Hedge cutting rates

[kiwi pom]

go plumbing then
the trouble is and always has been is that driving tractors is a job that people want to do
a mate of mine use to re-line sewers this was twenty odd years ago and he was on what would still be good money now, it must be an absolute fortune for anyone doing it now, all you have to do is put a wetsuit on and get down an 18 inch pipe, lovely job

Exactly if you want to make money do a job no one else wants or have an in demand skill that few people have.
Hedgecutting's cheap because everyone's doing it.

 

[kiwi pom]

“I run old kit, I can afford to charge less.”

Surely you still need to put money aside for replacement costs, unless you intend to be running the same kit in 20yrs time?

There is a chap near here, charges £35/hr for man and tractor all summer.
Come September he puts a hedgecutter on the back and drops the price to £30/hr.

That's the thing maybe the tractor and hedger are both paid for and the operator has no intention of replacing them. Run them until they die (the machine I mean) and then sell them for scrap and retire or do something else.

 

[Steevo]

It's a case of Monkey see Monkey Do.

Tractors sat there anyway... so the mentality is to work it for cheap. The whole bubble could pop at anytime but they probably haven't a clue what it costs per hour to run or even thought about replacing worn out kit... Customers happy as its a cheap job... Monkey keeps doing.

The Plumber hopefully will know his onions and therefore can easily command his rate.
The Man down the road with with a van and tools and who doesn't know his arse from his elbow wouldn't last long charging that rate.

Surprising how many bad plumbers there are still about......

 

[kiwi pom]

Surprising how many bad plumbers there are still about......

Yep that's because its not that easy to be good at it, its a skill. Same with mechanics, plenty of not that flash to average ones. The very good ones have as much work as they want even, if they put their rates up or stop working for bad payers etc.

 

[Ali_Maxxum]

“I run old kit, I can afford to charge less.”

Surely you still need to put money aside for replacement costs, unless you intend to be running the same kit in 20yrs time?

There is a chap near here, charges £35/hr for man and tractor all summer.
Come September he puts a hedgecutter on the back and drops the price to £30/hr.

The only thing I can think with that one is the variation in work with just man and tractor, it could be getting thrashed on a silage trailer or sat on someone's baler, rowing up, power harrowing or ploughing.

At least with hedge trimming you know where you stand and you're only really pootling along. I still agree though it doesn't make much sense at all really....

 

[Ali_Maxxum]

go plumbing then
the trouble is and always has been is that driving tractors is a job that people want to do
a mate of mine use to re-line sewers this was twenty odd years ago and he was on what would still be good money now, it must be an absolute fortune for anyone doing it now, all you have to do is put a wetsuit on and get down an 18 inch pipe, lovely job

Is it though? The amount of just tractor driving jobs being offered at good pay on near brand new kit and absolutely nobody wants it is unreal. Can't get anyone come silage and maize time. Yes there are other reasons but that's another topic. People want to start at 9 and be off by 4 with 3 breaks in between.

 

[Thick Farmer]

Is it though? The amount of just tractor driving jobs being offered at good pay on near brand new kit and absolutely nobody wants it is unreal. Can't get anyone come silage and maize time. Yes there are other reasons but that's another topic. People want to start at 9 and be off by 4 with 3 breaks in between.

Yes. It’s £18/hour here plus Farmers fuel. Plenty of operators around.

 

[Ali_Maxxum]

Exactly if you want to make money do a job no one else wants or have an in demand skill that few people have.
Hedgecutting's cheap because everyone's doing it.

We do a few niche things that basically nobody else wants to do because they haven't got the patience/skill/required amount of brain cells to do it.

There's a few around here hedge trimming and to be fair most are tidy, but there are a few that are just simply average, that's not me talking them down, it's just telling it like it is. Like there's quite a few fencing, again most are good, but then some really are average, I've seen better fencing in YFC competitions.

 

[Ali_Maxxum]

Yes. It’s £18/hour here plus Farmers fuel. Plenty of operators around.

Better send some this way, I suppose there are a few about, but finding anyone that's actually any good and that you can trust.... you'd be amazed at the difficulty some people get into with just a 10 ton silage trailer....

 

[kiwi pom]

Is it though? The amount of just tractor driving jobs being offered at good pay on near brand new kit and absolutely nobody wants it is unreal. Can't get anyone come silage and maize time. Yes there are other reasons but that's another topic. People want to start at 9 and be off by 4 with 3 breaks in between.

You miss the point, people don't want to drive working for someone else they want to do it for themselves, be their own boss and not be told what to do and when to do it.
You could probably pack up and go and work for another contractor or on a farm with a nice salary, might even be as well off, but...…
One man band contractors are often started by farmers sons (in the UK at least) they want to stay on the farm but maybe there's no room or money for them. They could go and work for someone else and make their own way or do a bit at home and go contracting. There's just too many people doing it for rates to rise.

 

[Ali_Maxxum]

You miss the point, people don't want to drive working for someone else they want to do it for themselves, be their own boss and not be told what to do and when to do it.
You could probably pack up and go and work for another contractor or on a farm with a nice salary, might even be as well off, but...…
One man band contractors are often started by farmers sons (in the UK at least) they want to stay on the farm but maybe there's no room or money for them. They could go and work for someone else and make their own way or do a bit at home and go contracting. There's just too many people doing it for rates to rise.

Ah I see I was meaning just blokes driving other peoples gear. There aren't too many farmers sons with tractors round here and the ones that do go off with them are charging the proper rates. There's an abundance of tradesmen about, but they're all on good money, just seems to be contracting that's dragged down and left behind.

 

[ARW]

It’s not to bad round here, there isn’t many full time trimmer men and we are all near the right price.
I know some do it cheap because it’s good work in winter an keeps a wage coming in, this doesn’t matter to us as we always have a big list of fencing to start so the sooner we finish hedges the better

 

[Laminated]

Yeah? That's fine, I don't know what your situation is i.e. what else you do with the tractor or how much you do but it still doesn't escape the fact it's a pathetic hourly rate when you compare it to how much everything else has gone up in the last decade.

This is true, and to be fair we only do a bit for a neighbour which we farm his whole farm, that tractor was bought 2 years old and is long paid for. It also ploughs and drills for us so owes us squat. I looked at buying a new hedgecutter when I saw the prices ran a mile!

 

[Henarar]

People want to start at 9 and be off by 4 with 3 breaks in between.

that sounds like a nice little job trimming then, take a break every now and then somewhere with a nice view and take a photo like @Kevtherev does

 

[Henarar]

back when we were charging about 25 quid I was talking to a mate and he was saying about some contractors that had moved in to his area charging 13 quid not with old kit but with brand new fents and Mc trimmers
also remember years back someone advertising in the Ag trader that they would beat any quote for hedge trimming, I told mum to ring them up and tell them I had quoted a pound an hour and see what they said LOL
nart changes much and its no good to moan about it

 

[lloyd]

go plumbing then
the trouble is and always has been is that driving tractors is a job that people want to do
a mate of mine use to re-line sewers this was twenty odd years ago and he was on what would still be good money now, it must be an absolute fortune for anyone doing it now, all you have to do is put a wetsuit on and get down an 18 inch pipe, lovely job

get down an 18 inch pipe?
Not many farmers could do that job

 

[Derrick Hughes]

Most on £28 here and bring their fuel

 

[paul&mandy]

Does anyone charge more for a more high output trimmer? Big difference in work done per hr with a 6ft head than a 4ft.

 

[7610 super q]

Ha, ha......long time since I've been able to afford to get someone to cut my hedges..
As said, cutting hedges adds nothing to the bottom line. Well, maybe 3' around the outside lost to cropping.....yet EU rule # 277674 states no planting within 1 m of hedge bottom anyway.
I just attack them once a decade with a chainsaw, and Manipoo.
Then the chainsaw decided to pack up.
But at least I found my fence.
Welcome to the 16th Century.

 

[betweenthelines]

The farming industry is supposed to be a bastion of free trade etc. Hates the civil service, red tape, govt interference, restriction on free enterprise etc.

So why all the squealing on here about the free market working as it should?