Price to charge for clearing property lines ?

[Madman_Mark]

I've been asked by someone to clear a property line and they asked how much I'd charge. It just involves me and my saw and maybe a can of paint. I figure $35.00 an hour ( Canadian)is fair.Lets have some advice/opinions please. Thanks.

[LeeB]

I don't know what a fair price would be. As a consumer, to me right off the bat, $35/hr sounds high. How many houors will it take? I think figure up the time and give a bid reflecting that amount. Somehow to me, that would sound better than and hourly rate, ie $170 to do the job that takes 5 hours somehow sounds better to me than $35/hr. Same money, but it sounds better.

[Ron Scott]

What's the scope of the project and to what standard does the line have to be cleared to. What's the line distance, width of clearing, how much slash to remove from the line, terrain, timber types involved, access, any wetland crossings, spray painted or brush painted, cans of paint needed, any posts or steel stakes to be placed, etc?

$25.00 - $35.00/hour is reasonable if you are providing the saw and paint depending upon the line conditions and amount of clearing work required.
   

[DirtForester]

This may rub some people the wrong way but it is something i firmly believe in.

If you are charging for a labor intensive service (something less than logging, where the usual arrangement are involved), you should charge some sort of fixed rate.

As a forester, when I do boundary maintenance work, I charge by the mile.  Why should you charge in such a manner where the harder you work, the less money you make?

Of course the key to this is knowing you abilities.  Knowing the difference between a 4 hour job and an 8 hour job is crucial.

[captain_crunch]

If you are furnishing tools and materials that sounds fair to me. But look it over good because I got one stretch about 1000 feet long I would pay 35.00 per hour just to watch someone try to hack their way thur that mess and it is steep enough it will be a hand show(and possibly Knees)

[SwampDonkey]

The old rate for line maintenance around here was $0.25/meter. I would assume that is at least $0.30/meter now. It works better as a piece work pay because how does the land owner know if your dog'n it or actually putting in a good effort to cover ground. Unless your a surveyor I wouldn't quote big hourly rates. In my area that hourly figure is way above the average wage and more than a brush cutter makes with his own saw, gas and vehicle at around $25/hr. He might cut out more than that if it's light going. It's based on piece work $$/ha covered.

[DirtForester]

The old rate for line maintenance around here was $0.25/meter. I would assume that is at least $0.30/meter now. It works better as a piece work pay because how does the land owner know if your dog'n it or actually putting in a good effort to cover ground. Unless your a surveyor I wouldn't quote big hourly rates. In my area that hourly figure is way above the average wage and more than a brush cutter makes with his own saw, gas and vehicle at around $25/hr. He might cut out more than that if it's light going. It's based on piece work $$/ha covered.

I think we agree, though I need to do some conversions.   

[DonT]

I have a friend who is a carpenter,he charges $40.00 an hour,plus time and materials.he works like a dog and people know that.I asked him once why he did this.He said after years of doing this it always works out in the customers favour.If he has to bid a job he figures out what it will take and then adds 15%.I normally price jobs as a set price if i can.Using the same formula,but I agree in the long run hourly works best for the customer.The problem with hourly is that the customer does not know the final price and can not budget for it.In todays world you have to factor in factors such as insurance premiums,a percentage for repair of equipment,costs for doing the job,workmans compensation,wages,and the list goes on.I will say that once I give a price, that is the price even if things go wrong and i loose money.

[captain_crunch]

Well pump company gets 85.00 an hour for me to tell you what is wrong. I have 200.00 invested in tools So feller with 600.00 in saw alone should make 35.00 per hr. Last falling job I had payed 350.00 to show up and work 6.5 hrs and gas and oil supplied

[timber tramp]

If you are furnishing tools and materials that sounds fair to me. But look it over good because I got one stretch about 1000 feet long I would pay 35.00 per hour just to watch someone try to hack their way thur that mess and it is steep enough it will be a hand show(and possibly Knees)

      How steep?        TT

[captain_crunch]

Timber Tramp
The local Goats avoid it that tell you grade Proably not over 20% but black berries and vineys are not fun on flat ground. We are not Coast range steep but this one little sub valley is nasty.

[LeeB]

I never said I thought $35 is too much. I just said it sounds high to the consumer, ergo I would bid a set price.

[Bobus2003]

If its only me and a saw, then i charge $25/hr, I have lost my arse to many times by goin with a $xxx.xx Job Complete. You never know what surprises you might find.. Never under estimate what mother nature has laid out in the Forest

[SwampDonkey]

Up here there are not many surprises on a line, it will sometimes be fir thicket, sometimes blow down in through it and either hardwood or small shrubs growing up. Sometimes hardly nothing. If a steep hill is encountered that you can't climb, it's just not done and no one else will be there either including the surveyor. Seen a good many lines when marking out thinning and nothing I've seen that piece work pay wouldn't well compensate my time. Same with PC thinning, some guys might gripe sometimes, but do enough sites and your usually weeks ahead in pay if your there working as you should. It's the guys that like to go out to the pickup after every tank for  50 minute break that get behind. I just go to the woods and let them gab at the truck. We call'm the "Gabbys" I get well paid to mark out thinning to on piece work, never a day less than $250. Won't get that working in a fabrication shop around here. I've made as much as $400 a day cutting brush in light stuff.

[bill m]

How did you come up with an hourly wage of $35 per hour? Do you do this type of work full time or is it a side line?  Which ever you still need to base your hourly wage on cost plus profit. Add up all of your costs per year including insurance,fuel,repairs,uniforms/clothing,PPE,overhead (bookkeeping,vacation and holiday pay,utilities,etc.)and percentage profit. Now figure how many billable hours you will work in a full year (40 hrs. / week x 52 weeks =2080 hrs.) Than you can determine an hourly wage. Thats what you need to get to make a living. Than you can quote an hourly price or contract price, which ever the customer is most comfortable with.

[nas]

MMMark  Where in Canada are you?  rates will vary across the country.  Here in southern On $35/hr is low.  Cost of living is high, and finding people to do physical work is hard.  In other areas of the country things are different.

Nick

[Stephen Alford]

  Hey; on occasion it has been helpful to contact the adjacent landowner when possible. Lets you know if there are line issues ,can be informative concerning the landowner your working for and opens the door for more work on those properties. Clear boundaries are benifical to both  and if both contribute to the cost of the maintenance it helps everyone involved.

[maple flats]

Be careful, in some locations it is illegal for anyone except a licensed surveyor to mark a line. If this is already marked by a CURRENT survey you will still need adjacent property owners permission to clear both sides of a line. or esle you can not cut anything outside the one property line to center it in a clear path. Make sure you know what you can legally do before you give a price.
If all works out you should just bid what you are comfortable with. For some that will be $10/hr and others it will be $50/ and others even more. How will you know where to clear? is the line already marked and you are freshening it? In many states a slash mark on a tree marks a line and each slash needs to be done properly. The trees marked this way are not in a straight line but each blaze tells where the line is by a uniform code. On one side might mean the line is on that side of the tree, one on both sides might mean the line goes thru the tree, one each side but heavier on one side might mean the line is closer to that side than the other but it goes thru the tree. A properly blazed line is hatched into the tree and painted in the cut. These show up for a very long time BUT again, know what you are allowede and not allowed to do legally first.

[isawlogs]

 That price is more then fair. I would not quote a price for line work other then an hourly rate .

[Ironwood]

Generally, round these parts shop/ labor rates for "real" businesses run $40+ an hour. Mechanics rates are more, but equipment/ buildings account for the difference. Personally it depends on what kind of value YOU think you can bring to your customer. I think I can provide ALOT, so I charge accordingly. If they dont think so, they are welcome to "fire" me and hire someone else. I dont pretend to know how much value anyone else can bring to the table, only how much I can bring to bear.

 That may not help you, but it is one perspective/ approach.

 Ironwood