Stumpgrinding - What is your minimum charge to load up and go out to a job??

[Mowingman]

Just wondering, if you have a minimum charge, what it is. About 10 years ago, when I started my grinding business, I set a $50.00 minimum to go out to any local job. Even one tiny stump down the street. Two years ago, I raised the minimum to $75.00. This is my minimum for a local job, with a single stump up to 18" in size.
I do lose some work due to this pricing, but, I feel it is worth the price to hook up the trailer, drive out to the job, do the job, and go back to the shop to unhook.
Do you have a minimum? Do you think I am high, or low, at this price? I may raise it due to the prices of fuel now.
I am not going to lower it, but just got to thinking about this after getting some resistance from potential customers lately.
Jeff

 

[OLD MAN GRINDER]

Just wondering, if you have a minimum charge, what it is. About 10 years ago, when I started my grinding business, I set a $50.00 minimum to go out to any local job. Even one tiny stump down the street. Two years ago, I raised the minimum to $75.00. This is my minimum for a local job, with a single stump up to 18" in size.
I do lose some work due to this pricing, but, I feel it is worth the price to hook up the trailer, drive out to the job, do the job, and go back to the shop to unhook.
Do you have a minimum? Do you think I am high, or low, at this price? I may raise it due to the prices of fuel now.
I am not going to lower it, but just got to thinking about this after getting some resistance from potential customers lately.
Jeff

Hey Jeff..

I'm at 50, maybe a little higher if over 10 miles, some guys down here at 80 and one at
120, we have grinders down here doing stumps for 10 bucks each, very competitive market, i have people calling all the time wanting my per stump price over the phone, i tell them i have
to see the stumps to give a price, depends on size, roots, hard or soft wood, height, fresh cut or old etc, and 9 out of 10 times they will say ok and let me come out to give estimate....

Very rarely will i get a one stump job so min is usually not an issue, but i have found out
by talking to customers that they have been scared off by high min...

I usually look at job, figure out how long it will take multiply by 100 per hr and go from there, if it takes longer then i know i did not price it right, usually pretty close..

There are a lot of guys with high hp tow behinds, but they can't do most of the jobs i get, i used to sub out the real big stumps but now with my bandit i take whatever comes up, nothing worries me anymore, and i very rarely lose a bid, and if i do i figure it wasn't worth it anyway..

Bob....

 

[CalTreeEquip]

$200 minimum and I charged by the diameter inch. Can't remember what that charge was but I always planned on a formula for charging by the square inch but never got around to it.

 

[deevo]

$125.00 minimum for me, unless it's in my subdivision.

 

[MOE]

$75 and I still try to tie small jobs together and do them in one day. If it's the only job on the books and I do it and no others it doesn't really pencil out once I figure I'm usually gone for over an hour and burn at least $15 in fuel. I've thought about raising it but the small jobs often turn into bigger ones or good word or mouth jobs so at times I have to tell myself it's part of a bigger picture.

 

[Mowingman]

Well, it looks like I am probably where I need to be on my minimum. I do a lot of one-stump jobs, so my minimum kicks in a lot. As Bob mentioned, I try to avoid giving any pricing over the phone. About the only time I will give an "Estimate" on the phone, is when the job would require a long drive out and back just to have a look. In those cases, I will give them an estimate, but not a firm quote.
I have noticed, due to the tight economy, that folks are often deciding to hold off on the stump grinding, after paying big bucks to have a tree taken down. I usually get the job, but a lot of times they wait and call me back sometime later, after their pocketbook has recovered.
Jeff

 

[ironstumper]

Well, it looks like I am probably where I need to be on my minimum. I do a lot of one-stump jobs, so my minimum kicks in a lot. As Bob mentioned, I try to avoid giving any pricing over the phone. About the only time I will give an "Estimate" on the phone, is when the job would require a long drive out and back just to have a look. In those cases, I will give them an estimate, but not a firm quote.
I have noticed, due to the tight economy, that folks are often deciding to hold off on the stump grinding, after paying big bucks to have a tree taken down. I usually get the job, but a lot of times they wait and call me back sometime later, after their pocketbook has recovered.
Jeff

I just had a thought while reading this post, for those jobs a long distance away. I think in this digital age perhaps a picture texted to my phone would help maybe even a tape measure stretched out alongside.....Hmmmmm....Anyway my min is $75 too

 

[howel07264]

Just wondering, if you have a minimum charge, what it is. About 10 years ago, when I started my grinding business, I set a $50.00 minimum to go out to any local job. Even one tiny stump down the street. Two years ago, I raised the minimum to $75.00. This is my minimum for a local job, with a single stump up to 18" in size.
I do lose some work due to this pricing, but, I feel it is worth the price to hook up the trailer, drive out to the job, do the job, and go back to the shop to unhook.
Do you have a minimum? Do you think I am high, or low, at this price? I may raise it due to the prices of fuel now.
I am not going to lower it, but just got to thinking about this after getting some resistance from potential customers lately.
Jeff

$75 to $150 min. depending on distance traveled. Never travel more than 30 miles unless a big job. Rental shops charge $100 for a tiller grinder and $375 a day for a vermeer 252 so they can usually call me for less and not get their hands dirty.works for me

 

[MSgtBob66]

You're in the ballpark in my neighborhood...

$75 min just to grind a stump at about 12 in. 18 in would be about $125-$150, like Old Bob says, lots of variables, gotta take a look at the job.

I may raise my min this year because of fuel costs. I also agree with Moe, try to lump several 1 stump jobs together to make for a better day.

I rarely drive more than 15 miles to grind. If I clean up and dump, that's another charge added to the job.

Winter's winding down, starting to get the grinding fever...

Bob

 

[timberland ts]

150 min. I hate grinding stumps. Usually only grind for my tree customers. Ihave my 252 or my buddies big bandit. Still do alot of stumps.

 

[grinderpete]

I have been charging $60 min.for local jobs for about 5 yrs. That is about all the market will bear here in E Texas.Thinking about increasing the min. a little bit this year.

 

[Goose IBEW]

I try to line up 300 dollars worth of grinding before I hook up to go out. Customers are receptive to saving a buck so they are usually ok with waiting a week to have their job done. A one off must have stump ground tomorrow job will pay me a premium.

 

[stumper120]

65$ in town on stumps under 16''. I use my grinder more as a tool to help me get out and meet new customers. Seems like every time I get on somebodys property I end up giving estimates for tree work, yard extensions, ext. And leave a happy customer who now has a handful of my business cards. Best advertising money can buy! word of mouth. I usually factor in grinding on removals on take down estimates and present it as part of the whole price vs adding it on at the end as a extra.

 

[Cupocoffee]

I charge a minimum price of $80

I am in Oklahoma City and have a minimum charge of $80. For me, that will cover anything 24" or less. I charge $40 minimum per stump for jobs 14" or less, so if they have two small stumps it still falls in my $80 minimum price. Oklahoma City metropolitan area is very large, so sometimes I don't make a lot on jobs if I know I am only going to get $80 but I never turn work away. I hate giving prices on the phone but if I do, I will usually have the homeowner text me photos with a clear picture with a measuring tape so I can see clearly what I am getting into. I am very fortunate that I don't have to contend with rocks in this area. I do, however, run into rods in the middle of stumps, now and then, which were there to hold a sapling upright thirty years ago. They always catch me by surprise. I have never had anyone balk at my $80 minimum. Once I talk to someone on the phone, I will get the work 95% of the time. I love stump grinding. I think $80 minimum is a bit on the low side and may go up to $100 next year. The reason, I charge $80 is because it takes that much to rent a small push type grinder at Home Depot for four hours plus the hassle. Why would anyone rent one of those and spend several hours picking up, grinding, and returning the equipment when I will show up, grind their stump, and be gone from their property in 15 or 20 minutes? I could talk about stump grinding for hours but I think I have answered your question.

 

[Cupocoffee]

Hey Jeff..

I'm at 50, maybe a little higher if over 10 miles, some guys down here at 80 and one at
120, we have grinders down here doing stumps for 10 bucks each, very competitive market, i have people calling all the time wanting my per stump price over the phone, i tell them i have
to see the stumps to give a price, depends on size, roots, hard or soft wood, height, fresh cut or old etc, and 9 out of 10 times they will say ok and let me come out to give estimate....

Very rarely will i get a one stump job so min is usually not an issue, but i have found out
by talking to customers that they have been scared off by high min...

I usually look at job, figure out how long it will take multiply by 100 per hr and go from there, if it takes longer then i know i did not price it right, usually pretty close..

There are a lot of guys with high hp tow behinds, but they can't do most of the jobs i get,

I used to sub out the real big stumps but now with my bandit i take whatever comes up, nothing worries me anymore, and i very rarely lose a bid, and if i do i figure it wasn't worth it anyway..

Bob....

I know what you mean, Bob, about not being intimidated to take on any job that comes up. With my older stump grinder, sometimes I would cringe when I would see a super challenging job. I have a new grinder and I will take on any job out there and never think twice. I hope you are really enjoying that new Bandit!

 

[mikewhite85]

I love grinding. Sometimes I am tempted to get out of the stress of the tree biz, sell my trucks, drop my employees and worker's comp, and just do grinding. Much less overhead and potential for failures.

Right now with everything going on, grinding a $100 stump is a hassle but if I could do stumps exclusively and make a couple hundred a day for a few hours work it would be great.

My min. depends on how busy I am with other stuff. Today I told someone $150. Tomorrow it might be $125.

 

[stumpy06]

$125 minimum for jobs I quote. $75 min. for sub work. Real local (same town) sub-work I will do for $60 min. but, I am not hooking up for just that. I usually hit those at beginning or end of a busy day. I just switched from hourly to charging by the inch. My rate for sub-work starts at $2.50, so a 24" stump covers the minimum.

Good luck!

 

[imalogger]

I dont have any set prices or minimums but its usually around $40.. But I have done some for less if I'm already on the job grinding for someone and a neighbor walks up and wants something small done that only takes a couple min ill do it for $10 or $20, I figure why not- it will usually cover all my fuel for the day. I built my own walk behind grinder and haul it on a 4x8 trailer behind my 30+mpg car so my expenses are pretty minimal. The sad thing is, ppl generally trust you more and perceive you will do a better job the more you charge. I usually look at how nice of a vehicle and house they have and then decide how much to charge em word of mouth has got me a ton of jobs..

 

[dtm165]

Quoting a minimum

Like the guy in the previous post said, Never turn away work. If you are just sitting home and not doing anything, it's always better to do a 40 or 50 dollar minimum job that to lose that customer to your competitor. I have had a quite a few customers that a price like that turns into something bigger. My father is into tree service (I do stump grinding and tree sales) and people call back for tree jobs after that minimum $50 stump job. It builds up your reputation and if you like this business, do every job you can. ...unless you have a lot of work and you can pick and choose. Being cheap could get you to that "big job" customer that everyone wants.

 

[ponyexpress976]

I just had a thought while reading this post, for those jobs a long distance away. I think in this digital age perhaps a picture texted to my phone would help maybe even a tape measure stretched out alongside.....Hmmmmm....Anyway my min is $75 too

This is what I do on nearly all my calls. Why drive out there twice? I usually ask the customer to put something like soda can or shovel in the picture for scale.