Hi, I have a land company here in OK selling hunting, farm, and ranch land. I want to start a dozer company to go hand in hand with my land company. I often have clients tell me about plans for roads, ponds, clearing, pad sites. My questions for all of you that have much more knowledge than I, is: What size dozer would be good for pond construction and clearing? I was thinking a D6 or JD 700 or 750? Also for a dozer of the size above, what is the hourly expense for operating one? Fuel, lube, etc. Do I also need an excavator? Any other info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Marc
Any help? lol
I like my D7 and D8 dozers but up here we seem to use bigger then norm machines for a job If your digging bigger ponds a hoe is nice
Good rule of thumb for dozers is that your fuel bill will be higher than your monthly payments on the machine.....that is if the machine is working and making money for you.
Does anyone have a general cost per hour of operation without paying a operator? Thanks, Marc
I'm not trying to be a smartass, but that's like asking "How big is a hole?" :beatsme Overhead + Fuel + Maintainance ___________________________ = Cost per hour Hours of use per month
Thats what Im hoping a few experienced owners can tell me. What is the cost per hour to operate say a D6 or JD 700-750? Surely someone on here has a D6 and knows that it cost X amount of dollars per hour to operate? I dont know what those expenses are, I dont have a dozer. Thanks, Marc
And to operate expesnes, Im mostly talking about how much fuel. Thanks, Marc
equipment Im not sure what kind of soil you will be dealing with in your area. If its not boggy soil a standard Cat D4 or D5 should be large enough. If you get too large/heavy it will bog down. Also the D5 & D5 are easier to move, from one location to another (permits) I would get a bolt on root rake, with whatever dozer you get. I you can afford it, I would definitely get a excavator. I would get a 150/200 class machine (35,000lb-42,000 lb) You dont have to buy new machines, there are a bunch of good older machines out there for sale, just be careful of what you buy. I like Cats and Komastu, I just have better service with these machines. You should be able to find a good D5 for around $25,000 and a excavator for $30,000 or less. Now the operating cost HUMMM this is a hard one, if you work either machine hard for 8 hrs, it should burn around 30 gals of fuel In my area we get $100 per hr for a D5 dozer and $125 hr for the excavator. We used to charge mob & de-mob charges, but everyone is cutting each other throat, so we quit charging for transportation, we just eat it On anything you buy have it checked out my someone that knows what they are looking at. It will save you money, if you pay a dealer to inspect a machine for you. I have better luck buying from individuals, or small companies that just need to sell their stuff, because they are cutting back. Good Luck
Willis, Thanks for the help! Thats what I wanted to know. Marc
dozer stay away from the JD750 80's, they have bad hydraulic issues. I bought one about 8 years ago, this was a new looking 80's JD750 everything almost new. I bought it and put it to work that day, when it got hot (about 2 hrs)then the dozer lost its power, bad hydrostatic pumps I was quoted about $8000. I quickly traded it to a dealer Komastu and Cat