I have been doing grading for a while I own a kubota svl75 I also do drainage which one rent a mini excavator. Recently I caught a job from vdot for 250k which required a 315 (35k lb) excavator i rented for 6 months and kept it busy made total of 400k. Now considering purchasing a used 1 for 150k from cat. I catch alot of jobs for a standard size Excavator in the pass and subbed it out wondering should I make the purchase or shoot for a 305 alot of guys say the bigger 1 sits and hard to keep busy. Wondering best move. Was going to get into clearing demolition and excavating even though I'm a beginner in digging basements and such. Need advice on best profitable move.
What did you spend on 6 month rental ? You said you made $400K, is that gross or net after all expenses ? Can you do that again, or was it a one time thing ? Joe H
I would go the route of getting a used 5-10 yd dump truck, and a used 5-6 ton mini excavator. You can do a lot with that. Then rent the big machine as needed. Budget 60-80K Questions: - Do you have a large dump truck already and a full size equipment trailer? - Do you have a CDL? - Do you have a large place to store equipment? - Do you have a way to move a 35k ton machine. That's a lowboy over size load, with a tractor pulling.
Well good luck, seems like you had some and you think it will continue. I've done the same and been right, and I've been wrong. Joe H
Welcome to the Forums DNG! Glad to have you. A 315 is a great sized machine, I've owned two conventional 315CL and 315DL. Both were great machines. Love to have a new compact radius 315. That price is a little salty for the 315 with almost 2900 hours on it - JMHO. Have you priced a new one to compare?
No kidding. My PC290 with 2700 hours was $170k. At the time, I could have bought a brand new Case CX210D for $175k. This was in 2022.
New Excavator 250k before taxes
Yikes. I paid a little more than that for a 2023 325 with no bucket, manual thumb, 3rd hydro line before taxes.