Air BNB for tractors? thoughts/suggestions

Hello everyone I am new on here.

i was curious what everyone's thoughts were on a tractor rental website? it would run as a rental website for people to post their equipment to rent out to others, but also can post their services for hire. wanting to make this work for people. what are everyone thoughts on this?

thanks,

First thought/question. Are you talking about renting new equipment? Then it could work. If you are talking 50-70 year old tractors then I would say no way. Old tractors are harder to operate. Maybe not for us 60 +/-year olds but for the young, true city slickers. As most know on this site , old tractors need more maintenance which most of us can do our selves. But I suspect the young true city slickers (potentials renters. Us old farts already have tractors) don?t even have a tool box much less the ability to fix what?s wrong. Then there is the lawyers. Old tractors are lacking modern safety equipment. ROPS,flashing lights, lights period, iffy brakes. Neutral switch, Fenders, etc

That would be called an "INSURANCE NIGHTMARE".

Mmmmm
chasing your tail over broken obsolete parts the entire time
charge by the month ornamental or operational

Well said Tony. Besides" WHO WOULD" like to se some one else handle, untrained handle equipment, I "KNOW" I wouldn't.
( even handling this computer to put in emphasis is daunting enough for me let alone attempting to train an other how to use older farm equipment safely and know that the other person is competent
enough to leave alone.)
Wm.

There are rental houses, but I don't see it being practical for an individual to put their tractors/equipment out for bare rental. Selling a service is different, a number of posters on this site do that in one form or another.

craigslist already has some tractor/equipment services offered ads around here. And I've seen a couple that offered a tractor, trailer or equipment for bare rent, not many.

Bare rental to individuals would be insurance and maintenance nightmare, along with lack of current safety features on old equipment, as already noted.

Rental houses have to offer/provide operator training for equipment when it goes to a renter. Are all people who might decide to rent their machine out able to instruct another (who may never have run a tractor) how to safely and properly use it?

What do you have for tractors and attachments? Do you want to rent them out for others to operate as they see fit? Ask your insurance agent about a policy to cover you doing that and report back the answer.

I think safety and liability issues would kill that idea. I doubt any company would insure old equipment for rental use.

(quoted from post at 22:12:15 11/05/19)
[color=blue:0dcc09e436][b:0dcc09e436]it would run as a rental website for people to post their equipment to rent out to others[/b:0dcc09e436][/color:0dcc09e436], [color=green:0dcc09e436][b:0dcc09e436]but also can post their services for hire[/b:0dcc09e436][/color:0dcc09e436].

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First, let me refer to the post title. Tractor BNB? So.....Tractor Bed-N-Breakfast? Or are you just thinking of using that kind of website setup??

[color=blue:0dcc09e436][b:0dcc09e436]Sssoooooo.....you're thinking that maybe....just MAYBE there might be some interested tractor owners who would like to rent out their equipment? To do what with? Photo ops? One-time uses, such as digging a trench or tilling a garden plot? You want to know if people who have paid thousands of dollars for their equipment would like to rent it out to folks who may or may not know how to operate any of it? Not to mention transportation costs and the aforementioned liability issues.[/b:0dcc09e436][/color:0dcc09e436]

[color=green:0dcc09e436][b:0dcc09e436]Hiring out services -- well, there are already some on this site who do that. Some mow fields/pastures, and we hear stories all the time (often with supporting pics) about running over rocks, tree stumps, falling into hidden holes, the inevitable fencing that the landowner swears did not know was there, etc, etc, etc..... We also have folks who use their tractors in their own business. Most of that is farming, but some folks use their tractors in construction, such as fence and deck building.[/b:0dcc09e436][/color:0dcc09e436]

Hmm..... your username.....interesting. Ah, here it is! [b:0dcc09e436]Tractor Buddy LLC[/b:0dcc09e436] website. (https://www.tractor-buddy.com/en/infos/terms) So basically you've come here to drum up some free advertising?? You come here with a post ASKING our thoughts on some idea of yours, only to find that this IDEA was put into operation long ago?

So basically, you're a spammer. Right?? You [i:0dcc09e436]must[/i:0dcc09e436] be. Otherwise you would have clearly seen this just above the post you typed:

I think the responses pretty well explain the problems with the idea. I have done custom mowing and
garden plowing in my younger years with old equipment. Some of the conditions that I encountered were
very rough and difficult for me at 35 and I have been using this equipment since I was 10. I'm 76.
No way would I consider letting anyone "rent" my equipment.
HOWEVER, I have my 16 year old granddaughter learning to drive my '51 8N while I use the Agri-fab vacuum.
She is very careful but is was funny to see her expressions when I told her that there was a clutch
pedal, no accelerator pedal, two brake pedals and no power steering. LOL
Now put a melenial (sp) on this old machine with no experience and no instructions?
Lastly, capitalism starts with a viable idea for a new or better mousetrap. Keep thinking.

kcm.MN,

Very good catch. Are you reporting it as spam?

It appears as if Tractor Buddy has been dragged into the station, questioned, booked, found guilty and is now doing his time in YT
purgatory. So don't think for a minute that we just look for highway infractions with chaining/strapping down equipment .... we also have a
serious crime unit on patrol ....... LOL !!!

The average newby cannot run a lawn aerator without tearing it up. Renters would have no incentive to take care of the equipment and your insurance agent will have to move in with you.

(quoted from post at 06:29:16 11/06/19)
kcm.MN,

Very good catch. Are you reporting it as spam?

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Actually, I have not. Moderators are likely still asleep, having visions of tractor parts dancing through their heads. *lol* Plus, leaving the post there allows time for everyone else to see that this guy is nothing more than another spammer.

I wish him all the luck in the world. ....How's that song go?
"[i:d77b93f627]If it weren't for bad luck
I'd have no luck at all,
Gloom, despair and agony on me![/i:d77b93f627]"

I do not loan or rent ANY of my equipment Ever like said go to a rental place you want your equipment to be junk go for it

Renting equipment by dealers was fairly common until the 1990's then has all but disappeared. There were a number of reasons for that with many being touched on
here. The biggest in my mind is people do not take good care of things that they do not own.

(quoted from post at 10:23:25 11/06/19)

(quoted from post at 06:29:16 11/06/19)
kcm.MN,

Very good catch. Are you reporting it as spam?

Click to expand...

Actually, I have not. Moderators are likely still asleep, having visions of tractor parts dancing through their heads. *lol* Plus, leaving the post there allows time for everyone else to see that this guy is nothing more than another spammer.

I wish him all the luck in the world. ....How's that song go?
"[i:20441b1ff6]If it weren't for bad luck
I'd have no luck at all,
Gloom, despair and agony on me![/i:20441b1ff6]"

Click to expand...

I went to the link you posted and tried to see what was there for equipment. He may have it set up so you can't see what is available unless you sign up, which I'm not going to do, but I see his lists of categories with nothing listed showing. I even checked using the area info from his phone number (Olympia, Washington) and nothing comes up. One would think the listings would show to get people to see what they might rent. Strange- appearance is he has been at it since January and has nothing to offer.

(quoted from post at 22:12:15 11/05/19) what are everyone thoughts on this?

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One last thought I have is this:
Just yesterday, a member here posted about a tractor-related death. Someone else was on the tractor other than operator. Young man (24-yrs-old) tried to get off, slipped, tractor ran over him. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

I don't think a month goes by without hearing of at least one such story -- and these aren't Country Bumpkin wannabe's we're talking about. Most of the accidents are involving people who have spent years around such equipment. Before that there were a couple of stories of folks getting caught in their PTO shafts, killing them and mangling their bodies.

As you have already begun this venture, I really cannot offer you any 'best wishes'. I have to save that for any folks who choose to rent machinery, especially from unknown sources. Lots of folks on this site (TRUE experts, unlike me) can easily tell who keeps their equipment in good operational repair and who just keeps it enough to get by. But the average person won't have a clue. That nice shiny repainted tractor may have multiple mechanical issues.

Believe me, a "business" such as you want is just asking for trouble -- and it'll likely be someone else that gets hurt.

insurance is defiantly one of the harder things to make work. after talking with many insurance brokers they have all just pointed towards commercial insurance policies for equipment, but obliviously for a lot of equipment owners that would be hard to justify.

Thank you Jim for the reply.

more or less the website would be a craigslist site. a website designed for posting a listing. but instead of posting listing from anything from a toaster to a boat, it would be specific to tractor rentals.

yes it would be for tractors and attachments, and the users would put in a request to rent the equipment, and the owner can then choose whether to rent out or not.

safety is a huge concern obviously, and insurance that could be offered through the business website is obsolete, so it would be up to the users to provide their own. which is hard for people to justify.

Thanks for the reply Mike,

yes safety and liability issues are a huge hurdle. no body insures farm equipment when it gets past a curtain age. but the hope would be newer equipment with hydro static transmissions like compact and subcompact models to try and eliminate as many potential problems as possible.

thanks for the reply KCM.MN

Yes it would be setup like air bnb. A peer to peer rental.

someone could rent it out for any reason they would like. i know equipment is expensive and it is hard to trust with others. the hope would be for a farmer to look for equipment to rent around him if his is down in harvest season, but of course anyone could ask to rent.

tractor work for hire would mainly just be a area where professionals could advertise themselves for any of the jobs you described, but also manage the communication part of things through the site.

I am not looking for advertising.. and that is the reason why i did not put my business name on the discussion or a link to the website, and the idea has been something i have been working on for a while now yes, but i ask for thoughts and opinions from others for insight and to learn from other equipment owners. i like to see if there is anything i have not yet thought of.

Jime.Me,

you can see listings without signing in, but there is nothing listed yet. I am from western Washington. i have been working on this idea sense January, but just last month i finished everything and made it public.

thanks,