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This is the fourth job I have done for this company. I put 5lbs of 7018ac on this coupler with my power arc 200. It takes about 3 hours from start to finish. The first one took me 4 hours; after each one I seem to finish a little quicker.
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Cool....Must be doing something right.
Do you have to add brackets / braces, etc for the frame attachment or is it a pretty straight forward weld job?
It's fairly straight forward. Sometimes the frame does not match the frame of the home, and there can be some gaps to fill in. It's a mixture of flat and also vertical overhead. Crawling underneath the house and welding the back side of the frame can be a pain. This one I could sit up and weld; which is always better than laying flat. Most every weld has three passes, but the ones on the front of the trailer I run several passes. When they move the trailer the tend to bounce going down the road; so I make sure I chip away the flux and brush every weld.
Always good to have repeat business. Sounds like you know the work really well and have gotten really good at it. Nice! :D
Experience has a way of doing that to you. All the better if you are charging piecework.Quote:
Originally Posted by SeanMurphy265
Glad to hear you are making some bucks and getting a reputation.
For jobs like that do you charge by the inch or do you now just have a set rate for that person for each mobile home.
I charge this customer $200.00 this job was $250.00 for gas money. I have a floating rate that I charge $45.00 per hour for something that's straight forward, just show up and weld. If it's more complicated $60.00 an hour. If I fire my tig welder up it's $85.00 an hour because my operating cost go up. I don't do much tig welding, but I'm OK with that; I find my profits are lower tig welding. To show up and weld for one hour I charge $85.00 minimum. Some jobs you will look at and just know how much work/time is involved, but that is something I have gotten better at over time. If someone brings something to me then I have a minimum charge of $40.00; even if it's something very simple. I'm getting better at quoting jobs. I had to sit down and figure my break even cost and that helped me figure out what I need to charge. Welding rods, wire, grinding disc, cuttoff wheels, safety glasses, gloves, gas, etc add up to a lot of $$$ quick. If you think about it you can go to a Northern Tool and get just basic shop supplies and spend $65.00 - $75.00 very easy. The one thing I have not done well is walking away. Sometimes you need to walk, but I've let the need for money make that decision.
did they put the tow assembly in place for you or you had to .
They try to have it ready to go when I get there. I have helped them clamp it in place, but they always line everything up.
Sean,
Nice write up. A lot of my business is trailer repair - seems like the tilting two place ATV/snow mobile trailers are always bending the toungs or bashing the edges when making corners. Pretty straight forward stuff usually done out in the driveway. I find myself bidding each job, and usually at rock bottom pricing trying to establish my service and get the word out there. Now that I am doing more and more work, I think it is time to bump the quotes up and have a more consistent price range like you have. Thanks for explaining how you do it.
I think there a difference between people who say they can get you business versus repeat business! This guy will always have a cheaper price because he calls me when he needs me. I cannot stress enough to figure out your bottom line. My first job was welding two four inch plates on a piece of square tubing set in concrete. It took an hour by the time I unloaded my tools and then packed everything up. I charged the guy $50.00 which is a good rate even though the job was not difficult. When I got home I added up my cost for welding rods, grinding wheels, gas in my car, and generator; I realized that I probably put $20.00 - $15.00 in my pocket! I realized then to make it worth my time I needed to charge a minimum of $85.00 to weld for one hour on site. I'm slowly learning that you can de-value you work if you undercharge.Quote:
Originally Posted by Alaska