Ditch clearance using mini digger

[Essex arborist]

Using a 1-1.5 ton mini digger and ditching bucket to clear ditches and water courses - what's the going chargeable rate per metre, per hour, per day?

[doobin]

Per hour, you want about £32.50, or £260 a day. Plenty of idiots about on eBay though offering a digger and driver for £150 a day.

 

My mini costs me £5/hour including repairs, servicing, diesel and grease. If £150/day or £18.75/hour is a fair day rate for a skilled bloke, that leaves £8.75/hour profit for having your own machine and all the hassle that entails as opposed to just turning up and providing labour for £150/day.

 

Take it or leave it is my attitude.

 

Per metre is harder to quantify as it depends greatly upon the site and how the customer wants is left.

[SAM66S]

Per hour, you want about £32.50, or £260 a day. Plenty of idiots about on eBay though offering a digger and driver for £150 a day.

 

My mini costs me £5/hour including repairs, servicing, diesel and grease. If £150/day or £18.75/hour is a fair day rate for a skilled bloke, that leaves £8.75/hour profit for having your own machine and all the hassle that entails as opposed to just turning up and providing labour for £150/day.

 

Take it or leave it is my attitude.

 

Per metre is harder to quantify as it depends greatly upon the site and how the customer wants is left.

 

 

You can hire a mini digger for about £70 a day with the VAT so think you would be lucky to get £260 a day. If you wanted £150 a day id say more £200-£250 depending on what you call a day!

[Matthew Storrs]

I always find you can get more money if you put give a price for the job, the reason being a lot of customers don't realise how much work a skilled operator can get done in a day. If you give them a price of £250 they think 'ooh that's a lot' but if you were to give a price of £250 to do a job you secretly know you can get done in a day it seems better value for them.

Doobins prices are pretty much spot on really for a good day. It all very well saying you can hire a mini for £70 but in practise by the time you've got fuel for it- either picked it up or paid for delivery the costs start to add up to nearer £100, add usual business expenses like insurance etc and a half decent rate for your labour and any less than £220-250 is a waste of time.

[doobin]

Put it this way- who would send out a bloke and chipper for less than £250/day? Same kind of money and running costs for the machine.

[NI Tree]

I would tell you to get lost at those prices for that size of machine. it was cheeper /m for us to get someone in that use our own digger to do ours. as it was able to do 80+m an hour in good going and spread it

[doobin]

I would tell you to get lost at those prices for that size of machine. it was cheeper /m for us to get someone in that use our own digger to do ours. as it was able to do 80+m an hour in good going and spread it

 

Horses for courses. On big quote rate jobs I always hire bigger machines. My point is, don't be an eBay idiot asking £150/day for a man and 1.5t.

[Ian Leach]

I would say about £250 a day, one you pay for fuel etc. I can get one for £50 per day, but I always get a spotter from experience (hidden cables) no matter where I dig. So costs do add up.

 

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Arbtalk mobile app

[pycoed]

Doubt if a 1.5 ton mini digger has enough reach to clean ditches & dykes has it? Mine need a minimum of a 5 tonner & most need an 8- 13 tonner.

Had a good few days work done last summer with an 8 ton machine & a top notch operator @£250 per day inc diesel etc.

[hedgesparrow]

I would say about £250 a day, one you pay for fuel etc. I can get one for £50 per day, but I always get a spotter from experience (hidden cables) no matter where I dig. So costs do add up.

 

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Arbtalk mobile app

 

+1 allways have a bankman on hand keeping a eye out. i charge 200 a day plus machine which is 100 a day that includes fuel. not working for less than a ton aday digging ditches. can do a lot. may find the 1.5 may struggle on some ditches to get to other side. i have used a 2 tonne kubota longer reach. makes a good job of ditches.