What is a fair price for disking 15 acres?

[rustyshakelford]

Everyone is trying to get rich here. Making $695 minus $75 for equipment/truck fuel is better than sitting on the couch watching tv. Good for this guy wanting to do work. If most on this thread operated their business like they are saying, they would not get many jobs but when they did by a fluke they would think their costs are justified.

Using a rental machine price as comparison isn't a good justification. That's why they are hiring you, it's usually cheaper to hire it out as opposed to renting the machine yourself. My side job is a land clearing company and I stay plenty busy being fair and not trying to make a month salary off a one day job

Brett

 

[J F]

My side job is a land clearing company and I stay plenty busy being fair and not trying to make a month salary off a one day job

Brett

...

 

[RickB]

Everyone is trying to get rich here. Making $695 minus $75 for equipment/truck fuel is better than sitting on the couch watching tv. If most on this thread operated their business like they are saying, they would not get many jobs but when they did by a fluke they would think their costs are justified.

You have no idea how much work those here get, do, or turn away.

Using a rental machine price as comparison isn't a good justification. That's why they are hiring you, it's usually cheaper to hire it out as opposed to renting the machine yourself. My side job is a land clearing company and I stay plenty busy being fair and not trying to make a month salary off a one day job

Brett

You're right, rental rates might not compare. Rental outfits meet all legal and insurance requirements, make full accounting of all fixed and variable expenses, and expect to show a profit, not merely gain experience. They have to allow for downtime due to operator carelessness, indifference, or outright ignorance.
Furthermore, I never had an equipment breakdown or inflicted normal wear & tear on any of my equipment or my truck while I was on my couch. Part of the income from every job needs to be allocated to the next set of tires, filters, or unexpected repair.

 

[Lt CHEG]

Everyone is trying to get rich here. Making $695 minus $75 for equipment/truck fuel is better than sitting on the couch watching tv. Good for this guy wanting to do work. If most on this thread operated their business like they are saying, they would not get many jobs but when they did by a fluke they would think their costs are justified.

Using a rental machine price as comparison isn't a good justification. That's why they are hiring you, it's usually cheaper to hire it out as opposed to renting the machine yourself. My side job is a land clearing company and I stay plenty busy being fair and not trying to make a month salary off a one day job

Brett

Depreciation, and maintenance costs on my tractor and flail mower (I only due cutting and field mowing on the side) are around $35 per hour. This accounts for me replacing my equipment at a time frame that I feel comfortable with and keeps me operating newer equipment that keeps me comfortable. $2 per mile for each direction is a very fair cost for me transporting my equipment that puts a little bit of profit in my pocket but doesn't make me rich either. So for 7 hours of tractor work, 3 hours of driving and 140 miles of round trip I would be into this job for $245 of depreciation/maintenance and $340 for driving wear and tear and fuel costs. So just under $600 for me to break even and donate 10 hours of my time. That's reality, not me being greedy.

Based on what has been described I wouldn't do this job for less than $1000, probably more like $1150 because you always have to budget a little extra for stuff that always goes wrong. That would leave me with about a $40 per hour profit all things considered. I make about $400 per day at my full time job. That works out to roughly $50 per hour, but I also pay taxes on that salary as well. So $40 per hour cash under the table is pretty good, especially considering that every hour I spend doing side work eats into my leisure time. For me I'm not willing to lose a day off for $100. If someone else is willing to then good for them. I do side work for extra money and to buy extra toys that I will enjoy or will make taking care of my things easier and more productive. I've been pretty good at keeping busy enough to have a few extra dollars in my pocket but without losing too much of my leisure time so I guess I'm doing okay. I also realize that work and prices are regional so what works for one person might not work for all.

 

[Rock knocker]

Depreciation, and maintenance costs on my tractor and flail mower (I only due cutting and field mowing on the side) are around $35 per hour. This accounts for me replacing my equipment at a time frame that I feel comfortable with and keeps me operating newer equipment that keeps me comfortable. $2 per mile for each direction is a very fair cost for me transporting my equipment that puts a little bit of profit in my pocket but doesn't make me rich either. So for 7 hours of tractor work, 3 hours of driving and 140 miles of round trip I would be into this job for $245 of depreciation/maintenance and $340 for driving wear and tear and fuel costs. So just under $600 for me to break even and donate 10 hours of my time. That's reality, not me being greedy.

Based on what has been described I wouldn't do this job for less than $1000, probably more like $1150 because you always have to budget a little extra for stuff that always goes wrong. That would leave me with about a $40 per hour profit all things considered. I make about $400 per day at my full time job. That works out to roughly $50 per hour, but I also pay taxes on that salary as well. So $40 per hour cash under the table is pretty good, especially considering that every hour I spend doing side work eats into my leisure time. For me I'm not willing to lose a day off for $100. If someone else is willing to then good for them. I do side work for extra money and to buy extra toys that I will enjoy or will make taking care of my things easier and more productive. I've been pretty good at keeping busy enough to have a few extra dollars in my pocket but without losing too much of my leisure time so I guess I'm doing okay. I also realize that work and prices are regional so what works for one person might not work for all.

I agree with your math. It's not about being greedy, it's is about charging a fair rate for your equipment.

 

[Gary Fowler]

My retired brother in law does maintenance work for a large farm operation. The land owner farms several thousand acres and rents several thousand to would be farmers with the stipulation that they use his equipment. He charges them $8 per acre per trip regardless of what the trip consists of, spraying is same price as no till planting, so he may not make as much on the disking/ planting as spraying but it all equals out. With that big articulating equipment pulling 30 feet of equipment per pass and miles of length without turning he can put some acreage under in a few hours and the renter does the driving so he is just out the fuel and hours on the equipment (he leases all his equipment so hours are not too critical for him)

 

[FatSlob]

Everyone is trying to get rich here. Making $695 minus $75 for equipment/truck fuel is better than sitting on the couch watching tv. Good for this guy wanting to do work. If most on this thread operated their business like they are saying, they would not get many jobs but when they did by a fluke they would think their costs are justified.

Using a rental machine price as comparison isn't a good justification. That's why they are hiring you, it's usually cheaper to hire it out as opposed to renting the machine yourself. My side job is a land clearing company and I stay plenty busy being fair and not trying to make a month salary off a one day job

Brett

I couldn't make any sense of your post until I saw this. Your looking for work to be done
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/rural-living/274381-grimes-county-tx-neighors.html

 

[Recoveryhill]

I do dirt road repairs with a box and grader blade in the mountains around me and pull an occasional car out of a ravine (always get a call on these Sunday morning?). I charge $60 per hour for a Kubota L3700 from the time my butt leaves the chair until it sits back down and I work my machine at a leisurely pace.

Our cost of living here is high and most everybody feels that $60 an hour is a fair deal. I moved dirt that was mounded over where a horse had been buried a few years before. It only took me about an hour. I told her $50 for the job, she handed me the cash and when I got home I had $100 in my pocket. When I saw her next time I told her that I hadn't taken off my magic shorts since I did her job. She said, Magic shorts? I said yea, you gave me fifty dolla and it turned into a hundy in my pocket!

 

[rustyshakelford]

I couldn't make any sense of your post until I saw this. Your looking for work to be done
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/rural-living/274381-grimes-county-tx-neighors.html

What's your point? I considered having a disc run over my place since I've just cleared it. I have instead raked it and got it to a place where it's fine for now.

I had a guy needing about 90 mins of Dozer work done. All he had budgeted was $200. At that point it's not worth it to me to load the 20k lb dozer and do it. Take out mileage and depreciation and wherever else you want. There is a balance. I'm to covered up to handle a job that would take me away from a larger project. If I was sitting around the house with nothing going on, I might do it because its positive cash flow coming in.

Everyone is different but 1k to do the job in question is rediculous. Justify it all you want but that's high for where I am at. I would actually be offended at that. My day rate is $850 and its a lot bigger machine than most are running and the abuse it is subjected to is much higher. If it was a friend, I'd drag it out to the job for that.

Brett

 

[tmc_31]

Hey Guys,

I plowed the food plots yesterday, there were 6 food plots ranging in size from .299 acres to 2.5 acres. The disk was a 12' tandem. I was able to pull it at 3.4 mph (I was planning on a 10 footer and pulling it at 4.2mph). It took 4.5 hrs to complete the job. I had figured that it would take 6-7 hours so I suspected that there was not as much acreage as he said there was. When I got home I checked on Google Planimeter and found that there was only a little over 8 acres in the 6 plots. It was easy work in the air conditioned cab, and had no breakdowns. I did have to change the ends on the hyd hoses so they would attach to my tractor, but that was the only hitch in the job. Turned out that it was 95 miles from home to is ranch. I wound up charging him $526.00 for the job. He paid in cash. I didn't make as much on the job as I would have liked because it went so quickly but I would do in again.

The ground was pretty easy to plow as it was mostly sand. I should be able to pull a 10' tandem pretty well, but I think I will look for an 8 footer so I can haul it down the road on my trailer and plow faster. It's good to learn something each day.

It was a good job, I was happy, the customer was happy and I will likely get more work from him in the future.

Thanks for all your insights,

Tim