Buckraking charge

[Clive]

The connection is the mecanic employed by a dealer , the dealer knows what he has to charge per hour to cover his costs , the guy on a tractor doesn't know his costs and usually hasn't a clue , I don't see any dealers coming on here asking for advice on what they should be charging for their mechanics.

charge what ever you can get - the more you get the more you will make

I'm not telling anyone what they should do but I have been around long enough to know that markets dictate prices not individuals

simple

 

[farmer pickles]

It doesn't make sense to me though, you're charging the same rate for someone with 250 acres of light crop with 50 acre smooth paddocks all in a ring fence with great clamps, the same as 250 heavy, rough, land spread all over the county tiny pits and yard access. You could be one day on the first job, two on the next, but charge the same.
I don't think you could come up with a more unfair way of doing things.

Thats the way every silage contractor in Ireland charges. Light crops are generally baled and wrapped.

 

[kiwi pom]

Thats the way every silage contractor in Ireland charges. Light crops are generally baled and wrapped.

Maybe so but I still don't think its a very fair way of doing it. By the hour or by the ton makes way more sense.

Having seen all the grassmen and farmflix videos (boy child loves them) I disagree with those that say there's no light crops in Ireland.
The acre thing does explain the quality of some of the work though.

 

[james ds]

Maybe so but I still don't think its a very fair way of doing it. By the hour or by the ton makes way more sense.

Having seen all the grassmen and farmflix videos (boy child loves them) I disagree with those that say there's no light crops in Ireland.
The acre thing does explain the quality of some of the work though.

There are more lighter crops than there use to be with dairy farmers but the suckler men love a big heavy cut. The grass men videos are mostly made up north where they cut lighter crops than down south.

 

[james ds]

What is your reasoning for charging per acre instead of hour?
I like to know what contractors cost for a job before we start, but on most jobs everyone only want to do hourly charge.

Also, 12,5 ton/acre with 30% DM is over 9 tons DM/ha. How many cuts do you do a year of this size? My total yield is 11-12 t DM/ha in normal years on 4-5 cuts.

A lot of grass is cut here at 22-25% moisture due to bad weather . The farmer knows what it's going to cost before we start as the price is set by the acre. I charge less for light crops .

 

[puppet]

At £35/ hr , you will end up with a worn out tractor and no money. I use a loader on the pit but I break the job down to the loader working at €20/acre , at 100 acres a day that's €2000 , I'm making money , how much do you want to lose.

Around here you would be charging more than the chopper at that rate. Must be good times over your way.
At least to the 29th March...

 

[Robt]

I really dont get these type of threads..... Work out your running costs, add a fair and sustainable profit.... if they wont pay that, walk away...

 

[kiwi pom]

I really dont get these type of threads..... Work out your running costs, add a fair and sustainable profit.... if they wont pay that, walk away...

Doesn't work in Ag contracting though, its all about ego and how much work you can get not whether its sustainable. At the end of the day its not a bad job, spend thousands on kit and charge around the countryside in an air conditioned cab all day.
If your business was cleaning sewers or roofing houses etc. You do it to make money or you'd walk away. Contracting, not so much.

 

[michael N123]

There are no light crops in Ireland

Did the heat not get to you lot last summer

 

[ollie989898]

I really dont get these type of threads..... Work out your running costs, add a fair and sustainable profit.... if they wont pay that, walk away...

Now where is the damned fun in that old boy?

via Imgflip Meme Generator

 

[james ds]

Did the heat not get to you lot last summer

IT did for the second cut , it delayed it until the last week in September .

 

[Ali_Maxxum]

£35+/hr. Wouldn't know where to start to charge per acre buck raking.

Still don't understand why people think you make no money with just man/tractor using someone else's kit. Maybe it's different for me cos I'm only running 130hp, 4pot and I don't let the constant need to 'make money' control my life.

I'd rather enjoy what I'm doing. If I wanted to make loads of money I wouldn't be in agriculture!

 

[njneer]

Worst thing you can contract your own tractor on is a buck rake , pull a trailer where you are only handling every 4 th or 5 th load not every single load Best thing you can do is charge the same and ask to go on the rake , nice n steady away , an hours head start steady revs , not abusing the life out of your tractor on the most strenuous job of the lot for someone else .

 

[ollie989898]

Worst thing you can contract your own tractor on is a buck rake , pull a trailer where you are only handling every 4 th or 5 th load not every single load Best thing you can do is charge the same and ask to go on the rake , nice n steady away , an hours head start steady revs , not abusing the life out of your tractor on the most strenuous job of the lot for someone else .

I thought that but was told by folk in the game that the buckraking is the sought-after part because you can make good money at it? No end of people trying to do it apparently.

 

[Ali_Maxxum]

Worst thing you can contract your own tractor on is a buck rake , pull a trailer where you are only handling every 4 th or 5 th load not every single load Best thing you can do is charge the same and ask to go on the rake , nice n steady away , an hours head start steady revs , not abusing the life out of your tractor on the most strenuous job of the lot for someone else .

You really think so? Have you ever had to pull silage trailers round hills and roads of Wales?

Personally think hammering up and down the roads is a lot more grief, not to mention tyre wear and fuel use on a tractor than pushing grass in a pit? Bet a tank on a pit would last me 2 days compared to 1 day on a trailer, tyre wear would be pretty much nil compared to on a trailer as well.

 

[Wellytrack]

Of the opinion buck raking challenges the man* as much as the machine. Good man on the rake is worth his money twice over..



*Apologies, operator.

 

[multi power]

Worst thing you can contract your own tractor on is a buck rake , pull a trailer where you are only handling every 4 th or 5 th load not every single load Best thing you can do is charge the same and ask to go on the rake , nice n steady away , an hours head start steady revs , not abusing the life out of your tractor on the most strenuous job of the lot for someone else .

I'd far sooner buckrake than pull a trailer, but take would be my first choice

 

[holywell farmer]

I believe so it’s not on the quality of the buckraking job it’s on the quality of it as feed. horses for courses I suppose nothing wrong with a bit of rivalry in whatever floats your boat

Milk and beef farmers need top quality silage to feed, low quality silage doesn't do cows many favours,

 

[holywell farmer]

Milk and beef farmers need top quality silage to feed, low quality silage doesn't do cows many favours,

And farmers adjust rations on how good or bad silage is in the pit

 

[Muddy Boots]

Fuel wise. I used to drive 200hp and front mounted buck rake and first cut was 1 litre an acre in a normal pit. If your chasing it round a corner or fudging about in tight area then that could go up by 50%.