Garden tilling service

[INCase]

What is the going rate for getting a garden tilled (not plowed)? About 25 by 50ft, easy access, sandy/lome soil.

 

[Ken Crisman]

Back in the late 60s & early 70s I was tilling gardens with a rototiller & a plot that size I charged around 50.00 . I had a couple customers didn't like my charges but it was my body & my machine doing the work & I felt worth my labor . If anyone refused to pay that much I drove away refusing to play their games a couple times . I tell them they can always use a shovel & hand dig it . Sometimes the ones I drove away from would call me back . If I had to make a second trip back I added 5.00 to it . Always get the money up front because after you're done tilling they can refuse to pay & then you're swindled . Also you have to check your area to see if anybody else is competeing . If not the area is open to your services . HTH ! God bless, Ken

 

[Leland]

I start out at 25.00 for a 10x10 and go up from there ,with gas being so high it probley will go up .I won't work for less than 50.00 per hour fighting that tiller

 

[Walt Davies]

Depends on what you are doing it with I charge $50 per hour for my small tractor and tiller with $200 minimum. It cost money to load up and go 10 miles to a spot and then only get $50 bucks you can go broke real fast like that. If I have two in the same close area I will split the fee for them.
If you are using a hand operated tiller then you have to charge more do to the wear and tear on the body. Those things are killers.
Walt

 

[rrlund]

Depends on who you're doing it for. Could be a case of beer,a chocolate cake,$10,$100. What have they ever done for you? Do you want to go back and do it again next year?

 

[Fawteen]

I'm assuming you're talking about a tractor and a 3PH tiller here.

When I was doing that sort of thing for a living, size didn't have much to do with it. I charged by the hour, with a 1 hour minimum, and a flat rate charge for getting there.

The only exception to that was if I could trailer the tractor to a central location, unload and till several gardens without having to reload. Then I'd give 'em a little bit of a break.

5 years ago, when I quit, it was $35/hr plus a $20 trailering fee. Like the feller below, I had a few people choke on that until they were faced with the prospect of doing it with a shovel or a Troybuilt. Only remember ever having one guy flat out refuse to pay that much.

I read somewhere that a good guideline was $1 per hour per $1000 of equipment replacement cost. Don't take long to come up with $35,000 for a tractor, tiller, trailer and a truck to haul it with...

 

[cadet trooper]

If you live in the country you"d better be aware of where your septic tank and leach field is because I know of a couple who wanted thier big flower garden tilled and the guy who did it mashed thier leach tile down because he drove the full length of one row with a big tractor drive tire and rear mounted tiller. Turned out his receipt had some fine print that said Not responsible for underground utilities and sanitary damage and they signed it (Whoops!) I"ve been thinking of setting up this kind of service for my stepson (a teacher) and his son for summer work with my sub compact tractor and 5 and a 1/2ft rear tiller but with todays age of being sue crazy the $35@ hour is too low because of insurance costs. Whatever happened to landowner responsibility? In other words know where everything is on your property and be there when they arrive if they ignore that and damage something then it"s thier fault. CT

 

[Leland]

I always ask first whats buried ? and if they say I don't know I always call julie first for locating of phone, power, cable and such bacause if you do not get a dig number a phone line can cost you hundreds or thousands and possible jail time .and they also sign a waiver before I start releiving me for and damage I may do due to hidden utilitys or plumbing .

 

[Anonymous-0]

I watch the local Craigslist and adjust my rates to beat the locals. Right now I base my fees on $60 an hour and $40 minimum if I have to trailer my tractor to the job. With my HD Howard rotovator and 67 hp tractor I can till over an acre an hour.....but there is a lot of wear on a tiller in our soil. I figure I make up for the big jobs with all the $40 small jobs I get. My neighbors with small gardens get a break....and I offer a 10% discount if I get more than one job at a location. If I charged a $200 minimum I wouldn't get a single call.....

 

[Anonymous-0]

What kind of guideline is that. What about us guys that use old equipment. My old tractor cost $1,000.00 and my tiller plow was 600.00. By those guidelines i would get $1.60 per hour. ?????????

 

[39ACB]

i wouldnt depending on the people. Our two close neighbors usually just flag me down when im allready in our field on that kuboder with a tiller hooked up to it. But their usually good for picking something up in town or mailing something out-or a few bales of straw or somesuch. But im different, i really like what i do and dont do it for the money

 

[INCase]

Never thought about beer. Could get alot done for that (ha ha) as long as it stays closed until the work is done. Sounds like $50/hour is the going rate. Can hardly get the car looked at for $50/hour and they have tools/building/equipment too. Thanks for the feed back.