What do Y'all charge ?

[paulsharvey]

So, a question for you smart fellas;
Who owns the tractor? Do you own the tractor as a person, or a company? If you personally own the machine, has anyone set it up where your LLC leases the machine from you? When we start talking about making a real, but small business out of it; this stuff affects taxes, possible business sales, insurance, liability, ect.

If the business owns the machine; what do you do with personal use, if that adds up to a significant amount? Call it business loose?

What I'm talking about is the guy who has a 7-530 job, that sets up a LLC (or any other legit business operation) and does several days per month of hired work; but also uses the machine a good bit at the house/farm?

For the guys doing this, who also legit farm; is the farm business the one doing the hired work, and it's all one organization?

 

[Hay Dude]

I have 2 separate businesses. 1 is AG and ag only. The other is everything else. Each business owns some assets and finances a few assets.
Trying to have farm and off farm income put together was too confusing.

 

[dodge man]

One thing you always have to battle is people that price shop. It seems those people don’t really care about the quality of the work, if some guy is a little cheaper they will use them. The truth is you don’t want to work for those people.

 

[needmoredirt]

Who buys without shopping? Some want quantity not quality and vice versa. Which are you?

What's in your toolbox and the cost means little to anyone but you. What you know and do is everything. I've seen mechanics make more $ with a $.50 pocket flat blade than I care to admit. Seen some that will owe snap-on for eternity.

Do what you say and keep a customer forever, never have to close them again. That customer doesn't care how you charge once proven consistency is established.

Rinse and repeat any kind of business, you should do fine.

YMMV

 

[spruce Deere]

So, a question for you smart fellas;
Who owns the tractor? Do you own the tractor as a person, or a company? If you personally own the machine, has anyone set it up where your LLC leases the machine from you? When we start talking about making a real, but small business out of it; this stuff affects taxes, possible business sales, insurance, liability, ect.

If the business owns the machine; what do you do with personal use, if that adds up to a significant amount? Call it business loose?

What I'm talking about is the guy who has a 7-530 job, that sets up a LLC (or any other legit business operation) and does several days per month of hired work; but also uses the machine a good bit at the house/farm?

For the guys doing this, who also legit farm; is the farm business the one doing the hired work, and it's all one organization?

If I was to really to jump in with the hole hired tractor work gig with the implements that also work on the tree farm, I would do an LLC or something separate from the farm and 'rent out' equipment from the farm.

Best to keep the farm stuffs separate.

 

[two_bit_score]

Edit: When I say making money, I'm taking about clearing at least $30/hour profit/pay for yourself.

Why not just get a wages job if you are only making $30/hour?

 

[paulsharvey]

There's a reason I said "atleast". In theory, you should pay yourself your pay as an operator, and then take business profits on top of that. I know there was an old thread where I offended some people by saying; if your not making money on top of the idiot in the seat, your not making business profit. People miss read when I said idiot in the seat, and took that as an attack on operators (which I certainly wasnt).

Forget who I was listening too, talking about some of this; and basically an owner-operator has no business value, if it's not making profit over and above the operator (owners hourly or daily wages). Now, this is too a large degree about selling a business or using it as collateral. But the 'Business' has no value, beyond its owned assets, if it isn't making profit over and above paying that operator (you/family member/hired help/ect)

 

[spruce Deere]

So many variables, input from every direction and perspectives...

The owner/operator in my way of thinking is the quality of work, knowledge of 'how to' and/or efficiency of work done.

Without me, this tractor gig business is nothing.

I think where most go wrong is they think don't look at ALL the variables, like the weather, insurances, bonds and such. They just look at the surface of how it looks, making money with stuff they already own.

Funny no one has mentioned bonds here...

 

[paulsharvey]

So many variables, input from every direction and perspectives...

The owner/operator in my way of thinking is the quality of work, knowledge of 'how to' and/or efficiency of work done.

Without me, this tractor gig business is nothing.

I think where most go wrong is they think don't look at ALL the variables, like the weather, insurances, bonds and such. They just look at the surface of how it looks, making money with stuff they already own.

Funny no one has mentioned bonds here...

How many private property jobs require a performer bond? Professionally, "significant roadway improvements" do, but the vast majority of work doesn't.

Where you can get snagged, adding "additionally insured" parties,

 

[spruce Deere]

You are correct on the private work and bonds, but still have some kind of insurance.

Just depends on how big one wants to go with there 'tractor work'. Like spraying or poisoning gophers.

 

[paulsharvey]

So, one thing you do have to think about, atleast in FLa, and everywhere I've ever been; if you're excavating, you need to enter a dig ticket, with 811. That's not a big deal really, and takes about 15 minutes to enter, and 72 hour wait. Where the issue is, if they come back with a positive response of "must be white lined", that's a trip to white line and another 72 hours, before you ever start the job. Ideally, you would meet with customer, review job/scope of work, agree on a price, and whiteline while on site. I personally am dead set against accepting a job site unseen, and even at an hour total to review the job (drive each way, look at/walk/discuss scope), that's an unbillable hour, that needs to be added to the price per hour of the jobs.

The insurance thing is what made me want to mention that; a simple phone line could very easily run $5k; and it's not out of the question to do a $50k damage if you get into a medium sized ductbank placing a culvert or something.

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

Just for me, I won't/can't do ANY excavation work. Nor do I want to. The additional insurance premium for even whispering the word "excavation" is BRISK.

So no excavator or backhoe in my future. At least not for hire/pay.

 

[ssgp2]

Just for me, I won't/can't do ANY excavation work. Nor do I want to. The additional insurance premium for even whispering the word "excavation" is BRISK.

So no excavator or backhoe in my future. At least not for hire/pay.

I don't do excavation. I will do gravel driveways and reconditioning though, so I typically only go down about 2 to 4 inches, if that. I did get into a customer laid gas line once while reconditioning a driveway. It was flex at about 1.5" below grade. He admitted to laying it and had the stuff to repair it. I helped him fix it, but still.

 

[spruce Deere]

811 is a national call before you dig number.

I did pre-works on all jobs, see if i could do the work or not, Give a ball park figger on said task or tasks.

Looking at everything now I was LEAN on my guessing earlier.

 

[Fixastuff]

Insurance is such a small part of my underground business expenses it’s almost not worth factoring in. That’s with 5mil liability, 1mil auto, 1mil umbrella, worksman comp and equipment insured.

 

[Fixastuff]

If you have a business and make $30/hr you don’t own a business you own a job.

 

[paulsharvey]

If you have a business and make $30/hr you don’t own a business you own a job.

That's a better way of saying what I was trying to say.

 

[two_bit_score]

Basically what I said. You might as well get a wages job for $30 an hour. You won't have all the risks and hassles of 'owning' that job. You just do your job and get paid.

Why not just get a wages job if you are only making $30/hour?

If you have a business and make $30/hr you don’t own a business you own a job.

That's a better way of saying what I was trying to say.

 

[masscity]

Off point a little, but here's my story. Around 2015 I needed to rent a dozer, no rentals anywhere near here, but a couple of contractors have some.

I called the first one and he said his dozer is tied up. I remembered the second guy and he said ok, not being used. I asked how much is this going to cost do I have to get a bank loan? He said not much.

He brings the dozer, can't remember the model, but similar to an old Cat D5. He said all I have to do is make sure I put some grease in the left tensioner and the fuel tank is on empty, put some fuel in it.

Up here they usually charge $75 for each pickup and delivery. I ended up having it for two days and maybe used it for 3 hours.
When he picked it up the fuel tank was full and cost me $95. I thanked him a few times.

Sad thing is that he died around 8 years later at the age of 46 leaving a wife and two kids.