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Labor cost to build these bumpers

Honky Lips said:
ok everyone, answer me this if you know because i have no clue, what do the real shops bill per hour?
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100+
The faster and better you are, the more you charge.

As I told you in DM. Good/Fast/Cheap pick two.
 
Grendel said:
100+
The faster and better you are, the more you charge.

As I told you in DM. Good/Fast/Cheap pick two.
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that is what im trying to come to the conclusion of. whats a pro shop ith a building rent, insurance, work comp, etc, etc etc. charging? then i can compare what backyard billy is charging.

you also told me you get 600 per hour which zero offroad shops are getting so it kind of voids your opinion to me as of right now. and maybe ill end up being totally wrong. im just looking for thoughts here and such.
 
Is this a 1 time deal? Or are you wanting to get something steady going on the side?
 
Steve300xcw said:
Then charge him $500 each. End up working for free, loose your ass on it. LEARN from it. And then maybe make some money if you ever do another one
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please explain to me, how id be losing my ass, when its literally, i have nothing to do tonight so ill go tinker with this bumper for a while. and i have zero overhead costs. sure you might want to make bonkers money doing a bumper. but what do real shops charge per hour? and how close are to approaching that as a dork building it in the dirt driveway?
 
Steve300xcw said:
Fwiw my shop is $125-$180 hr depending on the job.
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thank you thats helpful what i was looking for. what would you charge labor to build plate bumpers? im just generally curious.
another thing, paying labor to a guy with a cutoff wheel, vs paying a shop thatll plasma or cnc plasma them out in a fraction of the time. thats another thing we need to keep in mind
 
How much do YOU expect these to cost? You’ve had multiple hourly rate quotes, and no one says much about how many hours it takes. If it’s 15 hours to build it it is 15 hours at $125/hr spread out over 6 months because a guy did it after work when he had time. It’s still going to cost $1,875.
 
RunningProblem said:
How much do YOU expect these to cost? You’ve had multiple hourly rate quotes, and no one says much about how many hours it takes. If it’s 15 hours to build it it is 15 hours at $125/hr spread out over 6 months because a guy did it after work when he had time. It’s still going to cost $1,875.
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125 an hour again.vs how much would a brick and mortar shop charge? backyard billy vs. real fab shops pricing.
 
I dunno about you, but my free time off of work is worth a hell of alot more to me. Charge for it.

Welder,torch,lathe, an few grinders is pretty much all the fab tools I have. Forklift is the next purchase, As I am turning down work because I dont have one.

How long it takes me or anybody else to build that bumper is pointless. You know your skills, and what you have for tooling. How long would it take YOU to build the damn thing?
 
i get it, some of us wouldnt even do this as a side job becasue we dont need the money and its not worth it to us to not charge any less than a brick and mortar fab shop. but lets forget that part. be someone that could use side money.
 
Steve300xcw said:
I dunno about you, but my free time off of work is worth a hell of alot more to me. Charge for it.

Welder,torch,lathe, an few grinders is pretty much all the fab tools I have. Forklift is the next purchase, As I am turning down work because I dont have one.

How long it takes me or anybody else to build that bumper is pointless. You know your skills, and what you have for tooling. How long would it take YOU to build the damn thing?
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i get it, some of us wouldnt even do this as a side job becasue we dont need the money and its not worth it to us to not charge any less than a brick and mortar fab shop. but lets forget that part. be someone that could use side money.

because theres a threshold that people will pay a little more ot have a legit shop do it.
 
Honky Lips said:
i get it, some of us wouldnt even do this as a side job becasue we dont need the money and its not worth it to us to not charge any less than a brick and mortar fab shop. but lets forget that part. be someone that could use side money.
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I need money. $2,000.
 
RunningProblem said:
A shop could be as low as $150. what is your goal of this whole thread? Find a price or argue about shops vs ‘unlicensed unprofessional builders’?
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to figure out what the difference in price would be before the threshold it passed to take it to a shop. my train of thought is if a shop can do it much faster because they have the neat toys, and better setup, and helping hands at any time. even though the hourly charge is more, the overall fee would be much less than paying a backyard guy less when itll take him forever.
 
Honky Lips said:
i get it, some of us wouldnt even do this as a side job becasue we dont need the money and its not worth it to us to not charge any less than a brick and mortar fab shop. but lets forget that part. be someone that could use side money.
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Bud I run a driveline shop. Most fab work that I do, is done on the weekends. I take on any work that I can get my hands on.

Stop worrying about what the shops charge. Figure out what your time is worth and how long it will take you to build it.
 
Grendel said:
1200 for the front, 800 for the rear, if doing them solo.

It's not a perfect truck and not a perfect bumper. But there's 15 hours in the front and 10 plus in the rear.
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Exact numbers I said. And that time is if you have everything set up already not working on it a little here and there. Ill bet I have a full 16hrs, probably more into the rock sliders on my bronco and im good at basic fab.
 
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Honky Lips said:
what do you think a fair labor rate for a shadetree job with basic tools should be? to be clear im not trying to argue, just trying to make sure people are on the same page. side job, at your leisure, etc.
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A shadetree mechanic isnt going to build square straight nicely finished multi angle plate bumpers. In fact I would question anybody that would attempt for under $80/hr.
 
Honky Lips said:
to figure out what the difference in price would be before the threshold it passed to take it to a shop. my train of thought is if a shop can do it much faster because they have the neat toys, and better setup, and helping hands at any time. even though the hourly charge is more, the overall fee would be much less than paying a backyard guy less when itll take him forever.
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Yes.
 
2big bronco said:
A shadetree mechanic isnt going to build square straight nicely finished multi angle plate bumpers. In fact I would question anybody that would attempt for under $80/hr.
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right, you also said a high quality bumper would be 2k. so custom would so what about a decent bumper. not totally perfect, will be some pitting in the bumper after powedercoating, and its not 100% perfectly square, more like 90 percent. not set up in jigs etc.
 
i worked for a laser house that built plate bumpers for company names youd recognize. they did production runs, everything showed up in the welders cell including the fixture, material is cut, bent and self locating/fixturing. people dedicated to finishing, so these are my guestimates

simple to do the math - hourly rate x hours to do task. the duration of the job makes has no bearing on the cost. even if its one hour a week, your hourly rate is your hourly rate. i suspect your hours will be 2x of what i have listed below.

LABOR hours - front
setup - .5
weld - 2
finishing - 1.5

LABOR hours - rear
setup - .5
weld - 1.5
finishing - 1
 
mobil1syn said:
i worked for a laser house that built plate bumpers for company names youd recognize. they did production runs, everything showed up in the welders cell including the fixture, material is cut, bent and self locating/fixturing. people dedicated to finishing, so these are my guestimates

simple to do the math - hourly rate x hours to do task. the duration of the job makes has no bearing on the cost. even if its one hour a week, your hourly rate is your hourly rate. i suspect your hours will be 2x of what i have listed below.

LABOR hours - front
setup - .5
weld - 2
finishing - 1.5

LABOR hours - rear
setup - .5
weld - 1.5
finishing - 1
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this was extremely helpful thank you for that
 
Honky Lips said:
right, you also said a high quality bumper would be 2k. so custom would so what about a decent bumper. not totally perfect, will be some pitting in the bumper after powedercoating, and its not 100% perfectly square, more like 90 percent. not set up in jigs etc.
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If you need the money and want the job make sure the customer knows that you are building a 90% bumper that will last and let them throw out the first price... and bump it by 25% to guage thier reaction.

I do 90% jobs for my self all the time but only send 110% effort jobs down the road as a side deal. I dont even let friends half ass shit at my house..... because im the asshole that will point out the 90% square bumper from 100' away in a parking lot and talk shit. Those jobs wont be out there with my name attached that someone spent thier money on.
 
2big bronco said:
If you need the money and want the job make sure the customer knows that you are building a 90% bumper that will last and let them throw out the first price... and bump it by 25% to guage thier reaction.

I do 90% jobs for my self all the time but only send 110% effort jobs down the road as a side deal. I dont even let friends half ass shit at my house..... because im the asshole that will point out the 90% square bumper from 100' away in a parking lot and talk shit. Those jobs wont be out there with my name attached that someone spent thier money on.
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looking at the bumpers i posted, what would you rate them at? because i'd rate them at 90% perfect. nice looking bumpers, but not sexy robot looking welds and perfectly matched gaps to the bodyline. etc
 
Honky Lips said:
looking at the bumpers i posted, what would you rate them at? because i'd rate them at 90% perfect. nice looking bumpers, but not sexy robot looking welds and perfectly matched gaps to the bodyline. etc
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They look good just unfinished. With a couple more hours they could be alot cleaner.


You seem to be hung up on $500 so try it and keep close track of your time so you can more accurately bid in the future.

To me it lools like your figuring your time at $35/hr
 
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