Density tier pricing, recurring contract discounts, hourly billing, and a setup fee that finally shows up on every quote. Built for the truck, not the office.
Tap through the density tier, dial in the acres or hours, toggle obstacles and mobilization, and the bid lands. The same math that drives this calculator lives inside the LandWorkPro app on your phone.
Brush hogging is the lightest-touch trade in land work. Tractor, bush hog, drive through the field, the brush is down. The math should be simple. But operators lose money every season because they price the easy stuff right and the hard stuff wrong, or because they forget to add a setup fee, or because they undercut themselves on recurring contracts.
The way to bid brush hogging consistently is to think of every quote as three layers stacked on top of each other. Layer one is the field itself, priced by how thick the growth is. Layer two is the work conditions, including obstacles, frequency, and any volume discount you want to extend. Layer three is the overhead, including setup, load/unload, mobilization, and minimum job. Most operators get layer one right and skip layer three entirely. That's why a 5-acre job for $625 looks profitable on paper and ends up losing money when you count the truck time.
The difference between light pasture and overgrown field is the difference between 3 acres an hour and half an acre an hour. Same tractor, same bush hog, completely different production rate. Light pasture (mowed in the last 12 months) runs $75-$100/acre. Medium brush with grass to your knees and a few saplings runs $100-$150/acre. Heavy brush with briars, tall growth, and 1-inch saplings runs $200/acre. Overgrown fields that haven't been touched in 2+ years run $250-$300/acre, and at that density you should also consider whether forestry mulching makes more sense than bush hogging.
The operator who finds 8 regular monthly pasture customers and locks them in has built a business. The operator who chases one-time jobs all summer is chasing labor. Recurring contracts price 10-15% lower per cut because the work is easier (the field stays in light pasture density once you've been keeping up with it), but they pay you 4-12 times a year instead of once. A 10-acre field at $125/acre billed quarterly = $4,600/year. The same field as a one-time job in May is $1,350. Sell the contract.
All your line items, multipliers, and add-ons built into one estimate. Sends straight to the customer's phone with deposit collection built in.
A $100 setup/load/unload fee on every quote is what separates operators who make money from operators who break even. The fee covers your time loading the bush hog on the trailer, driving to the job, unloading, surveying the field, and reversing all of that at the end. None of that is mowing time. None of it shows up in your per-acre rate. The first time a customer pushes back on the fee, explain it once. The second time, walk away from the job. The fee exists because the work exists.
When a customer asks about doing 15 acres instead of 5, your first instinct shouldn't be to drop the per-acre rate. Your first instinct should be to do the math at full rate and only offer the discount if they're hesitating. A 5% discount on 15 acres of medium brush saves the customer $94. That's enough to feel like a win for them, small enough to not destroy your margin. Most operators give too much too fast. The calculator above only surfaces the discount toggle when you cross 10 acres, which is the right threshold for the conversation to even start.
Hourly works for irregular terrain, fence-line cutting, right-of-way work, or any job where you genuinely can't predict the production rate. The risk with hourly is that the customer feels the meter running and second-guesses every minute. The risk with per-acre on irregular work is that you eat the slow conditions for free. The right call depends on the customer. Established repeat customers prefer per-acre because they can budget. New customers who don't trust you yet often prefer hourly with a not-to-exceed cap. Use both modes. The app supports either.
LandWorkPro is the bidding and payment app for land trades. Brush hogging support ships after the main launch. Get on the waitlist now and lock in $99/month for life.