Side jobs with your tractor

[MossRoad]

But is it true and how much extra does insurance cost if you're excavating VS planting a shrub?

 

[Diggin It]

Yes.


Stuff like that?

Nuh-uh.


Money.


Reason 1: If they can't tax it, they permit fee it and fine it. They get their money one way or another. Employees know where their paycheck comes from, so they want to make sure it's funded, hence the ratting out citizens.

Reason 2: Many of them either run side jobs in the business or have friends or family who do. Protecting those businesses by ratting out DIYers and wildcatters means more money for them.

Some states are now assessing sales type taxes on services like landscaping. You pay the permit fees. You pay the landscaper. You pay taxes on the landscaper's price.

 

[MossRoad]

Nuh-uh.


Money.


Reason 1: If they can't tax it, they permit fee it and fine it. They get their money one way or another. Employees know where their paycheck comes from, so they want to make sure it's funded, hence the ratting out citizens.

Reason 2: Many of them either run side jobs in the business or have friends or family who do. Protecting those businesses by ratting out DIYers and wildcatters means more money for them.

Some states are now assessing sales type taxes on services like landscaping. You pay the permit fees. You pay the landscaper. You pay taxes on the landscaper's price.

So you can't answer my question either? I asked about insurance.

 

[Fallon]

My landscaping type policy runs me $800 a year. I'm covered for fencing (post holes) & putting in sprinkler systems (6" deep trenches I assume, which I don't care about as I only do tractor work, not manual install stuff). Digging is explicitly not covered. I wont go any deeper than my tiller can go doing horse arena or driveway maintnance.

Insurance that covers digging starts at $9,000 a year past I checked. Which is about what I bring in annually as my side gig. I'd have to step up my game beyond a side gig to cover that, which wont happen.

When I renewed my insurance this year my broker had to get me a different policy that covered snow removal. Ended up being $75 more.

 

[Fallon]

Oh, and I'm not an insurance agent. So just like I'm not a lawyer... Go find & talk to an insurance agent/broker on what exactly may or may not be covered in your area under what type of policies.

 

[Redlands Okie]

Was told just yesterday that in my north central Oklahoma location that my tractor working insurance does NOT include snow removal work. For a minor EXTA payment of about $1600 I could be covered for snow removal. With our limited snow events I just have no plans to add that cost to my overhead.

 

[edgarrian]

My dad put out yards with his tractor and that was a good side gig for him. He carried the insurance as well. He started small and as the years went by and his name got out he was able to upgrade his implements and get a bit more efficient. For instance we would spread straw by hand. Which takes forever. After a few years he paid cash for a straw blower. He kept his jobs local to the town we lived by. The town was a good sized small city. If you are looking to do some wood chipping, tilling, or mowing with a rotary mower. Then you might consider what your lowest price would be for say even a 20 minute job. I at one point had a dump truck and excavator and my pull in rate for the first hour was 175 then after the first hour I charged my hourly rate. You don't want to drive 20 minutes and do a job for half hour and only charge 50 bucks. People will do that b/c its a side gig. Never sell yourself short but don't over price yourself. Sometimes you can bid a job and actually make more than your hourly rate. Which is nice. Sometimes you lose a bit. Some customers will want a bid some are ok with the hourly rate. I generally chose the bidding route as i felt like I made more money doing it that way. My father was a bid guy as well when he put out grass. Clearly I'm of a different opinion than most that have commented but that was my experience.

 

[Geotech]

Mossy,

I don't have first hand knowledge about changes in general liability insurance regarding shallow/deep excavations. I do know that the classification of an employee changes for the purpose of determining worker's comp insurance premiums. And those premiums increase for deep vs shallow excavation work. I expect general liability does too. We drill exploratory borings and hitting a gas line is a REAL possibility. We don't need to get permits for most work, but we are required to call DigTess, 811, etc before excavating deeper than 16 inches with power equipment. When they mark the lines, they are locating them as best they can, and we hit a gas line once even after lines were marked by utility locators. We were lucky there was not a huge explosion as the gas came up with wind force out of the borehole. Gas lines can be shallow, particularly older ones that were installed in shallow rock before directional drilling was a thing. Or how about hitting a fiber line? Hitting a transatlantic AT&T/Verizon fiber line would be financially catastrophic.

Your not going to have issues with this working is someone's back yard most of the time. But big open tracts of land are a crap shoot and even in smaller tracts, you NEVER know.

 

[prof fate]

**** happens.

A few years ago the cable tv guys were re-stringing their lines on poles and caught my gas meter (it's by a pole by the road) and tore it clean off.

In the 90s I worked selling over the phone (pre internet days) and somebody in NYC (i'm in western pa) hit one of those fiber optic lines and took out our 800 line..and a whole lot more. We were 'out of business' for about 3 days while they fixed that one.

I had to open up my septic and leech bed, had a friend open up a well line at the farm..nothing is where you think it is!

I was trying to smooth out the drive way at the farm..girlf friend has owned it 20 years. Just going down 4 or 5 inches I pulled up bricks and big rocks that were under the gravel..she had no clue they were there. Has had the driveway 'raked' in the past...apparently not so deep.

And I did some work leveling the edge of the pasture to put in an arena...pulled up all kinds of timber, wires, trash...

On my own property this year tilling for a garden pulled up a 6' steel pipe...didn't break the tiller, thankfully!

 

[Sprinklerman]

I am an irrigation contractor /landscaper . I use my tractors all the time for work .Thats why I bought them . Skid steers are a dime a dozen . I work on established lawns and the tractors do little or no damage .

 

[Industrial Toys]

I have a Harley 8 foot rake. I never know when to stop. The first pass is always the most impressive and then it's a case of diminishing returns. I guess if it's hourly, you can ask, is that good enough, but often the person paying the bill, isn't around.

On a side note, I guess you could also argue the merits of bringing in top soil vs Harley raking.

 

[ededic]

We should all have insurance to cover our tractors and us using them even if you are doing good deeds or being a good neighbor. If you get hurt it may not be you that sues. It will be an insurance company or hospital that is looking to recoup a loss. Can make a good deed turn into a lost friendship or ugly situation and you did not initiate except for a good deed.

 

[Torvy]

Insurance! Make sure you are up front with the agent about the commercial work. If you, God forbid, have a problem while on a job and have just a home/farm policy, they can (and will) deny coverage.

 

[oosik]

I have neighbors who ARE NOT a joy to deal with socially. There is no way I would want to get involved with any of them - on any type of commercial venture. I'm just very pleased to work on my own property and deal with any problems I might encounter here. For me - life is too short to be dealing with commercial squabbles.

 

[bdhsfz6]

When I bought my Kubota B7100 with FEL & hoe back in 1979, sub compact tractors were just becoming popular. I bought it mainly for excavating around the house I was building. While I was digging the trench for the underground electric service, an electrician, who was passing by, stopped to look at the small machine. He had a few trenching jobs in tight locations and asked if I would be interested in sub contracting for him. That got me started in the contracting business.

A similar thing happened when I was digging a septic system perc pit for a neighbor. The local sewer inspector was impressed by the little tractor and I wound up working for him part time as well.

I never started an official business and didn't advertise, but word of mouth brought a lot of work my way. I was always covered by the insurance of the contractor I was subbing for, so my overhead was quite low. My biggest expense was buying an old trailer to haul the tractor around. At one point, I was so busy, I considered quitting my day job.

I'm glad I didn't though, since in the next few years, sub compact tractors became more popular. Eventually, around here anyway, it seemed like everybody had one and the demand for my services dried up.

 

[Yander]

I do a little side work but I limit it to low risk things like garden tilling, yard grading and leveling, driveway grading and bushhogging and small jobs at that. I turned down a job last week because it was too large and my equipment was too small. I wouldn't use a backhoe at another persons property if I didn't have experience and a lot of insurance. Way too many risks with using a backhoe.

As others have said, don't work for cheap. I have a $150 minimum and unless it is a neighbor or they have close neighbors, that I don't have to trailer, to I won't bend from that minimum. Don't go doing work for $50 or you are losing money. I'm not really making a lot of money at the minimum I set. I don't make a living at it, just gets me out of the house since I work from home.

I have a small yard grading and and a tilling job (Waiting ground to dry out) that will probably take me about 5 or 6 hours combined and have already quoted them a total of $500 for the two jobs and both were fine with that. Just to give you some idea. I have a small tractor or I would have higher prices.

 

[kneedeep]

My new neighbor asked me to disk his newly mowed grown up acre to plant a new food plot.
We agreed on $50/ac.
He was upset when it took 10 times over the acre to even see dirt
My charge was $500.
I did tell him one trip with planter @ $75/ac.
He went and bought his own equipment .

 

[CloverKnollFarms]

I was quoted about $700 to open one acre of virgin clay loam sod. I then realized I'd need to till that several times each year for planting, so I bought a tractor and tiller. Each year I save over $1000 by doing the job myself, and I have fun. I'd do side jobs, but some people will want something for nothing.

 

[kozal01]

I bought the tractor for my use but since I have it neighbors and friends have asked for favors. I usually just do it because I enjoy my seat time and we all take care of each other. Its nice to know though that if SHTF I have my tractor, lawn equipment, saws and hand tools that can all make me money if need be. For now its just for fun.