Mulching

[The Big Hurt]

I have decided to add mulch work to my ever growing multi-faceted company. How much do you guys that mulch charge for mulching labor?
Do any of you buy your own mulch at wholesale and markup sell it to the customer on top of the labor to install it for an even bigger profit?
Barry

 

[Treeman14]

 

[The Big Hurt]

Double Retail?

DownTo Earth,
You get mulch at retail? Isn't there a way to buy your mulch at wholesale or get bulk discounts? Also, what your saying is that you simply buy the mulch and sell it at 100% markup and that markup includes the labor cost right?
Barry

 

[treeclimber165]

Originally posted by Down To Earth
Barry, eeeeerrrrrrrrr Forrest,

I think you are way off base here, Earth. Just because he is from FL doesn't mean he is Forrest. Besides, he isn't acting like Forrest. Ease up, will ya? If Forrest comes back, it will be painfully obvious from his first post.

Barry, disregard all this Forrest crap. You don't wanna know.

 

[The Big Hurt]

Forrest?

Why does he keep referring to me as Forrest? Is he a member on the site? Sounds like you arent too fond of him.

Anyway, what part of Orlando you from TreeClimber165? You keeping busy? It has been pouring a lot over here on the coast. I hate climbing wet trees....haha. How is the business over there. I have been considering branching out a bit into the Orange/Seminole county area but I will only drive that far if I can pick up some big jobs over there.

Try to keep dry!
Barry

 

[treeclimber165]

towards the end it got so bad most of his threads got moved to 'off topic' forum. Plenty of mud there if you want to look. You just showed up a couple days after he got booted, everyone is still a little gun-shy. Especially about people from FL. But we are quickly getting back to normal.

Welcome Barry, by the way.

 

[The Big Hurt]

I checked it out...he sure was a spunky fella. Seems intelligent but just needs direction. Looks like I got here during the calm after the storm. Its quite alright...Just a simple mix up on DownToEarth's part. Anyway I'm Barry and thanks for the Welcome Brian...If you dont mind me callin you by your name on the site.

I'm still curious on how business is over there in the Orange/Seminole County area. The market for tree work has declined as of late. This is why I am looking to broaden my business horizons and start considering new aspects of work like mulching.
Barry

 

[treeclimber165]

The market over here is a bit tight, but there is still a little work available. I don't care what the newscasters say, I can tell when the economy is tight. People are sitting tight on their money, limiting spending to necessities for the most part. We haven't been doing a lot of fine pruning lately. But storm season is almost upon us. Hopefully things will pick up soon.

 

[budroe69moni]

paying retail for mulch......

hey big,
why not pay retail for mulch????? it comes in bags, its easier to move, it's so easy to dump and put right where you need it, you don't need to use a pitch fork ect....... just charge 2x the cost per bag. the cypress mulch goes for 1.49 per 2 cu. bags so charge 3.00 a bag. that's the going rate a little further down the left coast .
budroe

 

[treeclimber165]

Budroe, did you move?

Left coast? Near Tampa/St. Pete? I thought you were over on the right coast near Pompano or somewhere?

 

[budroe69moni]

oh sh*t brian,
am i brain dead or what?????? i'm still on the east coast.........
the right coast
budroe
p.s. i'm about an hour and a half north of pompano. about the same distance from o-town......... you intrested in doing some climbing for me????????

 

[treeclimber165]

I tol' ya last time to email me your phone number. I can call ya after 8pm for free cause I got nationwide local on my cell and about 6 times more night and weekend minutes than I will EVER use.

 

[budroe69moni]

cool brother,
i've got a couple of big azz live oak that need to be cleaned out.
they're load w/ dead wood, air plants and resurection fern. i'll e-mail you my number tonite.
thanks,
budroe

 

[The Big Hurt]

I am with Budroe

I would much rather have it in bags than have to deal with all of that pitch fork shoveling. I know what thats like and its no fun. It would be worth the extra cash to have it in bags for easy placement. I wouldnt get a break on the price of the mulch but when you consider the time it will save(because you would be getting paid by the job) it probably evens out.

 

[treeclimber165]

I've worked where they got it by the pallet, a semi truck at a time. If you buy a whole semi load, there is a substantial price break

 

[The Big Hurt]

Will do when it comes

I dont ever have any clients that will need that kind of mulch order so it wouldnt be in my interest to purchase so much but we will see....I may stumble upon a shopping center that needs completely mulched. I do a shopping center's trees for them. Next job I do there I will ask them about the possibilites of mulch!

 

[Newfie]

you would be surprised...

You would be surprised how fast a pallet will go. Where I get mine 60 , 3 cu.ft. bags to a pallet, that's only 6 1/2 cubic yards of material. But I wouldn't buy a truckload, unless I was sure I was going to use it in one season. You might be able to get some kind of break on two or three pallets. The bags also store indefinitely(at least in terms of mulch years)

 

[budroe69moni]

i wouldn't sit on those bags of mulch for too long......
the bags are biodegradable and break down in the elements.
the bags start breaking down in a matter of months if they're out in the sun and the rain.
budroe

 

[The Big Hurt]

I only buy the mulch as needed

I only buy as much mulch as I need per job. I wont be doing nearly enough mulching(at least yet) to be buying surpluses and storing it for future jobs. I am going to stick to the bags at retail and doubling the price for my cost.

 

[The Big Hurt]

Mulch Calculator

Check this out.....I found a mulch calculator online. You type in the dimensions of the area that your mulching into the given fields under the approx. shape of the figure your mulching and it claculates how much mulch you will need......kinda cool.


http://showcase.netins.net/web/andrewpallet/Mulch_Planning.htm