What to Charge for Rototilling

[Usmcdvl007]

So what would you guys charge for tilling one acre with a 5 ft Kunh, on a 45hp JD?????

 

[tatra805]

Reading through the posts it looks as some things are really universal.

After tilling my friends garden he got different questions from neigbours if and for how much i would till their garden. Local tractor work (AG machinery) runs 20$ per hour.

Yes 20.

And they of course expect to pay less for a smaller machine..
(after hours side jobs with machinery is typically 7$ per hour)

A lot (if not all) of this type of contracting (skidloaders, AG, tilling, wood hauling etc) is still offered here at this pricing. NO calculation behind it at all.

It is as stated above, when machinery and overhead is written of, what stops someone to ask less?

As long as you have competition from these guys (no offence intended) you are basically out of the game if you dont want to sponsor your customer a equipment investment.

In our region it is nevertheless a bit different. A lot of the machinery was bought at the "revolution" time for eh,... well, very democratic pricing. So these machines are making a lot of money for their owners compared to a 2.5 $/hour production job in a factory.

We also have a lot less leasing and loan based purchases so most of the machinery is paid fully and people tend to forget about replacement and write off.

Just because of no calculation and ambition behind their operations it is not uncommon to call a guy you used in the past and get the answer: "i dont do this anymore, the machine broke down so now i am working in a car parts retail shop."

Might want to check with construction companies or gardening companies as they know costs and the price difference in a project is marginal.

 

[atgreene]

FWIW, sell your service, not the job. If you can and do a nice job (you have the right equipment, you have real teeth on you tiller and you go slow enough to actually accomplish something) charge a premium.

For some reason a lot of people with tractors think this is a race to the bottom to see who can do it fastest for the least amount of money. If you offer a good service and do a quality job, people will beat a path to your door and pay for the better mouse trap. But if you offer the same service as everyone else, it turns into the lowest common denominator.

Personnally, I would refrain from hourly and have a set rate, plus transportation. When I first started out in tractor work for hire I bought a rototiller. After doing the math I found it just wasn't worth the time and energy. Everyone was willing to only pay $25 or 30 to have their garden done. For that, I couldn't even haul my tractor there. I moved onto road grading and ground-work and found if I emphasized service and quality I had a leg-up on my competition. If I hadn't sold the rototiller before I learned to sell service, I'm sure I could have made a profitable business out of it. But now that I'm out of it, I'll hire someone else to come do mine.

 

[tatra805]

atgreene, i agree with you

this is in line with my idea about construction companies and gardening companies.

When we build the house our contractor at the first meeting told us his construction sites were clean.

When he was doing our house we had a container (at 400$ per month) in the garden and all rubbish went in every day. No burning, no piles of cement bags, etc etc

Before he left he scraped the whole area with his skidloader taking away all concrete spill patches and called in a gardener with a rotovator and a load of clean ground. He left the construction site clean and ready for seeding.

First reaction of everybody: oh he is great and super and we never saw this before.

Well, we dont have to be stupid. WE did pay for it hidden in his construction price. But it for sure made a lot more difference in appreciation for his work than what it might have cost.

 

[Car Doc]

I was looking for the same info and found this thread (among others) I am curious from the OP what he decided on and what works?

I am advertising right now in my local paper and regional Ag circular for rototilling and light dirt work and so far after only one week had one call to till a 50x100 lot so hopefully it will pick up now the ground isn't frozen.

Fwtw my formula rather what someone else was charging was based more on what a person could rent a walk behind and knowing how much I can do in an hour with a 6' tiller on a tractor (3 times as much and quite a bit faster) and came up with $60 minimum and no mileage within 10 miles from my place and $60 per hour after that, and $1 a mile one way for distances farther than 10 miles.

For instance here the rental on a 24" walk behind (which is a big tiller) was $60 for 3 hours with a 12% depreciation charge to account for tiller wear and tear, and obviously it has to be clean and full of fuel and there is the loading and unloading and travel time etc so I figure @ $60 per hour with my setup is cheap and when I am done it looks a lot nicer than with a walk behind imo anyway its a good value for both of us- I get paid to do some tractoring and he can start planting.

Steve

 

[JackMentink]

I decided to charge about what you were talking about. $60 an hour for my time lus a $60 minimum.

The problem is most people are blown away when you tell them that.

That being said, when I talked price nobody tokk me up and doing their garden. The only way I will get some people to use me would if thety had a 1/4 acre garden or larger. There isn't many of those and people in mid Missouri are pretty frugal.

Unfortunately you can talk quality all you want, but people are reluctant to pay $60 or more to get their garden tilled.

Jack

 

[ayelvington]

A gentleman near me charges $65/hour for running his Bobcat escavator that needs a trailer and tow vehicle to get to a job site. I'm thinking you might try the following:

$3/mile for anything over 2 miles (Your time is money, so charge coming and going.)
Charge by area (fractional acre) with a quarter acre minimum. (This encourages neighbors to buy in.)

Consider how much time you're going to spend cleaning up afterwards as part of your base charge. You're not going to get rich, but you will get tractor time, make friends, and get a hobby to pay you a tad.

 

[miramadar]

Unfortunately you can talk quality all you want, but people are reluctant to pay $60 or more to get their garden tilled.

Jack

A couple of years ago I paid $50 to have our garden tilled. They did a fine job turning it and then putting the tiller through it. The garden was small...like 30'x40' or something and it took them about an hour or so. I was glad to pay it, or I wouldn't have had a garden that year. The year prior, I tried to do it myself with an ATV and a horse-drawn turning plow. I'll never do that again! I wasn't the one driving the ATV...I was the one manning the plow. ROUGH work!

$60 per tractor hour (on the hours meter), when you have to haul the tractor and implements to the site, is a good deal.

 

[Car Doc]

Sounds like its different in every area from what you guys are saying?

At this point I haven't hired out for sure however the phone is starting to ring actually a lot more than I expected? So when the rain stops I expect I will have some jobs lined up time will tell I will get back here and say how its going for the record for the next guy that comes along.

One of the local church's called me yesterday and they have a 1/2 acre community garden (which is the size I want to do anyway) and that one is a go I am pretty sure because she liked the price and convenience of hiring it out rather than them doing it.

I have walked behind my 18" tiller on my garden that's half that big for several years and that's why I bought the tiller for my tractor in the first place, that's a lot of work and I am getting smarter as I age.

Steve

 

[Mousefield]

You want to make money when doing your tractor work so you must factor in all the costs. Depreciation, maintenance, tow vehicle costs, insurance and so on. I would rather do one job for $60.00 and hopefully make a bit of money than 2 at $30.00 and loose money. Nothing wrong with charging what you need to. Offer a better service as someone else suggested. Service the customers well that will pay what you ask and the word will get around. Not everything that is cheap is good. People still value a job well done. Good luck in your endeavor. :thumbsup:

 

[Spudland_Dave]

I decided to charge about what you were talking about. $60 an hour for my time lus a $60 minimum.

The problem is most people are blown away when you tell them that.

That being said, when I talked price nobody tokk me up and doing their garden. The only way I will get some people to use me would if thety had a 1/4 acre garden or larger. There isn't many of those and people in mid Missouri are pretty frugal.

Unfortunately you can talk quality all you want, but people are reluctant to pay $60 or more to get their garden tilled.

Jack

Cant disagree with anything in your post...but IMO 60.00 is fair. I had the same issue with snowplowing..

60.00 may seem like alot to some people but heck we have more then 60.00 of hydro oil in the tranny... it costs money to keep these machines fueled, serviced, etc... add wear & tear to the tiller and 60.00 starts looking cheaper & cheaper all the time. ESPECIALLY with tilling....the risk is there to damage the tiller and/or related components. How much profit will you have made if you smoke a few tines off, or bust the chain?

Ultimately you need to decide weather you want to make money/break even or enjoy seat time...

 

[JackMentink]

I'm with you that you really can't run a newer tractor with a tiller for less than than $60 an hour and thats why I just list the service it on my local internet site and if I get clients I will till and if not then I won't waste my time.

 

[Sackett2]

Last year was our first doing gardens, dad and I agreed on 50 dollars an hour, not extra charges in our area. Everyone we tilled for was thrilled and said we be called the next year, and no garden took over an hour; even the large community garden for the churh.
Dad (age 74) had a great time offering this service and we look forward to doing more this year- am working on more advertising...

 

[Car Doc]

I finally got hired to do a garden yesterday it turned out to be 1800 sq ft in grass so had to make several passes but when I got done the land owner was very pleased with the $60 I charged him and thought it was money well spent.

I had exactly 1 hour in from off loading and tilling to chaining my tractor back down to leave.

He had started to do it himself and gave up just making a once around the border to have a idea how big he wanted it with a walk behind he borrowed.

Steve

 

[atgreene]

Doesn't sound very profitable, but as long as you had fun, that's all that matters.