Should I buy...

There are many private roads around here and they all have the same problem of brush trying to overtake the sides. I have one person who has offered to pay me $50 just to run a 5' or 6' mower down the sides of their road (about a block long).

Can these things ever pay you back with outside service?

Another thing is all the neat stuff you will find - chains, bicycles, 2 x 4's, etc. You'll be finding them with your mower....

--->Paul

I have friends who almost never take their backhoes or other machinery off their own land and when they do they make sure to not charge anything for any favors they do their immediate neighbors.

There's obviously a living to be made doing that stuff but it's best to be serious and well insured and probably bonded when going about it.

This is the first year since 1988 that I HAVEN'T mowed commercially. I had liability insurance, which I didn't renew this year, so no mowing. I'm too busy doing other things, and couldn't make enough mowing to cover the liability premiums.

I charged by the hour ($25 per for the bush hog) with a two hour minimum to cover putting the mower on, loading the tractor, dragging it to the job, etc.

Yes, you can make some money at it, but it is INCREDIBLY time consuming. If you can line up a couple of FULL days worth of mowing per week all summer long, you can cover your costs (insurance and fuel) and maybe pay on the the mower a bit.

I did it on weekends and nights after work because I enjoyed doing it, not because I thought I would get rich doing it.