Hi guys, Ideally I would like to get into trading heavy equipment. In order to learn the industry where should I start? Any reading materials? Everything absolutely looks Greek to me at the moment. Please advise.
When you say trading I take it you mean selling so if you have never been around it I would suggest being a yard guy for a dealer or rental house it will give you some exposure
That's a pretty hi ambition seeing u haven't a clue about the trade.!! 1st & foremost u need to identify each piece of equipment..& call it by its name.. NOTHING worse than talking to a salesman "supposed expert" & he calls a "frontend loader" a "lift tractor".!! Or a Dozer a "push tractor".!! I would hang up or walk off in a second.. U HAVE TO KNOW what your talking about.. Then the rest is just specs.. how hi can it reach, how much can it push, how much does it weigh?? ALL that info is just a click away..
This forum is and others are a great way to start your education. Plenty of old timers with lots of knowledge, many mid career people and some just like you. What is your background at this moment? College educated, peripheral industry, coming through from trade work and so on?
Very true when you say you have to know about what you're talking about. Domain knowledge is the key. Nothing worse than just looking like a pure salesman with no knowledge about the product. That's the reason I have joined this Forum to learn about more experienced professionals in this field. So, where do you suggest to start?
It's a good idea to become a yard guy to get some on-site exposure. I have worked as construction site manager and I have handled equipment. I even wanted to go and check up on next auction by these rbauction.com guys. I checked and their yard is in Sheffield. I live in London at the moment. Where are the yards / auctions in London and South East area? Please advise.
Hi John. Thanks for your respond. A bit of my background. I have a degree in constructions engineering and have worked as constructions site manager for a couple of years in the Middle East (on-site in Israel). I also have done a few property investments management and have closed several deals. Then I got an MBA from LSE and have worked in City for a few years in VC and venture management. Part time I was a university Lecturer at London South Bank University in Entrepreneurship in Technology Industry. I also have built one of the industry leading academic essay writing companies and it's working quite well. This business is on autopilot and my staff take care of everything. I rather to diversify my portfolio and get started on something new. I am not looking for a glamorous job title. I rather to go on a boring, less competitive industry where I can make some decent progress with my work. So, here is my background if you want to know.
I'd say go get a job as an HEO for a couple years. Or at the very least, become a yard guy at a dealer. Get to know exactly what machines are capable of and how they work.
I am impressed, you will be the most over qualified salesman on the planet. You can't swing a dead cat without hitting a equipment salesman. There are a couple of them around. Are you going to work a territory (who's working it now?) or hang out the ever popular webpage and wait for the phone to ring. I purchased equipment for a large company for a while. I never purchased a machine online nor did I purchase one from a salesman who didn't call on me from time to time. Where is your iron going to come from? Auctions (risky), distressed companies (get the maintenance files and learn what the information enclosed means). It is endless and before you are done you will collect enough knowledge to award yourself a special MBA known only to you in the finer art of equipment peddling.
First of all that's very kind of you. Let me go around the point: Am I going to work on a territory? If you mean in terms of location I would say yes. I'm based in the UK. So that would be my territory. If you mean if I want to dig into a specific field of equipment, I have to say I still don't know. My knowledge is quite limited on this. Purchasing online is more like gambling. You can't trust online shopping when you are buying a damn t-shirt these days. Imagine to risk tens of thousands of your cash buying something you haven't seen in person. But I am thinking about both Auctions and also buying from distressed companies. I know where to find auctions in the UK. But how do you identify distress companies and approach them? Any idea? Regarding MBA, I have to say it's just a piece of paper, two years of your like and tens of thousands of your money. I'm not proud of it.
You need to build a network of people in the business in the UK that you can sit and drink coffee with over a big british breakfast and discuss the state of affairs in the business. Over here it seems that those of us that are in the business do it on automatic. I have found many jobs and made deals over breakfast at 5:00 in the morning and still made it to the newly discovered project by 7. Not sure how it goes over your way, as far as that goes. All of us that have had one truck or one cat or one loader or crane, know what it is to sit on the phone till 9 or 10 at night to make sure we found a job for that machine the following morning. If I need a wrench I was on the phone finding him and so on. Know what is going on in a 70 mile radius who's buying , who's looking for what, who's selling what and who is going broke and wanting to get out. Network network, network. This business is much like this forum while everybody is doing their own gig. Nearly everybody on here will try to lend a hand whether it is technical parts and repair advice or related stories of experience that pertain to the subject at hand. Your network should work like this forum. In my case when I had a 8000 yard hole to dig and my one truck wasn't gong to get it. I called the guy's I talked to everyday. I had Bob bring his excavator, and Dave, Tim, Russ Ronnie and Bob brought truck and trailers. I brought my truck and trailer and put my 6 on the dump and away we went. Next time I might be sitting and Ronnie would turn something up and so it went.
To me, this does not mean "I wanna become a salesman", it means "I wanna become a heavy equipment buy-low-sell-high artist" which takes considerably more intellect, talent and shrewdness. If that is your goal, consider that many if not most equipment is offered for sale because of some hidden problem, as this is the best exit strategy in many cases. To profit in this sector it is imperative that you acquire the ability to recognize those hidden problems and understand the cost of solving them, lest they fail during your possession.
It would help to know what the machine is for as compared to how it was used (abused). When I worked on the Alaska pipeline I remember a brand new Cat D9 that was used to rip frozen ground. It took 6 months to go from new to 10% undercarriage with cracks included. When I was first getting started as a mechanic I was told by an old-timer that there is an use/abuse line for everything and as long as you stay on the use side, you will be OK.
Your post makes me chuckle, I remember the local Alyeska auctions, lots of bondo then paint. I worked a job in the mid 80's with a TS-32 that shucked huge chunks of bondo every other day. I did not know you could dent a TS-32 in so many places.
I was at the Weaver Bros and I believe Alyeska auction in Kenmore in 77 or 78... some of it had definitely seen better days.
EURO AUCTIONS their yard is in Leeds 28th, 29th, 30th August 2019 next auction
That's true. Network is everything. Specially in an industry like this when actually there is not much documented. I am getting this impression that is a not a very saturated industry. It's more like a small town. And everyone knows everyone. I just don't know where to start and see these people. London and South East of England are more professional services based and there are less industrial. So, we really don't have those old fashioned greasy spooned left where you can find people with their hands dirty. So, let's say you are living in South East of England. Where do you find people outside of this forum? I mean in real life?
Good points. Agree 100%. I've done that in a few properties.
I learnt now about Cat D9. One quick question. Who are the buyers? Other traders? Big companies? Individuals? Where do you find them?
Shame I'll be out of the country that dates.
Heavy equipment range large...you can know some parameters from suppliers' catalog. Maybe,you can choose one of them,and try to purchase one. A lot will be learned as the purchase is completed,such as general parameters,Important indicators... After all,Knowledge comes from practice.Do you agree?
Hi Wenwen. Thanks for your reply. I just started reading a book about heavy equipment. Before putting down my money and buying something, I want to learn about this industry. Because eventually if I want to sell something, I must have enough domain knowledge. I'll keep you posted.
The Auctioneer Ltd Specialist Machinery Auctions News This Week............ Working In Association With MH Auctions LIVE & WEBCAST PLANT & MACHINERY AUCTION (Essex) Wednesday 7th August - 9.00AM start CHAPPEL PLANT SALES Retirement Auction...everything must go!! COLCHESTER ROAD, WAKES COLNE, COLCHESTER, ESSEX, CO6 2BY
The Wakes Colne one might be interesting. Euro Auctions have a large auction at Leeds regularly, but it's very important to know your machines and how they are meant to operate as many of the machines in the line up have a problem or 2. The bid prices seem high for the risks involved.
if you want to get exposure to a large range of equipment, there are many dealers yards full of equipment around the south east.
Hi John. Thanks for letting me know. It looks like I would be able to come on Wednesday for this auction. I'll send you a pm now.
If you want to get exposure to the industry, you might be interested in reading Sennebogen's blog. Sennebogen specializes in equipment solutions for recycling and scrap metal yards , demolition , barge and port operations , log-handling , transfer stations and waste facilities . Here is a link to there blog: https://blog.sennebogen-na.com/ It offers a lot of information on the industry so I would encourage you to check it out!
Thanks for sharing this website. I am looking at it and they have many informative information. It's slightly too deep for someone like me. Do you also know some sources for absolute beginners?