Cat dozer hourly rates

Welder Dave said:

My dad used to always say the jobs/sales you have are more important than the ones you might get. Basically they are guaranteed money. Sometimes though you wish you had never bid on them because the job and/or the customer becomes a royal PIA.

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No doubt there. And some of the worst clients are the very wealthy ones

Totally agree with that!

We are not the largest company in the province, but they have been in business since the 40s. They have been the primary asphalt provider in the area. Government work is tighter on pricing, as larger companies move their plants in and out. The owner tries to use home owners right when it comes to paving and earthwork. No cheap jobs, and no shortcuts. If you were given a price, and an issue comes up, we take the loss. A new forman came in from a larger company and tried to hide stumps and boulders in paved driveways in order to save money. When he told the big guy what he had done, expecting praise, he was sent back to redo the job before it was paved. Some people are impossible to deal with. Chances are the guy in the shack will pay before the guy in the mansion. Like the boss says, if you use people right, chances are they will hire you again even if you are a bit more money than the other guy. If buddy wants a stump pulled while you are there, and you can do it in less than half an hour without interfearing with the main job, go ahead. People might not sing the praises of a job well done, but you can rest assured that it will be all over town if you do a poor job.

GODSDOZER said:

I bid all of my jobs..……………...I am too efficient with a dozer to do hourly work and make a good profit.

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Ageee. I have a D5k, when customers ask my hourly rate I reply the I need to look at project and then give them a bid. They seem impressed with how quickly I can get a project done. They know what their paying up front. If they add more work I figure $150hr....

I charge 185.00 hr. D6H LGP and 2.5 hr to move at 185.00. If i am going to go broke my machines can sit in the yard not wore out on the job.Parts and fuel and oil are super high here.

In Hawaii its 10k an acre rip and rolled, 400-500 for delivery.

A hard thing for me to learn in basic accounting was that a normal profit is part of cost. Said another way, if you're not making a normal profit over time, you're not covering all your costs. So, the owner needs to know what ALL the costs are, including asset recovery (depreciation) as if he were an absentee owner who employed an on-site manager who could also be an operator, then add a profit to that total. Otherwise, hire yourself out as an operator to your competition. Smaller operations might not have a manager, but an owner who is also an operator should earn a wage for operating, as well as a profit on his investment and income for his management that includes planning, selling jobs, etc.

On the obverse, excess profits breeds ruinous competition.

Neill

We charged 85$ hour for D6D, 95$ hour for D7F, and 105$ for D8H with rippers back in the early 2000s here in Triad of NC. Now we bid everything. But occasionally I get a farmer or someone asking for hourly rates and I don't know what to shoot for.

We were doing a driveway this week. The next door neighbor wanted to know what it would cost to grade around his house. I figured a couple of hours, so the boss told him 650 bucks. He was like... that's 325 an hour. I said, we are a crew of three, and the other 2 guys have to get paid even if I am the only one working