How much to charge for rototilling?

[michigandon]

I'm contemplating the acquisition of a YM1510 from LMTC that happens to include a rear-mounted tiller. Not having a garden or any other use for the tiller itself, I though that maybe I could put an ad on the board down at the hardware store and recoup at least a tiny fraction of my new investment that way.

I was thinking ~$45/hour. Too much? Not enough? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

Thanks,
Don

 

[slowrev]

Depends on where you are at. Around here a small garden taking about 1 hr is around $45.

Ben

 

[HGM]

I've heard before that to charge more than $40hr for a compact tractor was high.. However, having a tiller myself and knowing what it can do, allong with what can happen to it, combined with fuel prices, I dont think thats too much at all.. As a matter of fact, personally I would look at the $60 range, but I might not get much work.. I've thought about it myself, though never hired out my tractor(and myself).. Maybe you can call the local rental place and see what they charge, you can then add your labor and mileage to that amount...

Hope this helps a bit, I'm interested in what the other guys think as well...

 

[2nstonge]

I tilled about 30 gardens last year, mostly on the small side (25x50). It was my first year doing it. I charged between $35-50 for the small ones, depended on how far away they were, access to the garden, if it had been tilled before, etc. Once I had my system down I usually could get in & out in less than an hour - including unloading/loading time. Virgin ground was double the rate & double the time or more.

This year due to fuel and insurance increases my base rate will be $75. I'd rather do a few less plots than work for free. I found that customers who had rented tillers in the past were thrilled to spend a few more bucks and just have me do it; no driving to the rental place, no beating themselves up for the day on the back of tiller, no hassles.

Good luck! -Norm

 

[rdln]

Assuming you have investment in truck and trailer, $75/hr with minimum charg o $75 if you can schedule multiple gardens in a row I would give discount.

 

[RobertN]

In this area, that would be WAY high for light tractor work.

For a while we were working our landscape company alongside an in-laws concrete company. I could put my Kubota CUT or a Bobcat S185 on a jobsite, with various toolsets. We ran $35/hour for the Kubota, $65/hr for the Bobcat. The Dump truck was extra, at $65/hr. Owner/operators are running about $85-95/hr for a Case 580K backhoe service.

I always set a 3 hour minimum. It just is not worth the effort and fuel to load the tractor, go to a job site for an hour, reload ect. IF there were a couple of jobs right next to each other, I would work out a deal.

 

[RobertN]

One other thought... Make sure you're licensed and insured. $1M in liability is a good place to start...

 

[scott_vt]

Norm,
There must be a lot of money down in Bennington /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
My neighbor tilled a small garden a few years ago with his 30hp JD and charged $20, and the guy was upset he charged him so much /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif Im sayin to myself, any cheaper and you would be doin it for free /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

scotty

 

[RonR]

Today, charging $20 for a project to me is worse than free---it's costing him $$$ to be a nice guy.

I do friends/neighbor's jobs for free or dinner. But I don't make a practice of doing free jobs.

I have $20K worth of equipment, and the interest on the equipment, taxes, fuel, and oh yeah MY TIME, amounts to more than $20/hr.

As a newbie, I have underestimated my costs in most of the jobs I've done. Now that I'm gettin' more serious about this, I won't do a job without a minimum and I will make money on 95% of my jobs, or I will get out.

People that balk at my estimates are free to buy their own equipment and learn how to run it (which is worth something) or rent it themselves. I don't need practice losing money...........

ron

 

[2nstonge]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">(
There must be a lot of money down in Bennington )</font>

You just have to know which rocks to look under, Scotty! $20 barely covers fuel & a burger for lunch - ouch! - hope he didn't rush back and do it the next year.

Around here lots of guys with big equipment tripping over each other for excavating & other 'cool' jobs but no one wants the small PITA stuff. The landscapers don't want it because it's not the bread & butter weekly customer or a 5 figure total landscape makeover. I get leads from both ends of these groups. My JD dealer gets a few calls about rentals, he sends those people my way too as there are zero tractor rentals within 40 miles of us.

For tilling, I focus on the immediate area and will put together 5-6 jobs for a day in the same part of town. Good money & I'm not driving a half hour between plots. No discount unless I'm driving my tractor next door, the minute it goes on the trailer you pay the full price.

I also do gravel drive repairs, trenching, drainage, landscape prep...typically 1/2 to full day homeowner projects; another 'under-served' market. Last summer I had tractor work 1-2 days a week (most weeks) with no advertising.

Last year was the learning curve, this year it's a business.

"BackYard Tractor Works - Small enough for backyard projects, big enough to get them done".

-Norm