Hourly rate for use of petrol powered (Stihl) engine & attachments plus petrol Stihl chainsaw

Hi Folks, joining the discussion for first time.

I would value any views on a fair hourly rate for use of my own wcontract grade petrol powered Stihl (but could be whatever) engine which I use with a range of attachments - long reach hedgecutter & loper, brushcutter, bristle brush, tiler. In addition, In addition, I regularly use my own basic petrol powered Stihl chainsaw.

Does £2.50 seem a fair flat hourly rate to charge for use of the petrol powered engines?

I look after a couple of large urban woodland gardens (focussing on maintenance of shrubs and herbaceous plants, garden design and planting schemes) in N.Ireland in Belfast.

Any feedback would be much appreciated.

Thanks, keith Bailie

Generally 2 Methods ;

1/ Recover overheads by item:
For each piece of equipment -Note purchase price
Work out (guesstimate) how long item will last (ie 3 yrs)
Work out (guesstimate) how much cost you will incur in servicing over that period
work out (guesstimate) how much cost you will incur in consumables (ie chains, strimmer head, cords etc)
Add up figures above
Work out (guesstimate) how many hours over life of item you will use it
Divide hours into cost to give you an hourly charge out rate then add profit to allow for replacement

2/ Recover in General overheads by an hourly (internal) charge
Work out your business overheads (wage, vehicles, insurances, tools etc etc) to generate an all inclusive rate.
With this method, unless you pro-rota equipment costs you are likely to try and recover full equipment costs within 1 yr.
Sometimes your rate will be high for labour intensive tasks, or low for machine intensive work unless you allow for additional costs within your quoting (ie add in hiring a piece of equipment rather than use existing piece of equipment).

Method 1 is typically pro-active (ie done upfront before a quote), Method 2 is generally reactive (ie done following lasy yrs accounts where you know all your costs and then you add a % uplift for the coming year).

Most tend to use 2/ for normal/low cost items of equipment and then 'charge' extra for costly pieces of equipment that need to be 'hired' for a particular job (ie a digger, Rotovator etc)

This is a very simplified version of the process. It is a huge subject with many books written about how to do overhead recovery when estimating prices

Replies

PRO

Nick @ NM Garden Services Ltd September 17, 2013 at 10:58pm

How much extra does it cost you to purchase, run and maintain said equipment?

Add this to your hourly cost and charge accordingly!
Keith Bailie September 18, 2013 at 12:04am

Thanks Nick for feedback, I will have a go at working this out.
PRO

Gary RK September 18, 2013 at 7:43am

Generally 2 Methods ;

1/ Recover overheads by item:
For each piece of equipment -Note purchase price
Work out (guesstimate) how long item will last (ie 3 yrs)
Work out (guesstimate) how much cost you will incur in servicing over that period
work out (guesstimate) how much cost you will incur in consumables (ie chains, strimmer head, cords etc)
Add up figures above
Work out (guesstimate) how many hours over life of item you will use it
Divide hours into cost to give you an hourly charge out rate then add profit to allow for replacement

2/ Recover in General overheads by an hourly (internal) charge
Work out your business overheads (wage, vehicles, insurances, tools etc etc) to generate an all inclusive rate.
With this method, unless you pro-rota equipment costs you are likely to try and recover full equipment costs within 1 yr.
Sometimes your rate will be high for labour intensive tasks, or low for machine intensive work unless you allow for additional costs within your quoting (ie add in hiring a piece of equipment rather than use existing piece of equipment).

Method 1 is typically pro-active (ie done upfront before a quote), Method 2 is generally reactive (ie done following lasy yrs accounts where you know all your costs and then you add a % uplift for the coming year).

Most tend to use 2/ for normal/low cost items of equipment and then 'charge' extra for costly pieces of equipment that need to be 'hired' for a particular job (ie a digger, Rotovator etc)

This is a very simplified version of the process. It is a huge subject with many books written about how to do overhead recovery when estimating prices
david duffy September 19, 2013 at 8:29pm

Hi Keith,
Good to see you are on landscape juice. Hope all well with you and work. We must be due a college reunion soon!! I tend to factor in equipment costs into the overall quotation as opposed to an add -on. Some public sector tenders accept it but for private customers may frown upon it. It would be great to catch up. d