what is a fair price for a diver to charge

[DivingOtter]

From what my insurance company told me is that if i were to use a scuba rig, my insurance rate would go up about a grand a year, for hard hat and surface supply the rates were reduced. I think people who work under boats in my area using scuba are flat out crazy. I cant tell you how many times i smash my head while doing husbandry work, enough that it is jarring inside the hat. One solid blow and out goes your reg. Get knocked out? well then it looks like its curtains.

---------- Post Merged at 02:27 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 02:24 PM ----------

Why not?

We would have had to remove the skegg and the rudder since the wheel hub was 16 inches and clearance from shaft to rudder was 13.5 and given the tides even at her highest wouldnt have allowed for removal of the rudder. My inspection of it is on youtube under Commercial Diving Wheel Inspection.

 

[fstbttms]

What kind of puller are you using? That's a big prop and there isn't a ton of room between it and the strut, but it's hard to imagine that a plate or chain puller wouldn't work there. Also, why remove the rudder? A you envisioning using a hydraulic jack? Or is the prop hub too thick to fit?

---------- Post Merged at 11:53 AM ---------- Previous Post was at 11:37 AM ----------

From what my insurance company told me is that if i were to use a scuba rig, my insurance rate would go up about a grand a year, for hard hat and surface supply the rates were reduced. I think people who work under boats in my area using scuba are flat out crazy. I cant tell you how many times i smash my head while doing husbandry work, enough that it is jarring inside the hat. One solid blow and out goes your reg. Get knocked well then it's curtains.

I don't use scuba for hull cleaning, not because it's dangerous (and maybe it is, but that seems like a bit of stretch) but because it's a PITA. Donning and doffing all that gear 6 or 8 times a day? No thanks. On the same token, wearing a hat to do this kind of work is waaaay over the top and again, more gear and work than is necessary. Getting knocked out while doing hull cleaning is really not an issue, IMHO.

 

[trefoil]

hello divingotter

Having looked at your video...suggestion for future use...if your measurement between shaft end and rudder was taken to the rudder edge closest to shaft...the following could work ...have someone decouple the rudder from steering and rotate rudder 90 degrees from straight. Looks to me you have the clearance then. Been there many times. Now, for the bypassing the blades make on hub would require use of chain assembly type puller. Once the wheel is loose... prop bag rigged to float it off can be used to shift prop on slight angle to accommodate any close tolerance found between shaft end and rotated rudder. Hope this made sense lol. The only time I ever had to remove a rudder is when there was a shroud or "cage" enclosing the wheel. The point of measurement between shaft and and rudder is not always the crucial clearance ,the one that can get you is the clearance between the hull and top most of the wheel.
Now maybe you looked at these things...as your mic muffled bad (must be on the cam housing) if the comm on the video was from inside the hat then you "gots" issues lol

good luck and make a mint.

...as for the op question...if this is a beer money jump then please take heed to advice already given.

wow my first post on this forum LOL hey fastbottoms , after reading some of your previous posts....good to see a hull cleaner that takes it professionally .

 

[DivingOtter]

I actually called in a friend or " consultant " to help me out for this job. He was talking me through the measurements on where and how to measure to try to make it work. We tried to figure a way to make it work but in the end he said it wasnt going to work based on the clearance from end of shaft to wheel being 13 inches and the hub of the wheel being 16 inches. Add the fact that the skeg,rudder, and wheel all had to be dropped it wasnt feasible with the depth of the location. When I initially called my friend he said it could be done but as stated above he said the numbers were too close to make an attempt. Even though we didnt swap the wheel underwater the customer was greatly satisfied that we didnt just show up, tell him his wheel was done and leave. We tried like hell to make it work and in the end he was satisfied enough with our work he wants to use us for his entire fleet. Ironically enough I was on my way to do some husbandry on his sons boat in Wildwood when I got the emergency call for Atlantic City. Thanks for all the input and glad someone watched the video, haha.

---------- Post Merged at 12:45 AM ---------- Previous Post was at 12:41 AM ----------

From what my insurance company told me is that if i were to use a scuba rig, my insurance rate would go up about a grand a year, for hard hat and surface supply the rates were reduced. I think people who work under boats in my area using scuba are flat out crazy. I cant tell you how many times i smash my head while doing husbandry work, enough that it is jarring inside the hat. One solid blow and out goes your reg. Get knocked out? well then it looks like its curtains.

---------- Post Merged at 02:27 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 02:24 PM ----------
Fastbottoms- not saying some work isnt alot easier in scuba, but some guys I have seen under a pitching and rolling boat either on open sea or in a heavily used inlet with a 6 knot current seems to be a tad sketchy in my book. Just saying that I wouldnt do it. But then again you would never catch me deeper than 50 ft on anything but surface supply. I just like the redundancy of air and communications.

 

[fstbttms]

I
Fastbottoms- not saying some work isnt alot easier in scuba, but some guys I have seen under a pitching and rolling boat either on open sea or in a heavily used inlet with a 6 knot current seems to be a tad sketchy in my book. Just saying that I wouldnt do it.

Well, we don't do any hull cleaning in the open sea or inlets around here. We have 20,000 boats sitting in calm slips in protected marinas and they all need their bottoms cleaned at least 6 times a year.

 

[landonnin1]

The $100 pr hr rate sounds great, and might fool some people into thinking WOW, what an awesome gig. So let's get real about diving jobs.
If it's a scuba thing, and a quick fix, Ive seen jobs done for next to nothing. On the other hand, if your employing other divers, say for example
removing 100 plus old style docks from a marina with a guarantee nothing is left on the bottom when complete, start off with insurance bonding.
Most places of business nowadays demand at least a half mill plus insurance bonding just in case something goes south. Over twenty years ago I worked a job removing docks, our day rate was $200 per day per diver wet or dry, and $50 per cut, each cut made $50. You won't get insurance bonding with a scuba card, most, if not all insurance companys know the game, and won't touch scuba for industrial type jobs.
Rules and Regs vary from state to state, there's always the guy with the scuba card looking for a quick buck, some pay one hell of a price for
that adventure. Now a days the $100 pr hr sounds fair at minimum.

Matt, with less than 200 dives, I assume your using scuba, please be very careful, and plan for the worst. Good Luck.

Thank you to everyone for all the great info
Yes I am using scuba for this one.
The wiring is some 1/8 coax cable with nothing hooked to it yet and clearing the weeds is just a 2 ft by 2 ft area, I will not be the only one there I am bring a tender for pulling the wire to the through the conduit to shore. So famous last words "nothing to bad" lol
again thank you to everyone as I have a good idea on my fee no I am going to use 50 an hour for this.
Matt

 

[Superlyte27]

$100/hr for a carpenter? Good luck ever getting work out here. The Mexicans will eat you for luch with a rate like that.

There's not too many mexicans who can do what I do. I charged 1k per day to install cabinets for years. The market only recently quit bearing that. But that's another story. I do have a cabinet job next month where I'll charge 2k for 8 hours. But, you get what you pay for. I once installed the cabinets and crown molding for the CEO of Victoria Secret. The crown molding was hand carved grape vines. It cost $80/foot. You don't want just anyone installing that stuff. The grapes and vines had to line up from piece to piece. Whatever your industry, the best of the best always get top dollar.

 

[Darol]

27 said:

Whatever your industry, the best of the best always get top dollar.

Amen to that.... I try never to save money on Dentists or Doctors...

 

[DivingOtter]

In all honesty, I would not be performing any work unless you are fully insured and no one should be hiring people without it.

 

[GavinD]

Any of you commercial divers able to provide an update on where rates are now. This thread is a decade old. Do you think I can start a new one?