Hi guys, I know that I am fairly new here and that I am not really a heavy equipment operator but just a contractor with some heavy equipment. So, if this thread is out of line, I apologize. I am a outdoor lighting contractor that does work all over the US. Right now I am bidding a project in Vermont where I need a crane and a pressure digger. The crane is pretty easy as there are crane services available in most parts of the US. I always seem to have trouble finding a contractor who can dig a nice round hole 8-10' deep and 30-36" in diameter. Most of the time I am able to find someone with a pressure digger (that is usually the right piece of equipment for this) but it seems to be much less available and harder to find than you typical cranes, dozers etc. I usually carry a small skid steer with me as I own one and it is easy to haul. I try to hire my other equipment locally when I can. Where I am going with this is, would it be beneficial to anybody else here to have a forum where one could post his equipment needs for a particular job in a particular area. I know there has got to be someone in that area that could do this work for me besides the guy who offered to do it with a large track mounted machine that was more than double the highest rate I have ever paid. I am not saying his rates are out of line for his equipment, just that there should be equipment that is sized more appropriately to my job. YellowPages.com is not a lot of help here Thanks, Tim
I second this. It would definitely be beneficial for anyone that works outside their area. I have started working out of my normal area and it is not easy to find good quality subs.
What you are looking for pretty much describes the Blue Book. Check out their site. You can search by area, and here in CA at least, pretty much all the specialty contractors, subs, equipment suppliers, etc belong. http://www.thebluebook.com/
Thanks Beachbum. I have been in business since 1998 and up until about 5 years ago I pretty much stayed within 250 miles of home. Over the last 5 years, I have been going all over the country. This job in Vermont is the furthest I will have been at 2000 miles. It is a little scary just picking out subs from the yellow pages. That is how I have been doing it, and so far I haven't burned but it is only a matter of time! Since the Heavy Equipment Forums seem to be widely read by people from all over the country, it seems to me that this would be a great place to to offer such a service. Jerry, that is a cool site. I had never heard of them before, thanks for pointing them out. I will be looking at them closer. Unfortunately Vermont and several other areas of the country weren't listed among the regions. The closest drilling contractor I found on The Bluebook was out of NH and he couldn't bore larger than 12". If others on this site think this would be a good idea, chime in. If you have other sources that you use and would care to share as Jerry did, chime in. Thanks, Tim