Stump grinding minimum

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Mtrstump

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I was wondering what you guys who just do stumps, charge as a minimum. I am currently charging $75. Now that I am faced with replacing an 80k machine, just doesn't seem like I can do that anymore. It's just always been hard for me to pull up on an 8 inch stump and tell somebody it's gonna be $100. Jobs with multiple stumps are easy to price and make money on. It's the people who want you to drive across town and look at 1. Nobody would expect a bobcat to show up for a $75 or even a $100 job, but they seem to expect it on stumps even though a lot of our grinders cost well over a bobcats cost. Anyway, look forward to hearing you guys replys.
Thanks
 
I bid $100 for a neighbor (I like them) 3/4 mile up the road and I drove my tractor there without ever having to load/unload. Ended up taking about 15 minutes of actual grinding time and there were no rocks. Only charged $75. Spent more time on the street to/from than I did cutting. I had my grinder hooked up because I was using it anyway, or I would've hit them for the full Benjamin because it takes some time to get it set up.

Find out what the minimum rental rate is for any stump grinder in your area (yes, the little Honda POS's) and take that into consideration with your minimum. Around here a 8hp stump gnawer rents for around $200/4hrs, and they have to do all the work and pay for teeth damaged.

At the end of the day, if you're losing money on a job it's a charity and not a business. Charge what covers your needs and don't worry about missed sales because they're not worth doing.
 
My min is 125. 100 if it's super tiny and right next to another job or convenient.
Yup we are same,I live 30 mins from anywhere my machine cost me through the nose fuel costs, teeth cost , time cost. My minimum is good for one medium or up to 4 small stumps, basically 15 mins after getting there. If they are cheap people and can wait indefinitely until I have a large project in that area I can reduce my deployment fee, only had a few take that route though:)
 
Hey I have a little honda powered POS ...... and it dose suck lol i want something bigger but avent found the right one yet besides I think I might have like 300$ into it even with the green teeth I put on it.... honestly it's not that bad I can just let it hang out in my pickup for like a week at a time I only work about a 30 mile radius so I wait until Im in the same area then grab them while I'm there.... live done 20$ stumps before and It didn't bother me because the we're like 6" took maybe 20min and I was only a block away.... it's a depressed area tho so i get alot of that stuff. Some guy walks across the street " think you can cut that branch" sure got 20$ in your pocket... then I nip it with the pole saw and stuff it in the truck 20$ is 20$ just don't spend all day chasing it. In my area if I said 80$ for a little stump they will just mow around it for the next 15years. And never give me a second thought. But for 20$ I almost always end up doing something else while I'm there or I end up with referrals. But hey I'm just the partime Fair-weather hack working for beer money what do I know
 
You guys mentioned $100 or $125 for a stump. What diameter stumps are those generally? For me, the trees generally aren't that big so $50 is a minimum for me and that usually means one stump, anything under 18".
 
You guys mentioned $100 or $125 for a stump. What diameter stumps are those generally? For me, the trees generally aren't that big so $50 is a minimum for me and that usually means one stump, anything under 18".
Under 18" is what I was doing for $75 min, if no roots to chase out. But from what I'm reading, $125-$150 min is what I'm gonna do in the future. These grinders just take too much of a beating and are too expensive to do any cheaper. I may lose some jobs but it will be less hours on the grinder. You should prob be looking in raising your prices a little. I'm not gonna be putting hours on anymore without it being worth it.
 
By comparison, I don't run one of the big stump grinders. I have a Dosko grinder, an older version 20hp 782sp. Does well for what it does. I don't get huge stumps and not too many large volume jobs.
 
The charge is for time a 15 min stump is an hour by the time you hook up and drive there and back so 100 ph plus 25 for fuel teeth wear is my fee. One 20 to 30 inch stump shavings left more than that I'm a bit more on price.
 
Hey I have a little honda powered POS ...... and it dose suck lol i want something bigger but avent found the right one yet besides I think I might have like 300$ into it even with the green teeth I put on it.... honestly it's not that bad I can just let it hang out in my pickup for like a week at a time I only work about a 30 mile radius so I wait until Im in the same area then grab them while I'm there.... live done 20$ stumps before and It didn't bother me because the we're like 6" took maybe 20min and I was only a block away.... it's a depressed area tho so i get alot of that stuff. Some guy walks across the street " think you can cut that branch" sure got 20$ in your pocket... then I nip it with the pole saw and stuff it in the truck 20$ is 20$ just don't spend all day chasing it. In my area if I said 80$ for a little stump they will just mow around it for the next 15years. And never give me a second thought. But for 20$ I almost always end up doing something else while I'm there or I end up with referrals. But hey I'm just the partime Fair-weather hack working for beer money what do I know

If I was renting stump grinders, that's what I'd offer. Sloooow on big wood so lots of rental time billed. :)

I rip out anything small enough to make sense with one of those. If I can't root rake it and pluck it with my loader/grapple, I'm going to want more than 8hp to chew it out. One of my other neighbors must not have remembered how to reach me and they rented one for a 36" multi-trunk basswood. I drove by as he was working it, all covered in sweat. I haven't talked to them yet about how long it took, and I'm not sure I want to bring it up since it just sounds snide at this point. lol They cut the tree to build a garage. Not likely to need more grinding any time soon, so it's no loss there.

If you can make what you're doing work, that's great! You're not eating anyone's lunch and if you partnered up with a bigger outfit to do the stuff they didn't want and gave them the work you couldn't reasonably do - everyone's going to be happy with that arrangement.
 
If I was renting stump grinders, that's what I'd offer. Sloooow on big wood so lots of rental time billed. :)

I rip out anything small enough to make sense with one of those. If I can't root rake it and pluck it with my loader/grapple, I'm going to want more than 8hp to chew it out. One of my other neighbors must not have remembered how to reach me and they rented one for a 36" multi-trunk basswood. I drove by as he was working it, all covered in sweat. I haven't talked to them yet about how long it took, and I'm not sure I want to bring it up since it just sounds snide at this point. lol They cut the tree to build a garage. Not likely to need more grinding any time soon, so it's no loss there.

If you can make what you're doing work, that's great! You're not eating anyone's lunch and if you partnered up with a bigger outfit to do the stuff they didn't want and gave them the work you couldn't reasonably do - everyone's going to be happy with that arrangement.
I'd get disgusted if I had to grind with anything less than my 60 hp turbo. I know there's even bigger but a 60 gets em done fast enough!
 
I was wondering what you guys who just do stumps, charge as a minimum. I am currently charging $75. Now that I am faced with replacing an 80k machine, just doesn't seem like I can do that anymore. It's just always been hard for me to pull up on an 8 inch stump and tell somebody it's gonna be $100. Jobs with multiple stumps are easy to price and make money on. It's the people who want you to drive across town and look at 1. Nobody would expect a bobcat to show up for a $75 or even a $100 job, but they seem to expect it on stumps even though a lot of our grinders cost well over a bobcats cost. Anyway, look forward to hearing you guys replys.
Thanks

Dude , get a Dosko if it is $75,,
Are you gonna do all stumps at that price? ,,ug,,is it a backyard or street side?
A self-propelled Dosko will beat a SC252,
also a Rayco 40G , awesome, needs a trailor
also a Vermeer 672 tow behind
Jrff
 
I'd get disgusted if I had to grind with anything less than my 60 hp turbo. I know there's even bigger but a 60 gets em done fast enough!

I meant if I was the guy renting them out. Not the guy paying to rent use of one. I'd want to shoot myself if I had to grind with something that slow/physically involved. :eek:

This is my grinder :D :

 
I meant if I was the guy renting them out. Not the guy paying to rent use of one. I'd want to shoot myself if I had to grind with something that slow/physically involved. :eek:

This is my grinder :D :


I really should video me doing a stump with my sc 602 its fast even with dull blades, my best day was 129 stumps ranging from 10" to 40"!
 

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Mine could be faster had I sped the wheel up instead of just using the 4:1 of the gearbox. Since it was a means to an end (built it cheaper than hiring the work I needed done for myself), I didn't get fancy but chose to go with a reliable and proven design.

I've never burned more than 2 gallons an hour grinding stumps. Fresh red and white oak up to 24" are gone 12" deep in under 6 minutes. Takes longer to move the top of the tree than it does to scrub out the roots and all. :)
 
Our min is normally 250 if in our town 275 if any other town we don't want to build our biz on grinding stumps left by landscrapers and homeowners we do get a lot at that price even though there are guys who do pretty big stumps for a hundo...

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I charge a minimum of $80. Have held that price for about 10 years. That would include grinding one 24" or less stump or two 12" stumps. If a customer has only one stump that is 10", I still charge my minimum of $80. I've never had anyone complain about the minimum price because they all know that a crappy little rental machine will cost more than that and they will have to do the work themselves. I don't make much on an $80 job even though it only takes less than ten minutes to do a 24" stump but most of my jobs are no where near my minimum price. I never turn down even an $80 job because that will fill my truck and grinder with diesel.
 
You guys mentioned $100 or $125 for a stump. What diameter stumps are those generally? For me, the trees generally aren't that big so $50 is a minimum for me and that usually means one stump, anything under 18".
Update

Changed the prices to $75 minimum, regardless of size up to 16" (unless it's really small) and then 35 cents per square inch over 16".

radius squared x 3.14 x .35 = cost

That gets kinda pricey for the larger stumps but as mentioned, I don't get many really large stumps.
 
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