Looking to make some extra cash with my tractor

[TheMadOne]

My dad did that with the lawn mower. Started it up, warmed it up, hit the PTO switch and spat out one of our cats. Who then ran 20 feet or so before succumbing to its wounds.

His name was OC, as in Other Cat.

 

[Greenland South]

Why is it, every time a question similar to the one by the OP is asked the doomsday crowd appears. Similar to a car wreck where everyone stands around gawking but doing nothing constructive.
To the OP, do a bit of research. How much money do want over a period of, let's say a year. What are your operating expenses likely to be over that period. Maintenance, fuel and insurance. Don't make the mistake a lot of people make and try to low ball your rates. A good indicator to gauge your rates is, if you're getting 3 out of five jobs you quote you're in the right ball park. Any less you're probably to high, any more you're leaving money on your customers table. There are some really easy and free calculators on the internet that will give you an idea of what your bottom line will likely look like.
I understand from your first post you're not looking for a full time business. Speaking from experience, you might however find over time you don't want your day job anymore.

 

[topbuilder]

Several years back my little E280 needed a radiator re-core and some other parts and labor. I thought maybe it should earn its keep, and I had some free time between jobs. I had already been doing my own temp driveways and grading on new construction jobs. I placed an add for crushed concrete driveways. Next thing you know I'm doing a lot of tractor work... I laid 250 tons in one day once. Admittedly the 26HP hino was not enough tractor. I got good at placing it pretty close to where it needed to be with the dump truck. I made some decent money. Now I have a 345D with a six way blade and shuttle trans. It only requires that I be in the seat. Magic just seems to happen after that as I "will" it all in place.
Materials skyrocketed. A aprox 14 ton load is $550 now. Crushed concrete is the same price as limestone where it used to be cheaper. Might be an idea for you?
Oh, and I did all that with no insurance.

 

[zmoz]

Consider starting an LLC and working under that. The customer hires your LLC, not you personally. In the event that somebody needs to be sued, it is your LLC, and not you personally. If the LLC has no assets, it can simply go bankrupt and ignore any debt or judgements against it. It would have no effect on your personal debt or credit.

You can start an LLC online for about $50-150.

LLC stands for limited liability corporation. It's sole purpose is to limit people's liability in business transactions.

 

[Citydude]

Consider starting an LLC and working under that. The customer hires your LLC, not you personally. In the event that somebody needs to be sued, it is your LLC, and not you personally. If the LLC has no assets, it can simply go bankrupt and ignore any debt or judgements against it. It would have no effect on your personal debt or credit.

You can start an LLC online for about $50-150.

LLC stands for limited liability corporation. It's sole purpose is to limit people's liability in business transactions.

Very good advice.

 

[LD1]

You absolutely need insurance IMO.

Sure, I have to compete with alot of low-ballers running a $1000 8n-cutter combo working for beer money, but that is not the right way to do business, and if something bad ever happened.....they are screwed.

I have an erie policy. 2M/4M gen liability. It runs about $600/yr. Dont bother getting signatures from the customer thinking you are covering yourself without insurance. A bushhog can easily throw a rock several hundred feet. You could damage the neighbors, or a car driving down the highway.

As for job pricing, I have similar sized equipment as you. I dont charge by the hour, rather I charge by the job. But when figuring an estimate, I calculate how long I think its gonna take to arrive at my bid. Dont forget to include drive times. My target is $60/hr from the time I leave my shop til the time I return. So if a customer calls, wants 5 acres done, and it was just done last year (so I know it aint too bad), I know I can do ~2.5 acres an hour. So 2 hours on the job. If they are 45 min drive away....theres another 1.5 hrs. So 3.5 hrs x $60 = $210 So I quote them $210 but NEVER mention $60/hr. Just the flat price.

Some jobs I come in at $50/hr by the time I am, others come in at $70/hr. But it all works out in the end.

You also need to establish a minimum charge. For me its $175. Any less and it just aint worth throwing the BH on and loading up. Sure, there are alot of jobs where "someones lawnmower broke and their yard got ahead of them" and they want me to come in and do an acre or so around the house......$175 or it aint worth it. I dont get many of them jobs.....dont know what they end up doing? Finding someone working for beer money or burning up a cheap MTD rider??? Dont know, dont care.

 

[bdog]

LLC's are great and I have two of them myself. That being said depending on your assets and net worth it might not make sense to create one for something like this but then again it might. When I was in college I had a business that actually had a fairly high chance of something going wrong and gettin sued but I didn't have a LLC. My rationale was I was a broke college student with a negative net worth renting a house with no assets to speak of. I guess you could always get a huge judgement slapped against you but generally in a lawsuit if the at fault person doesn't have significant assets the lawyers will just go after the insurance.

If you were going into this full time a LLC would be good but part time it might be more hassle than it is worth.

 

[kthompson]

I guess I am one of the doomsayers with telling you to get insurance: LLC or not you can be sue more ways than one. Also laws on LLC do vary from state to state and don't a lawyer is telling here an LLC will protect you totally.

But as LD1 said get the insurance especially if you are running a rough cut mower. Too dangerous a machine. I do no work for hire but I carry liability insurance for farm operation: any time you put a machine on the road, any time some is near your machine when it is running (permission or not and don't mean within 10 feet) you are running risk. Cost on insurance is too low.

 

[zmoz]

I guess you could always get a huge judgement slapped against you but generally in a lawsuit if the at fault person doesn't have significant assets the lawyers will just go after the insurance.

It's generally advised to go after somebody even if they have nothing to get, judgements last 7-10 years in most states, and then can be renewed. They earn 9% or so interest the entire time. You may be a broke worthless college kid now, but, what about in ten years? If you ever want to buy a house you'll have to settle that judgement.

Also it is extremely easy for somebody to sue you in small claims court, which is generally for anything under $10,000. Lawyers are not allowed and the fees are usually less than $100. It is VERY easy and cheap to sue somebody.

But I agree you should also have some liability insurance.

 

[GoldenCityMuse]

You can easily be sued for the $$ value of your tractor. Just be aware.