stump grinding pricing New England Area

[intheelements]

I'm getting more confused, which is not exactly out of the ordinary for me.
Maybe I just need to continue with the 2.50 per inch and see if things get better. If not then try lowering it by .25

Might even be a good idea to try the hourly rate

Things that make you go hmmmmm

 

[Lumberjack]

Murph it just depends, if its around town close its just included in the grinding time, but if its farther out then we might tack on a few bucks to make it worth our time.

I dont see any downsides except we drive out there to bid and then again to grind (normally) and its free bids. Hasnt really effected us too much though, minor point, just thought i wouldnt mention the only downside I can think of.

 

[Koa Man]

For those that want to charge by the inch, figure the rate by sq. inch, not diameter. You will make more money.

 

[Lumberjack]

Koa, you would need to also factor in the height of the stump, cubic inch would be best if there is such a thing of it being best by the inch.

 

[Koa Man]

I was assuming that the "stump" was already cut to within 4 inches of ground level. Higher than that, I'll get out my saw and cut it down and then tree removal rates come into play.

 

[Lumberjack]

Hmm, the 4" rule, thats low for around here.

What do you do if its on a slope? Cut at an angle?

Having access to get at the stump with a larger more HP machine makes doing stumps alot easier.

On average, what does everyone end up making per hour for just grinding the stumps, and what machines do yall have/use?

 

[Koa Man]

Hmm, the 4" rule, thats low for around here.

What do you do if its on a slope? Cut at an angle?

Having access to get at the stump with a larger more HP machine makes doing stumps alot easier.

On average, what does everyone end up making per hour for just grinding the stumps, and what machines do yall have/use?

I do cut at an angle. I try to get the stump as low to grade as possible. I don't have a high power stumper, so it helps to have it low. I just got the Terra Stumper attachment for my mini skid today. I have a stump job next week that I will try it out on.

 

[murphy4trees]

I personally like to charge as much as the customer is willing to pay... So many factors to consider... I'll usually make good $ any time the machine goes out, cause it is soooooo0o0o0o0o0o0o fast and efficient... Good equipment + good sales and marketting= good $...
Sometimes people will ask how much per inch... I truly have no idea....
I did 50 monster stumps in Va. for 2500... and one monster stump for 1475... So it all just depends..

 

[Lumberjack]

Koa, I understand, I would think that there are lots of places in Hawaii that wouldnt be accessable to our bigger grinder, or even the RG50.

We like to get all we can too, but we dont want to take advantage of the customer. Ya gotta kick yourself when you just bid 10 stumps for $250 and the customer agrees, then says thats $250 per stump right? D'oh! We would never take advantage of a customer in that way.

How big is a monster stump murph? 1475 to just grind the stump? Man thats nice $$ (i am sure the stump was at least somewhat problematic)

We grind every friday and saturday and we plan out the jobs so we can get the in some order to bring extra driving to a minimum.

 

[vharrison2]

Carl wrote


we could grind for weeks in florida with very little damage to the teeth...

That depends on where you are in Florida, we are sitting on cap rock...our minimum is $ 125.00

 

[Koa Man]

Koa, I understand, I would think that there are lots of places in Hawaii that wouldnt be accessable to our bigger grinder, or even the RG50.

A few companys here have the RG50 and you could get to a lot of the stumps. I would love to have one, but I did not want to spend that much money for a stump grinder. I don't have enough stump jobs to justify the cost, besides I just spent about the equivalent of an RG50 on another toy, see my Mini Skid at Work thread.

 

[Lumberjack]

I am looking and following that thread closely Koa.

Our RG50 was 35. We purchased one of the first ones made and it has been a good machine to say the least.

 

[NeTree]

Ya gotta kick yourself when you just bid 10 stumps for $250 and the customer agrees, then says thats $250 per stump right? D'oh!

I'd bet there'd be a puase in your reply though...

 

[Lumberjack]

Bid 10 stumps 10 min from the house, told the guy 75 bucks. He said ok, then thats per stump right?

Ummmmmmm..... Thats the total amount. Oh, my father-in-law said I should espect to pay at least $50 a stump.

Sheeeeez! I was contimplating telling him a hundred bucks, its only 30 min or so of work, shoulda done it.

Hindsight is 20/20.

How did the pines go Erik?

 

[intheelements]

All these big machines and me with my small vermeer 222. I feel like I should hide somewhere. Guess that makes me one of the little guys. lol

 

[treeman82]

Around here, $4.00 / inch is the low end, and upwards of $6.00 / inch on the high end.

The way I see it, if you're grinding stumps by the hour for $125 then all you need to do is 25" of stumps for $5.00 / inch. What are the odds of not being able to crank out that much in an hour?

Heck, if you have a 4' stump, that's a $250 + job, and if you have a good sized machine, that can be done inside of an hour no problems.

 

[Lumberjack]

My dad, a Teamster, read this thread and here are his comments:

He grinds 2 days a week (and took 2 weeks vacation to make these numbers)

Turned in Moneys:
Best Month: $17,600
Best Week: $8,150
Best Day: $1,775
Best 4 Month Period: $60,000

We bought a RG85 from the sale of stock for 40k dollars using money that we had invested into stocks. Then the stock market went south and we lost 40k from that, shoulda bought 2 grinders.

 

[Newfie]

Then the stock market went south and we lost 40k from that, shoulda bought 2 grinders.

Shoulda stayed invested and recouped your value. Only way to lose money in the market is to buy high and sell low or dump all you eggs in one basket and watch the company go tits-up.


My stump guy gets $2.00 an inch. Others have quoted me as high as $3.00 or $4.00 an inch.

 

[intheelements]

Stump Grinding

$2.00 per inch,is that a volume price just for you or is that his standard price? What size machine does he use? Does that include cutting removal?
I find it difficult to believe that he can make enough money at that price to cover his expenses and pay himself

 

[Lumberjack]

Shoulda stayed invested and recouped your value. Only way to lose money in the market is to buy high and sell low or dump all you eggs in one basket and watch the company go tits-up.

We took the 40k out when the market was still up. The 40k we have lost is a percentage of what is still invested in the market, and we are waiting for it to come back up.

However, if we woulda invested 80k in grinders, knowing what we know now, we would have made more money than off the stock market.

Can ya dig it?


PS, my mother works at a financial planning firm, we got the basics of riding the stock market out covered.