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Hourly Rates For Bobcat T-870 and Forestry attachment

BIGcatT870

Active Member
Joined
Jul 2, 2011
Messages
25
Location
Central Alabama
Occupation
Building and Repairing
I purchased a new 2011 T-870 about a month ago. I have owned and operated a 773 for a couple of years at around 50 an hour. With this new machine I can do 2 or 3 times the amount of work in an hour so should my rates reflect that? $100.00 to $125.00 an hour? Also Ive heard some people in my area charge $300 to $400 an hour for the forestry cutter. I in no way want to over charge people Im just looking for a good number thats not over the top.
Thanks to all who can help.
 

cartzblown94z

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 10, 2009
Messages
124
Location
Monroe Center, IL
i do work by the job not hourly but with my rc30 my hourly breakdown is normally 70-100 an hour including travel time, and my jobs are easily half what landscapers charge as well, so i dont think your outta line at all. thats a big, exspensive machine
 

Digdeep

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 6, 2007
Messages
704
Location
Wisconsin
Whatever you do, make sure you keep the engine bay and belly. I have a buddy that is a Bobcat salesman that sent this to me. He says that the forestry kit on the Bobcat machines is marginal at keeping debris out of your machine, especially without a belly pan to clean it out, and in front of the engine.
 

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BIGcatT870

Active Member
Joined
Jul 2, 2011
Messages
25
Location
Central Alabama
Occupation
Building and Repairing
Whatever you do, make sure you keep the engine bay and belly. I have a buddy that is a Bobcat salesman that sent this to me. He says that the forestry kit on the Bobcat machines is marginal at keeping debris out of your machine, especially without a belly pan to clean it out, and in front of the engine.

I will sure keep that in mind. Thank you very much for the advice. Insurance or not I love my machine.
 

BIGcatT870

Active Member
Joined
Jul 2, 2011
Messages
25
Location
Central Alabama
Occupation
Building and Repairing
Thank you for the input. The more jobs I do the more Im realizing that if I cant get at least 115 to 125 with that machine im not making anything. Does a 500 mininum sound about right?
 

Timark80

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 29, 2008
Messages
108
Location
NW FL
Before I bought a machine I did a certain amount of research concerning rates in my area.
Compare others in your area by calling and asking as if you were a potential customer.
With the higher fuel prices I'd be looking at distance and the size of job.The $500 min. better be like a next door neighbor, otherwise you will lose big time! If you are trying to make payments on the T870 at that rate, you may be disappointed very soon.
 

BIGcatT870

Active Member
Joined
Jul 2, 2011
Messages
25
Location
Central Alabama
Occupation
Building and Repairing
Before I bought a machine I did a certain amount of research concerning rates in my area.
Compare others in your area by calling and asking as if you were a potential customer.
With the higher fuel prices I'd be looking at distance and the size of job.The $500 min. better be like a next door neighbor, otherwise you will lose big time! If you are trying to make payments on the T870 at that rate, you may be disappointed very soon.

Yeah you are right. Ive been doing mostly tornado clean up lately with my grapple and bucket and thats where I came up with the 500 min. I wouldnt even know where to start pricing the forestry cutter work. I need all the help I can get, and you are also correct about the payments, man they are scary.
 

KSSS

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 27, 2005
Messages
4,319
Location
Idaho
Occupation
excavation
You might want to get an idea of what that mulcher costs to run. If your running a chipper type tooth that does not do well with rock the costs will be higher. No matter what color your machine is when your running a mulcher they suck a lot of fuel. I would try and find out who the established mulching guys are in your area, and of those, who runs a similiar set up and use their pricing as an idea of what your market will support. Your costs may be different but it will give you an idea of what people are willling to pay in your area.
 

BIGcatT870

Active Member
Joined
Jul 2, 2011
Messages
25
Location
Central Alabama
Occupation
Building and Repairing
You are soooo right! I was shocked at the difference in fuel consumption between my 773 and the T-870. I can run my 773 pretty hard for 8 to 10 hours on 5 gallons. I havent operated the cutter for a full day yet so Im pretty scared to find out just how much It will use!
 

xcmark

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 28, 2010
Messages
357
Location
Foxboro , Ma.
Occupation
construction
You are soooo right! I was shocked at the difference in fuel consumption between my 773 and the T-870. I can run my 773 pretty hard for 8 to 10 hours on 5 gallons. I havent operated the cutter for a full day yet so Im pretty scared to find out just how much It will use!


I would expect to burn almost 4~5 gallons a hour with a head that requires that much power.
 

LanceNE

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 7, 2009
Messages
101
Location
Utah
Occupation
Land clearing/Fuels reduction
Kittycat will burn about 4-5 also running a bullhog. I would also require a full days worth of work plus mileage. We do most of our work by the acre, but when doing it hourly, if they give us a week of work, we'll give them a break on the mileage. But, anything running hiflow is going to cost you fuel and hydraulic plus multiple other issues can arise.
 

BIGcatT870

Active Member
Joined
Jul 2, 2011
Messages
25
Location
Central Alabama
Occupation
Building and Repairing
Ive been trying to upload some pics but I havent had any luck yet. I will post some as soon as I can figure it out .
 

Yellowdog

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 22, 2004
Messages
208
I just love when people call me and pretend to be a customer...just to find out my rates.;)
In my humble opinion, it's intellectually dishonest and it wastes my time calling someone back or taking a call from someone who doesn't respect my time or lies to me.

Generally, the market is what sets the rates but why just work for market rate? Research what your costs are, learn to provide exceptional service (it takes a long time to become efficient and do a "pretty" job mulching vs just blowing and going through property). When you are good at what you do and reliable, you can charge what you need to in an order to make a profit. I am not saying you can gouge someone, that too, would be dishonest, but there is nothing wrong with making a profit instead of working for the going rate and competing with guys who will lower their rate by a few dollars because you charge "x".

I have been mulching for 10 years and running my business since '97 and don't care what my competitors charge. If I did, I'd be out of business trying to match the fly-by-nights who get into this line of work "to make a killin'" but don't consider the long-term. There is always going to be someone cheaper...or someone using an inadequate machine that will leave half-mulched trees and stumps. Charge what you must to make a living and provide an exceptional level of service. If it is too much, the market will let you know. If it is higher than the competition and you are getting work, then you are doing something right and should keep doing it.

Again, it takes awhile to get things down to a system and then it still gets screwed up now and then. Try teaming up with an established mulching contractor and work and learn with them. You might end up with more work than you can handle and not have to go through the same learning curve some of us independents had to go through.
Good luck.
 

BIGcatT870

Active Member
Joined
Jul 2, 2011
Messages
25
Location
Central Alabama
Occupation
Building and Repairing
I just love when people call me and pretend to be a customer...just to find out my rates.;)
In my humble opinion, it's intellectually dishonest and it wastes my time calling someone back or taking a call from someone who doesn't respect my time or lies to me.

Generally, the market is what sets the rates but why just work for market rate? Research what your costs are, learn to provide exceptional service (it takes a long time to become efficient and do a "pretty" job mulching vs just blowing and going through property). When you are good at what you do and reliable, you can charge what you need to in an order to make a profit. I am not saying you can gouge someone, that too, would be dishonest, but there is nothing wrong with making a profit instead of working for the going rate and competing with guys who will lower their rate by a few dollars because you charge "x".

I have been mulching for 10 years and running my business since '97 and don't care what my competitors charge. If I did, I'd be out of business trying to match the fly-by-nights who get into this line of work "to make a killin'" but don't consider the long-term. There is always going to be someone cheaper...or someone using an inadequate machine that will leave half-mulched trees and stumps. Charge what you must to make a living and provide an exceptional level of service. If it is too much, the market will let you know. If it is higher than the competition and you are getting work, then you are doing something right and should keep doing it.

Again, it takes awhile to get things down to a system and then it still gets screwed up now and then. Try teaming up with an established mulching contractor and work and learn with them. You might end up with more work than you can handle and not have to go through the same learning curve some of us independents had to go through.
Good luck.

Thank you for the advice. I agree with everything you said. I am a firm believer in earning my money the old fashion way. That is providing the best possible service that I can. I always tell my customers before I start a job that " I want to leave them feeling like they didnt pay me enough for the work I have performed". Dont get me wrong there are many out there that will and have taken advantage of that but there are many more honest hard working people that really respect you when you tell them that. So far I have been able to satisfy everyone I have worked for. Word of mouth from those people have helped me tremendously.
 
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