How much does it cost per hour to run a tractor.

ovrszd · Jan 4, 2015

KiwiBro said:
Provided they can't find somebody else with a tractor offering the same services for less who is still happy to be making some money over costs. Or they can't hire a tractor for less.

I know I'm in the minority in my thinking but getting rich isn't anywhere near as powerful a motivator for me as doing a fair days work for a fair pay that covers expenses and allows a little aside for rainy days or emergencies. Anything more than that and I start feeling guilty and like I'm becoming one of lifes speculative, $-driven undesirable cogs in a selfish capitalist machine that is determined to run our country and all aboard off yet another financial cliff.

Now, please don't get me wrong, I'm not dissing anyone here, and if $60/hr is what it takes to earn that fair living, then sweet as, but I just wanted to sound my own, allegedly insane, cautionary note about the responsibility I think we all have to keep a lid on things, lest it turns into an unsustainable train wreck just like all the others that litter history. The ones we never seem to learn from.

I wish you were my next door neighbor. I'd save a lot of wear and tear on my tractors. I'd hire you to do all the hard stuff.

KiwiBro · Jan 4, 2015

ovrszd said:
I wish you were my next door neighbor. I'd save a lot of wear and tear on my tractors. I'd hire you to do all the hard stuff.

If that's what it takes to keep me off the streets, and especially if there is a neighbourly beer & BBQ at the end of the job, you can count me in.

ovrszd · Jan 4, 2015

KiwiBro said:
If that's what it takes to keep me off the streets, and especially if there is a neighbourly beer & BBQ at the end of the job, you can count me in.

Dang it, I knew there was a catch!!!!

Sprinklerman · Jan 4, 2015

Its interestimg to hear that someone would run a tractor/loader for $60.00 an hour . Prices are definatly regional . I am in a Maryland suburb ( nothing is cheap here) . We are getting tractor/loader $95.00 per hour with a 4 hour minimum and travel time is in that 4 hours . If we use a moving implement like a rotary cutter , or tiller , its more depending on the job.

TSO · Jan 4, 2015

KiwiBro said:
Provided they can't find somebody else with a tractor offering the same services for less who is still happy to be making some money over costs. Or they can't hire a tractor for less.

I know I'm in the minority in my thinking but getting rich isn't anywhere near as powerful a motivator for me as doing a fair days work for a fair pay that covers expenses and allows a little aside for rainy days or emergencies. Anything more than that and I start feeling guilty and like I'm becoming one of lifes speculative, $-driven undesirable cogs in a selfish capitalist machine that is determined to run our country and all aboard off yet another financial cliff.

Now, please don't get me wrong, I'm not dissing anyone here, and if $60/hr is what it takes to earn that fair living, then sweet as, but I just wanted to sound my own, allegedly insane, cautionary note about the responsibility I think we all have to keep a lid on things, lest it turns into an unsustainable train wreck just like all the others that litter history. The ones we never seem to learn from.

The negative side of this however, is that those people actually trying to run a legit business, paying for insurance, advertising, and investing in expensive equipment... Have to compete with people offering lowball pricing for rainy day money.

There was a guy around here on Craigslist offering to brush-hog for like $25 or $30 per acre... But the industry pricing is anywhere from $50-75 /acre depending on conditions. That guy is negatively affecting the market by causing actual companies to lower industry prices just to compete. You mention a responsibility to "keep a lid on things" but how would you feel if you put sometime out of business by low balling jobs, thus negatively affecting expected standard revenues?

KiwiBro · Jan 4, 2015

ovrszd said:
Dang it, I knew there was a catch!!!!

There's a few neighbours around here I wouldn't dream of asking for payment but I know they feel a bit uncomfortable with that so we always try to figure something out. Lets just say this household isn't short of eggs and various preserves / jams and some days there is nothing better than a quick chat over a cuppa tea at the end of the day. It's one of the things I am most looking forward to about retirement- getting to spend more time in the hood using the tractor as an excuse for a good chin wag, swapping diesel and some spare time for cups of tea and cheese scones.

ovrszd · Jan 4, 2015

KiwiBro said:
There's a few neighbours around here I wouldn't dream of asking for payment but I know they feel a bit uncomfortable with that so we always try to figure something out. Lets just say this household isn't short of eggs and various preserves / jams and some days there is nothing better than a quick chat over a cuppa tea at the end of the day. It's one of the things I am most looking forward to about retirement- getting to spend more time in the hood using the tractor as an excuse for a good chin wag, swapping diesel and some spare time for cups of tea and cheese scones.

I totally understand!!!! I am retired. I help friends all the time. I get wayyyyyy more out of it than they do!!!!!

KiwiBro · Jan 4, 2015

TSO said:
The negative side of this however, is that those people actually trying to run a legit business, paying for insurance, advertising, and investing in expensive equipment... Have to compete with people offering lowball pricing for rainy day money.

There was a guy around here on Craigslist offering to brush-hog for like $25 or $30 per acre... But the industry pricing is anywhere from $50-75 /acre depending on conditions. That guy is negatively affecting the market by causing actual companies to lower industry prices just to compete. You mention a responsibility to "keep a lid on things" but how would you feel if you put sometime out of business by low balling jobs, thus negatively affecting expected standard revenues?

If my business and its operation is legal, acting morally, is not hanging customers out to dry, and can help me and employees make a living, then the fact others are overcharging or have made decisions that have lead them to have a bloated cost base they are unwilling to correct, should be their problem not mine.

But, this is where I come back to fairness more often than not, and our collective responsibilities towards efficient market mechanisms. If people are not running a legal business then they are not playing fair and for the system to work efficiently we have a responsibility to expose them and guard against illegal behaviour.

Rules are there to avoid lowballers leaving customers high and dry or not paying their share of taxes/etc, or at least should be, and it's up to every single one of us to uphold societal rules lest society continues its slide into an immoral abyss.

Furthermore, apart from those instances of genuine ignorance, the customers of the rat-bag operators who know or reasonably should suspect the business is not paying its taxes or treating staff poorly, or simply cannot do the job well legally at those prices, need to stop enabling that behaviour and are just as bad as the rogue operators.

I get my fair share of people wanting to pay cash for a discount. The inference being if it is cash I don't have to declare the income, don't pay tax on it and therefore should be able to do the job cheaper. They are no better than the ratbag operators in my opinion. There was a report here in NZ not long ago that estimated tax evasion was higher than our currently over-stretched national health budget. This is but one reason why I feel my generation has failed in its duty of stewardship and governance.

*editing to add*
If we continue to focus solely on expected revenues, without due regard for the undeniable fact that our revenues are somebody else's costs and ultimately this will reflect in our own costs of living or that of future generations, then we will never break free from the shackles of unsustainable expectations and rising costs, this blind adherence to totally ridiculous definitions of perpetual economic growth that snowballs into an unsustainable train wreck. How many boom and bust cycles must society endure before it does enough to learn from history and actively knits the avoidance thereof into what's left of the moral fabric of society?

Green Acres Homestead · Jan 4, 2015

When I started this forum I had no idea it would turn into such a heated debate. I do however enjoy it because the points of view are heart felt. As for me I do my fair share of freebees but I also have to make a living and help my kids in college. My kids are the first on my priority list. And yes, I believe in running a legit business, claiming all income and paying taxes and charging a reason rate so I can do a good job and make a fair amount of money.

I am surprised at the amount of people who don't think I should even calculate how much it cost to run a tractor. I do respect their opinion thou.

Enjoy.