The Side Jobs Thread

[Rockbadchild]

Roofing is young mans work, I'd rather drive the tractor

I am not disputing that ... I would rather drive the tractor as well ...

 

[square1]

Sometimes I use the tractor to clean the beach at our resort

 

[shooterdon]

You must have a pretty good system setup if your processing that much by choice. I'm normally doing good to stay ahead of the next winter just for my own use.

I use a Red Runner 27 Deluxe.

 

[bigtiller]

We would like to see a video of that working.

 

[jk96]

Just wrapped this one up today. I was at this house last spring and leveled an area for the homeowner for an above ground pool he was putting in. There were two very large pine trees, roughly 30" and 36" in diameter, very close to the pad. I asked if he wanted them removed due to the pine needles. He declined and wanted them for some shade on part of the deck around the pool. Well it only took one summer before he decided they had to go. He had a matt of pine needles on the deck. It would have been much easier before the pool went in. He got a quote from a tree company and they wanted $3,500 to piece them out due to the proximity to the house and pool.

Initially this job was a quoted as a 1 trip job. I quoted $500, that's my minimum to move my CTL, and includes 3 hours of machine time. He wanted both trees dropped and said he would take it from there. I had both trees on the ground in about 30 minutes. With nothing else he needed done he asked if I come back a week later and finish the remaining 2.5 hours moving the trees for him to a burn pile after he cut them up. You have to factor in 2 x load, travel, unload each trip, cleaning machine, etc which most homeowners don't think about. Some of these side jobs end up with job creep where extras start getting asked and you just have to remember to hold your ground or re-quote for the added work or return trips. We ended up agreeing on $400 for a return trip since I could do it with my tractor to move all of the cuts to his burn area once he was done and fill the holes from the root ball. The 2nd trip took me just over 2 hours of tractor time to move everything and get the yard graded out. I was happy to put $900 in my pocket on a fairly easy job and he ended up very happy saving $2,600 although he did have some work cutting them up. He also didn't have to pay someone else to grind two huge stumps as they are completely removed now.


I wish I had taken some before pics. The larger of the two pines was taller than this one in this pic and almost 3 feet in diameter.

The biggest of the two is on the ground in this pic. The one right at the rear of my CTL was the other smaller one that I took down for him.

Moved everything to his burn area today the Kubota L6060

Holes filled in and graded out so he can seed.

 

[LittleBill21]

you literally just pushed them over? no concerns about it coming backwards onto the deck?

 

[jk96]

you literally just pushed them over? no concerns about it coming backwards onto the deck?

Yes and no. Had this one been leaning toward the house or pool then I would have have declined. The lean and branch structure wouldn't have allowed it to come back. I've also done more big trees then I can count and I've never been able to drop a large tree simply by trenching out the roots. The remaining root ball in the hole keeps it anchored even those with a lean. They always need a pretty good push to get them over. I'm insured as well for commercial work and damage but would never take a job if I had even a small concern I would need to use it.

 

[part-time-Farmer-NC]

Been thinking I may take on some side type work when I go into retirement. Ever since I was in elementary I have always had a side hustle. The farm is my side hustle from my real job now, breaks the monotony.

 

[dodge man]

I offered a couple who has had a pile of gravel sitting for their driveway to spread it for them. I guess my price of free was too high. They live about a mile and a half from me and I drive by it all the time. The wife was going to have me do it and get us a pizza gift certificate but the husband said he’d get his tractor going someday. It’s been sitting there for about three years.

I’d did fix the plugged muffler on my sister in laws leaf blower yesterday, another freebie.

 

[Gem99ultra]

hmmm - I seem to have too many offers to do free work. Those that have compensation attached however, seem to be scarce.

 

[part-time-Farmer-NC]

I am sure that will most likely be the case for me too. But I can't see much difference in volunteering somewhere vs doing free work, pays the same.

 

[jk96]

hmmm - I seem to have too many offers to do free work. Those that have compensation attached however, seem to be scarce.

My day was the same today. This was a non paying brother in law project putting a small wall up, not really a side job.

 

[Yander]

I've turned down work lately. I can't even get all my own crap done. Grandkids are not always going to be small.

I'm enjoying them while I can.

 

[ToBeFree]

Between chores around the house and volunteer stuff side work is a no no. I am working on getting in some leisure time - for me!

 

[JeepHead]

I use to do power washing full time and it was a very good business to be in. I had lots of customers including national chains, government buildings, and tons of residential . Went through a divorce and wanted away from her so desperately that I handed absolutely everything over to her and walked away. Now I am doing it as a part time gig with plans to go back full time eventually. That "eventually" may be sooner than later, as I am pretty sure we are about to go through a massive reduction in force here at work that will happen in June. I am also planning to offer maintenance/repair services including electrical, plumbing, carpentry, etc. I have some good ideas here that I believe will bring me several customers. We'll see what happens...

 

[groundcover]

I use to do power washing full time and it was a very good business to be in. I had lots of customers including national chains, government buildings, and tons of residential . Went through a divorce and wanted away from her so desperately that I handed absolutely everything over to her and walked away. Now I am doing it as a part time gig with plans to go back full time eventually. That "eventually" may be sooner than later, as I am pretty sure we are about to go through a massive reduction in force here at work that will happen in June. I am also planning to offer maintenance/repair services including electrical, plumbing, carpentry, etc. I have some good ideas here that I believe will bring me several customers. We'll see what happens...

Divorce is expensive because it's worth it . You won't have any problem keeping busy !
If you really need to get out swing by this way, I could keep you busy !

"Princeton can use a guy like Joel."

Risky Business (1983) clip with quote "Princeton can use a guy like Joel." Yarn is the best search for video clips by quote. Find the exact moment in a TV show, movie, or music video you want to share. Easily move forward or backward to get to the perfect clip.

www.getyarn.io

 

[jk96]

Finished this one up today. 8 hours of machine time. About 1.25 acres cleared that had been neglected for quite a few years. Cleaned up about 450 feet of fence line then 1 acre of pretty much an overgrown mess. A lot of large deadfall that had to be moved, piles of dirt, and a lot of 5" to 8" trees. The owner wanted to be able to maintain it with his tractor and brush hog when I was finished. I cut the small stuff first. Fence line was easy and took care of it in just under an hour. The rest of this ground was a mess. Piles of dirt with trees growing in it. Large deadfall limbs and trees mixed with scrub brush. The ground was so uneven it was hard to get the cutter flush with the ground which would have left a lot of stumps. I ended up using the tree puller and pulled almost all of the trees and piled them. Luckily we can burn here with no permit so after the owner gets the piles burnt I'll swing by with the tractor and push the edges in so he can get the rest burnt up. Finished up grading out the uneven ground and piles of dirt after pulling trees to make it easier for him to cut with his tractor. I used my tractor and rake to cleanup a lot of the trash left from what I did cut with the CTL. A lot of the big trees left standing really need to go but the owner didn't want them taken down. Several are in bad shape.

Fence line before cutting

After

Here's what a lot of the rest of the area looked like

Finished pics

 

[BackRoad]

How did the job find you?

Also how do you charge for your time? Machine hour, elapsed hours, by the job, something else?

Just curious...

 

[jk96]

How did the job find you?

Also how do you charge for your time? Machine hour, elapsed hours, by the job, something else?

Just curious...

Usually word of mouth. This one was actually a relative of my brother-in-law who was talking to him about needing some ground cleaned up. If I'm looking for another one sometimes I'll post some before and after pictures of a previous job on my Facebook page as well.

I prefer to bid by the job, if I want to take pictures, run GoPro cameras, drone etc I can do that. I can also work a little slower Be a little more careful and not worry about the clock or the owner watching the time. I do hourly as well if that's what the owner prefers. If working hourly I charge $175 per hour based on machine run time. I have a $500 minimum per job and that includes three hours of machine time. Usually only take those if they are not time sensative and try to stack two of those in the same day. This job the owner basically told me he had $1500 to spend, detailed what he wanted, and told me to do what I could. Would have been $1400 billed hourly but I'll come back with the tractor and help get the piles burned up so he will come out ahead.

 

[BackRoad]

Lady next town over had a septic system put in, they used some poor - full of rock - excuse for topsoil. She asked for a quote to remove the rock so she could get grass growing and be able to mow it. I quoted it at 4 hours.

It was bad, more and more rock just kept coming to the surface as I worked it. 8 hours later, including finally using a hand landscape rake on part of it, I finished up.

Lady was sweating bullets that her cost was double what I quoted, but I honored the original quote. Funny, in that she later tried to contact me for some more tractor work...but I just couldn't afford to do any more work for her...it cost me too much!

That event burned me from doing any more paid work. I've continued to do a fair amount of gratis work for church and neighbors, but can stop at any point if it starts getting crazy.

Before and after photos of my money losing adventure!