What to Charge for Rototilling

[bjr]

I do a few gardens 1/3 to 1/2 acres. If I've tilled there before $75 if I have to plow first or disc first then $125 to $150 some of this is converting old pasture to gardens and them old sod plots cuts up hard. I do the non legel just word of mouth type contracts and I tell them I don't repair unground sprinklers dug up and tire print are their problems. Most of the people are fixed incomes or low income and just want to be able to grow some veggies for the local Farmers Market. Their my neihbors so I do a decent job and it's mostly sandy soil. There's one or two that didn't pay and I don't help them anymore. I have to cover the fuel and wear on the machinery some. I'm not making a profit just helping some neigbhbors occasionly. bjr

 

[Farmwithjunk]

If you carry insurance (which you really should), pay taxes on income, (which apparently most high ranking government officials don't) license and insure tow vehicle legally, and make an actual profit (not just a slight cash flow) you'll need to charge quite a bit. Your time will be spent moving from job to job. Unless you want that to be free, it needs to be factored in to the cost.

I do acreage mowing (for a living) I won't even consider a job that doesn't bill out a 4 hour minimum. Clock starts running as soon as I leave the yard. Ends when I'm home OR on the way to NEXT billable job.

Anything less than that and you're just fooling yourself. (and working for nothing) I enjoy operating a tractor. I enjoy spending time with my family. If I'm going to do one for free, the family wins out EVERY time.

 

[LBrown59]

I guess my thought is that I should make $50 -$60 an hour. I don't see how I can do a whole lot less for a new $17,000 tractor (40 Hp) and a $1700 6 foot wide tiller. Just fuel, depreciation and wear and tear on the tractor and tiller, I'm estimating at about $20 -$25 an hour. My time is worth at least $30 an hour.

There really isn't anyone I know of that does this kind of work that I know of around here. People bush hogging with nice equipment charge $60 an hour. Some guys with junky ford 8n's that are 45 years old charge probably about $35-40.

I really don't want to do 20 X 20 garden spots, as its not really worth the effort of carting my tractor to do a 15 minute job.

That's why I kind of kind of like the idea of a $75 minimum and bid each job based on $60 an hour.
* Just loading the tractor on the trailer chaining it down, transporting the tractor unload and reload is about a 1 hour deal even if it just 5-8 miles a way.

The creative entrepreneurial juices are starting to flow. I'm not sure how many people are going to need this service, but I can give it a try.

*Charge a transport fee to cover that .

 

[LBrown59]

They usually will go with the one that has been doing it for a while even if it is $30 an hour.
And if they have to travel with a trailer, they will charge a show up fee.

Then if the land is small, they will work by contract.
some people like to pay a fixed price, rather than paying by the hour.

If you could find out how much other people are charging in your area, that could help you.
If you are going to advertise, it would be best to start as soon as possible.

But you will have to decide how much you will charge, that is how they do it around here.

I call that a transport charge.

 

[Usmcdvl007]

I completly agree with what youre saying!!! If someone doesnt think a tractor and an operator is worth at least $50 an hour. I would like to see them pay for the licensing to operate one in my state is $85. Then gather of the years of experience, in my case only 8. Then buy a tractor, I use a Kubota 5640su ($35000) or a jonh deere 4320($26,000). The buy the rototiller, I use a 5ft Kuhn($4000). Then a truck and trailer to move it with, I use a 3500 silverado hd, and a 24 ft trailer. Plus Insurance, plus fuel cost. Once you add all that up youre at at least $100,000. Now tell me my time isnt worth $50 an hour!!!

 

[a1elcamino]

I have a JD 2210 and do not have a tiller. The guy down the road a piece has one and does the garden for us. He charges $40.00 takes him less than a half hour 25'X300'

 

[JoeinTX]

I guess my thought is that I should make $50 -$60 an hour. I don't see how I can do a whole lot less for a new $17,000 tractor (40 Hp) and a $1700 6 foot wide tiller. Just fuel, depreciation and wear and tear on the tractor and tiller, I'm estimating at about $20 -$25 an hour. My time is worth at least $30 an hour.

There really isn't anyone I know of that does this kind of work that I know of around here. People bush hogging with nice equipment charge $60 an hour. Some guys with junky ford 8n's that are 45 years old charge probably about $35-40.

I really don't want to do 20 X 20 garden spots, as its not really worth the effort of carting my tractor to do a 15 minute job.

That's why I kind of kind of like the idea of a $75 minimum and bid each job based on $60 an hour. Just loading the tractor on the trailer chaining it down, transporting the tractor unload and reload is about a 1 hour deal even if it just 5-8 miles a way.

The creative entrepreneurial juices are starting to flow. I'm not sure how many people are going to need this service, but I can give it a try.

Hey, hey, hey.....I am one of those guys with a "junky old" 8n. And it's 57 years old, thank you very much

It's a good runnning tractor in very good shape, but, I wouldn't want to use it for tilling because of the lack of speeds available. But, I guess some people do and more power to them.

Doing my own research locally I found that most operations using equipment similar in size to my own were billing in the $60-80/hr range and daily rental fees were on the upper end of that.

LC, care to expound on the legal vs. non-legal enterprise you mentioned above? I assume you're talking about a non-insured, pure cash biz versus one with paper billing, tax ID, etc.....

 

[mikeymik'd]

I think you guys are all too low.

What is a day charge to rent a skidsteer or tractor & tiller for 3hrs or a day? Then have an inexperienced person run the equipment.

I charge $100cdn = $85us per hour for snow removal. Time starts when I leave the driveway, either on a trailer or driving down the road. I would charge at least that much if not more if I had a more expensive tiller on the 3pt.

I would not waste my time/equipment/diesel for any less.

JMO

 

[JoeinTX]

May easily be lowballing here.

For someone like me whose equipment is all paid for and there are no real overhead costs, I could charge less than someone else who is needing the work to make a payment on their rig and try to make a living.

But, that's the marketplace. I base my estimate upon local rental prices and what posted prices local area operators have provided.

 

[JoeinTX]

Well, in checking Craigslist as I do from time to time to see what's being offered and so on.......


Pasture Mowing - Acreage


Tractor mowing using 8' shredder......baseline charge of $35/hr


Krum Tractor Mowing

Larger tractor/mower set-up.........starting at $45/hr.


Maybe I'm not lowballing it at all. These are the cheapest hourly rates I've seen advertised in a long time. Sheeez.........