Price Per Inch?

How deep are you guys grinding? Does it depend on the stump? I was kind of thinking of it like this... Since the grinder I'll be getting will max out at 11", then that is how deep I'll go. Is that just a waist of time? And teeth?
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I am kind of wondering if it would be good to price by the inch (starting off) just to find out how much time it will take to grind certain sized stumps, then transition to a hourly rate. Because at this moment, I have no idea how much time it takes to grid different sized stuff.

How about that?
 
It does'nt really matter what formula you use to bid your jobs , bottom line is, most of the time anyway,lowest price gets the work. I always make sure my customers know what their getting for their money,deeper grind,clean up , no ruts in the yard ,etc. Try to find out how your competition bids and go from there.As far as how deep to grind , I normally go about 8" deep but it really depends on what's going on in that area
 
Roger paid attention in geometry class!

You have to take into account the diameter/area relationship. Once you have a base price you can come up with a mulitplier for spans of diameter-inches. Or just tell clients that a stump x" across costs such and such...and a bigger one costs y.

Hourly isn't a bad way to go. Be sure to be clear when the clock starts. Have a service fee/travel charge for a base and then start the clock when you get to the curb. clock stops when you drive away and the machine is strapped down.
 
Here's a thought; what is the price was a percentage of the total for the TD, and added on to the original price? Say maybe, what? 15%?

Of course this would apply only to TD's.
 
We were pricing at $10/inch without removing material and going to a depth of 8". This will then be adjusted by factors such as, access, additional depth, surface roots, removal of material.

We use the Rayco Jr. nice for most stumps but were it's justified we'll rent a larger one like the 50 or 80. On a large job like a golf course then it's by the hour. We'll go with the biggest machine to facilitate the size range of the stumps. This keeps the cost down for the client while you're still making money.
 
Jamin - it's 4 to $6 per inch around here as a base price. It's extra for hauling off the grindings and filling the hole with soil and replacing the sod. Pay attention to access, travel time, clean up and anything else that will add time to the job.

Stumps ground less than about 4 or 5 inches below grade can cause brown spots in the turf during the summer here. I shoot for 6 - 8" min below grade unless it's in the ROW and then I go by code.

Keep track of how much time it takes to do a few jobs and see if you are making any money and then adjust your price accordingly just like you were thinking. You will quickly see that volume matters as much as diameter. The height of the stump above ground and depth you grind to make a big difference in the time it takes to do a job. I like the cubic inch pricing idea.

I really like the Super Jr I wish I had one. Good luck with it.
 
Do you charge by the foot for the tree? You should be using the same method for charging for stumps as you do for any type of work. Do you know what it cost you to run per hour?

Let’s make this easy and say that you only grind stumps and that you do the work and pay yourself $20 per hour. Now to make this easy we won’t go into the machine cost, useful life,just hours of use per month. Let’s just say that the loan payment is $800.00 per month. We will say that you grind stumps for 8 hours a day two days a week. Insurance cost you $100.00 per month. The grinder burns 2 gallons per hour or 32 gallons per week, 128 gallons per month at $3.24 per gallon or $415.00 per month. The truck payment is $400.00 per month and insurance is $200.00 per month. We will estimate the fuel use in the truck at $100.00 per week. Let’s put away $100.00 per month for equipment maintenance. Now your pay is $20 times 64 hours per month or $1280.00 per month. The total expense per month is almost $4000.00. Add 10% to this number to cover the things we miss and the cost of the estimate $400.00. Now we are small and only grinding 16 hours per week or 64 hours per month. $4400.00 divided by the 64 hours we are grinding. We have to make $68.75 per hour to break even. How much profit do you want to make? 20%? For the 20% profit we need to charge $81.25 per hour.
 
I have been toying around with the cubic inch pricing (on paper) Roger. I like the idea. If I were to push that type of pricing, then my competitors around me should too. Otherwise, I will be under bid because most guys are bidding by the inch.
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You will quickly see that volume matters as much as diameter.

[/ QUOTE ] Good point Mark. Since I just bought the thing, I don't want it sitting around. I want it to bring in money.
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So, I don't want to scare away work by bidding too high right off the bat.
 
Typically our standard is six to eight inches unless the conditions are to difficult to let us grind deeper. We are in N.H. and we have a ton of granite to contend with so its not always possible to go that deep. If its requested that we go deeper we just add what ever is needed on to the bill to adjust.
 
I have the same machine as jim454. By the inch is very profitable. You need to recognize extra roots or depth and add accordingly. No lie from the time I start grinding to finish is quick. I do a lot of willoe stumps 10'+ at the base. I can easily do 1 per hour. 120" x4=480 just for example.
 
jamin, i go with 8.00 to 10.00 per inch with removal of debri. grinding simply sucks, might as well make it worth your while.........
 
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anyone want to buy a stump grinder?

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Bwaaaaahahahahahaha! I almost spit beer on my keyboard!

Seriously, though, how many stumps do you actually grind only to the edge of the wood (where the root flare meets the soil)? Stumps priced by volume, width OR area need to be calculated to remove the stump, root flare and raised area when the customer desires, which they usually will. I measure the entire mound in these cases... Even though I do not price by measurement, I like to have the measurement for the sake of comparison,or maybe it's just because I'm OCD.

Another point that you can make to clients is that woodchips make for crappy soil (see 'Is this true?' post in GD about woodchips/soil), and in alot of cases where the client wants to replant (trees, shrubs, grass), they may be better served to replace the grindings with fresh soil. A tough sell, but some clients will go for it, and they should if they want to replant.

-Tom
 
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jamin, i go with 8.00 to 10.00 per inch with removal of debri. grinding simply sucks, might as well make it worth your while.........

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Totally true Brad. And that is awesome pricing for the grinding.

I sold the stump grinder this winter. 2 reasons: Money was getting tight. And I didn't like the work. My employees could make me more work aloft verses on the ground grinding stumps.
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I fell in love with climbing trees, not making holes in the ground.

I'm giving my grinding jobs to a guy who does it for a living. He charges $5.50/inch.
 
Alright, time for me to make you guys sick. I have a sub-contractor for stump work. I email him my stumps every day, he calls for the utility locate, carries his own liability and work comp. insurance. He bills me once a month for the stumps he has completed. Just got my bill today for $3,270.00 for the last month's stumps. The best part is that I billed out $5,700.00 last month in stumps, so I made over $2,400.00 profit for doing nothing more than selling the stumps and emailing them to my grinder every day. Yeah, I have to wait a week sometimes before he gets them ground, so I do have to wait on him to get paid sometimes, but I don't have to pay for any equipment, or damages, or employees to run it. By the way, he is charging me $2.00 an inch and happy to have my business at that rate.
 
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