Hello, I'm the "new guy" Just became a member and this is my first post. I am currently considering my latest "dream" (as my wife calls it of getting into doing a little excavation type work. I wouldn't be specializing in anything in particular as no one in this area is really specialized in one particular type of work along these lines. Probably do some land/lot clearing, field canals, general excavation, possibly the occasional basement, (there aren't many of those in this area) and maybe a little demo work. I'm not really looking for it to be full time, at least not to start with. But rather a means to diversify and have more means of income. I currently custom bale hay with my dad and work for my bro-in-law doing concrete work. I do have extensive experience driving tractor and also quite a bit on a skid steer, as well as a fair little bit on mini ex's. The biggest I have ran being a Kom. PC80, but mostly my bro-in-law's Cat 305. What kind of advice can y'all give me concerning building clientele? If I indeed decide to make a go of this, would you guys recommend advertising and trying to line some jobs up before I even get the equipment? Also, what kind of equipment would y'all recommend for starting with? I have been thinking an older but decent excavator in the 11 to 16 ton range, (preferably 40 grand or less for the first piece. What would be a good, efficient, all around hoe? Also, would anyone recommend one with a push blade since it would most likely be my only machine for awhile? Thanks in advance for your time! I welcome any tips or advice you guys can give me!!
Because excavating is a very capital intensive business in my book it is kind of like being pregnant. Either you are or are, in other words, you are either in the excavating business or not. Around here the two basic pieces required to get started are an excavator in the 16 to 22 ton range and a skid steer. A dozer would be good too. Now, you have to have a way to move them. Some guys haul that large of an excavator on a tag trailer behind a tandem or triaxle dump truck here. Other use a lowboy. As for me I don't want anything to do with a 22 ton machine on a tag trailer. That means a lowboy and tractor. Put this all together and the 40 grand you are talking about is not going to go to far on getting up and going. You won't find an 11 to 16 ton excavator with a blade either. I don't know what things are like around your area economy wise but I would not advise anyone to try and start up in my area at this time. I was at it for better then 20 years and hung it up last year and have been selling off all of my equipment. Excavating has become a dirty cut throat business all over. I have watched others take work at below my cost for sometime here. One of the reasons I have quit here.
I failed to mention that I do have a truck already that I use on the farm. I would have to get a heavier trailer.
Like Greg said its a tough business to get into. You might look at starting a little smaller and work your way up. 40 grand could get you a used backhoe and a 5 ton dump. With a little time and word of mouth you could find your self very busy doing the small jobs that most established companies don't want to mess with. Just try not to over extend your self. Hopefully your full time job could finance the 40 grand that way if you have to let it sit when the work runs out your not having to cook the dog for dinner.
don't forget the rice
Brings a whole new meaning to the word "dogfood".
You need to be specialized in something if your going to make it my area, trying to undercut already established business's isn't going to do anything for you except speed up your existing the business. As for what machines to get, depends on what your good at doing, as for 40 grand, my advice is to keep saving up dollars and when things turn around with the economy, hunt up some bargains in used equipment then and keep debt low and figure in a profit into every job you do and you'll do fine. Keep doing what your doing and expand very slowly as you go. As for advertising, if you do that, you'll get every dead beat out there to call you, instead work off you current custom work clients and ask them what they need to hire done, start there. If your in farmer country, word of mouth is your best advertising you can get, especially if you are starting out with one machine or two till you get established.
It's hard to beat a 5 yd dump truck, backhoe and trailer to haul it with. Then as time and the budget allow, add a small dozer that's about the same weight as the backhoe to the fleet. Start with decent used equipment and update as needed, but use what profits you've made to do it. I've seen a number of people start that way, then get wild and start taking out loans for new stuff. Next thing you know, they're broke!!
I don't know what your laws in Georgia are relative to the use of trucks, but here you can't use a truck which is licensed for farm use for anything else. If they catch you at it the boom gets lowered on you big time. A truck licensed for farm use here would have to be reregistered for commercial use. That brings in a whole different set of rules to play by, bigger insurance requirements and a CDL. Farm runs without CDL here. As for what Randy88 had to say, he hit it right on the head. I have seen them come and go around here. Buy an excavator and skidsteer and going to go dig basements. Anybody remember the big housing crash of a few years ago? They are all gone and equipment long since gone back to the bank or finance company. These are the same guys that were taking work at below my cost. Keep the overhead low, do your best to make money on every job.
Thanks for the input guys, I really appreciate it!! And hey, keep it coming!
Curious - who does the digging on those concrete jobs?
My brother-in-law is the main operator on the excavator, while I am the primary on the skid steer. I have always grabbed every chance I got to run the hoe so I could build some experience Over the past year I gained a fair bit of seat time on it.
Working with family is tough! Good for when you are starting out as you can escape some headaches in the tax arena. But it gets difficult the longer you go on.