I'm new to the site but have been poking around for a year or so. I was hoping to hear some advise from you guys out there to point me in the right direction on how to get my own small excavating company off the ground. I've been working in the field for 4 years everywhere from quarry's running everything from 980 to 992 rubber tire loaders cat 345 and got a day or so on a 385 I've been on site crews bulking dirt driving single axle on road (class A cdl) and now work for an excavating company laboring and running equipment track hoe 963 and what not but I was wondering what your guys opinion was about getting started with a volvo ec35 mini and a f350 dump I'm all ears to anybody's advice thanks Anthony
CivilWorks App Hi Anthony, It is important that you understand all aspects of your work to make a money. Knowledge is power. I would suggest having a look at the CivilWorks app, it also has a built in set of instructional videos that will help you understand Civil Construction. If you can't find it check out onsitecivilsolutions.com Best Wishes Bulldog
I would broaden your description and derive a business name that reflects that. Case in point, I wouldn't call a 3.5 ton excavator and a F350 an excavation company. To me, excavation is the movement of dirt.... you won't get much work just moving dirt with that equipment. You will make your money doing services where moving dirt is a means to an ends. I have compact equipment also and because of that it's rare I do jobs that are strictly excavation/dirt work as bigger machines usually can tackle it at a lower cost per yard. Occasionally you get lucky with a bigger job, like last year I had a clearing job with a 2k yard cut, 8k yard import, 1k yard export house pad with a 4.5t ex and ctl. Today I put 3-4 hours on the excavator taking out two trees and stumps and grading the area (to save moving the CTL in). We moved some dirt, ~65 yards of tree debris, but all was a means to an ends. Tomorrow I'll put ~2-3 hours on the ex dropping 5 trees on one job and loading some debris out on the second job. Looking at my current list of jobs, I have tree removal (residential), stump grinding, mulching/mowing (~2 acres), and land clearing (.5 acre) jobs to do. The name of my company is Rutherford Contracting LLC... previously we were Rutherford Tree and Stump Service LLC. Diversity keeps me busier and more profitable than being locked in to a single niche. Regarding your equipment... IMO a F550 dump would be the way to go. Another word of advice, get your CDL... it will make your equipment choices easier for the rest of your life. A 3.5 ton excavator can be a handy size, but it's also commonly available for rent by our customers. I have a 6 ton now, but I've thought about getting a 3-3.5 ton (smallest size with a comfortable cab with AC) and an 8 ton on rubber tracks. Then stepping up from there to a 16-25 ton machine. My reservation, aside from the 6 ton only being 10 months old with 360 hours on it and having 5 attachments for it, is that the 8 ton could be substantially harder on yards... I guess I need to rent an 8 ton and see for myself... $500/day, $1700/week (a month's payment). This week my theory is to get the bigger ex then decide. How old are you? I'm 28.
I really appreciate all the feed back so far but to clarify some things Im 22 and have my class a cdl with my tanker and double triple endorsements and I like the idea of being diversified and not calling it an "excavating" company I like the whole clearing and tree work idea it's basic work and would help me out being that I sell a good bit of firewood but maybe trying to go after plumbers and electrians who don't do there own dirt work would be a good start
if you are going to buy a dump truck nothing beats a single axle with air brakes as far as insurance goes i pay the same for my f350 as i do for my l9000 and with the little single axle truck they usually turn pretty tight pull the weight allot better and they don't get worn down and destroyed mechanically as fast. another thing IMO when you start this is something that helped me get allot of work in the beginning when i started off i got rental credit with all the local rental places. another thing is talk to local gc call electrician plumbers pool builders etc.. most pool guys dont dig them out themselves they usually sub every aspect of the pool construction out. when you see a project going on stop by the little temp office introduce your self to the project manager tell them what you do and what you can offer etc...
I started out 4 years ago on a part time basis. I am a full time LEO, but every cop needs a back-up plan. The day will come when you have to walk away physically, mentally, or medically. I started with a skid steer I had paid for in another venture and a mini ex I bought at the time. I was pulling them with my 3/4 ton cummins. Two years later I picked up a used C60 diesel single axle dump, and the next year I bought a well used 953 CAT. My mini ex is a steady source of income, my 953 is a great money maker when it moves, and my skid steer ties it all together. My business is Diggin and Dumpin Excavating but I often do a lot more than just move dirt. I got tied in with a mechanical contractor 2 years ago and learned to run electrical conduit. Now I install primary electrical service conduits for three builders. I also dig, repair and clean out ponds, clear ground, push fencerows, auger holes, concrete demo, water diversion and drainage, retaining walls, and all kinds of odd ball projects. I wish I hadn't added the "excavating" portion to my name because people think all I do is shuffle dirt. Truth is like someone said above with compact equipment its more about the services you can sell to do with your equipment. I ran a craigslist ad pretty steady for the first three years. Now I'm proud to say it's been posted once in the past six months, and he phone keeps ringing. The hardest part is getting your name out there and getting your foot in the door. Sometimes it's luck, sometimes it's hard work that pays off, sometimes it's divine intervention to get you up and runnning. The hardest part for me starting out was pricing jobs, and still is. Somedays I feel like I'm raping people to do things, but when you stack the numbers it's all there. Network with other folks around our area, not necessarily the competition but "useful" people. I have a buddy who owns a large tow service with a 42' Landoll tilt deck, he moves my 953 for a very reasonable price. When I bought my 953 my local branch banker looked down his nose at loaning money on construction equipment, my buddy called his banker in the same chain and two days later the machine was headed to my house. When I needed a rental machine my buddy hooked me up with his rental guy who cut me a waaaay better deal than advertised. Local concrete guy and I buy fuel in the same place, I send concrete his way he sends pond and drainage work my way. I'm a long ways from full time or big time yet but slowly its growing and so is my resume. Good Luck and Have fun at it John
You guys have really been helpful with all the feed back I see the point you guys make about not being just an "excavating" company and offering more than one service to customers I've thought about the clearing and grubbing thing a lot for new house lots and for homeowners and for some of these projects my trackhoe would be to small but that's what the rental company is for. There's no way you could ever own every piece of equipment you need and that's why you rent. For instance I went and looked at a job for a guy that started out as a 4 acre clearing project which for me is like a million Dollar job In my eyes then it went to just pushing off and leveling for parking and with the most recent phone call we've had it's jumping back up to a bigger job for doing the basic. Leveling for a storage facility anyways it's still the biggest thing I've gotten to do by myself to date and am looking forward to getting started.as far as doing general light excavating and clearing work I also do a lot of firewood and scrap metal so instead of being and excavating business could you call it land works company does such a company even exist