Long time listener, first time caller. I have some hopes and dreams so I thought I would put them out here to get chewed up real good and I will sort through the leftovers and figure out a plan forward. Here we go... Current situation is that I am employed in a lucrative job in the offshore oilfield. Not a good place to be right now due to the downturn in oil prices and all the layoffs, pay cuts, etc. I plan to hang on to this for as long as I can because I enjoy it and it pays good (so far). My schedule is 28 days working and then 28 days off. It's my 28 days off that I wanted to discuss. Like to get a little something extra going on the side that makes some spending money and builds a history and client base just in case things go south in the oil patch. I spent 16 plus years in residential construction until the crash and burn in 2008. That prompted a career change at 40 to where I am now. I would like to fall back to the construction business since I have history there and know enough to be dangerous at least. The North Atlanta market seems to be coming back and there should be work for sometime unless the economy tanks again. I don't need to make much and plan to keep as much as possible in the bank or paying off equipment. My construction history is everything from concrete, to rough framing, to superintendent, to purchasing & estimating. We did our own grading plans, house layouts, managed dirt hauls, balanced lots to keep dirt movement to minimum etc. I have a few hundred hours in skid steers and mini-excavators. Have my own tractor, bush hog, driveway plane and bunch of hand tools, chain saws, builders level, chains, yada, yada, yada. I have an F250 4x4 with the big diesel and a pintle hitch on it. Short bed so no GN. I own 20 acres with my house on it and have another 10.5 acres adjacent to us that is undeveloped so equipment storage, potential shop space, security etc is golden. I have a little bit of equity in the land and a little bit of cash to invest, but cash is king and I want to keep as much as possible. My credit rating is good. I am working with the small business development center to develop a business plan and put as much in writing as possible so I have some clearly defined goals. Now... on with the 2000 or so questions that I have. My initial start up plan is to get and LLC set up and get insurance, bank account, take a erosion control for contractors class, and put the word out that I am looking for work. Not necessarily dirt work, but bush hog, weed eat, driveway maintenance, or just about anything that involves labor and some tools. Looking for GC and homeowners as well. I don't have a trailer and that is probably the first issue I am trying to think through. Do I get a trailer that I can haul behind my existing truck or should I be looking to get a slightly larger setup and get a single axle dump or tandem with a heavier trailer? My plan is to rent equipment and be able to pick it up to save delivery fees and improve my timing on jobs. Nothing worse that waiting for a delivery that shows up late and brings the rain with it. Can't imagine that I will be swamped with skid steer/mini excavator work right out of the gate. I am looking to make myself as flexible as possible and make as much as possible; is a dump truck a good idea to start? Single axle or tandem? Just be me trying to stay busy. I can employ some part time help for general labor if needed. I would like to get some small jobs with a slightly larger track loader if possible. I have inquired about the rental units previously and the transport is outrageous along with the insurance that my homeowners doesn't cover causes another expense. If I have the commercial insurance it should cover it and I can haul. That saves big bucks. How does most everyone haul fuel? Tank in the back of the truck? What is the best opportunity to get a foot in the door? Having a dump truck and keeping it working as much as possible then use it to haul equipment as those jobs pop up? Or should I try to stay with a trailer my truck can pull and hire a dump truck with driver any time I had a job that required hauling? I think I managed to get a coherent question or two in the above rambling. Any thoughts you might like to share would be much appreciated especially to any of you near the Atlanta market. This helps me just getting something in writing and over time I can clean it up and make a presentation to the bank. Happy 4th of July everyone.
Yeah Ea$y , a lot of us started out from where you are now . Farm tractor with loader is a valuable asset , be surprised what a guy can do with one . I might even look at a 3 point hoe attachment . What type of tractor are you running ? I would keep the F 250 for now & look at goose neck trailers . We pull a 20 foot corn pro with a one ton . Really like it for moving skid loader & smaller farm tractors . http://cornprotrailer.net/heavy-duty-utility-trailers/ Something else to look hard at is a Gator dump trailer . One of my customers has one and they like it . Good multitask trailer as they can haul dirt or equipment with it . http://www.gatormade.com/dump-trailers/gooseneck-dump-trailer-16ft-14k-gvw/
Welcome to the Forums Easy Money!:drinkup The biggest challenge I see in building a client base is the 28 days on deal where you won't be able to work the side job. This will push you into the residential/homeowner type work as commercial work is on a dead set schedule. Not that it's bad a thing but it's something that needs to be accounted for in the business plan. Starting out I would use the 250 and tractor, no sense going into debt for a new venture that is part time IMO. Like TD said, there is a lot work that can be done with a tractor with loader. You might start off doing driveway maintenance and bush hogging. There is a market for that. For driveway maintenance a box blade does very well. You can have stone brought in as needed, no need to invest in a dump truck until you can use it on a regular basis. For instance I don't own a dump truck as it's cheaper for me to hire them out. I can get 1 or 10 as I need them, when I sign their ticket for the day they become someone else's expense.
Hello, I have a 986 International Harvester. I paid cash and got a fine piece of old American steel... No loader bucket and not sure I will try to put one on it. Only about 12 gpm on the hydraulic pump and it is old school, none of that fancy hydrostatic transmission stuff. I think it will be garden tilling, driveway plane, and bush hog. About 100 hp and weighs in around 11,000 lbs. It's a lot of fun keeping her running. I didn't buy it for production type work, just got it for the hobby farm and my own affinity for old school machinery. Keeping the F-250 for sure. Low miles and plenty of power for what I need. Will probably put a fuel tank on it if the dirt work amounts to a good portion of the business. Still need to get home at the end of the day. Trailer is the big unknown... From what I have looked at I can haul more weight on a bumper pull pintle hitch than a GN just because the weight of the trailer is more on the GN. Not sure if that is true will all trailers. I have the 6' bed so GN is probably going to dent my pretty truck one day if I was to use it like it is designed. Also, truck is a bit jacked so clearance could be a problem. I think I can legally haul the 10,000 lb machines without an issue on a 16' 14k trailer. The bumper pull is less maneuverable but poor people have poor ways. I hauled my tractor and went through private scales and I was legit... It's hard to figure because if you wanted enough trailer to carry the tractor and a bush hog you need a longer trailer and the trailer weight starts reducing your legal load. Same potential with the dump trailer. It's so heavy you can't carry a "big" mini excavator. That's the issue that brought up the dump and heavier trailer. I would only buy the dump if it was a money maker. I am not looking to drive all day, every day for a living, but I would do what I have to to build some cash and make my own luck. I have plenty of time to work out the bugs. Will be general labor for now, hit and miss, fill in, homeowner/landowner, etc. Thanks for your thoughts on the subject!
I can certainly see the benefits of not owning a dump truck. I would probably just be catching fill in and emergency needs of any residential builders as far as the commercial aspect goes. Homeowners for sure and I would prefer to stay as close to home as possible, that means more rural work such as the driveways and bush hog work. I can do just about anything except contracting to build... They changed the laws and now require builders to be licensed by the state. Nice eh? Keeps the little man out and sets a high bar to break into the business. I got out about 6-8 months before they enacted that and since I did a complete career change I never looked back. Not sure I want to build homes anymore anyway. It was getting so cheap and nasty that I was actually relieved to be set free. There is not much craftsmanship left in the world today. Everyone wants it but they don't want to pay for it. (Dismounting from soapbox). Thanks for the welcome to the community. Maybe someday I will have some advice to share with the world.
You nailed it. It's the same reason I don't care to get back into either. The national and large regional builders have sewed the market up and a little guy can't compete. The only avenue is high end custom and that is nothing but headaches. I call the tract builders "Walmart builders" - and the customer gets the same quality as the junk Walmart sells.
You have the experience. And you write intelligently. My only advice would be to specialize in something, contrary to what you say about wanting to make yourself as flexible as possible. Being a jack-of-all-trades means that you can never grow, or leverage and expand your skills into employees; that business model will be always limited by your span-of-control. Specializing in one kind of work means you can be systematic, and expand in modules or multiplications, and employees in a system can work when you are not available for 28 days. Good luck! (Re trailers, etc. Don't get lost in the weeds: As someone here says, "Don't sweat the petty things, ...)
It's funny how you sometimes get your own advice served back to you later in life. I suppose that I already knew that I needed to do exactly what you describe. Maybe ol' Curly was right, I need to find that one thing... That was one of my peeves back in the day when I was working construction and I would be walking a house or lot with the owner or my manager and I would be focused on getting some direction on certain problem areas or issues and they would make a broad sweeping motion with their arms in the general direction of the issues and make such statements as we will do "something" there. It usually festered and was solved by throwing money at it and bitching about how much "something" cost to fix. It would have been much cheaper if they would have been more specific at earlier stages. Oh well. I am still working on a business plan and that should help narrow my focus. I do intend on running a business so the importance of having my own system that will expand past myself is very important. My initial push will just be labor with the tools I already own. That should give me plenty of time to think. Thanks for the help and don't pet the sweaty things.
I don't understand your concern using a gooseneck with your shortbed. A flatbed gooseneck, unlike a camper trailer, has a tapered hitch and should not be an issue with your shortbed. You will get more net yield on your truck with a gooseneck with safer handling that a bumper hitch but it really boils down to what shoe fits your needs. As stated before a dumping gooseneck with equipment ramps can be a real versatile rig.
I agree on the gooseneck trailer but you can't get a L shaped fuel tank, tool box and a gooseneck hitch to fit unless you slide the hitch back which puts it behind the rear axle.
If you turn all the way on a GN it will hit the cab on a short bed. Plus my truck sits high and is probably going to get into the bed rails that way. We live in some good hills in North Georgia and I would only use a pintle for that reason. Feel like it will stay connected no matter what contortion I get it into. My other thought is, and I can say it is certainly a thought because, it is hard to find exact specs that the additional weight to manufacture a GN would offset the additional capacity. F250 4x4 Crew Cab with 6.7 is 14,000 on the bumper pull and 16,000 on the GN. How much heavier is a GN that a tagalong? Cost and set up is another issue at the present time. No GN hitch on the truck so more dollars gone and GN trailer is more expensive. I know that they are much more road friendly, but my travels would not be long distances at highway speeds. If I ever did get a single axle dump the pintle hitch is the only way to go. I think my ultimate decision is to wait to get a trailer. I am getting ahead of myself thinking I need one anyhow. The dump set up would be awesome, I have watched some videos...
That's the other issue. My truck is more of a big toy and I need to re-evaluate it's place in this set up. Probably need a different truck... going to wait and see what opportunities are available here for work. Like to stay closer to home if possible and that will be a bit different set up than if I travel to were most of the production work is. Once I get that defined then I will start shopping for toys... er, eh tools I mean. Thanks for everyone's input.
Run what ya brung until the work makes it acceptable to move up... won't be long you will be after a 350 dually with a flipover hitch and a nice gooseneck trailer. The ability to put the tongue load ahead of the rear axle is priceless, it let's you haul more without the front of the truck lifting and also lets you put adequate driving/steering/braking weight on both axles of the truck. Another thing most people don't consider is the trailer pushing on a hard downhill or in a hard braking turn... with the hitch at the rear bumper, it's ugly. With the force applied ahead of the rear axle you can still jacknife it, but it's a lot less likely. Good luck and as has been mentioned by others, find your niche, excel at it, and beat the competition on value, not price.
Awesome ! I would be mounting a loader on that rig ASAP . http://www.tractorhouse.com/listings/farm-equipment/for-sale/10530767/1978-international-986 Imagine the 986 is pretty easy on fuel .