I've been toying with the idea of trying to setup a business of my own to get away from working for various different companies depending on the season to keep some steady money coming in. I'm in a rural area on the IL/WI border and have a background in agriculture but very very limited experience with moving dirt, I've got plenty of experience with turning it over though! My current equipment is a Ford F550 pickup, a 23+5 gooseneck trailer, a Takeuchi TL230 skid steer with a bucket, forks, skeleton grapple, bale spears, 6-12' boom, and a snow box, I'd like to add a brush mower and a 4 in 1 bucket to the inventory as well. Do those of you with skid steers or other small equipment see a job market for small jobs, brush mowing/light land clearing, and general property cleanup or is a skid steer/ctl primarily used along side larger equipment and they have a hard time holding their own jobs? I'm not opposed to adding more equipment in time but to start out I'm trying to keep extra expenses to a minimum unless it's an attachment or two that can help me diversify my business. I'm not really looking to go loan $50k or more on a mini or something when I don't even know how to properly operate it let alone use it to benefit a business. I'm open to any ideas and suggestions or constructive criticism. I'm not trying to step on anyone's toes either who maybe on here and local to me, I'm just trying to use the equipment I already have to make an honest wage and to go home at the end of the day feeling like I accomplished something instead of punching out on the clock and going home with out that feeling of a job well done or accomplishment because no one else cares at work.
The main draw back to a rural area is the low population density, plus many people have equipment of their own, or borrow it from their brother/neighbor. You end up with a limited customer base or driving a lot of miles. There is definitely a demand though. You need to find the marketing strategy that gets jobs and pays you enough that you're better off than punching the clock. A post hole digger is another handy attachment. The attachments get the work from what I hear. Anybody can find a loader to move some junk, being able to do a half dozen projects for a homeowner is what gets the work and enough in one location for a decent profit.
I wouldn't waste the money on a brush mower. Anyone with a decent sized piece of property has a brush hog or knows someone who will do it for a case of beer. If you find that you need to buy one go ahead, but I wouldn't just go buy one. I have 25 acres and you didn't list anything in your tools that I don't have or couldn't rent/borrow if I asked. Find something that makes you unique. A mulcher is a lot more expensive, but is much more specialized that I can't run with a tractor.
I could agree that the attachments get the work and that a high level of quality work can keep jobs coming in the future from referrals. After I posted I got thinking about a post hole digger with a variety of augers, and also consider the market for a trencher attachment but that's probably something easier rented for the limited use. Quite a few people around here have brush mowers but there's some situations where a tractor with a brush mower won't work due to soft ground/low area, or tight quarters. There's a lot of horse farms and fairly well off property owners with several acres or more in my area that would rather have someone else deal with keeping up their property instead of them doing it themselves. A mulcher would definitely be a way to stand out and offer a unique service. Unfortunately my machine is not setup with high flow so that kinda rules out any mulchers.
I don't know anything about your business, but be careful dealing with "horse people".
It's not just the hassle, time, inexperience or whatever. Look up the prices on some of the cute little Kubotas or JDs you see at such places and you'll see that you doing the work with your own machine is much cheaper than doing it themselves with their own equipment. The "horse people" warning is valid also, I wish I could find the burying a dead horse thread, that was a classic. edit: don't say you haven't been warned! HeavyEquipmentForums
I've had my dealings with horse people when delivering hay so I know what you're talking about. I plow a couple horse farms currently when it snows and I've gotten lucky with having good clients for that so far that don't make my life difficult and are happy with the job I did. There's definitely a lot of horse people out there through who are nuttier then a squirrel turd. Those little sub compact tractors sure are neat but the price tag makes you think it should be 3x the size it is!
Be careful dealing with "moneyed people". People with a bunch of money frequently don't think you deserve any.
Skid steer or CTL with proper attachments is a money machine in any market be it rural or in a city . Mine get's utilized by itself on small jobs and also tag teams with other equipment . Handy as a shirt pocket . I would highly suggest a backhoe attachment . HeavyEquipmentForums
Thank God spring is around the corner . Time to hook up the bush hog ..... I'm getting low on barley soda .
I agree with the advice in regards to the general population, however I have a few very wealthy clients that understand and appreciate the value you can provide them. The tough part is finding those clients.
My experience with well to do customers ( they started from the bottom and built it ) is it's mostly business like anyone else . They show you the job & ask a ball park estimate on it . Or they may just call & say " I need this taken care of " , send me a bill . Sometimes the second or third generation of a wealthy family / business can be hard to deal with .
That definitely seems to be the case with most wealthy people, my theory is they got wealthy from not giving money to anyone else and keeping it all for themselves. I've thought about a backhoe attachment, I'd have to see how often I find myself wishing for one and if it's enough then decide if I want a backhoe attachment, a mini excavator, or a combination/backhoe. I'll definitely agree with you two about certain wealthy people who understand how things work and that they were once the little man as well. They're good to deal with and usually care about you and your business vs just who can be the cheapest and they don't even care to learn your name.
Yeah Mark , if you decide to go with the backhoe attachment take time & research what model will best fit your machine . Bradco might be the best bet ? Look around at used units . http://www.machinerytrader.com/listings/components/acsearch.aspx?catid=186&pg=4 We take the backhoe attachment to 95% of jobs the skid loader go's to . Use it quite a bit .
That reminds me of a good friend of mine (RIP) that basically pioneered the skid steer service market in my area back in the early '80's. He had 3 rigs set up this way - GMC Brigader heavy single axle dump pulling a tri-axle tag with 843 Bobcat, backhoe attachment, smooth bucket, toothed bucket and forks. At the time, he had everything on the job to do whatever was needed on a residential or small commercial job - made a fortune. He had a 4 hour minimum with the skid and attachments, charged extra for the dump truck. Many days he had several 4 hour minimums in an 8 hour day, the service was worth the minimum, as prior to this service the choice was either a tractor with a box blade with manual labor for fine grade or a 955. In todays market one has to figure out how to provide a new way to accomplish an old task at a more efficient way.
I do a good bit of brush mowing/u derbrushing with my skidsteer. A good brush mower on a skidsteer is no comparison to one on a tractor. I probably did 15-18k running the mower last year. A Harley Rake or the like is a very useful attachement also but it gets the job done very fast... lol i mostly do brush clearing and light grading and driveway work but do some light clearing as well. There is money to be made, just make sure you do your best to leave everyone happy and your business will grow. Also make sure you make enough to stick around.
Sounds like your buddy had it figured out:thumbsup Back in the late 70's early 80's is when I first noticed compact equipment . Skid loaders at that time were mostly marketed to agriculture for cleaning out stalls & such . Funny story .. . Our neighbor bought a new Yanmar 4X4 tractor back in the early 80's . Might have had 20 horsepower ? Man I thought it was the most awesome machine ever built ! Looked like this . http://www.tractorhouse.com/listingsdetail/detail.aspx?OHID=9442049 At that time thought to myself if I could acquire a machine like that I would not need anything else ( 12 years old ) LOL ! Never did get the 4X4 Yanmar tractor However did get a New Holland skid loader with Yanmar diesel engine Skid loader with attachments sure changed things for us . We started on the bigger end with excavator , dozer , & scraper . I needed something we could move quick for small tasks .
Thanks for all the info guys. The 3-4hr minimum is a great idea. I was thinking about that the other day and how it takes me quite a bit of time to unstrap the ramps (they bang on the dovetail really bad if not fastened down), flip two ramps, then reverse the process all for maybe a 1hr job. My 1 hour job turns into 1.5 or 2hrs pretty quick screwing around with a trailer especially if the ramps and tracks are wet. I'll have to keep my eyes open for good used attachments to save some on the initial price while I get started. A mini excavator would be a great addition but it won't happen right away, maybe within a year or so. I think my Tak knows I've been talking about it, washed it all up on Saturday and looked it over and everything looked good. I had it out tonight moving a concrete block and happened to stop just in the right place and noticed a big rip in the track. It's not all the way through yet but it's darn close. Looks like I get to buy tracks sooner then I hoped for, I guess these tracks did ok though for having almost 1200hrs on them.
His father was a dairy farmer.