Want part-time tractor work, eastern Pa - brush hog or rototilling?

[familyman]

In addition to dirt work, I'd like to offer either rototilling or brush hogging for part-time income. As I only want to spring for one of those implements (for now), and live in eastern Pa, (about 1 hour north of Philly) I'd like to know which service is more in demand/profitable?

 

[Rara Avis]

In addition to dirt work, I'd like to offer either rototilling or brush hogging for part-time income. As I only want to spring for one of those implements (for now), and live in eastern Pa, (about 1 hour north of Philly) I'd like to know which service is more in demand/profitable?

Depends on the needs of your region...if you have a bunch of 1-5 acre suburban sprawl homes...I would think there would be more rototilling...

If you have 10 to 20 acre plus parcels...then it might be brush work...

 

[Farmwithjunk]

In addition to dirt work, I'd like to offer either rototilling or brush hogging for part-time income. As I only want to spring for one of those implements (for now), and live in eastern Pa, (about 1 hour north of Philly) I'd like to know which service is more in demand/profitable?

In the last couple years, there has been numerous threads here on TBN about price structuring and volume of work for bush hogging and tilling for profit. During one of those threads, I got the wild idea to see for myself if it were possible to make a buck with our "going rate" in my area when doing bush hogging for hire on a part-time basis. It started off as merely sounding out the market, and attempting to create a small family business to keep an unemployed son-in-law working. ("employees" are myself, my son, and that aforementioned son-in-law....for now anyway.)

As of today, we now have 3 tractors running at every opportunity. All 3 are older, less expensive tractors. That helps keep overhead to a minimum, allowing us to keep rates at a very competitive level. SIL runs 40 to 50 hours per week. Myself and my son are averaging 20+ hours per week. We recently bought a new 95hp Deere 6430 and 15' batwing as a 4th unit, and we are currently interviewing applicants for a full-time operator. (My son uses the 6430 on his small farming operation also as a way of deferring some of the cost) We may be taking on another client soon who'll provide us with roughly 200 hours work per summer. What started off as a way to make a little extra cash has took off like a wildfire. So yes, there is a market for that service. We're keeping our feet planted firmly on the ground though. We had an extremely unusual March, where temps hit the mid 80's in place of the usual mid 40's. It gave a big jump start to the growing season. Normally we would probably just be getting started mowing most of our customers properties. As of yesterday, we started round 2. Nothing like a running start to a seasonal business.

As you might expect, transporting equipment is the single biggest part of our overhead. The smaller the job, and the more frequently we need to move equipment, the less we make per billable hour. Armed with that information, we avoid smaller jobs, or at the very least, charge a minimum based on 3 hours mowing and travel expense.

As far as tilling. I'd suspect there is some business, but how much, how big the individual jobs would be, and how profitable they would be is a shot in the dark. At this stage we have no interest in pursuing another line of work. (Myself and my son work full time jobs. SIL is our only full time employee at this point. My son also farms on a small scale as I mentioned. We are at our saturation point where we need another employee if work continues to come in.)

 

[familyman]

We have a mix of land out here. Lots of farms, rough fields, and development old and new. I'm very interested in developing a business to work at full time where I do TLB work for contractors (electricians, concrete contractors, GC's, etc.) as well as some 3pt. work for whoever needs it. My wife and I reshaped a small back yard several years ago for a home owner, and did it the hard way. All I had at the time was a loader and backhoe, and the backhoe would not fit through the tight spaces we had to maneuver through to get there. I did all of the rough shaping with the loader, and it was slow going. The boxblade and rake would have been much better, and a rototiller would have helped, too.
I'm looking to go to a higher hp machine, and will probably add an implement to my current list of equipment at the time of purchase. I see value in both rototilling and rotary cuttining, and I appreciate the input.

 

[srossman]

We have a mix of land out here. Lots of farms, rough fields, and development old and new. I'm very interested in developing a business to work at full time where I do TLB work for contractors (electricians, concrete contractors, GC's, etc.) as well as some 3pt. work for whoever needs it. My wife and I reshaped a small back yard several years ago for a home owner, and did it the hard way. All I had at the time was a loader and backhoe, and the backhoe would not fit through the tight spaces we had to maneuver through to get there. I did all of the rough shaping with the loader, and it was slow going. The boxblade and rake would have been much better, and a rototiller would have helped, too.
I'm looking to go to a higher hp machine, and will probably add an implement to my current list of equipment at the time of purchase. I see value in both rototilling and rotary cuttining, and I appreciate the input.

Isn't it funny that as you add more equipment, you start to think about these things as a way to get more seat time err I mean business. I'm starting to think about the same thing as you. I've recently picked up a 4ft rough-cut mower, box-blade and roto-tiller to go along with my bx-23. I know just from the size that I would only be looking for smaller jobs to work on. I'll be interested in following your progress and success if you decide to take on this endevour. Good luck.

 

[familyman]

Success is easier to come by if you enjoy your work, and I do enjoy "seat time"!
The real life problem I've run into is that while the L2800 is plenty of machine for some purposes, as the dirt work (backhoe and FEL) gets more serious, the smaller the tractor becomes. It's about a big as you would want to go for residential improvements (stump removal, light grading, crwalspace or slab footings, drainlines, etc.) but when it comes to bigger stumps, rocks, deeper digging and moving dirt piles I'm at the point where faster would be better. I do want to be able to remove the FEL for certain 3pt. work, and dedicated TLB's (110, L39, etc.) do not have removable FEL's, so I'm looking for a large CUT or small utility. Right now the Kioti DK45 HST with an 8-1/2' hoe has my attention....

 

[RonR]

Here's been my experience, for what its worth..............

I wanted a BX to do several large projects around the place, and figured I could do commercial work to pay for the unit. Have accomplished what I need done around the house, and set up a part time biz to do the outside work.

First surprise was $1200/yr for commercial insurance. OUCH.

I've advertised well and have gotten some jobs, but not near the volume I expected. And most of the jobs I did the first year, I VASTLY underbid, but that was a learning experience.

With a small machine, I've gone to estimate a lot of jobs that I just don't have a large enough tractor for, so I no bid.

Maybe your area is different. I'd really check the availability of jobs before I sunk a lot of $$$ into hardware that might not generate the revenue.

If you can get good used equipment and keep your costs down, that might make the picture brighter.

Hope this helps.
ron

 

[AlanB]

If I had to pick one, to make more consistent money with, it would be the bushhog.

Longer season, easier to see it is "done" more folks want it done then want a garden.

We currently do neither regularly. I will occasionally bush hog something for some established clients of our mowing business or freinds, but all in all the liability, and the stuff I seem to find with the bush hog scares me.

 

[familyman]

I was a subcontractor in commercial construction for a number of years, and have kept my liability coverage, including a rider for my L2800. As I said, I'm looking to upgrade my machine to handle bigger work, and handle small work better. One thing I have learned in commercial construction: bidding low does not help anyone. Honest bids, and being able to turn down work when you see fit, is smart business. Again, I want to start out on weekends and hopefully build it up. I find it pays to ask those with experience before diving in.

 

[LoneCowboy]

bush-hogging, no contest
Better market, repeat market, but more competetors.
We do some tilling and ripping, but only spring (and some fall) but we had to adjust our rates a lot. ripping and tilling is HARD on a tractor, lots of work (and the spaces are usually small, under 2 to 3 acres, sometimes smaller). Bushhogging isn't nearly as hard on the equipment, the stuff grows back (so you get repeat business)

If you can figure out how to make money on under 3 acre parcels for a reasonable rate, you'll have quite a market. (no, I haven't totally figured it out).
most people around here have a 2 hour minimum, and for people with 1 acre lots, that's about an hour plus too long. But you still have to transport, pay insurance, etc, plus you have more drive time, less mowing time. But there's quite a market.

sometimes, we don't make much of anything on those, but we get more spring/fall work out of it to kinda offset it.