I have been doing concrete construction for 5 years now with a concrete contractor that does for the must part retaining walls, sidewalk, curb and gutter and small concrete structures. I am getting ready to start on my own and are thinking about buying two pieces of equipment. The scopes of work I plan on pursuing are: residential (Concrete foundations, small utility work), light commercial (small development concrete work such as sidewalks, curb and gutter, small concrete structures) and work for municipalities (demo and reconstruction of sidewalks, small bridges, retaining walls, etc.). What two pieces of equipment would you recommend me to start with? I'm currently thinking of a 1) Bobcat S750 with heavy duty bucket and a Okada T45 Breaker and 2) Either a Mini Ex Bobcat (Unsure of Model) or a Cat 416F. I am unsure of which of the two (mini ex or backhoe) due to the versatility / price differences between the two. Your thoughts and opinions will be greatly appreciated! RR
If one piece only you will procure and concrete demo is your focus, I've noticed "one machine" folks and they have the skidsteer. One guy worked occasional side jobs, but all he did was break with a trick micro mini on weekends or when he could skip a day from his other job and sometimes he sub'd his machine to his boss. For someone starting out and trying to see where they fit into the marketplace, consider renting machines and/or hiring subs with these machines until you see where you will be spending your time....if your expertise is bid/estimate, sales, planning, form setting and layout, rebar hanging, spec-ing mix designs, arranging documentation like getting permits and submittal docs for those municipalities, coordinating inspections, placing and finishing concrete, stripping forms, applying patching sacking materials and detail work like retrofit anchors etc, mobilizing and demobilizing forms stakes bar embeds etc .... those are a lot of tasks for folks to do while their digger sits there waiting for the next job so they can either dig a bit or bust concrete. As I was typing this I was thinking about all the concrete placing crews that I know and work with - only one outfit has a "digging machine" and it is a skidsteer that still has hardly any hours. The demo only crews definitely use their machines a lot more than the placing crews. Slab on grade where the grade has to be perfect and packed tight will maybe make you think about a box scraper on the back of a wheeled machine....this is something the skid steer is seldom seen doing but if your name is on that bid, and they check to make sure you arent high on grade, you pay to fill all those swales and dips in that subgrade.....five yards less yield on a 35 to 50 yard job can ouch ya. I figure you already have or considered the following: a diesel air compressor w hammer, trowels (hand and powered), forms and form ties, lasers, vib plates, power screed, rebar bender and shear, tie-ers, etc? Curious: Have you heard about the annual concrete show in LV (January)?
I agree with oceanbob, try renting for the small stuff and subing out for the bigger stuff first. That way you can try different equipment to see what works best for what you are doing. Around here almost every concrete guy has a skid loader ( bobcat 150 or newholland 170). They rent any attachments they might need because for the most part moving gravel is the machines main purpose. A dump up to 26,000 gvw and trailer will be something you will probable need.
id skip buying a skid steer and just buy a mini excavator with a hammer and an assortment of buckets. and a thumb if you can't hold pieces of concrete with just the bucket. you can tear up and prep a driveway or side walks a lot faster and cleaner with a mini than you'll ever think about doing with a skid steer, they tear everything up and can't dig to prep sidewalks or curbs. if you get a 4 foot ditching bucket for a 35-50 size mini and have the stone dumped near where your working or tailgate dump the whole driveway you can prep the driveway to grade a lot faster and cleaner with a mini and not work the fines down so it still compacts nicely.
I have no idea what size of jobs your doing, what your area is like for rental equipment or the scope of jobs your going after, but before I'd invest in high priced machines used very little, I'd buy things you use every day, like wall forms and the tools of the trade and either hunt up a good used skid steer and trailer along with a one ton dump truck or single axle truck somewhat larger and rent the added high dollar equipment till you are established in the business somewhat, but I'm basing that off of my area and what carpenters and general contractors are looking for in my area. The biggest killer for cement guys here is not owning forms and waiting to rent them or for them to show up at their site, when word gets out they are putting things behind schedule, they usually end up doing sidewalks and smaller odd jobs nobody wants to do until they eventually end up quitting, or working for a larger cement contractor who has the forms. The cement guys in my area who have excelled are those that know their business inside and out, can figure out any problem and any situation and those that invested in forms or several guys went together and each owned the basics and pooled and rented each others when really large jobs came along, and had nothing else fancy or new, those with the toys and new stuff never made it from what I see everyday here, the image wore off and schedules and delays killed them over time. Take it for what its worth.
It's hard to go wrong with a rubber tire loader backhoe for all around versatility prepping for concrete work. We use a JD8875 skidloader with a pro 911 backhoe attachment for digging footing,forks for hauling concrete forms,& front bucket for moving dirt and stone.It's pretty versatile as well and compact it tight areas.I like it and the hoe attachment has good power,is fast ,& dosent take to long to change back to the front bucket.We dont have a rubber tire loader back hoe . I start with the skidloader then jump to a 20 ton excavator or dozer. My theory is if the job gets mutch bigger than the skidloader can handle may as well move in some bigger iron to move the dirt or deal with limestone & such.Just finished up a job pouring walls for a customer that is building a shop and the terrain was somewhat hilly so we used the dozer to clear trees & move most of the dirt then jumped on the skid loader to dig the footings.I would like to own a rubber tire loader backhoe or mini excavator someday as they are both very handy in places. I use the "Gates" style plywood forms & snap ties for the retaining wall and styrofoam ICF blocks for the rest of the walls for the building. Good luck with your decision on equipment rrp87.