80 Yards of mulch how much would you charge???

[Greener Grounds NC]

that is the cheapest i have ever heard a business spreading mulch. We are at $95 pr/yd no bed prep and no edging. we have low ballers around here doing it for $65/yd installed i wouldnt touch it for that. my minimum is $200 for mulch .5 yds or 2 yds. doesnt matter. If its a larger job 8yds or more i will give a small discount of $90 pr yd

[FaccLndscpng]

Lawn care business tips

well I looked at the job the other day and they probably do need the 80yds (I thought the past landscaper was just over doing it a bit but no its going to be close) I gotta turn the bid in on Monday so now I gotta do some thinking and try to get some pricing together. Will keep you posted.

[SECTLANDSCAPING]

Originally Posted by FaccLndscpng

well I looked at the job the other day and they probably do need the 80yds (I thought the past landscaper was just over doing it a bit but no its going to be close) I gotta turn the bid in on Monday so now I gotta do some thinking and try to get some pricing together. Will keep you posted.

same here. When I checked the beds out some had barely a dusting of mulch and others were a inch or two. So I'm thinking they want to get it all done at 3 inches this year. I knocked $9 a yard off mine. Comes out to a $1000 less.

The yard told me they will give me discounts on over 50 yards but this biggest discount is for the supplier to just dump it there. The problem there is it will be in 50 yard piles. So I might have to pay a bit extra to get it dropped in 20 yard piles.

[ratchetmaster2]

So, to actually answer the OP's question:

JLM would charge $3,600 (80yards * $45/yard)
SECT would charge triple that, at $10,800
and Greener Grounds would charge $7,600 for 80yds at $95/yard.
Big money. Biiiiig money.

[grass guru]

Your insane to hand spread anything more than 20yds. Anything over that, i sub out to a blower. They usually give bulk discounts. Think about it, 1hr/yard, you will have 5 guys working 2 full days on it, plus all time hauling it in, or a huge portion of parking lot with mulch (im sure the customer will love that one!) If its blown in, you can still make $ on markup, and it can be applied at 10 yards/hr, and you dont have to do a thing.

[Steve]

Your insane to hand spread anything more than 20yds. Anything over that, i sub out to a blower.

How does your pricing change if you sub it out? How do the profits change? I am sure many are wondering if it is more profitable or not.

[SECTLANDSCAPING]

Originally Posted by grass guru

Your insane to hand spread anything more than 20yds. Anything over that, i sub out to a blower. They usually give bulk discounts. Think about it, 1hr/yard, you will have 5 guys working 2 full days on it, plus all time hauling it in, or a huge portion of parking lot with mulch (im sure the customer will love that one!) If its blown in, you can still make $ on markup, and it can be applied at 10 yards/hr, and you dont have to do a thing.

I easily spread 4-5 yards a hour. Ill pull off 120 yards over the weekend with a 3 man crew.

[FaccLndscpng]

Ratchetmaster: love the breakdown! But as you can see this is where we end up loosing jobs over a few bucks per yard...it breaks out to a difference of thousands.

grass guru: love the idea of a blower never used one but seen them used while commuting from site to site. Is that how many yards/hr they spread?

I am still running numbers, I am really doubting myself on this one and I really don't like it, I felt this was a shot in the dark before I even started and will end up spending a lot of time and energy trying to get it. I can get the full 80 yds of mulch delivered from a "friend of a friend" for $15ish per yard. So i'm thinking about $70-$80/yd. But still gotta think about it, usually in my area were at about $100-$125/yd so theres a little discount, but again I gotta watch the lowballers who probably will charge $50/yd. Thanks alot Prickmen

[grass guru]

A blower can lay down a massive amount per hour. Google and see if you can find a local company that does it, and find out their rates. I had a company that would spread color enhanced for $45/yard. It cost me $18/yard to buy it from my supplier. If I pay $10/hr labor, my total cost is $28/yard. I am losing $17/yard profit on color enhanced. If it takes them 2 hrs for 20 yards, or 3 of us a full 8 hour day, it becomes a matter of convenience. If you are in a rush, or dont have the personel on hand and need to screen and hire a bunch of people for one job, you will have more hours/advertising costs in seeking and hiring of numerous employees than you would in profit loss to subbing out.
Sectlandscaping, not everyone has the equiptment to lay that much mulch. Reading the OP, he stated he would have to hire a bunch of people, and obviously hasnt done a job this big, or he wouldnt be here asking opinions. Im assuming he is spreading it by hand, with wheel barrows off of a dumped pile.

I would definately call a blower company, and see what they would charge. *I wouldnt be surprised if they can get the mulch for much cheaper than you from a friends friend. It may also benefit you in landing the contract if you can put in that the mulch would be installed in a few hours vs a few days, and there will be no big piles of mulch using parking space.
Basically, whats your bottom dollar? If you can get mulch for $15/yd, , is $60to $70/yd enough for you to cover labor, gas, supplies, and overhead?
You have to bid it on what you need to make, not what you think other guys will charge. Take into account the going rate so you dont cut yourself short, but dont fret over it. If you really want it that bad and dont get it, there is always next year.
Good luck, keep us posted.

[SECTLANDSCAPING]

He discussed using equipment earlier. Its cheaper to rent a bobcat for $200-$250 a day then to pay 10 guys.

My sub compact tractor only has 1/3 yard bucket and moves 20 yards in 3-5 hours depending on distance. I just bought a skid to double that. A bobcat from the rental yard will come with a 1 yard bucket. The same as what loads you up at the yard. When your close to the pile you can be loaded up in mins.

Based on your prices the blower guy will charge 27x80 thats $2160. You could rent 4 bobcats for under a grand and do it in day. Then he has to pay for mulch, the blower people, and wait for the money from the job.