Do you charge your friends for tractor work?

[HawkinsHollow]

Backstory: A buddy of mine is trying to sell his extra lot in our neighborhood. This lot is only about 1/4 of an acre and had been cleared about 4 years ago but has been let go since. Here in the SE USA it doesn't take long for mother nature to take back over and it had grown pretty thick in pokeweed (6' tall), mimosa and wisteria vines. He knew this would be a daunting task to do by hand. He had me over to take a look to see if we could handle it with my tractor. It looked good and I knew I could get it pretty clean with my tractor. What I couldn't bush hog through I could push over and pile up with the grapple.

He mentioned numerous times he would pay me for my troubles because he knew with was quite a task and it was either pay me or rent an inferior machine for as much as he would pay me and then have to bust his butt doing the work. I feel a little bad taking his money, these are pretty good friends. But my time is precious, I have 1,000,000 things of my own going on, they are not hurting for money, and he has had plenty of opportunity to help me on a project as trade for labor and never has. So I told him $50 an hour, which is a price that I think is very fair for a guy and his tractor.

We spend about 4 hours clearing this ~.25 acre and pulling up 10 fence posts and then getting the old fence to the road. He ended up paying me about $75 an hour. So satisfying to put your tractor to work and see the progress! This before shot was after I had already cleared the strip on the front.

 

[EscapedSuburbia]

You should feel good that you helped out a friend. I'm in the middle of prepping a house for sale and moving into a new one. There's too much work for me to do alone and it's hard to find trustworthy people who will just get the job done with no drama and when I do it's a heck of a lot more than $75/hour. Your friend got a bargain.

 

[eolesen]

It depends on who you're helping, and a subtle difference between charging somebody and accepting payment.

In your example, somebody offered to pay you, and set the expectation up front of the rate, which helped offset the cost to your fuel and the investment in your tools. That's totally okay to me.

If you had walked into the situation saying, "this is my hourly rate", that might leave a bad taste with some people.

We live in a rural subdivision where there are a small number of people who have tractors and maintain the community roads. There's an annual donation fund to buy rock for the roads, and the guys donating their time and equipment to do the work dont pay into that. Thats a somewhat fair way to recognize the investment and effort via barter.

 

[Alan W.]

Yes it looks good and he did get a bargain.
This is a business venture for him so he should expect to pay.

 

[HawkinsHollow]

You should feel good that you helped out a friend. I'm in the middle of prepping a house for sale and moving into a new one. There's too much work for me to do alone and it's hard to find trustworthy people who will just get the job done with no drama and when I do it's a heck of a lot more than $75/hour. Your friend got a bargain.

I totally understand what you are saying, having just "finished" a remodel and addition on our house. Finding good workers is not easy OR cheap

It depends on who you're helping, and a subtle difference between charging somebody and accepting payment.

In your example, somebody offered to pay you, and set the expectation up front of the rate, which helped offset the cost to your fuel and the investment in your tools. That's totally okay to me.

If you had walked into the situation saying, "this is my hourly rate", that might leave a bad taste with some people.

You are correct. I could see how some people would get their feelings hurt being asked for money even when a very expensive machine is involved and in paying they are getting a service that would make their life WAY easier.

Yes it looks good and he did get a bargain.
This is a business venture for him so he should expect to pay.

Yeah, and he even mentioned that.

 

[MossRoad]

To answer the question, yes, I charge my friends for tractor work... usually a nice dinner and gas money will suffice.

 

[EscapedSuburbia]

The fact that he paid you more than he originally offered shows how appreciative he is and that he knows what a good deal he got.

 

[Carl_NH]

I agree it was very fair and as others stated its a business transaction for him to sell the land.

I have several neighbors I do things for with my tools and equipment and don't expect to get paid for it, as we all work together and help each other out all the time. We are fortunate to have good neighbors that all work together.

 

[MattB4]

It depends if it is helping a friend or doing work IMHO. Since you cleared the land with your equipment you should be paid for the effort. If he had asked you to do it for free he would be trying to take advantage of you. You have to watch out for those type of folks that always take and never give.

 

[RjCorazza]

That sounds reasonable to me. Most small projects I just do for nothing, or trade labor. I have a reputation for helping out my neighbors, which helps when I do tell them I have expenses, particularly on larger jobs.