Whats a good price to pay to till gardens

[Scott_in_WVA]

What is a good method for pricing a tilled garden.I was thinking of starting at $30 to $40 minimum or $30 to $40 an hour what ever came 1st. Any comments or suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks
Scott

 

[Golfgar4]

Scott, it would depend on what kind of equipment you're using, what your operating costs are, and how large an area needs to be tilled. If you're not sure, find out what other guys are charging in your area so you can be competitve. Good luck/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif.

 

[Scott_in_WVA]

I have a 60" John Deere tiller.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

unless it is a neighbor how much does it cost to transport your machine there?

 

[Scott_in_WVA]

Heck ,I do not know...........Some people I can drive my tractor 20 to 30 minutes,others haul on my 16' trailer 3 to 5 mile radius./w3tcompact/icons/hmm.gif

 

[Robert_in_NY]

You need to figure that in on the cost. If you charge $40/hour and you till for one hour you make $40 which doesn't really cover transport cost and your time to do it. I have the same problem trying to figure out a fair way to charge people and decided it is best to set my price where I will be covered if anything happens like a breakdown and if the people don't agree with the price they find someone else. I do it mostly as a favor for people as I do not have much time for my own projects let alone others and don't want to get stuck with a huge repair bill if something goes wrong. Its tough to decide what to charge though and best I can say is try a price and see if you make enough at it, if not you can raise your price for next time. Take care.

 

[Old_Wanker]

Theres men around here that charge $50 for 100 square feet in some of the new developments. And thats just with a walk behind tiller not a tractor. Maybe best to see what your competition is charging as a baseline.

Seems that otherwise you need to compare what it would take for the person to dig it otherwise. If youre looking at using a spade then youre probably willing to pay a lot.

With insurance and all it doesnt seem to be economic to just do an all in cost of $40. Some of these gardens I see Id be concerned about utility lines underground and all that too. Are you covered by insurance in case one of them is a little too close to the surface?

 

[rancar]

Know what your competition is charging and charge accordingly -- either the same or even lower if you want to be the new, upstart on the block looking to 'steal' some market share from the competitors. $30 or 40/hr may be OK for small jobs but I'd think you would want to go by hourly rates for bigger jobs. Also, consider geographical location. Some parts of the country demand and charge higher than others. Again, know what your competition charges and what the market demands.

 

[gws]

Normally I dont have to pay. They let me till their gardens for free. -

 

[MarkV]

Scott, it may not apply to your situation, but most homeowners insurance will cover your tractor on your property and some will cover it off your property. I have never heard of any that will cover you if you are getting paid. From what I was able to find, commercial insurance gets expensive.

MarkV