D8R new tracks

[Robert0769]

Am I correct in thinking you’ll need to buy the old tracks as you can’t get any others at all?
If so,just wrap the trackgroups around and some new segments.
Try and avoid having to fit those old idlers and rollers though if you can.
Too much hard work for very little reward

This is what I was thinking as well. I'll measure mine and see how they're doing once the track is off. I could get aftermarket in 2 weeks, but again this is much more affordable and doable for me. Big difference in the chains.. I mean mine have no bushings lol!

 

[Robert0769]

And as I've heard around this forum for quite awhile now: if there's no money in the job to cover a rental, then there wasn't enough money in the job to begin with.

Except a d8r rental is 13k a month minimum heh.

 

[Robert0769]

I can see your thoughts here, but, there is always a but. Your running full speed doing jobs and taking more jobs. Making money doing good. BUT, you didn't notice, realize, think ahead, or plan for UC wear? It didn't happen overnight. Personally, I am fixing equipment for next summer while i have time now.

I did everything exactly as I planned and wanted. Some like to spend 50k early, some don't. I got over a year out of those terrible tracks. All the while prices are going down. I'd prefer not to push so far but hey, when the stock market is down.. you can either put your money in a machine that has another year to go OR you can put your money in something that will let you buy 10 dozers a decade from now.

 

[Robert0769]

I can see your thoughts here, but, there is always a but. Your running full speed doing jobs and taking more jobs. Making money doing good. BUT, you didn't notice, realize, think ahead, or plan for UC wear? It didn't happen overnight. Personally, I am fixing equipment for next summer while i have time now.

At least now I know the real limits. Always nice to know!

 

[Shimmy1]

you can either put your money in a machine that has another year to go OR you can put your money in something that will let you buy 10 dozers a decade from now.

Wow. I'm not going to even try and take THAT apart.

And as I've heard around this forum for quite awhile now: if there's no money in the job to cover a rental, then there wasn't enough money in the job to begin with.

What colson meant on the rent comment, and I'll add to, is if you're not grossing $50k per month with this machine IF it's truly running as hard as you claim, you are going backwards. That tractor should be getting you $3000 every 10 hours it runs, minus operating costs of course. And that's probably low for some guys.

 

[Robert0769]

Wow. I'm not going to even try and take THAT apart.


What colson meant on the rent comment, and I'll add to, is if you're not grossing $50k per month with this machine IF it's truly running as hard as you claim, you are going backwards. That tractor should be getting you $3000 every 10 hours it runs, minus operating costs of course. And that's probably low for some guys.

Agreed.

 

[Shimmy1]

Agreed.

So then it's settled. Go call and get a rental lined up for when you take yours out of service. Get on the list at Cat to GET THAT TRANS REBUILT. That'll probably require the tractor being out of service for at least a couple weeks, if not a month.

 

[Mcrafty1]

Agreed.

Isn't equipment rent all tax deductible? IDK, I've never been in the position of needing a rental, but some here will tell you if it is or not.

 

[colson04]

Isn't equipment rent all tax deductible? IDK, I've never been in the position of needing a rental, but some here will tell you if it is or not.

Yes, it is. I've got around $10k worth of rentals I'll be writing off this year. They were worth every penny I paid as I made well more than what they cost me on the jobs I needed them for.

 

[nicky 68a]

Shimmy,although you are correct in wanting $3000 for every 10 hours that D8R runs,I’m afraid we’ll never see that here in the UK for hire work .
Here in the UK,I can get around £120 per hour max for an older D9T and £110 per hour max (and that’s almost unheard of,££90 more on the mark for my young D8T ripping).The hirer pays the fuel,cutting edges and ripper tips) owner pays the driver.
In some very rare circumstances,the hirer may pay for a percentage of undercarriage wear too.
It’s an unfortunate fact of life here.If I were to charge £2500/€3000/$3000 a day for a D8,I would never work again and possibly be blacklisted from every job in the country.
On the other hand,if you’re on a price per ton for rip and crush and stock operations etc,you may be in with a chance of earning that sort of money with a D8

 

[Birken Vogt]

It’s an unfortunate fact of life here.If I were to charge £2500/€3000/$3000 a day for a D8,I would never work again and possibly be blacklisted from every job in the country.

What do you mean by that? If they are desperate enough and they need the work done, they pay what the equipment owner says. Blacklisted, they going to let a job sit undone because they say you are blacklisted?

 

[nicky 68a]

What do you mean by that? If they are desperate enough and they need the work done, they pay what the equipment owner says. Blacklisted, they going to let a job sit undone because they say you are blacklisted?

I’ve never known any contractor desperate enough to pay $3000 a day for a D8 or D9 in the UK in over 30 years of me doing the job.
Perhaps blacklisted was abit harsh.
What would happen,is word would get out that I was looking for that sort of money and the phone would simply stop ringing

 

[colson04]

Shimmy,although you are correct in wanting $3000 for every 10 hours that D8R runs,I’m afraid we’ll never see that here in the UK for hire work .
Here in the UK,I can get around £120 per hour max for an older D9T and £110 per hour max (and that’s almost unheard of,££90 more on the mark for my young D8T ripping).The hirer pays the fuel,cutting edges and ripper tips) owner pays the driver.
In some very rare circumstances,the hirer may pay for a percentage of undercarriage wear too.
It’s an unfortunate fact of life here.If I were to charge £2500/€3000/$3000 a day for a D8,I would never work again and possibly be blacklisted from every job in the country.
On the other hand,if you’re on a price per ton for rip and crush and stock operations etc,you may be in with a chance of earning that sort of money with a D8

I would think @Shimmy1 is pretty well right on. If I hire out my Bobcat skid steer, I get $90/hr with operator, but I cover every cost associated with machine (fuel, maintenance, consumables, etc) . The customer (hirer) covers none of it so rates should be higher per hour here as that's generally how things are done here. Not saying different contracts don't exist though.

 

[nicky 68a]

Colson,I don’t see any Bobcats here in the UK on jobs for some reason,but a 5t mini digger for example would cost around $100 per day including delivery!
The driver and fuel would be extra though.Tools such as a hammer would be billed as an extra too.

 

[colson04]

Colson,I don’t see any Bobcats here in the UK on jobs for some reason,but a 5t mini digger for example would cost around $100 per day including delivery!
The driver and fuel would be extra though.Tools such as a hammer would be billed as an extra too.

Wow. I can't rent a 5t excavator for $100/day here. About the cheapest excavator I can rent is a 3.5t mini for $275/day with delivery included.

The last telehandler i rented cost me $1800 for a 40 hour (week) rental. It was an 8000lb capacity machine, but still pricey for what it does.

 

[nicky 68a]

I think you chaps definitely have a better chance at putting abit of steak on the table every night.
Us Brits have to go down the bread abs jam route

 

[Mcrafty1]

Shimmy,although you are correct in wanting $3000 for every 10 hours that D8R runs,I’m afraid we’ll never see that here in the UK for hire work .
Here in the UK,I can get around £120 per hour max for an older D9T and £110 per hour max (and that’s almost unheard of,££90 more on the mark for my young D8T ripping).The hirer pays the fuel,cutting edges and ripper tips) owner pays the driver.
In some very rare circumstances,the hirer may pay for a percentage of undercarriage wear too.
It’s an unfortunate fact of life here.If I were to charge £2500/€3000/$3000 a day for a D8,I would never work again and possibly be blacklisted from every job in the country.
On the other hand,if you’re on a price per ton for rip and crush and stock operations etc,you may be in with a chance of earning that sort of money with a D8

Just curious, how long do you figure it takes to pay for and operate, along with your other long term obligations involved to keep working..a machine that costs 1/2 to 3/4 of a million dollars like the machines you run? at the rates you quote?

 

[Check Break]

Shimmy,although you are correct in wanting $3000 for every 10 hours that D8R runs,I’m afraid we’ll never see that here in the UK for hire work. Here in the UK,I can get around £120 per hour max for an older D9T and £110 per hour max (and that’s almost unheard of,££90 more on the mark for my young D8T ripping).The hirer pays the fuel,cutting edges and ripper tips) owner pays the driver.

You're not going to see that over here either Nicky. You may bid a job with a D8 and wind up making $300/hr, but that's not a rental rate. It's equipment plus profit. Many states publish their rental rates. One of the first that came up was the CalTrans rate sheet. Up to March of 2022, they were paying $178 for a D8R and $223 for a D8T, which is more in line with what I was thinking. As for paying off a $1,000K machine, that's where your brain comes in. If you bid a job and use your head, there's new equipment in your future. If you screw up, it might be the Ritchie Bros auction.

 

[Check Break]

Something else to remember. You're working on a Prevailing Wage (or Davis-Bacon) job. There may be a surcharge that will add to your rental rate, but you're already paying around $90/hr for your operator.

 

[Nige]

If you screw up, it might be the Ritchie Bros auction.

IIRC, and I’m too lazy to look at the first threads posted by the OP regarding this particular tractor because they go back a couple of years at least, that’s where it originally came from.