I'm looking for some advice/bounce my ideas of you guys. I'm wanting to get into excavating and trucking. I'm probably gonna buy a rubber tire hoe, looking at 555 or 655 type machines and probably a tandem or tri axle to haul the machine around and truck when I don't have machine work. I'm looking to get whatever I can get as far as work, landscape type jobs, concrete tear outs, clearing, grading, and demo work. Does that sound like a reasonable plan to those out there? I've talked it over with friends of mine here, mostly they recommend going the skid steer/mini route, but that's 2 machines to maintain and buy and I mostly don't like running skid steers. The plus to that is I could haul either of those behind the pickup, eliminating the need for a heavy truck; I'm a little leery of putting the weight of a backhoe on the pickup even with a goose neck trailer, even though I know it gets done.
I think buying a backhoe and tandem or tri axle dump truck is a good idea, just factor in the maintenance costs of owning a commercial truck. I started my business and although Im only 3 years in and still dont consider myself anywhere near successful, I have been down the hard road you are going, starting with nothing. The first thing I bought was a really good tool truck, its a GMC 7500 with a cat motor, 185cfm air compressor and 30 amp inverter, I have all the tools I need, I still dont own a machine. I own a mack single axle dump truck, I purchased that about a year ago, and I just rent machines when I need them. You cant rent a tool truck or tools. No matter what you do as long as you have the drive it will work, dont let people tell you cant do something. My yellow page ad came out this year and Ive been getting a lot of calls, it came out a month ago, and I already have a large commercial account, who throws me all sorts of small stuff. Anyway, be prepared to throw tons of money at it....when things got slow I took up a job and just had my employer pay me as a sub contractor with the check written to my business and avoided taxes, and then just used my payroll service and ran like 50 dollar payrolls for spending money. To sum it all up, just make sure if you are going to work for yourself, you are going all in, if you go half way, you will fail.
I agree with Aliate, give it 100% and never turn down anything, you can always sub out what you can't do or want to do and still make some money. I like to take brick paver jobs i do the site prep, removal, base, grading and compaction and have a company i work with do the pavers and make a % on there work. hope this help and something to keep in mind as you go. Good luck and keep us posted as to how its going.
I echo what those fellows said... but most importantly, what you said... if you don't like to run a skid steer, and you're just getting started, why start out doing something you don't like? It's gonna be your bizness... there will be enough bad, without choosing major tools that you don't really like to operate. I can't offer you equipment or truck advice... but look for allies as you go along, people that you can link with, help each other out, compliment each other's work, and help sell each other's work. I have many "business friends" that you'd think we're great buddies, but in realilty, we barely know each other, but have learned to help each other make money. Get going, and try to borrow as little money as possible.
this is my philosophy and I'm just 2 years into it. The is a market for beginners just above what harry homeowner can rent and just below what a small excavation company wants to do. Your going to start doing small jobs, day at a time. I chose this option. I bought a trailer first. When you rent, trucking kills you. Then I bought a 7 ton mini, and used a 3/4 ton pickup to move it, well after the first move I knew I needed a bigger truck. So I bought an old c-60 dump, it made me money, and I just bought an all wheel drive army dump, plannin on another as funds allow. Save your money, skip the skidsteer. If you want to move dirt, use the dumptruck, its already there. Rent a skid when you need it or make friends with someone that already has one. I'd suggest a tracked one, they are 3x the machine a tired one is. Get a 4-7 ton mini, they are so much nicer to dig with than a backhoe. Look hard at the tb series from takeuchi, very nice machine and their boom system is kick butt. For me this is the most important. AVOID DEBT LIKE ITS THE PLAGUE. That way when your slow your not spending money.
I definitely agree on avoiding debt. I don't want to borrow the money to start up. I've got enough cash to buy a used hoe and a well used truck, the trick is finding one that isn't used up! I know going into winter may not be the best time to start laying out cash, but I'm trying to get together exactly what I want and have something ready to go next season. Thank you for the encouragement, I'll keep you guys posted.
Winter is usually the best time to buy equipment and trucks as work slows down or quits altogether, depending on your location. Somebody is always in need of cash and you may be able to get a deal. If you have a good business plan and don't need the cash to live on, go for it. Good luck.
HI there all i'm in a similar situation to HokieSmokes. I currently run a small agri business mainly doing hay and other odd jobs. I am looking to move into the earth moving sector, doing simple things like clearing trees out, clearing fence lines and other such jobs. Now round my area the smaller operators with the "Mini" equipment are a dollar a dozen, granted there is much larger base of work. However i have found that working with businesses much easier to work with as they are realistic in what can be achieved and the costs of operating such large machinery. Now in Australia it is cheaper to purchase a large wheeled loader than a skid steer, it might not be the normal way to begin a business in this industry, but is it a reasonable idea or just plain suicide for my business. All constructive comments greatly appreciated cheers Alex
I tend to agree with those who prefer an excavator, they are just so darn much handier. BUT, with what info you have given us, you may be better off to get a wheel hoe to start. They arent as comfortable to dig with, but you can dig, load, carry etc, and they can also be roaded. Also, by starting out in November, if you have a truck and machine to load with, you will likely be able to work during the winter doing snow removal. One thing you will need is a little mechanical knowledge, if you can do most of your own repairs you will save yourself a lot of money. Anything is possible with hard work and perseverance, good luck and keep us posted!
Thanks for that Nedly, i can say that i do have experience re-buiding heavy equipment, at 17 bought my first wrecked tractor, have rebuilt it and have trouble free service out of it. In fact every piece of equipment i have purchased, ie another two bigger tractors and hay equipment all have been worked on in varying degrees, from minor ancillary electrical work through to complete strip down and rebuild. Machines i have in mind are: Kato 1220SE|| Clark 175 wheel loader Steiger 4wd tractor Allis Chalmers 7580 4wd tractor John Deere 8630 4wd tractor International Skidder The steiger i could integrate into the farming work i do, (though a much bigger scale), i would want to put on a dozer blade on the front and a trailed deep ripper. I like the idea of wheeled equipment as then i dont have to use a truck to transport. any thoughts greatly appreciated alex
All very good advice. I will say it again. Stay out of debt. When I started I walked in to a bank and back out to a dealership. Three years later the equipment was back at the dealership. I was working 24/7 to make payments. After that I started over buying one piece at a time. Mostly at auctions. Now if the machines sit in the yard they cost me very little. I understand you have to have machines to do the job. Renting is not a bad route, Ya it sucks seeing your money go out the door but trust me it is well worth it in the end. Backhoes are a good start. Thats is why there still building them (haha). They are a catch all and can do almost any task. Backhoes can be roaded too. I have driven those machines thousands of miles and lived to talk about it. Trucks are a evil item. Biggest pain the rear you will ever have to deal with. I have never lost money with a truck. They will make your company. Find one that is in good sound condition and take care of it. YOU drive it. Putting someone behind the wheel of you life savings and wellbeing is not a good idea. I still hate putting guys behind the wheel of my trucks until they worked for me for acouple of years. Just my two cents. But my story is alot like others out there. O ya and it is ok to subcontract with other companys. I would have never made if it was not for that. I still get bids for portion of a job. Sometimes its cheaper for them to do it than it is for me to rent a machine and put a operator in it.
Thanks a lot to all posters , well i'm sold on the idea of a front end loader / backhoe, seems like they are far more powerful than i thought they were. Have a fairly big job (for me that is) coming up now, have to close in a 500 kL dam, and put in plastic tanks with an underground hydrant system. So hopefully i'll get a few more contracts and see how i go, the hay side of the business is looking quite firm, from the good spring we have had. Many thanks for your ideas. Best wishes Alex PS Oh i will post on the tractor/loader/forum about which machine i should look at getting, if anyone has ideas please post up cheers alex
Anyone do this type of thing on the side? I work a regular job right now, however neighbors and friends have been giving me more buisness each year. My newest machine is a NH 455 skid steer, about as old as I am. 555 hoe, needs some tlc but a good runner. '67 ** skiploader - very handy. 2 old JD trackloaders, A few antique tractors and various implements. Plan is to keep accumulating equipment..probably old equipment at that, from auctions and what not. Would eventually quit my job if I didnt have time for it anymore. Staying out of debt is my goal, I have minimal debt right now with no intentions of going in anymore..dont feel the need for newer machines.
Mini excavator is a very versatile machine....... my 2 cents
That's actually how I'm trying to go Mike. On the side work til I get busy enough to do it full time, which is the ultimate goal.
I take it you have insurance for the type of work you do? If not you will risk the possibility of losing everything.
Hendrik who do you insure with ??? and how customer friendly are they?
I just changed out hydraulic pump on a 580K. Now it won't move. What could I have done to make this happen?
I am with OAMPS and they are a bit pricey and I have not have had a claim, so I don't really know how good they are. They are pretty professional but it's not until you want want to claim something, that you know what your insurers are like.
Do they check out all your proffesional qualifications etc? As i'm starting out i think the premiums would be prohibitive? but im not sure. I don't know how they quantify if your a good machinery operator or not???? any ideas cheers Alex
Alex, I guess you are already dealing with an insurance company. All you really need is a public risk policy, you may already have one on the farm, I presume you are farming. You would need a separate policy for your contracting business. You should have at least $5,000,000 worth of cover for private work and these days big companies require that you have at the very least $10,000,000 worth of cover and probably even more, before you set foot on site. Any of the big insurance companies would do it, it really comes down to where you can get the best price. We have never had our qualifications checked out, we just use the same insurer that we insure everything else with. RnR.
run lean and mean as possible. Dad started out with a primemover skid loader and a 1964 gmc c60 dump back in the early 80's. Got a hole lot more now just by doing good work and the best you can. Staying out of debt is the best bet. If things don't work out just sell off the equipment and walk away. A backhoe is a great first piece of equipment. You can do a lot with those and then some. as for insurance we deal with a local company Erie insurance and for I belive 600 a year you get 1,000,000 dollars and for ever million you go up it's like 1 or 2 hundred more. In PA you only need 1,000,000 to get started but I would recomend at least 2. In this day and age dosen't take to long to do 2 million dollars worth of damage.
Well given how much outlay there is starting up... Starting from nothing i have now quite a bit of gear. It might all be older stuff, but i tell you with a bit more time they can still do a better job. I know with the hay gear i have, i can produce very good bales, high weight and a neat appearance. Some of the big guns round here push their equipment so hard, that the product is complete rubbish. For example a newer baler they are pushing out a round of hay in say 30 seconds, while i take anywhere up to 4 mins. I pack as much in one bale as i can, i mightn't make as much money as they do, but at least i'm doing the best by my customers. For money i can get a Big Clark 175B loader for 10,000 less than a backhoe loader. A bigger tractor converted to a bulldozer type setup is again the same price, more versatility as can use in ag and earthmoving applications. So i think will just see what is best value for money. As for insurance had to deal with QBE recently, and must say my experience with them has been quite good. But that was for a personal car, not a business. Anyway thats my two bobs worth Cheers Alex
Word of mouth from your customers is the best salesman on earth. You can do a good job 100 times in a row and mess one job up and that will be the only one anyone will hear about. Never leave a customer with a bad taste in there mouth as it will come back to haunt you. When we started on our own the best thing I ever did was befriend some other excavating contractors. A seasoned pro's advice on how to do something is priceless. In my opinion I would seriously look at buying a 120 to 150 size excavator rather than a backhoe. You can pick one up at auction for about the same price as a decent backhoe or larger mini if you don't mind turning wrenches. We started out with a 215c cat 8 years ago. Around here you can't swing a dead cat without hittin a skidsteer, backhoe, or mini ex.
Diggin02 thanks for the thoughts, i would prefer an excavator, the only issue is that the cheapest one i have found that is a decent size is about 30k, that is well beyond my budget range. And there is still the transport issue. What size machine do you need to run a flail mowing head on it? was thinking probs round a 20ton machine. Cheers alex
There is an outfit that does powerline right of way mant. that has about 6 315clc cats with sheader heads, but those run a self contained hyd. unit with separate engines.
I have seen some mower heads for mini ex's they say they need 20gpm from the hydraulics. I've been shopping around a bit for machinery. Looked at a couple 555s. Everything around me seems higher priced than you see similar stuff go for at iron planet or that I've seen in papers advertised from out west, Indiana area or Michigan. Looked at a fairly decent 555 4x4 with 4900 hours on it but the hoe was tight, no oil leaks, but had an open cab and needed tires. I've looked at some real overpriced basket cases too. I'm still leaning toward a rubber tire machine, but I've looked at some minis in the 12k lb range.
Alex, This cutter was being run on a 10k-12k pound machine. It only needs around 18gpm flow to work properly and will run on the thumb hydraulics. It would be good on any machine from 10k-20k pounds (not tons). If you are interested in it let me know. It is for sale. Just saw you were in Australia, Nevermind about purchasing.
Hokiesmokes, my two cents would be get what you want (555) set up the way you want it (cab). If things work out you'll have it a long time.
Takeuchi is a fine machine, I woud suggest go to the dealers and try out several different machines or rent, we all have different likes, ability/skill, and opinions. The right machine will fit you and you can grow with it. Make sure you have good parts and service support. To me you can tuck a small track machine 3-6 ton, between several obstacles, that a backhoe just won't go. Don't get me wrong I like both and they each have their place. It really depends on your needs. But after owning a tb-135 I wouldn't be without one. I wish you the best of luck.
The more I look into this the more it seems I should stay landscaping...hourly rates are roughly the same and equipment is 10s of thousands cheaper. Of course I don't really want to work like that forever. Maybe I'll just take my money and go to diesel 'chanic school, since it seems everybody needs one and they command high prices. Oh and by the way, for the younger ones, don't go to college for agriculture or natural resources, because you might as well take a pile of about 80k and light it on fire....but thats another thread. Forestry is ok though, just not the return of hard science, business or engineering.
Gday all, sorry havent got back, been working flat out with our hay season. I have had a look at a few different ideas. Ive had a look at bulldozers, tracked loaders, skidsteers, excavators, skidders, backhoes, tractors and nearly everything in between. The tracked machines are good as they can do a lot of work in steep and wet terrain, a big plus round here. The only issue is transport as i haven't got a semi trailer to shift the machine. For equipment to be worth it, they need to be doing at least 500 hours per year, just a little hesitant at getting to higher capacity machine as costs are very high, and being new in the business it might be hard to find the work. anyone got ideas??? Skidsteers are a dollar a dozen around here, everyone has one. The mini ex's are everywhere. Would it be worthwhile getting maybe a higher cap machine, and try and break into the bigger jobs... cheers alex MERRY CHRISTMAS TO EVERYONE
Go big or go home. All depends on what your thinking what kind of work you wanna do. The work will set the bar for what type of equipment. Best two things to have is a tracsteer and mini. Bachhoes I hate they are ok for certain jobs but they are big expensive and slow. You can get a mini hoe or skidsteer in alot more places then the bachhoe and do the work alot faster plus then you have two peaces of equipment that you can be working and making money off of. Backhoes are terrible. You ever seen someone build a rock wall or do landscaping with a backhoe? With a mine hoe get a Bobcat 435 with the thumb and 4 way blade, small enough to haul with a pickup and get whereever you want but powerful enough to do the bigger jobs. If your a good operator you can do amazing things with them. I have built rock walls, cut trench, cleaned irrigation ditches, leach fields, frenchdrains, and I will tell you this much a bachhoe could not have done the job. I have seen less and less bachoes and there is a good reason for this. If your starting out get some mini stuff. And then if you ever get a big contract you can rent but smarter to buy if the job will pay for the equipement. But I dont own a business just a Business Major or operates when I can find work ha ha
Lost my orginal post. Trucks means you have ties to orginal company or a foundation of transport. Construction means you have huge HUGE finances or very experienced hands to run the business. Lanscrapers dont make money unless they excelled at it. If you want to start a business and have no tie to the above its not going to work.
What tool to use I'm in Ca and have been doing underground work and site work for about 4 years. I've tried to look for a need in my local construction community and learn how to fill it. I own a 310 E with 5500 hrs on it and a d 4 dozer. This seems to be a really good combo for just about everything I end up doing. I use a ten wheeler ramp truck to move my equipment around. I hind sight I'd rather have a ten wheeler dump, but oh well. Go check out my web site, just for fun! Just remember, they call it work for a reason. http://www.olenderstightspot.com/
I'm looking at EX's now they seem to be the machines to beat, so any suggestions, looking at sizes from 5 tons to 20 tons, any suggestions please feel free Cheers Alex
I incorporated in '07. I rented an JD 50D excavator for the first 6 months. I purchased a f350 truck and a trailer to move around the 50. That is about all I used the first year. I also purchased a '82 single axle dump for $4500.00. I paid for the truck on the first project. At the end of the year my dealer gave me 100% of the rental for the excavator towards the purchase. So I bought the excavator. The following year I purchased a 20 ton trailer so I could rent larger equipment and the following spring I purchased a used tri-axle at an auction. The past month I just purchased a JD 304J loader. So as of now I have two payments the excavator and loader. The rest I have paid cash for. My next item to purchase is a HDD. Maybe in the spring Best word of advise to to avoid debt. There are tons of rental places. Just if you have long term projects try to get the option to purchase. On the 304J loader I bought I rented it since May and they gave me 90% of rental towards the purchase
Gday fellas, i've been doing a lot more talking and thinking... The way to go round here is the mini EX. I can utilize my existing equipment, but still add a huge number of new jobs i can do. I'm thinking round a 5 ton machine will be the way to go. Thanks everyone for your thoughts They are very much appreciated. More suggestions are welcome Cheers Alex
Good example from PipeGuy... Anyone reading, and wanting to build a bizness, if at all possible... don't go borrow money... buy just what you need to, to make some money, then re-invest it... makes sleeping easier through the slow times... at least part of the night. And equipment that YOU OWN sure is easier to take care of... rather than equipment that your bank owns. Good luck, Alex... keep us posted!
I am looking on starting out on my own also. After doing some reading and thinking I think for the first year I am going to rent my equipment ( 5t mini/skid-steer). I have a Chevy 1 ton dully that I can use for trailer pulling/tool truck w/topper and I am looking to sell off my car trailer and up grade to a dump trailer. Just some quick back ground, I grew up working on farms running tractors. I do have some seat time running mini-ex and skid-steers. The last project involved digging 150-200 ft of trench for a buddys outdoor wood boiler pipe. Knocked down some 1-2' dia trees, dug up a bunch of small pine tree stumps and cleaned out a drainage ditch. Right now I drive a ft dump concrete truck, I love the job but the co. I work for is a pita. I am willing to do just about anything from concrete tear out to ditch digging to demo what ever it takes. I have talked to a few contractors in the past and they my throw some work my way doing tear outs and setting grades. I am wondering what are some things that I may over look or tools or I may need in starting out?
Mudhound heres a list of what would make life easy for you to keep your equipment going: Lubricants: >> Heavy duty engine oil 20L min >> Heavy duty hypoid gearbox oil 20L >> Hydraulic oil 5L >> Brake fluid 5L >> Standard Lithium based grease 1 box (12 tubes) >> Engine oil dregs, ie a drum nearly finished (used for painting on pins and moving bearings) Electrical >> Relays >> 5 core wire 5m >> Assorted box of crimp fittings >> Soldering iron and solder >> Heat shrink tubing >> Heat gun >> sharp wire cutters (Knipex) Mechanical tools >> Welder 140 amp plus >> Full toolbox set of good quality ring spanners >> Sockets >> Screwdrivers >> Drill press >> Small lathe (3ft between centers), and all associated tooling >> Brass and bright mild steel stock >> Pullers, Hydraulic press (10 ton) >> Hammers (min 3 sizes) >> Pipe to put on the end of wrenches >> AIR COMPRESSOR IS A MUST HAVE (3hp min) and all tooling, blower, chemical sprayer, tire inflater, die grinder (with tungsten carbide tips), drill >> Set squares (various sizes) >> Punches >> Scriber Most of this you probably have, just remember always buy good quality tools. Best of luck Alex
Gday all, well in Australia, and down my part of the world the rain has just put an end to just about all work for the last month. I did some drains today with my 4wd tractor and got most done, then plop, its sunk down to its guts in mud. How do other people find work when its so wet like this? Do you do other types of work with your machines? For the last 10 years its been brilliant as we can get work done without any troubles in summer. Have you found that tracked machines to be more versatile in unfavorable conditions?? And does the extra versatility and ability for the machine to keep working outweigh the higher operating costs? Any thoughts Alex
Hey Alex, In my area its tracks or nothing. I always wait for good working conditions to start a job, but by the time i'm finished i'm in the mud and water. If conditions are good for excavation, they only have one way to go.
What ever machine you buy, wont do you any good if you don't get a reputation. When you do a job, be fair. Show up when you say and do what you say. After those rules your reputation will keep getting you work.
Excellent expression, thanks. I think this is derived from "Murphy's law".
Gday, is anyone finding that there are people out there willing to work for a loss??? It does make the job a lot harder when we are always getting undercut, people will always go for the cheapest workmanship, its a bit disheartening to see this, and when you try and explain what the differences are, they either don't believe you or think you are blowing your own trumpet. Now another matter, a bloke rang me up a while back wanting some work done, he had said his normal person he gets to do work is way to busy and they suggested me. So i went around, checked out all of the work and gave him a quote. We shook hands and he said we will just wait for the place to dry up a bit. Now it was just before i was due to start, i got a phone call, "Oh i'm sorry my contractor is now not as busy as he thought he was and can now do it, thankyou for taking the time to come and check it all out", luckily i hadn't ordered the materials i would need, etc for the job. It got me a bit peeved as, i had allocated time, extra fuel and had chased up the required materials (no orders though). Is this a normal thing that happens?? If i was that contractor, would have just let the person i recommended do the job. I hope this doesn't sound to rantish Best of luck to all of you. ALEX
i don't know you're neck of the woods, but it sounds to me like the client used you to get a lower number then he had. then he turns around and beats his regular guy down. normal practice here in the states.
speaking of working for a loss, there is a line of thought that says if you have no other prospects of work, and can get the job at a loss, you should do that. For instance, you have constant operational costs of 25k a month, working or not. There is a month long job out there for bid and in good times would go for 100k. Your estimated total cost to complete the job is 80k. So you bid the job for 75k, knowing your loosing 5k on the job. And with your bid under cost, you get the job. So you just lost 5k right? Wrong, you made 20, because if you stayed home and twiddled your thumbs, you would still have to pay the 25k in operating expenses. Personally I believe in the "leave it set" line of though. But I don't owe payments on anything and can do that. If I can't make money, it doesn't need done, at least by me.
Another thing to consider when starting out, is to be aware of the local government regulations, particularly relating to parking heavy vehicles and equipment. Unfortunately I am in big trouble because someone complained to the council about my truck. This means that I have to get a category 3 development application (non-complying) which, in relation to truck parking, rarely gets approved. My truck is not big, it's tare is 4.8 tonnes (the legal limit being 3 tonnes) but that's the law. Generally the way the system works is that the council ignores trucks/buses being parked illegally until a complaint is made, then the sticky stuff hits the fan because they are obliged, under law, to take action. The solution is to park the truck and equipment in a commercial zone but we don't have any suitable (ie secure, affordable) parking within a reasonable distance of my home, the nearest may be 3/4 of an hour drive away, which would mean working an extra 2-3 hours every day, extra money for fuel and parking rental costs and sometimes I only have a small 2 hour job on, which would make them unprofitable or even cost me money to do, depending on the location of the job. Another option is to buy a smaller truck to meet regulations but even then I may not get approval due to the nature of my business and a smaller truck would mean I could not carry more than one or two machines and certainly only one of the bigger machines, there's the rock and over there is the hard place and here is me in the middle. It may be possible for us to move out of the area to a more rural place but even there we would require approval and the catch 22 is that we can't apply for truck parking until we buy a place and we can't spend money on re-location unless we know we will get approval. At this stage the only real solution I can see is to sell up and do something else or get a job working for someone else and hang onto the truck and equipment in the hope that a solution comes along that works well.
Hendrik, i'm sorry to hear someone who dobbed you in, did you find out what actually was the issue with your truck?? If its not blocking anyone, and your not making any mess why should there be any issue?? I know of the council regulations, and that they must follow them up if a complaint is made but seriously, its only a smallish truck!!! People just seem to love making others lives so very much harder. I had an idea, how about storing your equipment at one of those self storage places?? You could keep any gear your not using at home and just have the truck and minimal things at the storage place. Just an idea best of luck Alex
Cheers Alex, Yeah I am looking at all my options but cost is a factor. I will try to find out what the nature of the complaint was, as it has some bearing on the issue, insofar if there was no complaint about the truck parked on my property or the way I am running my business.
This may not be a long term solution, but what are the regulations for parking trucks if you have a building permit on your house? It may be cheaper to pay for a building permit and renewal fees if the laws work that way where you are. Get a permit for building a porch, or moving a door and adding steps or whatever, dig a 2´x 2´ footing but don´t finish.....permit stays open, your house is a semi-permanent construction site and don´t you have the right to park equipment on a job site?
Well from experience and from this forum the only way to actually start a small business is to try and give the best service you can. Take the time of day to talk to your customers, keep asking them what they exactly want if they don't make it clear and once your comfortable talking to them maybe suggest other bits and pieces you could do. What was a two day job for me turned into a 5 day job as you show what things you can do. Being a jack of all trades helps a lot, you might get the earthmoving job, do that and then you see a broken down ride on mower, ask them if they need a hand and you might get another hours work, everyone is happy then. Just my 02. cents Alex
This may be worth looking into if other things don't work out, however it does not sound like a long term solution but may buy me some time to find another solution. I am actually annoyed at myself for giving them too much information about what my business activities consist of, if I just told them that all I do is park the truck at my place, things may have been different but I doubt it.
I have a friend in the same situation. He leaves his equipment on my property when not in use. Otherwise, he leaves it on job sites as long as he can. Even after he is finished he may leave his equipment on one of my job sites for a week or two. When it has to be moved or he takes vacation, he hauls it out to my house and stores it out back - I have four acres out in the country with no neighbors. As far a security goes, this is a small town/rural area and leaving equipment on a job site is pretty secure. Most often someone is there everyday so if something happened or was damaged or taken, it would be notices right away.
Hello all, look i need a tad of advice, was doing a clean up job for a bloke, cut a whole heap of firewood, removed some blackberries and such. He asked me if i could put up a post and rail fence. Its for a set of three stables. Now i gave him a quote for the job, to punch in the posts and for the gates. Now i haven't operated the post punching machine much myself, however have done quite a few km working for a bloke. I did a lot of pointing posts, and using the crow bar to push the post round while being rammed. So anyway i did the job, was 32 posts (Railway sleepers), some of them didn't go in quite straight despite all my straining and such. So i get a call, saying to come back and redo a 8 or so. Now its on the way to another job i have lined up, again not really any skin off my nose, but how far do i go before i start charging extra??? I will agree that some are not up to standard, and i'm happy to fix those issues, but i have other clients lined up waiting for their work to be done too. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Cheers Alex
Here are the pictures of the job, now the issue is the longer part of the fence, apparently it has a bit of a wobble in it. Now as i see it, some i can easily pull back into line, other than that the railings will mask many inconsistencies. I'm not trying to hide that i made a couple of mistakes, but there should be some tolerance for that. cheers alex
Hey gang, surprised to see the thread still going. I've been fairly busy with the day job and a bunch of side projects lately (not the excavating kind tho). A little background on myself, I have been working landscaping off and on and sideways since 96, I've got about a year of actual heavy construction experience from when I was in the union, and I have done tree work and ran cranes on tree removals. I have a degree in agriculture and do some play around farming, I've worked as an engineering technician surveying, drafting drawing plans, inspecting and doing bids. I recently started working for the state. At any rate, what I meant by not wanting to landscape anymore is that it's brutal on the body and I'm getting worn down by all the heavy lifting all the time, and it's an absolute cut throat industry. I'm not intending to finance anything, I've managed to pile up some money and I want to start a business. The real thing I'm working out with myself is just the way I want to go for the work I want to chase. I was figuring on a backhoe because they are versatile, it's one machine to maintain, they can be had cheaper than a skid or a mini hoe, and the hoe is more powerful than the minis unless you get a heavy one. I've got a truck lined up, we've hashed out the price, I just haven't popped on it yet, insurance is kind of holding me back a bit. I'm planning on renting equipment for a while and see how it goes.
Gday fellas, cancel my question. The moral of the story is do a good job, and keep the customer happy and all is apples. Went back fixed my work up, the customer was so happy that now i've got to do another job for him 3x as big. Hokiesmokes i know how you feel about all the back work, it certainly takes it out of you, working all day. I'm looking at equipment that could save my back to do the work for me, so far havent found the idea machine yet. Will keep posted. Don't forget the insurance, it should be around 1.5k for liability and comprehensive, depending whats on the policy. Best of luck Alex