Hello all and thanks for the time you take to answer. Starting with 2-3 all terrain truck cranes. 50t 75t 150t Any profit in a 30/35t? Is this a good lineup? Thanks!
You can certainly keep a 30/35 ton truck crane - boom truck busy working HVAC installs and setting beams on residential job sites.
Good question ? It would depend on what my customers needed . We have three 25 ton truck cranes and decided to stay in that range as that is where we hit the best with my customer base . Big enough to set a 25 ton load up close and yet easy to move to go set trusses on a new home . Not to mention they can also " tag team " on difficult lifts . I suppose if the need called for it I would have a 150 ton rig and a 35 ton . Take care of big & small jobs with those two . All depends on what your customer needs .
its all about your market, the market here supports 50+ boom trucks full time and atleast 20+ 50-70tons and 10+ 220ton+rigs
I'd start with a 40t and a 70t. Unless you really know there's a huge demand for a 150t it would hard to convince me you need on of those for the first few years. Get your foot in the door with the 40 on smaller jobs then add the 70 once you have the 40 busy. A 150 is a whole different animal. Do you have the resources to deal with support semis and extra employees. The 150 is a two man crane. What are you gonna do with two guys when that crane is sitting. With a big crane you can make big money fast but you can loose it all even quicker. For a smaller company it's hard to beat a crane that is all self contained and only takes 1 operator.
Very good points Knepptune .:thumbsup Even with my 25 ton rigs on some jobs have a truck & trailer loaded with cribbing ,torch , and welder to support the crane at the job . Countless times I've made a cell phone call to Dad ........... Hey...... bring such & such tool & throw it in the red truck so we can finish up this evening . Then on other jobs I just turn the key on the crane & go . It's a mixed bag . Always interesting .
@Knocker - This makes complete sense. I'm on the east coast so I'll have to look at my competition carefully to see how saturated the market is with small cranes to see if I add one to the lineup. Thanks.
@td25c You are right on. Truth is the first cranes I buy will be totally determined by the job so they wont be sitting there. So I'll find the work first and get a rig to fit. But that's exactly what I'm trying to do is get two cranes that will help me tackle the wides range of jobs.
@Dualie I agree. I mentioned in a previous reply that I will purchase according to the requirements of the first job. I am located in the NJ/NYC area. That will be the area that the cranes will work in. There is work on all areas of the spectrum, as it seems is the case in your area. Do you have a specific size rig you stick to like TD25C or have you found it more profitable to have a variety sizes?
@Knepptune Thanks for your reply. You make some really good points to consider. Are your operators union in Indiana? Ours are here, so that helps with the burden of keeping the guys busy. My main focus is going to be keeping the cranes busy and having the right lineup to get the most work.
To all thanks for the input and hope you all had a great 4th!