Tiller Tiller is all most paid for

deere755 · Apr 11, 2005

I got my new Caroni tiller 3 or 4 weeks ago and my neighbers started asking me to till their gardens. My wife suggested I run an ad in the newspaper. If I can stay as busy as I have been I will probably pay for it this weekend. Maybe I should have bought it a long time ago.

drpepper · Apr 12, 2005

Now that sounds like a deal. An implement that pays for itself is so short a time. Make some money and have fun too. Can't be beat.

Indydirtfarmer · Apr 12, 2005

( I got my new Caroni tiller 3 or 4 weeks ago and my neighbers started asking me to till their gardens. My wife suggested I run an ad in the newspaper. If I can stay as busy as I have been I will probably pay for it this weekend. Maybe I should have bought it a long time ago. )

I started doing essentially that same thing about 20 years ago. My son and I farm and do commercial bush hogging/ new lawn installs. We had a tiller, so it was decided to do "some side work". Well, it sorta snow-balled on us. Now we don't have enough time to do all the tilling that we get calls for. I try to limit it to work near the house. (Cut down on travel time) Anywhere from $35 to $75 a pop for small to medium sized gardens adds up quick. I went out yesterday afternoon and knocked down over $400 from dinnertime until dark. It ain't robbing banks, but it pays the bills. /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

2nstonge · Apr 12, 2005

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

Indydirtfarmer · Apr 12, 2005

( 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 )

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

Indydirtfarmer · Apr 12, 2005

Replying to my own post..... For the record, that work was accomplished at the expence of $18 fuel in the truck, and $16.50 in the tractor.

fig · Apr 12, 2005

Indy,

Thanks for making up my mind for me (wish I could say the same for my wife). I have been looking at the KK tillers for my garden and tilling on the side like you. I was going to do the same ad in the newspaper and a flyer at my buddy's gas station. It has been SO wet here lately that things will have to dry out some to till.

Fig

millsnhills · Apr 12, 2005

Indy,

Do you simply till or do you also row (Plow) the gardens. I got the tiller a few weeks ago and by the time I had got it home made 200.00. That was to till a whole yard 2 1/2 hours.

With the gardens I would suspect people or some would want rows.

Thanks

Nasty135 · Apr 12, 2005

Indy, Where do I sign up?? /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I like it all but the COPPERHEAD part! /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif(meet mr. shovel) /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Maybe if I ever get my personal projects under control I will start to do side work again /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

I used to bushog a co-workers 2-3 acres once a year for $150-175 but he was 25miles away and it got to be a headache loading and unloading time coupled with travel time and my feeling that I should be home doing what I need to do is really what made me quit doing it /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif.

Indydirtfarmer · Apr 12, 2005

I (moldboard) plow a few. Mostly breaking sod. Mostly I just till them. I have a nice little 2-row planter that I use primarily in my garden, but I plant sweet corn and green beans for a couple "customers". I don't do the "laying off" of rows.