Cutting hedges

[Donnie]

Looking for work on the side of what I do currently and was looking at getting a Stihl hedge cutter and seeing about getting some work with it. Nothing too big. One man band kind of stuff. 
 

Was wondering how much per hour you would be looking to charge for cutting hedges or if it done by the metre etc?

[nepia]

Not a positive response I'm afraid but one born from experience.  It'll wreck your body!  Remember you'll be asked to cut the hedges no-one else wants to.  Is your body up to hours of locking your legs against a tripod ladder while reaching across a 9' wide conifer hedge that's 10' tall with a long reach hedgetrimmer?!  It gets your neck, shoulders, back, hips, knees.  I stopped taking new hedge work soon before my 58th birthday and have never looked back on the decision; tree work's a doddle in comparison!

If you're still up for it then I'd say rates vary across the country.

[doobin]

Price them per job. Remember, the customer in their head has "This is gonna take me ages with my b and q electric trimmer!! And where will all the rubbish go?? I'd better get someone in."

 

[Donnie]

12 minutes ago, nepia said:

Not a positive response I'm afraid but one born from experience.  It'll wreck your body!  Remember you'll be asked to cut the hedges no-one else wants to.  Is your body up to hours of locking your legs against a tripod ladder while reaching across a 9' wide conifer hedge that's 10' tall with a long reach hedgetrimmer?!  It gets your neck, shoulders, back, hips, knees.  I stopped taking new hedge work soon before my 58th birthday and have never looked back on the decision; tree work's a doddle in comparison!

If you're still up for it then I'd say rates vary across the country.

I work 5 days a week as a cutter so I'm used to a graft, and I'd probably not really want to take on that kind of work as it would just be for extra money really.

[Stere]

If you do get one go battery they are worth the extra as fumes from a hegde trimmer are worse than chainsaw as holding closer to face in often confined spaces.

 

 

 

Also the waste removal is over half the job.

 

Quote

Nothing too big

 

Yes beware of the leylandi monstrosities that are 5m's across the top and waste will be 10 van loads.

 

 

Edited July 23, 2023 by Stere

[rapalaman]

Pick and choose the ones you want and price per job. There’s always more waste than you think. We do anything from little half hour trims up to a couple of days - get them right and they can be good earners

[Conor Wright]

Hedges destroyed my shoulder and lower back. You cannot charge enough for them.

I still cut a few for regular customers but it is heavier work than forestry cutting, albeit in a nicer environment.

Not sure about prices where you are but between 350 and 500 (euro) per day is my hedge cutting rate. Customers can take it or leave it. Mewp is extra if required and removing clippings is extra. Calling leylandii palms is extra, not supplying strong tea and chocolate biscuits is a breach of contract and incurs a reduction in productivity. Dog shit on the shoe is extra, dog shit on the ladder is charged per rung. Any hedge wider than it is tall is charged as two cuts. Thorny hedges are extra. Brambles and ivy will be left as habitat and anyone that watches you work all day in the rain from the comfort of their kitchen window, waits for you to clear up, put the gear in the jeep and then asks for it to be cut six inches lower, will from now on be carefully dismembered and disposed of as compostable material. 

[oldwoodcutter]

If you’re going to be standing behind a petrol hedge cutter, even a long reach,  all day use Aspen or similar, as that exhaust is right next to what you’re breathing in.

And they are all so viby,  using it bare handed for hours at a time will damage your nerves irrevocably in later life.

For overgrown  runs of connie topping think of a price and double it.

[Stephen Blair]

Hedges is what more than likely gave me white finger, asthma and a bad back!

I did them from 14 years old to 40! 
  The change to Aspen fuel was a huge advantage after years of feeling lethargic and sore heads.

  If you’re working 5 days a week on the saw, rest at the weekends, take it from me extra hours and just grafting all the time takes its toll. 

[Blackbriarwoods]

Second what Mr Blair said. I used to cut all week and get home weekends to hedge cutting and firewood. At the time I got used to it and didn't notice any issues, took it for granted I was tired but extra cash was always welcome. 

Not saying I resented any of it but I'm certain it cut short my ability to work on later, when age stuck it's awe into the equation. 

I miss felling like hell, and if I'd known back then, when I was younger, what effect hedges would contribute to me wearing out, I'd of never bothered