# Hourly rate for equipment???



## edddyjoe

What are all you guys getting an hour for your equipment? I know varies from area. We get:
TD7 Dozer (bout same as 450 John Deere) $65
Cat 426 4x4 extenda hoe backhoe $70
Kenworth tandem truck $50
Chipper able to take 6" trees $50
All above include an operator
Man $25
Just curious


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## rino1494

No wonder your dad has old equipment with those prices.....lol


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## Trencher

That is also why he could have done that land clearing job for $2000/acre that I bidded on. 



j/k eddy


.


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## mahlere

Trencher said:


> That is also why he could have done that land clearing job for $2000/acre that I bidded on.
> 
> 
> 
> j/k eddy
> 
> 
> .


it's 'bed'...the past tense form of bid is bed...not bidded...just so ya know:whistling


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## Bondo

mahlere said:


> it's 'bed'...the past tense form of bid is bed...not bidded...just so ya know:whistling


 
Ayuh,......

Actually I think you'll find the past tence of "Bid" is still "Bid".........


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## Trencher

mahlere said:


> it's 'bed'...the past tense form of bid is bed...not bidded...just so ya know:whistling


I am always up to learning new things and I am glad you pointed this out to me, mahlere.

We all three are wrong; it's "bade"...according to dictionary.com


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## dayexco

no, if you have submitted a proposal for a project, you "bid" on the project, you didn't bade on it. read through all the definitions and uses on dictionary.com


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## rino1494

:jester:


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## dayexco

straight across the board...my hourly rates are $1000 per hour for each piece of equipment/laborer on the job...gawd how i hate when people ask for hourly rates and want to compare those with competitors hourly rates....ask me for a total cost number...there i'll be realistic. fries me to watch customers get suckered into an hourly rate situation with the contractor charging half the going rate, and padding his hours by a factor of 3....or having no clue on what he's doing, so only way he can cover his butt is billing by the hour. when i hire mechanics to work on my equipment, i want to know what the final completed cost is going to be...not his hourly rate, or what his shop or waste fee is going to be.....let me know what it is going to cost me walking out the door.....and that's a service i provide my customers, they know EXACTLY to the penny what my work will cost, "unless"......they change the scope of the project in my original proposal to them


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## tgeb

dayexco said:


> fries me to watch customers get suckered into an hourly rate situation with the contractor charging half the going rate, and padding his hours by a factor of 3....or having no clue on what he's doing, so only way he can cover his butt is billing by the hour........my customers, they know EXACTLY to the penny what my work will cost, "unless"......they change the scope of the project in my original proposal to them


I have to agree with this philosophy. I can't tell you how many times i have lost work to others that were "cheaper", only to see the customer screwed over because it took way to long for the work to be completed.

I prefer the fixed cost type of scenario. I will do this amount of work, for that amount of money, unless the "amount of work" changes.

As far as my hourly rates, well, I won't post that. But I will say that you should have some room to move up on your numbers, Edddyjoe. Of course I am in a more expensive area than you, but I think you can do better.

Oh, Bondo and Day are correct, the past tense of bid.....is bid.


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## BrianHay

I'm with Dayexo and Tgeb on this one. I don't have an hourly rate at all. The only way I will bid a project is a fixed cost for the completed project.


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## Driftwood

*Mark Twain*

" I have little use for a Man ,that can only spell a word one way! "


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## Driftwood

*Mahlere ,see Your An Lectrician*

The house You are wiring now,will be weird next week ??:whistling


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## edddyjoe

Didn't realise hourly ratings were so secret. Around here that's the first thing the customer asks, how much per hour and how much per load of whatever. And they usually get screwed. Either by over padding the hours or the amount hauled in or out. Was just curious when I posted this thread.


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## denick

Ed,

The guys are replying in a way of giving advice from where they are in the country side. We all realize how different things are across the country. And people are reluctant to give advise that will hurt someone.

We also do 90% of our work contract. But there is always an exception to the rule.

When required we would bill similar equipment for;
350 JD dozer $85.00
426 Cat Backhoe $90.00
Mack Tandem $90.00
Laborer (experienced) $50.00

Do we make money this way. My wife will hand me reports showing we're not. Working hourly is all dependent on setting your cost of doing business (overhead + operating expense + labor costs) for a known period of time.
Then dividing that by a set number of billable hours (hours you will bill costumers and get paid for). We have found it hard to get that targeted billable time.


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## Vinny

edddyjoe said:


> What are all you guys getting an hour for your equipment? I know varies from area. We get:
> TD7 Dozer (bout same as 450 John Deere) $65
> Cat 426 4x4 extenda hoe backhoe $70
> Kenworth tandem truck $50
> Chipper able to take 6" trees $50
> All above include an operator
> Man $25
> Just curious


 
They are low compared to here but probably high compared to somewhere else.

The point being, it really doesnt matter what I or tgeb or denick get, its what you can get and profit from. And I can tell you for us we never made a dime doing anything hourly or unit. My belief is the lump sum contract is the only way to do it and watch your costs on the jobs. 

But since you asked, and for shi& and giggles, we are around Denicks numbers. To be a little more specific though, I dont charge for any sigular this or that. Its a crew w/ the iron for a job and the needed material. For example(and we dont do much digging anymore but) if I had to put a shovel on a job it so much for the digger and it must be sold with a small detachment of laborers and the needed tools. Selling like this helps me to allocate men and equipment easier when scheduling. 

Any way, my 2 cents(though it may be worth more)


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## antoniop9067

Hey Eddie, I get your drift. I usually do business on a contract basis. Then again you have to be aware of the GC that plays stupid and gives you little amount of work and then he adds on and on as you're doing the work...extra here and a little bit there and you find yourself trying to negotiate extra work mixed up with tour contract and often enough you end up with an argument over the extra work. You don't wanna stop your contract so you do the work anyway and then you try and settle it at the end of day or work and the client usually bitches and refuses to pay or agree on the price of the etra work done.
I sometimes get these creeks by playing at their game and whatever they want, I give them, even if they have stupid ideas that don't work, I know I'll get paid cause they've signed me my bill. If the work has to be restarted, I'll do it and get paid twice for it. I don't like arguing with what engineers or clients say.....I'm the soil expert and I know exactly what the behavior of any soils will be at a given situation. Of Course Security is always my first preoccupation, but for the rest, Engineers and Gc's are paid quite well for their bidding, and so am I.


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## [email protected]

*Colorado prices*

450 John Deere) $85hr
deer 310 d 4x4 extenda hoe backhoe $80hr
10 wheeler dump tandem truck $80hr
Chipper able to take 6" trees $1000 day with 2 labor
Man Labor$20 billed // paid 15
volvo grader $110-140 hr
bobcat 763 $60 hr snow plow 

Sold my equipment last year. These may be different now.
Good luck!!


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## rino1494

[email protected] said:


> Man Labor$20 billed // paid 15


How can you pay a laborer $15 and only charge $20 ??


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## [email protected]

$15 is paid to Work Force a sub company. They pay taxes and insurance. Not much markup on labor......


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