# Equipment Pricing



## cos2341 (Apr 22, 2008)

I normally do pipe work but I recently took a job mucking out a detention pond. The developer wants me to charge him by the hour. Just curious what everybody thinks a fair rate would be for a PC 300 Ex., Cat 963 Hilift, D-4 dozer and a small compactor. We are located in northern Maryland.


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## jmic (Dec 10, 2005)

Hi cos, welcome to the forum. I'd like to help ya out but to be fair I'd probably have to be from Maryland to give you a more accurate price. Sorry. :w00t:


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## denick (Feb 13, 2006)

Hello cos,

I'd like to second jmic's welcome to the site.

Your question is one that comes up often. How to set a "FAIR" hourly rate. As jmic said, beeing from Maryland would be a help in giving an answer. As the state by state costs are different for insurances, taxes, fees, licences, permits, wages, fuel etc...... 

The part of your question that mystifies me is "fair". What is "fair"? How do any of you define "fair".

Another part of setting an hourly rate that we haven't really discussed is how the equipment will be operated while working the hourly rate? 

Do we have new equipment or equipment that is maintained to get maximum productivity from the equipment?

Are we a production oriented company?

How good an operator?

Will we be operating at our best productivity when working by the hour?

There are many more measures that could be discussed.


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## tgeb (Feb 9, 2006)

Where the heck is "Northern Maryland", I have heard of "Southern", "Western", "Central" and the "Eastern Shore", but never "Northern". :blink:
Are you above or below the Mason-Dixon Line?

But on a serious note. It is tough to bid work hourly. For instance:

Who keeps track of the time?
At the end of the day when the machines need to be fueled and greased, is the customer going to say, "we can't pay you for that time, that is maintenance on your equipment."

When you decide to work till dark because they are calling for rain tonite and you want to get as much done as possible to beat the weather, will they pay the overtime? will they stay to sign the tickets?

If you leave at 3:30 and it rains like hell that nite will they pay to have the mud mucked out?

Just some of the questions that come to mind.

As far as the rate per machine, I can't really assist you there, my equipment is much smaller than the stuff you are running. But I will say bump the numbers up as opposed to down. By the hour work can be difficult.

By the way, Welcome to the site!!


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## cexcavation (Apr 17, 2008)

By the hour has less risk as long as your hourly rates cover your overhead and give your profit-that is the plus side. If the job is taxing on equipment, then your overhead goes up and thus your price. If you are just mucking out ponds and not getting in the gooey then you may try to be more competitive if this is a bid type situation. Lots of variables, but make sure you figure in what most would call downtime into your rate, since it is hard to convince the non-operator that fueling, greasing, transporting, etc. takes a lot of time and money. Just give them a rate that covers all of that, and forget about trying to explain. Just my .02cents..good luck!!


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## cos2341 (Apr 22, 2008)

went with $145 pc 300/ $130 963/ $110 d-4/ $90 roller (p/hr)
plus mobilization


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## tgeb (Feb 9, 2006)

Did you get the contract?

And where again is Northern Maryland?


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## cos2341 (Apr 22, 2008)

Did the job and already got paid


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## rino1494 (Jan 31, 2006)

cos2341 said:


> went with $145 pc 300/ $130 963/ $110 d-4/ $90 roller (p/hr)
> plus mobilization


Prices look good. They are a just a tad higher than my area.


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## Hanalike (May 3, 2008)

Hope you made money! Our rates our alot higher here, but of course prices vary state to state. (bought 800 gals of off-road today @ $4.95!!!) This is how i figure rental rates:

See how much the rental company will rent the machine for, per your aplication, day, week, ect.

figure 90% feul consumption of feul tank capacity per day,

operator cost,

overhead and markup. 

If you own the equipment,

figure your monthly payments, (per day, week, ect)

+/- 35% for maintence

feul, operator, overhead and markup. 

or call competitors, that way you know your rate is not to low, and dont make money, or to high and not get any work. its also a good way to make sure your formula works! But remember what works for me, probly wont work for anybody else.:thumbsup:


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## rino1494 (Jan 31, 2006)

Hanalike said:


> figure 90% feul consumption of feul tank capacity per day,


Depends on what you call a day. If you figure a 8hr day, then this will throw your pricing way off. For example, Cat designs their fuel tank capacity based on a machine running a 14hr cycle. For a accurate rate, you should know how many gallons per hr a particular machine will consume under average operating conditions.


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## cexcavation (Apr 17, 2008)

That would be great if everyone followed the same formula. The only unknown is the potential customer who will wheel and deal until they find some guy who will do it for the price they want. Then they go tell all their buddies how cheap they got the work done for, who in turn start trying the same thing. The guy on the cheap hires a bunch of $10/hr guys, works on the volume principal and does well enough to affect the market and then goes belly up when he realizes that he should have stuck to the formula. That leaves the guys like us who feed our families waiting for the market to readjust. As of right now I have more than enough work, but at the current competitive rates, you have to work ridiculous hours in order make what guys used to make in 40hrs. At least that is how it seems.........anyone else draggin butt lately:w00t: Some day I will land that job that pays enough to relax a little, until then I will just keep doing the highest quality job for the lowest price possible-that's what the market will bear, thus making the formula ideal and reality a little bit different.......there's my rant on pricing:clap:


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