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Shop rate??

super99

super99

Well-known Member
A old guy in a tractor club that I belong to has a AC WD 45 that he says has a vibration in the rear wheel. He thinks moving the wheel will solve the issue, but he says no one in that area will work on it for him. I live 60 miles away from him, but told him I would look at it and try to figure out the problem and fix it if I can. I highly doubt that moving the wheel will solve his problem and plan to take along a jack and some tools to jack it up and roll the wheel over and try to see what the problem is. If just moving the wheel solves is problem, I don't plan to charge him anything, if he wants to pay for my gas , that would be great. BUT, if there is something mechanical that needs fixed , how much should I charge/ hour while working on it? It would have to be hauled to my place if that is the case. I don't want to work for free, but I don't want to overcharge for my time either. How much would you charge a person that you don't know very well to work on his tractor?? I'm thinking $20-$30/hour, Is that too much, too little or about right?? Thanks, Chris
 
it might only be those adjustable rims loose. its too bad u have to drive so far to fix a simple thing , well maybe... as it could be all rusted up to. better take some good panther pee. that is really reasonable on the price when shops rates are in the 150.00 per hr range. most time i do the same favors and hardly charge a thing for something simple.
 
I don't work on tractors anymore but up until four years ago, I charged $25 and hour for the hours I thought it would take if things went the way they were supposed to and if I would have the proper equipment to work on it.

In other words, if it would have been a 5 hour job in the shop before I retired 22 years ago and it today took me 7 or 8 hours, I charged for the 5 hours.

If thing progressed nicely I would charge for the full time.

I never made over $11 and hour at the dealer so I still figured I was making good money. $60 or $70 and hour is horse feathers.
 
I charge $30 and this is after my regular job. I don't make $20 at my job so I like 30. I could charge more and not have any to do or charge 30 and I keep busy and make a lot of friends/customers.
 
Key words in your post....

old guy in a tractor club that I belong to
told him I would look at it and try to figure out

$50 a hour is way out of line in this case.
That makes it sound like you are looking for a way out.

But 60 miles is a little far to travel for free.
Get you a tank of gasoline and call it good.
 

Anymore, for a lot of jobs (based on experience) I toss 'em a quote.

If they accept it, well and good, I'll do my best to get the job done for that amount with a bit of profit.

Or they can reject it or quibble and move on to waste someone else's time.

Doctors and lawyers "practice" and get rewarded very handsomely for their knowledge, the experience/knowledge of us crusty old guys who know how to make stuff work should be worth a good $$$, as well.

Or let 'em scrap it!
 
Your ability has a lot to do with it.The guy that works on my tractors charges me $40 hour his day job is a mechanic at a dealership,he is a great mechanic with all the tools he needs and always does a good job.So he is well worth what he charges,on the other hand there are some 'mechanics' I wouldn't pay $10 hour.
 
(quoted from post at 19:02:45 09/29/21) A old guy in a tractor club that I belong to has a AC WD 45 that he says has a vibration in the rear wheel. He thinks moving the wheel will solve the issue, but he says no one in that area will work on it for him. I live 60 miles away from him, but told him I would look at it and try to figure out the problem and fix it if I can. I highly doubt that moving the wheel will solve his problem and plan to take along a jack and some tools to jack it up and roll the wheel over and try to see what the problem is. If just moving the wheel solves is problem, I don't plan to charge him anything, if he wants to pay for my gas , that would be great. BUT, if there is something mechanical that needs fixed , how much should I charge/ hour while working on it? It would have to be hauled to my place if that is the case. I don't want to work for free, but I don't want to overcharge for my time either. How much would you charge a person that you don't know very well to work on his tractor?? I'm thinking $20-$30/hour, Is that too much, too little or about right?? Thanks, Chris
Click to expand...

Bad bearing in the axle somewhere?
 
(quoted from post at 05:12:04 09/30/21) Your ability has a lot to do with it.The guy that works on my tractors charges me $40 hour his day job is a mechanic at a dealership,he is a great mechanic with all the tools he needs and always does a good job.So he is well worth what he charges,on the other hand there are some 'mechanics' I wouldn't pay $10 hour.
Click to expand...

Exactly. When I was running my shop I got lots of inquiries about fixing the wannabee mechanic's messes.

Turned them all down, you want to hire cheap mechanics for your repairs you can pay them to fix their screwups as well.

I was busy enough with my regular customers, didn't need the penny pinchers around crying about my rates.

I was charging $60.00/hr in the shop, $80.00/hr on the road from the time I left until I got back. I kept busy, too busy sometimes.

This post was edited by Carlmac 369 on 09/30/2021 at 04:51 am.
 
Shop rates are a good question! I have neighbors I sometimes fix things for. One asked me to look at his baler and said he would bring it over. When he pulled it into the yard the twine had come loose along the road and hooked on something. He said that was so he could find his way back home!! Anyway he is already out a box of twine. He is on the local volunteer fire department and has hauled me to the ER twice. I may just fix his baler to get even!
 
That is what Im thinking, I want to jack it up and roll the wheel
to see where the vibration is coming from.
 
(quoted from post at 19:02:45 09/29/21) How much would you charge a person that you don't know very well to work on his tractor?? I'm thinking $20-$30/hour, Is that too much, too little or about right?? Thanks, Chris
Click to expand...

Depends. Do you have any idea what you're doing or what you're looking for?

I love threads like these. The answers are all over the board, and there's the inevitable crabbing about shops and how crooked they are for charging what they charge. I mean, how dare they have overhead and expenses above and beyond labor, and how DARE they try to make a little profit to feed their families?
 
I don't want to charge a friend that wants me to do landscaping work with my terramite I tell them I don't have an hourly rate. Just pay me what you think it worth.
Considering it would cost them $175 a day to rent a terramite, they get me for about half price and work about 6 hours plus travel time. That covers my gas and part of an oil change.
One friend always feeds me lunch. His wife makes a good sandwich. So I work for food too.
 
I helped two brothers fix the wiring on their old TO20.
I got payment in kind. Brothers raised mums, I got 9 mums.
IRS wouldn't take 3 mums as payment.
 
60 miles away would require some money. I wouldnt do it for less than $40/hr from the time you leave home until you get back.

I wont work on much equipment for others right now, and the few that I do are people that were always good to me over the years. Sometimes I charge them, sometimes I dont. Occasionally My phone number gets out to others, and I normally will discuss a repair with them to see if I want to work for them if I have spare time which is rare. A few questions usually will tell me what I need to know. My business insurance policy covers this type of work as well, should a problem come up.

I have different rates I go by- Normal price $105/hr, good friend price $75/hr, people that wont leave me alone and keep calling $150/hr. You would be surprised how many of these folks in the last category accept it and are glad to get something repaired. They are usually victims of trying to repair it themselves or from one of the local hacks that do stuff for beer money.

Welding and Machining are $40/hr
 
If I belonged to a club and a older gentleman needed help I probably wouldn't charge him at all other than parts.i just like lending a hand to a friend.
 
Well, the next time I was heading in that guys direction anyways, I'd just stop by and take a gander at it, and if its a quick easy fix, I'd just do it for free.
If not, then I'd explain to the guy that a simple wheel adjustment is not his problem, and enlighten the guy on whats wrong, and what it'll actually take to fix it.
Thats when you need to talk to him about your expenses to go any further, hauling, shop time, parts, etc.
20 to 30 $s an hour wouldn't be out of line. Not to high, not to cheap. I probly wouldn't want to go into business at that price, but hey, for a one time deal for a tractor club buddy, you bet.
 
If the man called a shop to come out and look at it, they would charge a service call, mileage, and an hourly rate. It probably would cost more than the tractor is worth.

BUT, since you are not doing this as a professional shop, and helping a fellow club member, I would not even think of charging that much. You do have travel expenses, though. Spending an afternoon with a fellow club member might be all the pay you want. Then too, it might become more involved and you might want at least a bit of compensation for your labor and knowledge.

The choice is yours.

Personally, I have done a lot of side work. Mostly helping friends and family, but some semi-commercial. Many times, the barter system comes into play. There were a few friends that I helped with their car troubles. When the time came to replace the roof on my house, they were all lined up to help me. When it came to financial compensation, I would never charge as much as shops for several reasons. I did not provide warranty, insurance, or the security of a professional shop so I did not feel justified to charge the same rates as they did.
 
Vibration in the rear wheel just how would you get that in a wd-45 dooes he means when he drives down a hard surfaced road thats when he thinks there is a vibration. That will happen due to tread design on hard surfaced road in road gear
 
A good friend stopped in and fixed my tractor

Shortly after he need masonry work on a house he was selling

It worked out good for both of us!
 
I'd probably just charge him what your actual expenses are.

That being said, when I had my full time shop and brothers-in-law and nephews had assorted businesses, we had an agreement. Kinship is kinship and business is business, and the two did not intermingle. Whenever we did business with each other, we got charged the same as any other customer. It saved a lot of hard feelings and misgivings.
 
(quoted from post at 12:35:56 09/30/21) I'd probably just charge him what your actual expenses are.

That being said, when I had my full time shop and brothers-in-law and nephews had assorted businesses, we had an agreement. Kinship is kinship and business is business, and the two did not intermingle. Whenever we did business with each other, we got charged the same as any other customer. It saved a lot of hard feelings and misgivings.
Click to expand...

Yessir!
 
It sounds like you have already decided not to charge much more than your out of pocket expenses for helping a club member. Your fuel and a meal may be all that is necessary, but you would probably still do it without any compensation. I would avoid using the term shop rate unless you can give the same rate to complete strangers and anyone who needs repair work.
 
The old Amish man in Lancaster County Pa Elias Beiler used to say that If all I am going to make is nothing then all I want to do is nothing He was a good guy and we miss him.Old Scovy.
 
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