pricing a tilling job

[daycab]

Does anyone here charge for work you do on your tractor? I'm considering buying a tiller for my tractor, but in order to justify the expense, I need to make a few dollars with it. I have no idea how much to charge to till a garden. My guess is hourly. Thanks for your help.

 

[PineRidge]

My advice to you would be to check your competition. See what others in your area are charging for the same services and then charge accordingly. Try checking in your newspaper under the classifieds as well as I always see ads in mine for tilling. Good luck with your new business! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[RonR]

Hi Daycab,

I'm facing this question as well. I have a different approach to hourly though. I think it would work better than saying to someone "I'll do it for $X an hour."

Some tilling jobs you will spend more time getting the tractor ready, traveling, setting up, driving home, than actually tilling the ground. So if you tell someone $40 an hour, then spend 15 minutes tilling, they'll want to pay you $10 and you'll have to really make it up in volume to break even (grin).

I think a better approach is to figure out your costs per hour--and some it will be based on guesswork, such as how many hours per year you plan to work for pay. But if you know your costs are $25 an hour, you need to make at least that to cover your costs.

Once you know this, then you can estimate a job IN YOUR MIND at a rate you choose. Say 30 minutes of tilling, plus 30 minutes set up/travel, so bid the job at $40 flat for a one time pass or $75 for once now, once in a week. If customer wants to know an hourly rate, you can say you base your estimate on a fair rate for the equipment, your skill, and your time.

That does a couple of things. You don't have to feel like you have to rush. The customer will know the price before you start. And you can do a quality job, have an iced tea with him, admire the work, etc. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I'd like to tell you that this works great, but I'm just starting, and haven't had any customers yet......

Best wishes,
ron

 

[RobertN]

Find out the going rate in your particular area. Then base your rate your capabiliteis to perform the same work. If CUT's are getting $40/hr, but you are new to the work, maybe go a little less while you learn the ropes.

$45/hr, 3hr minimum. 1st hour is dropoff/setup. This is pretty standard at least around here.

Neighbor runs a Case 580K backhoe. $85/hr, 3hr minimum.
CUT's are getting ~$45/hr
Skidsteers are getting ~$65/hr

In Sacramento, my buddy is $75/hr for his Bobcat and flatbed-dump.

A lot of people do not understand the costs; I surely did not. Once you do it though, it really adds up. You've got:
truck
trailer
tractor
attachments
vehicle insurance
liability insurance
office ect.

So, in order to make the business work, you have to figure these things in.

It's kinda like the plumber who comes out with a 1hr minimum at $65/hr. Takes him 5 minutes to fix a simple problem. DANG! That was expensive! Why didn't he chage for just 5 minutes??? With all his tools, truck, insurance fuel, ect. he may have had a $30-45 overhead just to get the truck in to your driveway.

 

[RayDiers]

Here in Central Wisconsin I charge $40 an hour for tilling. There is a minimum charge of $40. There are many times when I till for only 15 minutes but like said before travel, unload and load all take time. Some customers have their own tillers but do not want to break the ground that first time, saves them a lot of sore arms. One tilling job was for 6 hrs (about 3 acres) with two passes a few days apart.

Ray

 

[tawilson]

Just starting up here also. I was figuring $35/hr based on what I've gathered about the going rate here. I put my tractor and tiller by the road with a sign on it just to see the response last fall and got $300 worth of work(took me 8 hours). People with larger patches are gonna want estimates, you'll just have to get your feet wet and learn. I also am offering brush hog, camp road maintenance(york rake and backblade), stump grinding, chipping, etc. Hoping to recoup some of the small fortune I spent on this stuff.

 

[micromike]

I've been considering doing the same thing and checking out pricing. The method I like best is...

$250 Minimum. This covers the first three hours and $50 an hour after that. This gets you loading time, transport, overhead etc. plus your hourly rate to make it worth it just to get set up, but a fair rate to the customer after your expenses are met.

Adjust the costs to meet your equipment costs etc. and of course you minimum may change depending how far you have to travel.

Mike

 

[PineRidge]

Mike I would think that if others in your area aren't charging a minimum of $200 then you would be waiting for the phone to ring for a long time.

I have never seen any minimums posted in our Ohio classifieds but I am sure that all areas would establish their own rates dependant on how many folks there are with tractors/tillers to offer their services.

 

[Rowski]

I've been doing side work with the tractor for 2 summers now. This last summer I was really busy due to getting a trailer. I actually turned away work and have 1/3 of my next summer booked. Basically I'll look at job for nothing. But I don't go out of my way either, if I'm near by I'll look at it. I charge $45 dollars for local transportation to and from the job site, basically it comes to about an hour of my time. My rates are as follows $45 per hr for plain tractor work with loader and backhoe and driveway work. I get $55 per hr for pto driven equipment, rotary cutter, Harley rake, chipper. Hand labor, chain saw, hand held brush cutter, etc is $35 per hr, that's if I don't use my tractor.

It is hard to give estimates on how much jobs are due to many factors that you don't know about till you start working. If people are really stuck on having a price I usually explain to them my rate for the job and ask them how much they want to spend. If it $500 then that is how much work they get.

Hope this helps.

 

[tawilson]

Rowski,
I was figuring on an extra $5/hour for pto driven equipment. I'm surprised you don't include the backhoe in that also. Also, after you do enough of these projects, don't you get enough of a feel for it to give estimates. I did a couple of small estimated jobs last year and made out well. That also gives you the option of bringing on some cheap help if you need it.