Solo irrigation winterization: per-stop blowout prices that count the zones, the compressor, and the drive between stops. Free, no signup. All defaults are editable starting points, not market rates.
Flat prices are usually built on a standard system. Every zone past that base is time your flat price never priced.
Route density is the whole game in blowout season. The same price that works on a tight route loses money when stops are scattered.
Blowout season is short, so every stop has to pay. The trap is the flat price: one number quoted for every house, built on a standard system, while the real job swings with zone count, compressor time, and how far apart the stops sit. This calculator prices one stop honestly. Enter your target hourly rate, margin, and minimum stop fee. Pick the preset closest to the stop, or set the zones and blowout minutes per zone yourself. Add setup time for the shutoff, backflow drain, and paperwork. Then fill in the route leaks: what the compressor costs you per stop in fuel and wear, the drive minutes and miles to the next stop, and a small reserve for the spring callback when something froze anyway. The tool turns it into a true stop cost, a recommended per-stop price, and your effective hourly rate. Enter the flat price you charge now to see what it really pays on this stop, and use the route planner to see what a full day and the whole season look like at that price.
Example only, not typical pricing. A standard 6-zone stop at a $75 target rate: 6 zones at 4 minutes each plus 10 setup minutes is 34 minutes on site, plus a 12-minute drive, so 46 minutes total. Labor is $57.50, vehicle is $4.02, compressor is $6.00, and a 5 percent callback reserve is $2.88, for a true cost of $70.40. The recommended price is $85. A $75 flat price pays $84.76 an hour on this stop, but run the same flat price on a 10-zone estate stop and it pays far less, because the extra zones were never in the price.
Either works if the number covers your time. A flat price built on 6 zones loses money on every 9-zone stop. Price the stop in front of you: zones times minutes per zone, plus setup, plus the drive, plus the compressor.
Fuel, oil, rental days, and wear spread across the stops it serves. If you rent by the week, divide the rental by the stops that week and add fuel. Setting it to zero is the most common leak in blowout pricing.
Drive time is paid time with no revenue. Twelve minutes between stops at a $75 rate is $15 of labor before the truck cost. Tight routes can carry a lower price; scattered stops cannot.
Some systems freeze even after a good blowout, and the spring call usually lands on you. A small reserve percent of labor spreads that cost across every stop instead of eating it on one bad April morning.
It depends on drive time and zone counts. The route planner multiplies your per-stop time by your stops per day so you can see the real day length before you book the route solid.