Hey everybody, I'm looking to purchase my own dozer for doing side work and hopefully eventually working for myself full time. I am currently a miner, I run a Cat d9T. There is a nice Deere 700j up the road from my house I may take a look at, my biggest concern is going to be getting a dozer to job sites, I surely won't be hauling any piece of equipment that size with a 3/4 ton truck, so I believe I would have to find a lowboy for hire. Would this be feasible? I imagine it would get expensive real quick. On the other hand I have been considering a skid steer as I would be able to haul that myself legally.
Welcome to the Forums BD! Glad to have you. FWIW we hire out all our heavy iron moves to local towing companies that have lowboys as it's just cheaper for the projects we do which have a 2+ week duration. If we were moving the heavier iron weekly then a lowboy would make sense for us. We move our skids, mini and trench rollers with pickups.
^ what he said. You can't pay yourself to buy a truck and trailer, that would put you backwards if you can't keep it busy too.
I appreciate the feedback! Just trying to get some ideas before I end up dropping $80k for a nice machine. I would like to do mostly land improvement work such as scrub brush clearing and pond builds in south TX
Usually, you can go to local big construction company that have their own lowboy’s and they will charge a reasonable fee as they are not always hauling iron and welcome the extra work.
I've always been pleasantly surprised when I got pricing for a local haul. It pays to be a little flexible too.
Not really the question you asked, but if you are looking at mainly doing scrubby, south Texas land clearing, you are probably mostly talking about cactus, mesquite, and cedar. It's just my opinion, but a skid steer would probably be the better choice. Way faster, lighter, and eliminates your transportation problems.
Mobilization is just part of the overall business plan. I would get some quotes on mobilization and find out how competitive you can be. Your established competition most likely self-moves, they will be doing it at cost. You will be paying for someone to mob you and make a profit on you. Their profit comes out of your profit. Smaller jobs may be harder for you to compete on. All of that ties into the business plan, which may be more than your interested in hearing. Is there enough work to keep a dozer busy? Are the profit margins in your area sufficient to get yourself going and make money doing it? Do you have enough money to operate on and to make repairs to a new to you machine? As a dozer operator exclusively, does every job become a dozer solution, the point I am getting at, that someone else mentioned, is a dozer the best solution for the work you want to do? You likely know the saying "if all you have is a hammer, every problem becomes a nail". Some options to consider would be a Rent to Own agreement. Gives you a machine, and lets you build your business, if it works, move forward, if it doesn't, give it back. Consider a CTL and rent larger if you need it. https://www.casece.com/northamerica/en-us/products/compact-dozer-loaders/overview A machine like this or something similar could give you a better ROI than a straight dozer. Does a CTL and Excavator make more sense? Having some diversity in what you can do, especially starting out, and going into uncertain economic times, is important. This response is more than simply transporting your dozer and you may have already considered all these things. Good luck.
Lowboy costs seems to vary so much place to place, around here if it's only a few day jobs mostly, if you can't move it yourself you won't make any money as it's at least $900 to get anything moved. Might be better off going a bit smaller so you can move it with a pickup, or maybe a light single axle.
Holy cow. Around here I can get my Case 580 moved by at least 3 different companies and within 30 miles it’s 200 bucks. And since I’ve done it more than a few times 150 cash.
I would agree with getting some quotes in your area for hauling. If your jobs are at least 2 or 3 days long, should be able to work the transportation into the job quote. Really nice if you can haul the machine off 1 job right to the next. If doing work for farmers shouldn't be too bad if the machine had to sit there for a couple days until your next job was ready for you.
That's a lot smaller machine though, that could be hauled behind a pickup, although that is still really cheap. I'm talking about a rate for a lowboy capable of hauling a 50,000lbs+ machine. This was years ago and it was $190/hr and it's from the time they leave their shop until they get back.
Consider cost of truck, maintenance, insurance, registration, CDL, fuel, depreciation, maybe loan interest. I've never been charged more than those costs add up to. Yet I own a truck big enough to haul my machinery. It does NOT make economic sense for me to own, but it is frustrating to want it moved & have to wait for someone else. If you can find someone able to move it when you need it moved it's probably saving money.
Similar here. We can get a 321/325 hoe moved around the city 20-30 miles one way for $350-400 per move. At that price I can't afford to own a lowboy for the projects we do which are at least 2 week projects most longer.
I move an 18000 LB backhoe/loader. I own a GMC 7000 series Topkick truck, a former fire truck. I bought it for $6000 with about 10,000 actual miles. I spent some money before I had my dump body mounted & a few bugs worked out. It costs to register, insurance is cheap. My CDL costs & I need an annual physical to maintain my CDL. Fuel is pretty expensive these days. I & both sons, along with a couple extra sons get a significant amount of use out of it, but it isn't cost effective. The nearest hauling company is 30 miles from me & sometimes that adds a lot to time & cost. They are NEVER available when I need them, & I have found their drivers surly & destructive. Once, a driver insisted on chaining to the chrome rods on my backhoe's swing cylinders. We nearly came to blows before I won that dispute. I don't find it convenient to plan ahead, typically it's a 7 day lead time for a move. I can haul lumber, gravel, sand for bedding electrical conduit, firewood, building demolition waste, machinery & my bulldozer travels in the truck, without a trailer. We are involved in antique tractor pulling, I haul 30 750 LB concrete blocks & a 1500 LB boat between truck & trailer. No way it makes economic sense, but I choose it for convenience.
It makes economic sense not because the cost of having a machine moved but because the opertunity and time lost to a machine waiting on a truck adds up to what more than a truck costs In my owner operator days of just me and the backhoe I would have never made it without truck and trailer that said truck and trailer to move a backhoe is significantly cheaper and more available in the market to acquire than a lowboy to move a dozer The scale of the job will dictate machine size things to consider is what's a minimum that you can perform a small job that is more setup work than dirt work that should help you make a decision in equipment to buy alone Ctl is a lot cheaper to feed than a dozer but cant come close to what a dozer will perform
I have a D8T that I can move about easily with hired in transport.I’m even happy to have it moved back to my yard to do larger jobs on it over the winter. However,the D9T is a different thing altogether.It costs more than twice as much to move it and I tend to leave it where it is as long as possible.
I have a D6R and rental larger 250 up excavators that I move at least once a month. I use a local construction company and it it is quite reasonable.
I have been in business for 23 years here in east texas............D9 thru D5's, excavators, front end loaders ect. I have contracted all of my hauling. Yes it can be expensive but that is bid into all of my jobs. Do exceptional work, the word will get out over time and typically people will pay for that. Good luck!
Hauling your own as noted does NOT pay unless are moving often and using the truck for other work.