Pricing on Machinery?

[WasherBoy]

Hey PW's Ive got a company wanting me to wash there eqipment.This consist of backhoes,Trachoes etc etc..
I was thinking pricing these by the hour,am i thinking right? I was thinking around $25-30 an hour,does this seem fair?To give you an idea of conditions,i live in a small town(but this is a good size company)i will proly be using my water,some jobs will be on site.Also if it helps the labor rate in this area for like small contrators is 25 an hour,is this something i should kind of work from?Thanks for the help!

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[Mike Hughes]

I would say you need more then $25 per hour......but, if that's all your market can bear, I guess you have no choice. You don't want to go too high and risk losing the job, yet, you can't work for free! Take a good hard look at what your total expenses will be, and make sure you can cover them (by expenses, I don't just mean chemicals and gas.......I'm talking about everything it takes to run your business).

If you bid too low, you'll find it necessary to quit working for that person in the near future.

You might consider charging a price per vehicle......maybe you could get $20 or more for a backhoe, and, lets say it might only take you 35 minutes to wash it.........your hourly rate suddenly is much higher.....



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Mike Hughes
Everclear
Souderton, PA

 

[Mike Hughes]

by the way.......the numbers above are just pulled out of the air........I really have no idea how much people are willing to pay for washing machinery. There are others on the board with experience in this, and I'm sure we'll hear from them shortly.....

 

[Bridget]

It has been our experience especially with the equipment you just mentioned to charge an hourly rate. Our market is somewhere in the $65.00 to $75.00 per hour range as a minimum. If there is any degreasing we charge a Portal to Portal rate. There are times when the guys get back they have to spend quite a bit of time cleaning up their equipment.

From the customers point of view it's worth it. We do get repeat business.

Much success to you Washerboy.


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Bridget
United Mobile Power Wash
Our Power Is In Our Performance

 

[Larry L.]

<FONT face="Comic Sans MS"><FONT COLOR="DarkGreen">I agree with Mike and Bridget.
How much water can you carry,how far do have drive to go get it,how long does it takes to fill,as Mike said all your expenses.If this eqt. is doing dirt work meaning mud,it takes awhile sometimes to just get the mud off.Your hourly rated should depend alot on how fast you are meaning gpm and the drive to get water.I've cleaned trachoes that took 750 to 1000 gals. of water b/c of muddy muddy.The ones in your area will have I think red clay and you know what its like when it dries.If what your wanting to charge is not enough you'll be the fisrt to realize it.I'm like Bridget with the experience with that kind of eqt. 65 to 75 is a fair price range.</FONT c></FONT f>

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When answering Post If It Sounds As tho I'm Holding A Match To Ya "Fear Not" Its Only Lit On One End.I'm No Doctor The Pill I Subscride Is For Me Only.They May Make You Jump Up and Down Or Crawl All Over The Ground.Will Try To Help Sail Your Ship Even Tho Rocket Fuel Is The Tip.
When In Doubt,,,Think It Out.....triplel@bscn.com

 

[Ron Musgraves]

Washerboy,


Let’s break it down. (8 hour day)

1. Fuel if you are running a hot water machine will cost $7.50 to $10.00 per hour just in fuel to keep running.
2. Lets say you have a laborer, even if you don’t right now you eventually would like to have one. If you pay a guy ten dollars and hour you can probably figure the real cost after all taxes and Ss will be about $13.75 per hour.
3. Fuel for the truck to get there. Let’s say your close, driving a half-ton truck. $20.00 dollars all day. That’s 2.50 per hour using and 8 hour day.


We won’t even need to show you the rest of the expenses because you already are loosing money.

$10.00 For Fuel is 80.00 per day
$13.75 for labor is 110.00 per day
$20.00 for fuel for the truck per day $20.00

The total expenses not including several things is already about $210.00 per day. At a rate of 25.00 per hour that’s 200.00 per day. You lost 10.00 dollars already and we have not even calculated any other expenses.

I agree you need to be higher. 45.00 dollars is bare bones if you’re going to make money. I think that if you average 65.00 per hour you’re doing great. Sometimes you will make more money and this will help your over all average. Just keep it around 65.00 per hour and you will do all right.


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Ron Marshal Phoenix AZ
1-888-fleetwash

 

[washman]

FYI, we generally get 35.00 per man 35.00 for the machine / both per hour. Also 11.00 per gallon of chemical. This is a number that construction / contractors are used to in that it is pretty close to what they charge. Hope this helps.
Rock On
John & Pat DBA Maxey's Mobile Wash LLC

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[Craig Knight]

Wow, when you break it down like that Ron, looks like a great job if you want a write-off. I totally agree, YOU CAN NOT WORK FOR 25 BUCKS AN HOUR.


Good post Ron, but i want to know what kind of machine your running that uses 80 bucks worth of gas a day.

I can go all day on $7.50 gas and 12 bucks on diesel.


Craig

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Craig Knight
www.powerwashunlimited.com

 

[Ron Musgraves]

Graig ,


Each one of my rigs average about 45.00 to 85.00 per day. Depending on the job they are running. I have diesel units and gas units. I even have a portable unit that runs on propane. If you look at your hour meter you machine is not running 8 hours when you clock 8 hours in. your machine will burn about 7.50 and hour depending how your burner is adjusted and how many times you pull your trigger on and off. I work in public environment and my guys are always releasing the trigger. this will cause you to use more diesel fuel. I figure him on the high end and maybe his real cost would be lower. (Not much) brand new machine taking a lot of brakes. You need to look at your hour meter thengo back and do the math.


I don’t have anything larger than 24 horse, motors don’t burn that much ant way. The trucks I have can differ tremendously. My ford 350 compared to a ranger 6 cyl. , What a difference. I drive all over the valley every night. Average about 150 miles a night per truck.


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Ron Marshal Phoenix AZ
1-888-fleetwash

 

[Dan S]

stupid question ##### 199

if your hour meter says 3 hours how true is that?
is it really 3 hours????????????????????

great post Ron.......


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Washing a truck can be challenging.Every truck in a fleet may require different treatment.Adapt the washing process to the challenges that you are dealing with.

 

[Craig Knight]

Sure, hour meters are unreliable, only use mine to know when to change the oil, and pump oil.

I am talking an 8 hour work day, of solid, stay in one location and wash your butt off day. I can run all day with out refueling. I do not use my hour meter to bill customers. I use the actual time. I would hope everyone does this.

8 gal gas
16 Gallon Diesel (refuel twice a week)
SHE WILL RUN ALL DAY. I never shut down machine, no need to the way it is rigged up. All day.

Hydro-tek sc33005v.



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Craig Knight
www.powerwashunlimited.com

 

[johny]

I live in a small market area too,but i wont work for $25 an hour.Most contractors that run backhoes charge $30 per hour around here,so what, i charge a lot more.Maybe they are in the wrong business.
I did some loaders a while back,$35 a loader,takes me about 45 min to do one,and if the guy didnt want to pay that much,which at first he didnt seem too happy and tried to knock it down,i wouldnt have done it.Dont worry about not getting the job,if they dont want to pay,i would rather sit on the couch and watch tv,not waste my machine .Nobody seems to charge more than 30 around here per hour,but heck i do and it works.There are some guys that charge $100 a house,i fished out how long would it take'em do it.The guy said 5 hours,so the difference here is i can go that low ,since it would only take me 2 hours,because they are using small pws.
Dont work for nothing
Johny

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[A J. Mosley]

I wash quite a bit of heavy equipment and would never
charge less than $60. an hour under any circumstances!
Usually $65-$75 hr. depending on the size of the company, and what I think they can afford to pay.
Ive washed all kinds of things and would say that
heavy eqmt is probably the hardest on your body, all
that crawling around,scrapeing off clumps of grease,
and constantly filling my water tank (only 325gal)
For the bigger pieces I'll spend 3-4 hrs.
don't sell yourself short once or they will want
you to keep paying them to wash their eqmt!

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