Backhoe Billing rate for BX25D work?

[yoshi1]

Being the proud owner of a BX25D and it helping me get things done around the homestead quicker and some of those planned projects are getting completed, I am thinking about picking up some small jobs. Interested in some billing rates for such jobs? FEL work? Backhoe work? Box blade work? Post Hole Digger work? Tiller work? Brush clean up with Grapple work? Any advice would be appreciated! I tried searching the forum but no luck.

 

[/pine]

It depends...a lot of times a bigger tractor (with bigger implements) can do a job a lot faster than a smaller machine...in the same respect some jobs require a much smaller tractor etc...

If I was paying b.t.h. for tractor/machine work I would want to pay the person that could do the work as efficient/fast as possible...

 

[Sysop]

I would think it would mostly be determined by your cost. If you are going to have all the proper license and insurance and whatnot, I don't think you'll get away with less than $60 an hour to cover cost + wage. That seems to be about average for a small (sometimes one or two man) "professional" groundskeeping service to come in with all the proper equipment to perform a given task.

A BX is pretty small and going to limit you on the types of jobs you can take on. Many of those jobs are going to be completed faster and cheaper with other machines, which is why you don't see the pros all sporting BXs on their trailers. You'll need to price accordingly for your area and abilities of the machine.

That being said, there are a lot of folk with such equipment that do work in the neighborhood with no insurance or business licenses in their spare time for whatever is agreed upon between neighbors.

Long time ago I rented a skid steer for the weekend to do about 6 hours work, all the neighbors came over and had "little jobs" they wanted done also. Ended up, after going around and pulling some bushes, smoothing some spots in a couple yards, and one neighbor went and got a couple ton of gravel he asked me to spread across his two car driveway; the rental bill was covered and I still had a couple bucks left over and had only put a little over 10 hours on the clock of the machine.

 

[jeff9366]

You cannot do paid work without liability insurance and it is high. Your liability insurance could be $150 per week.

I guesstimate your operating cost on a BX25D at $25.00 per hour, with depreciation the largest part.

Then cost of your truck, and trailer to reach job sites and commercial insurance on those.

 

[G31]

Some people will pay a little more simply because a large company isn't going to waste their time on tiny jobs. Lots of lawn companies don't have the equipment for ground work either, so it seems you could fill the void. More homeowners are receptive to price by the job, than hourly rates. You better be careful about underground utilities.

 

[AStanton]

I would recommend, like some plumbers do, putting a standard minimum charge for any job. Like $100 just for showing up on the site with the machine. Then go from there. This will cover fuel and trailering time to get to the job site.

 

[Jj1479]

You cannot do paid work without liability insurance and it is high. Your liability insurance could be $150 per week. I guesstimate your operating cost on a BX25D at $25.00 per hour, with depreciation the largest part. Then cost of your truck, and trailer to reach job sites and commercial insurance on those.

my liability insurance through Nation Wide insurance company is $631 a year for $300,000 stackable. That's the minimum I could get.

 

[yoshi1]

Thanks for the info everyone! May not be worth the liability.