i am interested in what people on here do, what kind of job, whether you own the business or not, what equipment you use, how long you've been doing it, how you got there, etc. any input would be appreciated. and of course pictures would be great too
Hey, this is a good idea.:yup I'm a O/O truck driver by trade, who does some limited side jobs with the older equipment I own (just so I can justify it to myself I should get too buy it ) It's actually more of a hobby, but I do enjoy spending my free time working and playing with equipment. I've been a trucker since '91, but only self employeed since '97.
Just kidding :yup I do a little bit of everything I drive truck,repair equipment,welder I don't have one job description.
We build residential developments, sewer work, foundations, septic systems and land/lot clearing. It is my fathers business and he has been doing it for over 40 yrs. The business will prolly be mine in 5 yrs and I have been doing this for 11 years now. We own 11 pieces of equipment. We will be looking to purchase 1 or 2 more this upcoming year.
I work at a rock quarry. I've been there 5 years and enjoy every minute of it. I get to play with all different kinds of toys big and small. I operate locomotives, loaders, dozers, graders, hoes, TLBs, skidsteers and even the ol' manual shovel......sometimes :spaz .
I operate equipment for a bridge building company.I run any normal equipment dozer,excavator,loader etc. and also run concrete boom pumps.
Master of None. I'm like Ford LT-9000; can't come up with a title yet. Been self employed as a trucking service owner since 1988, dumptrailers and flats. Diversified into equipment hauling, then hazardous materials such as gasoline, fuel, anything that burns or blows up. Caustic chemicals were next. I'd incorporated excavating into the trucking business as a supplemental revenue producer in 1991, and worked like a farm animal until November of 2006.The price of fuel, operating expenses and insurance forced me to make the decision to become gainfully employed for a while until I get the "urge" to do it again on my own. All the while I did all my own repairs, my wife did the paperwork, and we struggled as we raised our young family throughout the winter months. Now I work for a Cat equipment rental company that rents all sizes of excavators, and dozers from D-3's to a D-5HXL. I move everything that needs moving from place to place, do a little service work when needed, and just take up valuable space. When you go from being the General to a corporal, it is a weird transition. But the stress is gone...for now.:thumbsup
That sounds interesting! What kind of models are the equipment you use?
I have a small excavtion co. with about six people. I buy land and build subdivisions . We do commercial snow plowing , demolition, septic tank pumping , rent portable toilets, lowbed trucking. But our main bread and butter is excavation work. Heres a toilet pic. doug
Thank goodness your bread and butter isn't.... Nah, I can't say that ... :bouncegri
Great idea for the forum! I am an owner/operator. I work alone. I do everything from pay the bills to major repairs. I have not had employees for over 10 years and life is much less stressful this way. My primary activity is land clearing although I still do some dirt work and demolition for certain customers. I work for everyone from the Feds to the private homeowners. My main piece of equipment is my PC200 excavator followed by my Posi Track 4810. Each unit has brush cutters, buckets, grapples, tree shears and other attachments. I'm the guy that makes the trees scream! My life is eatin' trees & poopin' chips. Heavy equipment is not just a passion, it is an addiction! :yup
Work for a small excavation company, running mainly excavators, backhoes, and dozers. We do everything from custom home sites, spec houses, residential development, road widening & improving, and a few commercial buildings.
I'm a full time toolmaker by trade, and run my mini excavating business as a sideline (at least until the wife's finished her school in another year or two.) I have two trucks (one ton dually that I'm just switching to a flat bed dump from factory box) and a 3/4 ton that is the 'family car' but can also double as a pull vehicle for the excavator trailer if/when needed. I have the mini excavator of course and a small tandem float for it. Hoping to buy a skid in the next year or so, currently I rent when I need one, and line up all the skid steer work to do at the same time. Most of my work is small prep work, either for building/landscaping contractors, or directly for homeowners. Was thinking about trading the excavator for a newer one this year, but not really happy with the available options/sizes right now, will wait and see how this year goes I guess. I'm hoping to get a thumb built for mine this winter, and I have a 3point hitch post hole auger that I think I'll convert to hydraulic drive for the excavator to run/use as well. As far as equipment goes, I've ran trucks (up to tandem size dumps), worked on/repaired everything from heavy equipment right down to lawnmowers (My father is a mechanic, taught me lots of stuff over the years.) I also weld, have my own arc and tig welders, and lots of other tools too. (Though my shop is small.....makes KoO's look big, LOL.) Mark
I work(ed) for my dad when I'm not going to college. I currently live 160 miles away from "home". Dad specializes in landscaping, but this summer we bought a 312CL and got into the excavation business. Had my dad not realized that when I went back to college he'd be the guy running the 312 full time, we'd still be in business. I basically ran the division this summer, everything from the actual operation of equipment, to submitting bids and working with customers. We specialized in orchard removals, I did 130 acres of clearing this last spring/summer. We also did general excavation, utilities, complete homesite excavation, steep slope work, retaining walls whether it be rock or modular, just about anything you can do with a 12 ton excavator. I really miss it now, my whole plan was to nurse the business along and do as much as I could throughout the school year then buy the business once I was done with college. I actually was driving home every weekend for a couple months before summer break last year to run the equipment. Right now I work in a restaurant while going to college full time.
My job I work for a demolition and construction company, and we also operate a transfer station. Our equiptment includes Cat 235, 322L, 320CL,950B, D5H Komatsu PC200, PC60, PC20, we are also demoing a Volvo EC340. We have 2 Kenworth tractors, a Pete tractor, Kenworth tri-axle dump, Kenworth roll-off, Mack roll-off. I realize now that we have alot off stuff.
Well I am the boss, the driver, the operator, the mechanic and etc... I have 2 full time employes and 2 part time employes. Have been at it on my own for about 4 years now. I started as a union laborer and then a union carpentor running my own crew of up to 30 guys doing mostly concrete work then got into a fight with my unkle (boss at that time) and went on my own, Have a 160 and 45 excavtor have a 250 skid steer and 350 track loader. Also have hammers and rock drill. I do everything from demo to excvation to rock drilling and braking, also still do concrete and masonry work. Almost forgot I also have a single axle hooklift a triaxle rolloff and a service truck.
Where to begin? Currently unemployeed but ran equipment for 2 larger construction companies in the area but had enough of working straight time 70+ hours a week and low pay and watching power trips with so called white hats.Looking at a chance to start with a demolition & salvage company out of FT McMurray possibly next winter nice money but he'll feed me and house me so thats all that matters.I'm a member of ILA local 273 with the port as a reserve member I'm also a ticketed low pressure pipe welder in the province of New Brunswick. I'm waiting to write the septic installers exam to expand my abilty to serve my side business.I Mostly dig additions on homes,water/sewer line hook ups and repair,drain tile work basicaly anything a backhoe can do and someone is willing to pay me for.I use a friends JCB and pay him for hours on the meter as it works out for me but if work picks up I may purchase an older machine for the right price.
My grandpa was in the construction and farming businesses. When he died my dad took over the farming and my uncle took over the construction. Well when I was five I started playing with the hoe on my uncles backhoe. My dad would put me on a tractor and drive it down the road. I couldn't reach the pedels so he would have to jump on and stop it for me. I was in love with equipment. When I got older I would farm for my dad and when I didn't have any thing to do I would work for my uncle. My dad and I have six John Deere tractors, I have just recently in the last year and half bought an 03, D4G, and a 06, 328 John Deere skid steer. I mostly do clearing, build little stock tanks, and I an know building four building pads, two stock tanks, and digging a bunch of post holes with my skid steer. I work by my self know. I am hoping to get more work lined up and hire some one to help me. My next machine I think will be a Cat 939C track loader.Well thats enough lol.
I own my own Excavating Company started it about 5 years ago on a very small part time basis. At the time owned a specialty building material broker agency (manufacturer representatives). I started the broker agency when I was 25 and worked it for 15 years. The brokerage went very well until Home Depot got so big and put all of my customers out of business. I sold Home Depot product for a while and this made my company very strong until they decided that they wanted to cut out all the agencies like mine out. I saw this coming and bought a skid steer and pick up truck with a dump trailer. Started doing side jobs on the weekends for a couple of years and then as I grew I sold out my agency and went full time with excavating. I also own a retail pet supply store that I opened in 1990 and still own today. All three businesses that I have owned or own are very different to say the least and this keeps it very interesting. I was fortunate enough to get a couple of lucky breaks with a large General Contractor and make some very good friends in the excavating business and this has helped me a lot to grow my business. I have made a huge investment in this business, (at least huge to me anyways) in the last three years. To date I have 89' Mack 10 wheel dump, 95' Hitachi Ex60, 97' Komatsu PC150, 96' case 70" single drum roller, 05' New Holland LS160 skid, 01' Deere 450HLT dozer, auger, soil conditioner, trailer, and a lot other stuff like welders, pumps, saws, tampers etc. I am closing on a garage and 6 acre's of land this month so I will have a place to keep all this and not have to work out of my home. I love this business and wish I started it a long time ago, hope to keep growing but as Jeff D said in another post "it is a very fine line between success and failure" I agree with that. Once I own most of the equipment my over head will be a lot less and cash flow a lot more so looking forward to that. One last point, my wife has been very supportive, and as all of you married guys know with out that forget it.
When I was five years old, I told my mom that for my birthday I wanted her to take me to all the local construction sites, let me sit in the seat of the tractors and take my picture. I still have that photo album. I guess my interest in heavy equipment got started young? When I was in high school I got summer jobs working for a construction company doing industrial concrete, bridges and water tanks. I got a little seat time on backhoes and skidsteers and eventually got on the grading crew, where I learned a lot working on the ground and got a little more seat time in loaders, dozers, excavators, etc. When I started college I got a job working the night shift in a gavel pit running dozer. Working night shift in pits is what put me through college. During the summers I would work for excavation companies full time. I did a little pipe work, but didn't like it much and went back to excavation/grading. I learned I like the bigger jobs, highways, reservoirs, mass excavation and mass grading. When I finished college I was a pretty accomplished operator, with good excavation experience and a thorough understanding of the industry. I decided to let my stock portfolio be a part-time thing and spend my days playing with yellow iron. I currently work for a large residential developer as a grading foreman and also do some finish grading work, mostly dozer. The job I'm on had about 70 machines last summer, with close to 90 planned for this summer. Excavators from 320's up to 375's. Dozers from D6 to D10. Loaders from 938's to 980. CAT and Terex 40 ton ADT's. We've got a little of everything. I'll post pictures in another thread as the project I'm working on consists of 7800 homes, 8 miles of highway, 4 reservoirs, etc. Over 17 million cubic yards of material to be moved on the currently planned phases. Since I finished college I've wanted to have my own excavation company. I plan to get my own machine in the near future, work as an owner/operator, and from there build my own excavation company.
where to start?? Grew up here on the farm running equipment, wrk for a demolition Co. right out of school running 977L & H's Cat., we had one of the first Bobcat's in the area. Then in truck & Backhoe Buss. sold it out. Been a union carhauler for Ford for the last 25 yrs. Farming & Bobcat wrk on the side, getting ready to retire at 52 and hit the Bobcat full time. The best part is it's all paid for. Don't know how long I can keep frm getting new toy's. But life has been good for this Kentucky Boy.
Sorry Metaldragon boy, I must have overlooked your post. :wink2 The locomotives I operate are GM Electromotive GP-7's. We have 2 of them. The loaders we have are Cat: (4) 980Gs, (1) 988G, (1) 990G, (1) "secret loader" nobody can talk about and (1) 992G. We have 11 Cat Haul Trucks: (4) 773Cs, (4) 775Ds and (3) 775Es. We have 3 dozers that belong to a contractor but we use regularly: D8, D9 and D11. We also have 4 hoes: Komatsu PC200, Cat 345, 350 and 385. The only thing I'm not allowed to operate is the "secret loader". Only 2 people get to operate that. Everything else is up for grabs when needed. I'll have to check models on the smaller stuff.
Law enforcement. But I was in the rental industry for a while, did a few side jobs clearing land. :bouncegri Blake WA
Marine Construction
That secret loader isn't a new "K" model is it?????
Maybe......
Well this past year was my first in the construction industry and I spent it working at a rock quarry running a Cat haul truck, not a bad job, days go by quick. I have spent alot of time working on farms running farm tractors since I was at an early age and I guess where I really got interested in running equipment and wanting to do it for a living.I still work on farms from time to time because I injoy it, defenetly one of the hardest jobs. My first real experiance with heavy equipment came when I was in high school when I did a work experiance program for half the school year at a heavy equipment dealer where I worked in the shop doing things from sweeping the floors to helping mechanics repairing the machinary, I injoyed my time there. As for the future I would like to learn to run bulldozers, such as D8's and up.
Operator off and on for 25 yrs. back from 6 months building pad sites for Shell's natural gas well sites in North Texas. Operating Cat D6, D8 dozers, excavator and backhoe, back to my hometown here in South Texas running a 320 Cat excavator wondering what I want to do when I grow up.
I have been in construction my whole life - don't know anything different and love it.:yup I own my own construction and land development company. We build houses, small commercial buildings and develop raw land, although phasing out our home building to concentrate on moving dirt.:thumbsup It's harder here in the Birmingham, AL to make a living building houses because of the larger builders both local and national. I have found out it is more profitable to develop lots for them, rather than try and compete with them. I have always loved the yellow iron since I was in diapers. My dad used to take me to the Deere dealership, let me sit on the tractors and sometimes buy me a model of my choice. That was awsome! I think I put several thousand hours on those toys in the back yard putting in little streets, storm piping (old garden hoses) and digging basements.:bouncegri We currently operate: 325DL 321CLCR 725 Artic 953C D5G D6NXL D6rXW CS533E T190 T300 334 Mini-hoe 534C Graddall 420DIT 7400 Int. dumptruck F450 Flat dump F250 4x4 3- F350 4x4 4700 int. service truck
We do "selective" lot clearing..meaning that we go into a lot and clear out everything smaller than 12inches in diameter and anything thats down already...we clean up any trash/briars/underbrush/saplings/downed trees or limbs and such...I am a partner in the business myself and my best friend and his father...currently we have an ASV RC100 with a TimberAx cutter head and grapple bucket...Kubota KX161-3...John Deere 110TLB with a 4n1 Bucket...F350 Dually and a 7ton hudson trailer...got paper work on a Cat 939C...and looking hard for both a tandem truck/tag trailer combo and a Cat 312 excavator....
Excavating contractor for 33 years now-work by myself mostly--much better that way.I like working mainly for homeowners,a few small builders doing from soup to nuts---septics,sewer and water hookups,clearing,demo,drainage,specializing in waterproofing,grading,trucking,make my own screened topsoil,etc. Also have a small modular home building biz for 22 years now.
i started in the late 70's with my brothers cutting lawns and small maintenance work , that lead into complete maintenance and tree work, both bros left in the mid 80's, one for college the other for music so i went solo with the lawn and landscape work ,, i had a few guys, 150 lawns, plowing ,cln ups , u get the idea, lots of labor intensive work. tree work was a good producer and i started to clear lots for builders and homeowners , we did larger landscape installs after they were built, site work kinda came easy. we cleared , excavated and finished them, , i sold the maintenance work in 1999 ,, now its site work and tree work , ill pave a small drive or build a wall here and their , the builder i work for keeps me busy and then trees , i keep it small, if i can do it myself i do, i like what i do inter 1800 s/a dump , inter4900 57' hi ranger bucket truck, ram 3500 mason dump, ram 3500 p/u, case9010b/thumb/ blade, case 580sl 4/1 w/thumb, cat d3, fiat allis fl5 4/1, bobcat 773 w/grapple and stump grinder , brush bandit 250xp, massey fergason m203 w 3pt, 12T custom beavertail trailer, 4T tilt bed trailer, ezscreen 1000x, i like my tools :usa
Well I'm only a young bloke (23) but have worked on mine sites (mostly gold but more recently coal) since finishing school in 2000 (4 yr aprrenticeship as a diesel mechanic and last 2 and a bit as a tradesman), with a six month stint in a in-town workshop where I gained a hatred for Cat skid steers and Backhoes - whilst user friendly not real fitter friendly! Most of my experience is maintenance on mining equipment with a little bit of driving - I'm a bit off an operator! (Mainly Cat, some Liebherr & Atlas Copco)- Dozers - D9N, D10N/R/T & D11N/R Trucks - 769D (Service Truck), 773D (Service & Haul Trucks), 777D(Water & Haul Trucks), 789C & 793A/B/C Haul Trucks Graders - 12H, 16H & 24H Wheel Dozers - Tiger 690D (992D), 834G/H, 844 & 854G Scrapers - 633E & 657G Excavators - Cat 345BL, Liebherr R994B Litronic - Little bit of exposure to the Demag/Komatsu PC8000 (The site I did my apprenticeship at had two optioned with CAT 3516 engines instead of Cummins) Drills - Atlas Copco L8 (Not a real joy to work on either) Loaders - Cat 988B/F ,992G, 994 & 994D (Can't wait to see a 994F in the flesh!) Would love to get some more experience behind the controls instead of under the bonnets, but at the moment my job pays too good to give up! Not too bad for a young bloke hey!
Guess I'm in the "untitled" catagory.I've spent the last 16 years working for a midsized underground outfit.We do water,sewer,storm drain,power,and communications. Inventory includes 2 Vermeer 955 trenchers,1-4300Q,1-3400c2,2-240LX,1-2800Q Linkbelt excavators,a Kobleco SK200 excavator,90Z5,80Z3,3-70Z5,65Z3 Kawasaki loaders,a Cat 950F loader,a LB110,LB90,and 2-LB75 New Holland backhoes,a 96 IH Paystar 5000 dump with pup,a 14 ton National crane mounted on a 86 F-800,and roughly 20 or so 1/2-2 ton crew trucks. I've got a lube truck and driver,and a welder/mechanic,to help keep it all running.I do the ordering,tracking,scheduling,repairing,and now,the renting. Keeps me out of the wife's hair for 50-70 hours a week.
Owner, operator, chief cook and bottle washer for a 1 1/2 man company. I am semi retired at 55. Was lookin for something to do to supplement income. I really enjoy it. Mostly I do residential work, trenching, digging of all kinds, building lawns, small demolition, landscaping, hauling topsoil and mulch etc. have a part time helper. 4th yr in this business. Just added a small dozer this year. I make good money on what do but business is really slow in Michigan. I have Kubota KX41 mini ex Deere 5575 skis steer Allis H3 dozer Ford 3000 tractor International S-1600 s/a 5 yd dump 10,000 Rainbow trailer Jerry
I work for an excavation company. We do all types of dirt work and utilities installation. We also just bought 2 sand pits. We have 4 hoes. 225, 2 330s, 345, 3 D6 one with Trimble GPS which I run. 4 JD650, 1 case 580m, 2 off road trucks CAT, 4 JD pans, 2 graders, 2 cat rollers and numerous pieces and trucks. I operate dozers, hoes most anything and I also move equipment on the lowboy. I have a total of about 25 years experience. Most of the time I love my job. But as we all know there are those days.
I am a small earthmoving contractor. We are currently doing the sub grade for a poultry farm. We do site prep, sub division work, holding ponds, clearing etc. I started land leveling for agriculture 35 years ago. Had a chance to buy my first D8 in '87 then was able to get my contractors license and add equipment as the work dictated. I get alot of repeat business from local developers and paving contractors. So far so good DP
i am a loader operator and plant foreman. i feed a Finlay 390 screener. i work for a local concrete redi mix provider. besides the concrete side of the company we also own and operate a large gravel pit from which we prosess 2NS sand, 22A, 23A, topsoil, cement gravel, 6A, 10A 21AA peastone, fill sand and over sized stone. i have been with this particular company for 1 year and have no plans of leaving. i have about 6 years experence in the mining industry i started out a plantman and worked through the ranks to operator. i would not trade my job for anything.
I work for a Heavy Equipment and Truck Driving Training School in Florida. I enjoy helping people get certified and trained to get a new career started. If you ever have any questions about getting trained please email me and I will try to get you answers. [email protected]
I work for a local excavating/paving/utility company out of my hometown of greenwich. My job title is driver, but i bounce around a lot. We have excavators from a Cat 303- Cat 325CL, 2 cat loaders, 4 skidsteers, 1 backhoe, dozer, huge screener,rollers, lee boy paver,etc. For trucks, 4 6 wheelers, mack tractor/lowbed trailer, 20 ton tag, 2 6 ton tags, 3 tri-axle dumps, 4 mason dumps, multiple pickups/utilities. I've driven every truck in the fleet except for the lowbed and have ran every machine in the fleet at some point. I also have my own legit business after hours and do small excavating jobs, paving and drainage work and soon small dumpsters.
umm... At the ripe old age 18 i have a fence building business and stumbled into the lumber-firewood business. I just wanted a couple of trees for the fence building biz, but I wound up cutting down 25 or so! :bash I cut hay in the summer on the farm and leased land. I also do work with the JD 450C dozer and JD 260 SSL we have. So that makes me a operator of green and yellow beasts and hobby-logger. This summer I have work lined up for another farm or an excavating biz. So by May 25 I'll either be a on a tractor or a dozer. Either job will only be for the summer b/c I'm going to school for mechanical engineering in the fall. So i guess the final answer is the you would expect from an 18 yr old, student of many trades. To all the tradesmen of this forum, the apprentice :notworthy to you
site newbie hey y'all just joined today. I work for a bridge builder in missouri i run about all thier equipment but my favorites are below:usa
Welcome to HEF! :drinkup Good pics, we expect to see plenty more. :yup
Ya. now were talking. Welcome!:thumbsup
i haqve lots more will post maybe this weekend have to scan them most are taken with 35 mm camera. I really need some new technology
Two ??'s on pile driving 1) How do you keep them straight especially when driven at an angle ? 2) On concrete piles what kind of concrete can take that beating? DP
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i currently run my own landscaping business and go to to school for construction management. I recently got hired by Tilcon NY to do an internship.
I'm a HEF junky...I just hang out here Hi-jacking threads and generally making life difficult for those legitimatley seeking information. Occaisionally in my spare time I go to work building retaining walls and doing some earthworks O/O. If its difficult...we normally end up doing it.
Fulltime Lieutenant with The Portland Fire Dept. I also own a small excavation business and volunteer as the Deputy Chief of my hometown fire dept. And for kicks, I'm a sixth generation maple producer on the family farm.
Do you have a picture of your Tackeuchi 135???If yes post it!
Here's a link, my pics are at the bottom and go from there. There are a few other pics scattered about as well.
You have a great excavator!!!cool:drinkup