I have been asked for a bid on a 4' x 9' metal gate. Very straightforward,
1 1/2" tubing frame with 3/4" pickets every 5". Plus hinges and a mount for
an opener.

I have helped make gates for a friend's ranch before, I have a good MIG
setup, and I am confident I can do a good job on this. But what should I
bid?

I am in Austin, Texas, if it matters.

Thanx!

__
"All it took was all I had..."

Cost of your bought materials like the tube, pickets, hinges, mount,
etc, add at least an additinal 25% to 50% to cover your time to select,
purchase, pickup, return of overages, etc.

Figure your time in hours to build it, add in a fudge time to allow Mr.
Murphy to visit you. Multiply by what you think you are worth per hour.
Add in a second fudge number to cover your shop supplies, especially gas
and wire. For a hobbist level you might want to figure $20 -$30 an hour
for your expected time. That should be enough to cover your labor,
overages, and consumables. Pro level field welders get $60 to $100 per
hour.

Compare the total to a store bought gate of about the same size. It's
hard to charge TOO much more than that. Don't be surprised if the total
gets to be a fairly big number.

Emmo wrote:
I have been asked for a bid on a 4' x 9' metal gate. Very straightforward,
1 1/2" tubing frame with 3/4" pickets every 5". Plus hinges and a mount for
an opener.

I have helped make gates for a friend's ranch before, I have a good MIG
setup, and I am confident I can do a good job on this. But what should I
bid?

I am in Austin, Texas, if it matters.

Thanx!

__
"All it took was all I had..."

Thanx for your response on this. It is helpful...

"RoyJ" wrote in message
nk.net...
Cost of your bought materials like the tube, pickets, hinges, mount, etc,
add at least an additinal 25% to 50% to cover your time to select,
purchase, pickup, return of overages, etc.

Figure your time in hours to build it, add in a fudge time to allow Mr.
Murphy to visit you. Multiply by what you think you are worth per hour.
Add in a second fudge number to cover your shop supplies, especially gas
and wire. For a hobbist level you might want to figure $20 -$30 an hour
for your expected time. That should be enough to cover your labor,
overages, and consumables. Pro level field welders get $60 to $100 per
hour.

Compare the total to a store bought gate of about the same size. It's hard
to charge TOO much more than that. Don't be surprised if the total gets to
be a fairly big number.

Emmo wrote:
I have been asked for a bid on a 4' x 9' metal gate. Very
straightforward, 1 1/2" tubing frame with 3/4" pickets every 5". Plus
hinges and a mount for an opener.

I have helped make gates for a friend's ranch before, I have a good MIG
setup, and I am confident I can do a good job on this. But what should I
bid?

I am in Austin, Texas, if it matters.

Thanx!

__
"All it took was all I had..."

The other approach is to do a SWAG (Scientific Wild A** Guess). Build it
up and keep VERY careful track of your time including all the rework,
second and third trip to the hardware store, etc. You will lose your
shirt on the first project but chalk it up to a learning experience. In
fact, if you can just cover your cost of materials and a bit more, go
for it. You will be MUCH wiser for the next project

Emmo wrote:

Thanx for your response on this. It is helpful...

"RoyJ" wrote in message
nk.net...

Cost of your bought materials like the tube, pickets, hinges, mount, etc,
add at least an additinal 25% to 50% to cover your time to select,
purchase, pickup, return of overages, etc.

Figure your time in hours to build it, add in a fudge time to allow Mr.
Murphy to visit you. Multiply by what you think you are worth per hour.
Add in a second fudge number to cover your shop supplies, especially gas
and wire. For a hobbist level you might want to figure $20 -$30 an hour
for your expected time. That should be enough to cover your labor,
overages, and consumables. Pro level field welders get $60 to $100 per
hour.

Compare the total to a store bought gate of about the same size. It's hard
to charge TOO much more than that. Don't be surprised if the total gets to
be a fairly big number.

Emmo wrote:

I have been asked for a bid on a 4' x 9' metal gate. Very
straightforward, 1 1/2" tubing frame with 3/4" pickets every 5". Plus
hinges and a mount for an opener.

I have helped make gates for a friend's ranch before, I have a good MIG
setup, and I am confident I can do a good job on this. But what should I
bid?

I am in Austin, Texas, if it matters.

Thanx!

__
"All it took was all I had..."

Emmo wrote:

But what should I bid?

I calculate it this way:
Coarsly add all the steel you need and look up the weight in a table.
Multiply by 2$ or 2.50$ for every kg (2 pounds) to get the cost for your
material*). Get the price for hinges (I like weld on hinges, they are
very cheap) and other hardware. Add extra 10$ for screws etc.

Then look at the frame how many welds there are and how complicated the
thing is. In your case, I guess you have to drill and countersink some
holes for the pickets. Steel pickets? You know who much work it is to
weld them nicly on?

You could make such a frame in about 2 hours (w/o pickets) if you don't
have to think about every step. And if your saw works precisely. :-)
Don't know what you think a fair price is, but if you more or less work
for the fun of it, 20..25$ are OK. Add an extra hour or two for getting
all the stuff you need.

Painting?
Do you have to fit it?

*) Don't know your prices, but with the prices for steel going up, this
may be wrong. Calculate 30..50% more then you pay. If the steel is a
uncommon profile you won't use in the near future, bill him the full bar
and keep the rest as your profit.


Nick
--
Motormodelle / Engine Models:
http://www.motor-manufaktur.de
Ellwe 2FB * VTM 87 * DLM-S3a * cubic
more to come ...

I would have to ask.. Is this the front gate for a fancy house or the back
gate to the pasture? Square tube or round? Do you have to fishmouth the
pickets to make it nice or crimp to do a butt weld? In our country your
looking at $75-$150 for a ranch gate about that size. It also bears to ask
if this is for family, friends or just a customer? If your dealing with
galvanized material then your dealing with poisonous fumes while welding.
Are you being provided with good specifications so that there is no room for
the customer to come back on you with problems?
lg
no neat sig line

"Emmo" wrote in message
...
I have been asked for a bid on a 4' x 9' metal gate. Very straightforward,
1 1/2" tubing frame with 3/4" pickets every 5". Plus hinges and a mount
for an opener.

I have helped make gates for a friend's ranch before, I have a good MIG
setup, and I am confident I can do a good job on this. But what should I
bid?

I am in Austin, Texas, if it matters.

Thanx!

__
"All it took was all I had..."

It turns out that the answer, at least here in Austin, is $50 a linear foot,
$900, delivered and installed on 6" posts. This was from an established
fencing company.

I bid $850 plus materials, delivered, but not installed, so I was outbid. Oh
well...

Thanx for the help!

"Emmo" wrote in message
...
I have been asked for a bid on a 4' x 9' metal gate. Very straightforward,
1 1/2" tubing frame with 3/4" pickets every 5". Plus hinges and a mount
for an opener.

I have helped make gates for a friend's ranch before, I have a good MIG
setup, and I am confident I can do a good job on this. But what should I
bid?

I am in Austin, Texas, if it matters.

Thanx!

__
"All it took was all I had..."

Emmo wrote:

It turns out that the answer, at least here in Austin, is $50 a linear foot,
$900, delivered and installed on 6" posts. This was from an established
fencing company.

I bid $850 plus materials, delivered, but not installed, so I was outbid. Oh
well...

Sometimes the best job is the one you didn't get.

Gary Brady

Gary Brady wrote:

I bid $850 plus materials, delivered, but not installed, so I was outbid. Oh
well...

Sometimes the best job is the one you didn't get.

One way to always have "good jobs" is to ask too much money.

$850 + materials? If I do the math, it would have taken him 34 hours at
25$, or 17hrs at 50$ or 8.5 hrs at 100$.
A gate in 8.5 hours!?
If someone needs so much time, he isn't worth the 100$. :-)


Nick
--
Motormodelle / Engine Models:
http://www.motor-manufaktur.de
Ellwe 2FB * VTM 87 * DLM-S3a * cubic
more to come ...

I agree with you, especially because I did not want to dig the post holes
and hang the gate at all...


"Gary Brady" wrote in message
news
Emmo wrote:

It turns out that the answer, at least here in Austin, is $50 a linear
foot, $900, delivered and installed on 6" posts. This was from an
established fencing company.

I bid $850 plus materials, delivered, but not installed, so I was outbid.
Oh well...

Sometimes the best job is the one you didn't get.

Gary Brady

The soil here in Texas is often as hard as concrete - it might have taken me
8.5 hours to just dig the post holes! It is forecast to be over 100 degrees
Fahrenheit every day this week as well.

I watched someone hang a gate once, and that is as much as I know about it.
Digging and concreting the posts, leveling the two panels, welding the
hinges, hanging and wiring the openers, all under the blazing sun -- no
thanx!

All I wanted to do was the cutting and welding in a nice shady garage...

I appreciate your comments, though...

""Nick Müller"" wrote in message
...
Gary Brady wrote:

I bid $850 plus materials, delivered, but not installed, so I was
outbid. Oh
well...

Sometimes the best job is the one you didn't get.

One way to always have "good jobs" is to ask too much money.

$850 + materials? If I do the math, it would have taken him 34 hours at
25$, or 17hrs at 50$ or 8.5 hrs at 100$.
A gate in 8.5 hours!?
If someone needs so much time, he isn't worth the 100$. :-)


Nick
--
Motormodelle / Engine Models:
http://www.motor-manufaktur.de
Ellwe 2FB * VTM 87 * DLM-S3a * cubic
more to come ...

Gary Brady wrote:
Emmo wrote:

It turns out that the answer, at least here in Austin, is $50 a linear
foot, $900, delivered and installed on 6" posts. This was from an
established fencing company.

I bid $850 plus materials, delivered, but not installed, so I was
outbid. Oh well...


Sometimes the best job is the one you didn't get.

No ****.

It probably doesn't matter at this point, but in responding to an email, I
realized that I had made a bad mistake in this original post. The job was
for two 4'x9' panels, making a 4'x 18' two panel gate, not a single 4'x9'
gate as I originally described.

This is why I was reluctant to install it, and this makes my bid a lot
closer to the fence company's... Hope this clarifies things - I wasn't as
far off as it seemed...

Thanx again, this was a good exercise for me...


"Emmo" wrote in message
...
I have been asked for a bid on a 4' x 9' metal gate. Very straightforward,
1 1/2" tubing frame with 3/4" pickets every 5". Plus hinges and a mount
for an opener.

I have helped make gates for a friend's ranch before, I have a good MIG
setup, and I am confident I can do a good job on this. But what should I
bid?

I am in Austin, Texas, if it matters.

Thanx!

__
"All it took was all I had..."