause he shows the great value of CYA. I work where the Goodyear meets the asphalt. Do a written contract to set progress payments after each phase. Weather can sure mess up a work project and again...you lose.

 

[MariHer75]

You should charge for the job depending on the number of hours, the equipment and crew used. It is important to standardize your quotes. if not, you will have trouble quoting every single job. Also, your quotes for similar jobs may differ vastly and some of your customers may notice the difference. There are also software that may help you with quoting such as ArboStar

 

[jetsam]

I don't know what the going rate for stump removal is, but I grew up amongst farmers. Can't think of one that wouldn't **** a brick if you quoted them $150/hr for any work including brain surgery.

 

[grizz55chev]

You should charge for the job depending on the number of hours, the equipment and crew used. It is important to standardize your quotes. if not, you will have trouble quoting every single job. Also, your quotes for similar jobs may differ vastly and some of your customers may notice the difference. There are also software that may help you with quoting such as ArboStar

The original poster was last here about a yr ago, wonder how the marriage is doing?

 

[jetsam]

The original poster was last here about a yr ago, wonder how the marriage is doing?

If you can convince your wife to pull stumps all day, you have some significant convincing power.

 

[Bobby Kirbos]

I don't know how things go in this particular industry, but in software development...
1. Estimate how much time you think it will take (time = $$)
2. Double that number
3. Add a bit more
4. Round up to the nearest "round" $$ amount

... and that should cover it with maybe slightly less than the projected margin.

 

[grizz55chev]

If you can convince your wife to pull stumps all day, you have some significant convincing power.

Or he's been " Fargo ed ".