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Even the kid next door needs to pay for equipment and gas, it's not all soda money.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cambium
What about a neighborhood kid? Pay him $25 each mow once a week. He'll be happy with that!
I should have read this thread before I hired a kid. I usually do it myself, but I injured my hand so needed someone else to do it a couple times.
I pay the 16-year-old $40 for mowing (takes him under an hour, but takes me a lot longer), but only $15/hr for anything additional. My equipment, my gas.
I would have been happy with $5 when I was his age. I guess I pay him according to what it's worth to me, rather than what it's worth to him.
Just a clarification, the quote is $40-45 PER HOUR. The discussion has not advanced to how many hours yet for the job. I thought I get some intelligence here on the rate before starting that conversation.
But I think if I just get a quote for the total cost for the job, that should be the final answer I am looking for.
Not sure of you are asking about the math or is it a rhetorical question. But here is my calculation:
An office worker works 40 hours a week. There are 52 weeks a year, so that's 52X40=2080 hours. For simplicity we usually just use 2000 to do the conversion.
This means, a McDonald's hourly worker who gets paid $15/hr, is equivalent to an annual salary of 15X2000=30K.
On the reverse, someone making $100K annually salary, is making a $100,000/2000=$50/hr hourly wage.
This lawn mower's requested rate is equivalent to 45X2000=$90K salary if he/she works a full 2000 hours a year like an office worker.
It isn't about the math but about the practicality of scaling up.
I think the point they are making is that, when working for one hour for one person at one location, it doesn't scale up. They can't work 8 hours in a day unless all 8 yards happened to be directly adjacent to each other due to transit and loading/unloading time. And when you are a contractor looking for work and subject to mowing on the customer's preferred day and time, it's highly unlikely you are going to have that many jobs in a day.
If the McDonald's worker was limited to working one hour at a time, and every hour must be at a different McDonald's location hired by a different McDonald's owner, they likely wouldn't end up with anything near $30K on their tax return.
I got a quote to mow grass, for fire prevention purpose (as opposed to beautifying the hosue). I haven't asked estimated hours yet; this hourly rate already pauses me. Is that a normal price range for mowing grass these days? This is around Albion CA.
$45/hr = $90K annual salary... It seems just yesterday that hourly workers were fighting for living wage.
I would think you are looking at a tractor with a mower and operator, in that case the cost is probably reasonable. For a guy with a push mower, not so much.
Usually this sort of contractor will give you an estimate to finish the job, as opposed to just "so much per hour till we get done".
It isn't about the math but about the practicality of scaling up.
I think the point they are making is that, when working for one hour for one person at one location, it doesn't scale up. They can't work 8 hours in a day unless all 8 yards happened to be directly adjacent to each other due to transit and loading/unloading time. And when you are a contractor looking for work and subject to mowing on the customer's preferred day and time, it's highly unlikely you are going to have that many jobs in a day.
If the McDonald's worker was limited to working one hour at a time, and every hour must be at a different McDonald's location hired by a different McDonald's owner, they likely wouldn't end up with anything near $30K on their tax return.
Agree. That mental calculation is too rough for this case. (and also I don't have all the calculation components yet.)
But this rough mental calculation is not unfounded. In fact it is widely applied. If you ever heard doctors complain about "actually making only minimum wage", they are using this calculation logic to say they are over-worked.
First rule of hiring any contractor. Never pay by the hour, always pay by the job. For cutting grass the contractor should be willing to look at your property and give you a set price. For 1/3 acre I pay $48 and he cuts the grass twice a month. The previous two contractors charged $40 and $45 every two weeks. For some reason these guys don't stick around for more than a season or two.
Quote:
Originally Posted by RobertFisher
Just a clarification, the quote is $40-45 PER HOUR. The discussion has not advanced to how many hours yet for the job. I thought I get some intelligence here on the rate before starting that conversation.
But I think if I just get a quote for the total cost for the job, that should be the final answer I am looking for.
Just a clarification, the quote is $40-45 PER HOUR. The discussion has not advanced to how many hours yet for the job. I thought I get some intelligence here on the rate before starting that conversation.
But I think if I just get a quote for the total cost for the job, that should be the final answer I am looking for.
It definitely is a fire hazard that needs to be cut, there's no doubt about that.
That isn't all just tough old grass growing, there is other rough stuff visible through the grass too. The job looks like it's going to need brush cutters or a bush hog, not a mower. You need to get the contractor to actually come onto the property to look at the types of vegetation and do a quick inspection of the terrain for hidden big rocks, holes and hollows in the ground, scrubby brush, small saplings, old dead branches, woody brambles at ground level, the grade of the terrain, etc. that will need to be dealt with and then he'll give you a quote. I think an experienced brushman is going to quote by the job, not by the hour, for what you need to have done there with the right kinds of brush cutting equipment.
I don't charge per hour, but I use my per hour rate to figure out my bid price. The lawn I’m at for 7 hours cleaning leaves, he gets charged an hourly rate, but nowI have a basis on how long a fall and spring clean up last, so price is pretty much set. He’s a friend of mine and understands the pricing/how big of a job it is.
C’mon man. This isn’t lawn mowing, it’s bushwhacking. The neighbor kid isn’t going to do it for 5 bucks because he’s too busy waxing his Ferrari. I’m surprised you could get it done for $45/hr. What are you going to do if your $4 million house burns down while you’re “working the numbers”, and your insurance argues the claim because you failed to maintain a firebreak? Just pay the guy.
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