Pricing Fert Jobs

[WillClimb]

Any of you deep root pros out there have any advice on pricing fert jobs?
Just bought a 300 gallon rig and I need to send out some spring fert ads.

If I remember correctly someone told me the going rate was about $1/gallon...but I'm sure there's more to bidding than that??

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

The organic, seaweed based product that I use is around .75-1.00/per gallon of mix. If you just go with an NPK slow releas micro-prill, it will be a lot lower cost. (Ack!)

Cost of the rig and maintinance
labor cost
product usage per tree
average drive time
other overhead costs

This is a ;ot easier to figure out then sprayin.

You do a timed bucket check in the morning to calalbrate the rig.

I use the 3 ft grid pattern with an 8 oz shot per poke. So I know I have about 16 pokes per gallon of mix.

When bidding you measuer the area of treatment, I usualy go out beyond the dripline a little and dont fert within 3 ft of the trunk. A little geometery will get you the aproxamate usage for the plant.

 

[treeman82]

I am not sure if this only holds true for spraying, however Mark was telling us that he gets his hourly rate for the person who is doing the spraying. Then he gets the same hourly rate again for the sprayer truck. Then he gets for whatever materials are used. Sounds pretty good to me.
So basically, its hourly rate X 2 plus materials.

 

[Jumper]

Deep root fertilization

I did some of this last spring and pricing was essentially a $60 minimum, and $1.00 a litre for every litre over 60 (4 l = roughly one US gallon). So doing an average house with 5 or 6 trees plus shrubs etc ended up being about $140 using slow release NPK.

Bear in mind these are prices in $Cdn. Seemed like a pretty idle way of bring in $800 gross in a day with only one worker using the system mounted on a trailer behind a small Chevy truck. Second boss I had said he did not see in money in it; mind you he spiked everything too.