Tractor business?? Advice/info

Indydirtfarmer · May 25, 2005

I started out while in high school, some 34 years ago, doing garden plowing with my dads tractor. I made quite a bit of "side money" back then, and thought it would be a good way to make some REAL money...

After high school, I bought a truck and trailer from dad, and found a deal on a nice Ford 3000. I did bush hogging, plowing, discing, finish grading, snow removal, and anything else I could do to stay busy.

A few years later, I started farming with dad. He finally sold off the dairy cattle, so I decided that farming was fun again...

We had quite a bit of equipment that was busy only during planting and harvest seasons. I put a couple tractors to work with bush hogging....

OK....Now we're up to today... I still farm almost 1400 acres. I also keep 3 (this year) tractors running almost full-time doing mowing, and new lawn installs. My son (now 26) works with me, and 3 employees.

We have 2 truck/trailer rigs to haul equipment. They're '04 Dodge 4WD, 2500/20'+5' goosenecks. Both carry fuel transfer tanks. Each represent an investment of near $50,000.

Tractors.... I currently run a pair of 2440 John Deeres (60 HP), a 4240 Deere (110 HP), and a 4440 Deere (130HP) that's a "stand-in" when we get really busy. (It's primarily used on the farm)

Mowers.... 2 Woods BB840, 7' 3-point. A 15' Bush Hog "Legacy" batwing. And an older John Deere 15' batwing.

Other equipment.... 80" Howard Rotovator, 72" King Kutter tiller, Woods 84" box blade, 84" Gill pulverizer, 2 International Harvester 8'-6" wheel disc's, Misc fertilizer spreaders, a Ferguson Yardmaker seeder, A couple different sprayer, along with required license for pesticide application, John Deere 3-bottom plow, and a few other things that I just don't have time to list....

Prices... I charge $75 an hour for the first 2 hours, then $60 an hour after that for the 60 HP tractors (and whatever impliment is hanging on it) 110 and 130 HP tractors get $125 an hour. If a job is more than 25 miles from "home", there's a $1 a mile haul charge (one way)

In the springtime, we keep one truck/trailer/tractor busy 8 to 10 hours a day doing garden plowing/tilling. That is $75 minimum, with hourly rate applying IF it goes over 1 hour. That gets us up and running in the spring, before bush hogging "season" kicks off.

New lawn installs allow me to "sell" seed and straw, along with the labor/equipment charges.

Insurance....

Inland Marine policy on trucks/trailers/tractors. $1,000,000 coverage. Liability insurance to $1,000,000. Then the standard fare on workers comp.

Like I said, I farm too, ALONG WITH...I manage the maint. Dept. at a large country club. (Who needs rest...???) My son does 75% of the management of the tractor business nowdays. It's a seasonal business without a doubt. During the 6 months when we're busy, it brings in more than enough to make it worthwhile. We have several contracts for mowing road right-of-ways, a few horse farms where we cut pastures, but most is commercial real estate from a couple realtors.

SO.... It takes time to build up to this much business, but the potential is there. I'd venture to say the first year or 2 will find just enough work to keep it interesting, but not enough to stay really busy. Give it time. Get your name out there. Run a newspaper add. Hand out business cards to EVERYONE who might be interested. pound on doors.

"Build it and they will come"......

Good luck,
Bill

SCOOBY14B · May 25, 2005

Again, thanks for the info. All VERY useful.

I realize that I am at a great disadvantage because I would have to start from scratch meaning truck, trailer, tractor, etc...also not having the need for one personally. We had some property about 5 years ago we almost built on and would have needed a tractor, but we chose another location for our home.

I've been contemplating this idea for about 3 years, but I am just a big 'ole chicken to go in a good bit of debt not knowing how it is gonna do. I'd love to do it for the extra money and the psychological treatment of it. I remember being on a piece of equipment and loving it. Although, that was working FOR someone else and not having to worry about the particulars of a business.

Thanks for the ideas, info and opinions...all is greatly appreciated.

KiotiJohn · May 25, 2005

( I've been contemplating this idea for about 3 years, but I am just a big 'ole chicken to go in a good bit of debt not knowing how it is gonna do. )
I've read quite a number of successful business persons' advice on business, and the overall general feeling is usually that if one is not willing to sacrifice everything to make the business work, then it's a bad idea to get into it.
John

2nstonge · May 25, 2005

No offense KiotiJohn, but I, for one, am not willing to 'sacrifice everything to make the business work'; I bought good, solid, reputable equipment that has cash value at the end of the day. If I have to get out for whatever reason I won't lose my house - or my sanity. But what I was prepared to sacrifice to make this gig work was my free time. Most days I'm the first one up in the morning checking email and then it's out the door and the next 10 hours at customer sites, after dinner & chit chat with the family it's into the office for a couple of hours to prepare quotes, invoices, mail, return calls, etc. And lately I've been working at least a half-day on Saturdays too. Doesn't leave much time for sittin' around watching the grass grow but it's what needs to be done at this stage of the game to keep the business viable - and profitable.

Fortunately, on the family side, my girls are older and off doing their own thing, my step sons spend about 1/2 time with their dad who lives nearby, and my wife works full time and has just gone back to school part time for her Masters degree...if they didn't have their own distractions it would be much harder to carve out the time to keep this going.

-Norm

Indydirtfarmer · May 25, 2005

I'm in agreement 100%. In fact, I think the #1 attribute a successful business owner can have is the straight-up REFUSAL to sacrifice EVERYTHING. Yes, you give all of your time, energy, and abilities. BUT... No one I know that has "made it" would go into a venture willing to sacrifice their sanity, families well being, or for that matter, their last dollar.

On the flip side, you know in the back of your mind that there is always that remote possibility of failure, but it's just not something you are willing to accept.

Back when I was a youngin' and worked at Honda, oneof their "higher ups" told me that the biggest obstical to success for most people is their fear of failure. The next biggest obstical is their fear of success.

There's a lot of truth to that.....

AlanB · May 25, 2005

I would talk with some of the Lawn Care Operators in your area that want to expand and do installs, stone work etc.

If you could partner with several of them, and provide the equipment and experience that they do not have to help bring them (and yourself) to the next level, it can really work out to be a win win. You would need relationships with several to make it work.

I would second adamantly the buy good used thought. (with respect to tractors) If you buy well, you should be able to recoup your money with a minimum of hasell. You will find that what seems like an abundance of time now, quickly gets swallowed up. I would not, absolutely not, buy something that needed a lot of work. You will spend your time working on it, not on making money. When we buy mowers, I only buy new. The money difference is not worth the hassell difference. (tractors are a different thing)

My words of business advice that I like to share with folks going into it.

The secret to making it in a small business is too only work half days.

The good thing is that it does not matter which 12 hours you pick.

Walk away from customers that you have a bad feeling about sooner rather than later.

When you start thinking of dropping your prices to bring in work (and it will cross your mind) I remember what a good friend Chuck Shoop told me a long time back.

He said, you can go to bed broke and hungry tonight, or you can take that job and go to bed tired, broke and hungry.

Our website www.awomanstouch.net

It should work, but you are starting at a pretty big disadvantage having to get it "All"

Maybe not what you want to hear, but have you thought about setting up a one ton dump bed truck (say 10 K ) and do hauling and delivery for the local LCO's. Deliver mulch, haul off debris etc. It would get you in the door with the folks doing that type of work. Or maybe a dump trailer and a truck, or your current truck?

Just tossing out ideas.

Best of luck.

Al Bechard

SCOOBY14B · May 25, 2005

( I would talk with some of the Lawn Care Operators in your area that want to expand and do installs, stone work etc.

If you could partner with several of them, and provide the equipment and experience that they do not have to help bring them (and yourself) to the next level, it can really work out to be a win win. You would need relationships with several to make it work.

I would second adamantly the buy good used thought. (with respect to tractors) If you buy well, you should be able to recoup your money with a minimum of hasell. You will find that what seems like an abundance of time now, quickly gets swallowed up. I would not, absolutely not, buy something that needed a lot of work. You will spend your time working on it, not on making money. When we buy mowers, I only buy new. The money difference is not worth the hassell difference. (tractors are a different thing)

My words of business advice that I like to share with folks going into it.

The secret to making it in a small business is too only work half days.

The good thing is that it does not matter which 12 hours you pick.

Walk away from customers that you have a bad feeling about sooner rather than later.

When you start thinking of dropping your prices to bring in work (and it will cross your mind) I remember what a good friend Chuck Shoop told me a long time back.

He said, you can go to bed broke and hungry tonight, or you can take that job and go to bed tired, broke and hungry.

Our website www.awomanstouch.net

It should work, but you are starting at a pretty big disadvantage having to get it "All"

Maybe not what you want to hear, but have you thought about setting up a one ton dump bed truck (say 10 K ) and do hauling and delivery for the local LCO's. Deliver mulch, haul off debris etc. It would get you in the door with the folks doing that type of work. Or maybe a dump trailer and a truck, or your current truck?

Just tossing out ideas.

Best of luck.

Al Bechard )

Thanks for the insight. I am looking at all avenues. Having to sell my current truck and buy another for me is a pretty big roadblock. I HATE buying used vehicles for obvious reasons. In order for me to keep costs down to a minimum I would like to stay below $7500. Around my area, that doesn't buy a lot of truck, especially when looking at 3/4-1 tons. Everything in the trader today in that price range had well over 150k miles (gas a nd diesel).

Gonna keep looking into it. I may have to wait a year or so until I have some more cash to throw into it. Only thing about that is the longer I wait, the more people that get ahead of me and take up the business.

Again, thanks everyone. I still welcome any and all info.

KiotiJohn · May 26, 2005

( No offense KiotiJohn, but I, for one, am not willing to 'sacrifice everything to make the business work'; I bought good, solid, reputable equipment that has cash value at the end of the day. )
Why would there be any offense? I was simply stating the thoughts of others who have made huge successes in their lives.

I don't imagine they meant sacrificing their sanity or families, but were talking more about the possibility of losing all of one's money though.

One thing anyone interested in doing this type of business has to remember is that you're going to be the one going out to bid the jobs. Believe me, that can take a lot of your spare time away, and you'll still need time to do the jobs.

I've done enough side work to know how involved that part is, and customers are eager for you to just show up, give them a price, and do the job. Takes a lot of time.

I am in a good position to do all kinds of tractor work because my job is strictly on an on call basis. They call, I work or I don't, up to me. A few days a week and I'm fine. Leaves me time to bid jobs and do them without much problem. Still, I don't want to work ALL the time as I've done that since I was a teenager. I'm happy to be able to be selective, and just work when I want to.

If I had a full time job, I don't think I'd even consider trying to do much tractor work.
John

JoeinTX · May 26, 2005

"Gonna keep looking into it. I may have to wait a year or so until I have some more cash to throw into it. Only thing about that is the longer I wait, the more people that get ahead of me and take up the business..."

I remember thinking that same thing myself. Don't worry about that too much as the people getting into and out of the business pretty well even out. I hated it this year when in March a nice little piece of property very close to me that I'd had my eye on as a prospect was suddeenly being mowed on a regular basis. For Goodness sake?!? It was only March, my tractor was still in rebuild, I hadn't thought about hitting anyone up about jobs until atleast April, and...how were these guys getting the jump on me so early?.... Since then, every lot I'd considered prime pickings had been cut before I could even get around to finding the time to go talk to them about the job.

Again, not to be pessimistic. I consider myself a "realist" and I am only relaying my simple observations as someone who was in your very spot.
It's one thing to already have the equipment and to be simply looking for a little sidework to help make it pay for itself. It's a very different thing to lay out a large amount of money up front with the hopes that you can find the time and work to justify spending the cash.
Me? I opted for somewhere in the middle of these two extremes-spending what I felt comfortable with while also knowing I'd be starting cold with the job prospects.

I am the quintesential transplanted country boy in the big city who craved the feel of operating equipment just like back home on the farm. It makes me feel good, I enjoy it, and coming home covered in grease and dirt I consider a badge of honor indicating I've accomplished something for the day as opposed to staring at Excel sheets on the computer or participating in the mind-numbing conference calls all day.

GATC35 · May 26, 2005

On the Southside of Atlanta this type business is very "cut throat". Everybody will bid lower than your bid to get the work. This makes it very hard to make any money. Most guys do it as a side job to make money to buy more implements for their own use. I have done work for neighbors, but that's only $50.00 to $100.00 dollars at a time. It would be very hard in my area to get enough good paying work to make your tractor payment.

Not trying to be negative, your area maybe totally different.