</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I know pricing will be regionally biased, but what are the price ranges you guys charge? Indy says "$35-75, for small to medium gardens"...is this typical? Is small 25ft x 50ft"?
I'm at the tail end of mud-season and will be out tilling by the end of the month (my first year). 6 customers on the list from 1 newspaper ad. NO ONE is offering this service locally - unless you're on the landscapers summer contract lawn service, then they might do it - so tilling price info isn't readily available. I don't want to price myself out of business before I start, but don't want to leave too much $$ on the table either.
Thanks much, -Norm )</font>
My prices all depend on where the garden is (in relation to where I'M at) and who I'm doing it for.
Let's look at what I did yesterday for instance....
One was for "The Cabbage Patch Settlement". A local Baptist Church does a "community garden" for inter-city kids every year. They have me to till about an acre. It's about a 10 minute tractor ride from the house. I do it essentially for fuel cost and a small charge. ($30) If it would have been for a private individual, they'de have paid about $100 for the same sized area.
I did a 40 X 100' garden for a lady that I've tilled for over 15 years. It was about a 1/4 mile from home. ($40)
I did a 150'X250' garden for a total stranger, that required loading up the tractor on the trailer and hauling 10 miles. ($100) (I'd consider that a "bigger garden" on the average)
I did a 25' X 35' garden for an elderly couple just down the road from the house. I've been doing work for them for 20+ years. (I mow 6 acres, 4 times a summer) That was ($25) It took all of 15 minutes, travel time and all.
Then I did 5 small gardens with-in a half mile of each other, at $50 a pop. Took about 15 minutes each.
After a while, you just get a "feel" for what a job is worth. (Be that to myself OR to the customer)
I run an add in the newspaper. First-time callers, who require hauling to their site, pay a MINIMUM of $75, and I need to be CLEARING $60 an hour. Old "friends" get a break sometimes.
Bottom line, I make several thousand dollars every spring doing what I enjoy. Can't put a price on that...
One thing I try to keep in mind.... It may be WORTH $100 to plow or till a garden (when considering the cost of a new tractor...) But the market will only support so much. If it gets too expensive, most people will quit putting out a garden. Gotta stay "affordable"....
I won't GIVE AWAY my work, but I'll work for less when the conditions require it.
Bottom line... In 4 hours and 20 minutes, I bagged over $400 cash, and enjoyed doing it. (except for when I stepped on the Copperhead at the last stop.... Dang near soiled me-self!) /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
