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Hello and applicants wanted

W

WTX Crane Co

Member
Hello everyone. This is my first post so apologies for any rules broken.

I am in the process of starting a crane business is Midland Texas. The operator I had partnered up with has backed out of our agreement due to a recent health diagnosis.
I have the crane and insurance policy purchased but now have no operator.

I need someone qualified to run a 2006 Grove TMS900E.
Clean CCO and Texas class A CDL or ability to obtain.
You either need to be willing to work cheap to start with or bring a lot to the table up front.
The goal is for you to become 1/3 owner within 2 years.
Must be willing to relocate to Midland, Tx.
Clean driving record and criminal background within last 5 years is a must.

I will do the office work and you will operate and maintain the crane.
 
W

WTX Crane Co

Member
I understand your view point. I thought the same way for many years. I'm hoping someone is looking for the long term investment. Thank you for your input.
 
Vetech63

Vetech63

Senior Member
If you want to find someone that can do both of those it is going to cost. Finding someone here that has just half-ss knowledge in equipment maintenance is $25 an hour minimum. Not sure what a crane operator would be paid by the hour, but I would think one with enough knowledge to be a safe operator would be $35 plus for sure. Thats 2 men's wages = $60 per. It sounds like you need a partner/operator type to me....and job out most of the maintenance work that requires tooling. It's still going to be a tough sell these days.
 
W

WTX Crane Co

Member
By maintenance I mean greasing stuff. Slack adjusters. Cheap to me is 30/hr or less. If you want to get paid more show me your qualifications and bring money. If you're willing to put a half million in the shared bank account then you can pay yourself whatever you want. That's what I have in it so far and stand to lose because of a lying short term thinker with this exact mind set.

I moved here 10 years ago 10k in debt with a truck I had to trailer behind a uhaul because it wouldn't make the trip. This crane business is successful will be my 3rd successful business.

Seems like I'm looking for babe Ruth in the peanut gallery here.

No one else in this world is offering ownership after 2 years for just doing your job. Most places you're lucky to get a dollar an hour raise after 2 years.
 
ahart

ahart

Senior Member
You’re in a special situation, trying to find a person in a special situation. I really doubt anyone is going to go all in without a real relationship first. On the other hand, “married at first sight” was on TV, wonder how many were long term? Highly skilled, dedicated people, typically don’t make these “at first sight” decisions. Most of them are smarter than that. I’m not saying what you have going won’t or can’t work out, just gonna be a hard sell to the person you’re needing and looking for. That’s my .02, it’s worth what you paid.
 
Georgia Iron

Georgia Iron

Senior Member
In my area a man that has a cdl and the knowledge to run a crane without learning how to do it on yours coukd easly run his own dirt work machines and make far more. I would think you would be paying 600 to 800 per days work for a quality man.

Try an ad on Facebook.
 
W

WTX Crane Co

Member
ahart said:
You’re in a special situation, trying to find a person in a special situation. I really doubt anyone is going to go all in without a real relationship first. On the other hand, “married at first sight” was on TV, wonder how many were long term? Highly skilled, dedicated people, typically don’t make these “at first sight” decisions. Most of them are smarter than that. I’m not saying what you have going won’t or can’t work out, just gonna be a hard sell to the person you’re needing and looking for. That’s my .02, it’s worth what you paid.
Click to expand...
You get it. I'm not asking for married for life though. I'm thinking 5 years. I realize I'm asking for a lot but I want to invest in people. My other option is real estate, which has a much lower rate of return. A smart young man such as I was 15 years ago would stand to advance himself greatly by pursuing this opportunity. I got this money by the sweat of my back learning a trade and then being a 1 man company with skill levels far exceeding national competition. I want to do for the right person what I wish someone would have done for me. The more money you can make others the more you will make. The gambler personality doesn't typically pair with the pragmatist as you find in me. I'm at the point now where I either find an operator or for sure lose $75k. Thanks for your time.
 
crane operator

crane operator

Senior Member
Where are you losing $75,000? Already paid insurance? They should prorate it out and you wouldn’t loose it all.

Crane and other equipment you can sell.

I’m not sure why any “partner/employee” that has $500,000 needs or wants you, or the headaches of a partnership.

The success rate of partnerships, is even less than the success rate of startup/ new venture.

My dad had a successful partnership with another guy for close to 20 years, and I don’t think I could ever have done that.

All that said, anyone with any experience or money doesn’t need you. So you get to choose: hire someone with experience and pay him the going wage (meaning you make less). Or someone with money but no experience, and you get to share the risk of losing it all.

With the limited information given, I’d sell the crane and go on with life. Especially if your knowledge of the crane rental business is nothing.

If you can’t make money with a employee making the going rate, then you really can’t make money.
 
W

WTX Crane Co

Member
Georgia Iron said:
In my area a man that has a cdl and the knowledge to run a crane without learning how to do it on yours coukd easly run his own dirt work machines and make far more. I would think you would be paying 600 to 800 per days work for a quality man.

Try an ad on Facebook.
Click to expand...
Brother if I thought I had an in on dirtwork I'd be doing that. I have a customer base I know I can access through current relationships in the crane segment. Ancillary services to large scale hvac contractors has become my bread and butter.

And yes I figure to operate will be $1000/ day. Plus paying the man while there's no work or the crane is in the shop. Gotta make sure he can eat.
 
W

WTX Crane Co

Member
crane operator said:
Where are you losing $75,000? Already paid insurance? They should prorate it out and you wouldn’t loose it all.

Crane and other equipment you can sell.

I’m not sure why any “partner/employee” that has $500,000 needs or wants you, or the headaches of a partnership.

The success rate of partnerships, is even less than the success rate of startup/ new venture.

My dad had a successful partnership with another guy for close to 20 years, and I don’t think I could ever have done that.

All that said, anyone with any experience or money doesn’t need you. So you get to choose: hire someone with experience and pay him the going wage (meaning you make less). Or someone with money but no experience, and you get to share the risk of losing it all.

With the limited information given, I’d sell the crane and go on with life. Especially if your knowledge of the crane rental business is nothing.

If you can’t make money with a employee making the going rate, then you really can’t make money.
Click to expand...
25% is non-refundable on a $41k premium. = $10k
Tax paid on crane purchase. = $22,912
Brokerage fee to resell crane. = 5% of gross sale price yet to be determined. Lets say 5% of 250k = $12,5
Rigging already purchased for crane = $10k
Total roughly 55k plus I'll have to pay income taxes on the income from selling the crane.
Not quite 75k but close enough to round up.

You're probably right about selling the crane and moving on but the refund on the insurance is the same whether I cancel now or I cancel at 3 months. So I'm putting myself out there hoping the right guy sees this.

If someone is qualified and genuinely interested please let me know.
If you're qualified and want a run down of exactly what I have and have planned then please submit your experience and contact info. I know that my way usually is not how it actually goes down in the end because of other people's needs. This is where I'm comfortable starting from with my experience of operators. Someone at another level of professionalism would warrant further discussion regarding pay scale.

If I promise I can pay you 60k this year, would you take it knowing there's a very real chance your pay will at least double every year for the next 5?
If an operator catches up in profit to what I have paid out in earning for them and their crane to operate then they will be made a full partner.

Thanks everyone for the fruitful discussion.
 
skyking1

skyking1

Senior Member
Best of luck, seriously. I don't know somebody in that area to send your way.
A younger, not married and more mobile me might consider such a thing.
All the crane operators I know ( other than the fellows here ) are fully employed and making union wages here in Washington.
 
T

terex herder

Senior Member
The OP doesn't state what a poor place to live Midland Texas really is. You have to be from there to be able to stand it. And competition from the oil patch really drives up wages. A few years ago had a friend of a friend that quit a good job in the area because to many co-workers were getting killed. Not on the job, but in the traffic driving to/from work. Oil patch has slowed down some, but not that much.
 
crane operator

crane operator

Senior Member
There’s probably 20 crane companies in that area. Maybe more. Big and little players. Full of competitors, so you better be good at it, or cheap. Doesn’t sound like he’s the skills category.

And a promise of doubling the partner/ operator wages every year for 5 years? That’s 1.9 million at the end of 5.


You list your investment/ loss at 300k or so, then claim you have 500,000 invested.

$ numbers all over the map, and no knowledge of the crane rental game. a partner who sounds like they have a pretty high opinion of their own skill set, and a low opinion of everyone else’s. My crystal ball is giving a big “no dawg”.

But I don’t like texas anyway.
 
A

aongheas.macask

Well-Known Member
WTX Crane Co said:
By maintenance I mean greasing stuff. Slack adjusters. Cheap to me is 30/hr or less. If you want to get paid more show me your qualifications and bring money. If you're willing to put a half million in the shared bank account then you can pay yourself whatever you want. That's what I have in it so far and stand to lose because of a lying short term thinker with this exact mind set.

I moved here 10 years ago 10k in debt with a truck I had to trailer behind a uhaul because it wouldn't make the trip. This crane business is successful will be my 3rd successful business.

Seems like I'm looking for babe Ruth in the peanut gallery here.

No one else in this world is offering ownership after 2 years for just doing your job. Most places you're lucky to get a dollar an hour raise after 2 years.
Click to expand...
Work cheap or invest half a mill, what could possibly go wrong
 
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