Day labor rates

MikeT · May 03, 2010, 11:42:22 AM

I need help digging a trench. Hand digging is really the only way to do this, but I would like to do it in a day, if possible. So I was thinking of trying to locate some day labor. Is there a "normal" rate? Is this negotiated up front? Any tips would be appreciated....

mt

MountainDon · May 03, 2010, 12:18:52 PM

The few times that I've been on the hiring end the price was negotiated on a job basis, not daily or hourly. Come to think of it most of the time when I was on the other end it was priced and negotiated by the job too. Probably varies widely across the country.

May 03, 2010, 12:41:27 PM

Dallas - Undocumented workers get $8.00 per hour plus paid lunch . . .

/

NM_Shooter · May 03, 2010, 01:25:07 PM

Good luck...

I advertised $20 an hour plus transportation and lunch and got zero calls.

For hard manual labor, I would pay no less than $15, and would consider a bonus if expectations were exceeded.

-f-

rocking23nf · May 03, 2010, 01:26:52 PM

8 bucks an hour to build a trench? insane.

30$ minumum.

May 03, 2010, 02:08:00 PM

Are you saying $30 per hour for an 3 foot deep, 12"wide trench?

rocking23nf · May 03, 2010, 03:56:12 PM

Yes I am saying that.

Not sure what your economies are like where you live, but trademen get paid around 35$ an hour, but thier companies bill out at around 75$ an hour.

So 30$ would be the lowest I would dig trenchs for.

bayview · May 03, 2010, 06:14:54 PM

Quote from: rocking23nf on May 03, 2010, 01:26:52 PM
8 bucks an hour to build a trench? insane.

30$ minumum.

I guess the illegal's WILL do things Americans won't . . .

I must be living in poverty! The median family income for our area is about $30,000 or about $600 a week. This means that 1/2 of the families in town get less than $15 per hour . . . They would probably welcome $20 and hour for ditch digging.

/

NM_Shooter · May 03, 2010, 07:18:26 PM

Quote from: rocking23nf on May 03, 2010, 01:26:52 PM
8 bucks an hour to build a trench? insane.

30$ minumum.

$30 an hour for unskilled labor? I thought $20 was ridiculous. And we wonder why jobs are going to India!

May 03, 2010, 07:24:25 PM

like I said, it may be different in your area, im in oil rich alberta. I make around 55k and I consider myself around average. Household averages here are around 80,000.

MikeT · May 03, 2010, 07:51:54 PM

"Think I'll go out to Alberta,
Weather's good there in the fall,
I got some friends that I could go
to working for

Still I wish you'd change your mind
If I asked you one more time,
But we've through that a hundred times or more"

Sorry, for that digression, but when I read Alberta, I think of Ian Tyson...

JavaMan · May 03, 2010, 08:02:05 PM

Ok, as long as we've jumped the track slightly ... would that be ...

Wait for it ...

30 loonies?!?

Sorry, I just had to say it. I was channeling my father. What can I say.

Seriously, tho - $30/hour for digging a ditch (basically) - I would say that's amazing. Right now, I'd settle for about 35-40 per for software development, and I've been doing it for 20+ years!

NM_Shooter · May 03, 2010, 10:06:39 PM

But here's the deal.. you don't need to hire skilled labor to dig your ditch. I wouldn't do it myself for $30 an hour. I'd consider it for $100.

The message here is don't hire union. Day labor is usually day labor because they have a shallow skill set.

Digging a ditch is a great way for a kid to realize the benefits of an education.

diyfrank · May 03, 2010, 10:06:48 PM

The laborers where I work make between $10.00 and $20.00 an hr. They do much more than dig trenches but I would say an experience man with a shovel will double the amount of trench dug in a day. They will surely put the average to shame.

May 04, 2010, 03:27:21 AM

Just FYI, $10/hr for any type manual labor. Pick em up in front of Home Depot...pick one that drives and pay him $12/hr....also make sure one of them speaks english...oh, and order a pizza for lunch.

Funny related story, hired 3 guys to dig out a large oak tree trunk, they worked pretty hard for a couple hours, then one guy spotted a machete in my shed...this man hacked a few hundred pound truck out of the earth quickly and in an amazing fashion!

Pox Eclipse · May 04, 2010, 09:56:52 AM

Quote from: eddiescabin on May 04, 2010, 03:27:21 AM

Funny related story, hired 3 guys to dig out a large oak tree trunk, they worked pretty hard for a couple hours, then one guy spotted a machete in my shed...this man hacked a few hundred pound truck out of the earth quickly and in an amazing fashion!

Machete vs. oak tree; man, that makes my hand hurt just thinking about it.