Is this well or water-treatment call actually paying you? Free, no signup.
Every extra 100 ft of pump depth adds about 45 minutes of pull and set time. It is counted automatically below.
Assumes every call pays and costs like this one.
Well calls die on flat fees. A pump pull priced from the parking lot ignores depth, drive time, and equipment markup, so this calculator builds the quote from every cost line. Start with your bar: the minimum dollars per hour you will work for (100) and a daily take-home goal. Pick a preset: Diagnostic, Pump pull, or Softener install, each filling equipment cost, markup, well depth, and on-site hours as editable starting points. Enter your equipment cost and markup percent, the well depth in feet, and your on-site hours. The tool adds pull and set time automatically, about 45 minutes per 100 ft of depth. Add drive minutes, round-trip miles, and vehicle cost per mile, then tick the emergency box for after-hours work and set your premium percent. Results show the breakdown, the recommended quote (true cost plus markup, rounded up to $25), and your effective hourly rate against your bar. Verdicts are PRICED RIGHT, CLOSE BUT LEAKING, WORKING TOO CHEAP, or LOSING MONEY. The gut check grades your instinct quote, and the day planner turns your goal into calls. No signup; runs on your phone.
Example only, not typical pricing. Pump pull preset at a $100 bar: $900 equipment at 40 percent markup = $1,260. Depth 250 ft adds 250 / 100 x 0.75 = 1.875 pull hours. Committed hours = 1.5 on-site + 1.875 pull + 50 / 60 drive = 4.208 hrs. Labor = 4.208 x 100 = $420.83. Travel = 40 x 0.67 = $26.80. Subtotal = 1,260 + 420.83 + 26.80 = $1,707.63, rounded up to the nearest $25 = $1,725. True cost = 900 + 420.83 + 26.80 = $1,347.63, so profit = $377.37. Effective rate = (1,725 - 900 - 26.80) / 4.208 = $189.67/hr, which clears the $100 bar, so the verdict is PRICED RIGHT. A $1,200 gut quote pays (1,200 - 900 - 26.80) / 4.208 = $64.92/hr and loses $147.63, so the verdict is LOSING MONEY. An $800 daily goal needs 800 / 377.37 = 2.12, rounded up to 3 calls, which is 12.6 committed hours.
**Q** Why does well depth change the price automatically?
Because pulling and setting pipe is labor that scales with depth. Every 100 ft adds about 45 minutes of pull time to the committed hours, which is billed at your bar. Shallow diagnostics skip it entirely.
**Q** Should equipment markup sit on top of my hourly rate?
Yes. Markup and your hourly rate are different money. The rate pays your labor; markup covers procurement, warranty risk, and the capital tied up in parts. The tool applies both.
**Q** What does the emergency premium apply to?
The whole subtotal: marked-up equipment, labor at your bar, and vehicle cost. After-hours calls disrupt your schedule, so the premium scales with the job size, not just your hours.
**Q** Why does the tool count drive time as paid labor?
Because a well call's drive is often the longest leg of the job. Drive minutes join on-site and pull hours in the committed total, so the effective rate reflects the whole trip.
**Q** How does the day planner use the profit number?
It divides your daily take-home goal by the profit per call, then rounds up. If the plan passes 50 committed hours it flags the quote, because at that point you raise the call price, not the call count.