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
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.
Dallas - Undocumented workers get $8.00 per hour plus paid lunch . . .
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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 $15, and would consider a bonus if expectations were exceeded.
-f-
8 bucks an hour to build a trench? insane.
30$ minumum.
Are you saying $30 per hour for an 3 foot deep, 12"wide trench?
Yes I am saying that.
Not sure what your economies are like where you live, but trademen get paid around 35$ an hour, but thier companies bill out at around 75$ an hour.
So 30$ would be the lowest I would dig trenchs for.
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 $20 and hour for ditch digging.
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Quote from: rocking23nf on May 03, 2010, 01:26:52 PM
8 bucks an hour to build a trench? insane.
30$ minumum.
$30 an hour for unskilled labor? I thought $20 was ridiculous. And we wonder why jobs are going to India!
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.
"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...
Ok, as long as we've jumped the track slightly ... would that be ...
Wait for it ...
30 loonies?!? ::) d*
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!
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.
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.
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!
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.