Custom Hiring Rate & What to Charge
Prices the hour
Enter your machine's cost per hour and margin to get a viable hire rate per hour, the profit per hour, and the rate and cost per acre.
Set your hire rate
Next: charge about ₹1,000/hr; track your real cost/hr so the margin holds, and offer slightly lower off-peak rates to keep the machine busy.
Base the cost/hr on the Machinery Cost calculator (fixed + operating); include idle/travel time and a realistic annual-use figure.
Custom hiring rate — key facts
- Rate/hour
- cost/hr × (1 + margin%)
- Cover
- full owning + operating cost + margin
- Rate/acre
- rate/hr ÷ field capacity
- Clearer to farmers
- quote per acre
- Annual use
- use realistic hours/year
- Include
- idle and travel time
- Stay busy
- lower off-peak rates
- Privacy
- Runs in your browser; nothing uploaded
Price the machine, not a guess
Hiring out a tractor or harvester only pays if the rate covers what the machine truly costs to own and run — depreciation, interest, fuel, repairs and the operator — and still leaves a margin. Many Custom Hiring Centres and FPOs set rates by copying the neighbours or by gut feel, then wonder why the operation never builds a reserve to replace the machine. The honest rate starts from cost per hour and adds a margin: rate per hour = cost per hour × (1 + margin%).
This tool turns that into a rate card — the hire rate per hour, the profit per hour, and the rate and cost per acre — in 8 currencies, so you can quote farmers the per-acre figure they understand while knowing your hourly economics. Base the cost on a realistic annual-use figure, include idle and travel time, and offer lower off-peak rates to keep the machine busy, because utilisation is what really drives profit. Pair it with the Machinery Cost, Field Capacity and Tractor Fuel Cost tools to build the numbers underneath.
Charge to cover cost
A rate built on real owning and running cost.
Quote per acre
The figure farmers find easiest to compare.
See the margin
Know the profit you keep on every hour.
Keep it busy
Set off-peak rates to fill idle days.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a custom hiring rate?+
It's the price you charge to hire out a farm machine — a tractor, harvester, rotavator or sprayer — by the hour or by the acre. Custom Hiring Centres (CHCs) and Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) own machines and rent them to farmers who can't afford to buy, and the rate has to cover their costs and leave a margin.
How do I set a hire rate per hour?+
Hire rate per hour = cost per hour × (1 + margin%). First work out the machine's full owning-plus-operating cost per hour, then add a margin so the operation stays viable. If the cost is 500 per hour and you want a 25% margin, the rate is 625 per hour. The tool does this for you.
Should I quote per hour or per acre?+
Farmers usually find a per-acre rate clearer because it ties directly to the job. Rate per acre = rate per hour ÷ field capacity (acres per hour). The tool gives both, so you can advertise a per-acre rate while still knowing your hourly economics underneath it.
What goes into the cost per hour?+
Base it on fixed (owning) cost plus operating cost. Fixed costs include depreciation, interest, insurance and shelter; operating costs include fuel, oil, repairs and the operator's wage. Spread the fixed cost over a realistic number of working hours a year — see the Machinery Cost tool for the full breakdown.
Why does annual use matter so much?+
Fixed costs are spread over the hours the machine works each year. Use it 200 hours and each hour carries a big slice of depreciation and interest; use it 800 hours and the per-hour fixed cost drops sharply. Base the rate on a realistic annual-use figure, not an optimistic one, or you'll underprice.
Should I include idle and travel time?+
Yes. A machine spends time travelling between fields, turning, refuelling and waiting, and that time costs money even though it isn't productive. Factor idle and travel time into your effective working hours and rate, otherwise the quoted rate won't actually recover your costs over a season.
What margin should I add?+
Enough to cover risk, downtime and a return on the investment without pricing yourself out of the market. A modest margin keeps the machine competitive and busy; busy machines spread fixed costs and earn more overall than idle ones with a high rate. Check local rates and your annual-use assumption together.
How do I keep the machine busy?+
Offer lower off-peak rates to fill the gaps between peak operations, group nearby jobs to cut travel, and book ahead during the season. The more hours the machine works, the lower its per-hour cost and the more flexibility you have on rate — utilisation is the real driver of custom-hiring profit.
Does this work in any currency?+
Yes — the tool supports 8 currencies, so a CHC, FPO or contractor anywhere can set a rate in local money. The method (cost per hour × (1 + margin), then divided by field capacity for a per-acre rate) is universal; only the numbers and the currency change.