Thank you. I couldn't read 35 pages of anything either. Maybe a couple pages before boredom but I'll post as long as people read it. I guess it's getting long.
I've just spent two hours plus reading this thread. Your work is impressive. A lot of the homes you are around are impressive as well, some look huge. I would think margins must be better down that way which is great. Seems like there are 20 backhoes in our county that has 20k people. Room for expansion around here is tuff. Some guys are or seem to have unlimited income and can buy any thing they need. The soil you work in looks pretty nice compared to what we have. It varies so much here , you can dig 10' deep in one area go 1 mile up the road dig 4" then flip rocks for 3 days. Its discouraging at times. I can sympathize with you on hiring of help , take a look at my thread under job site coordination. I got a good guy I could send your way. To here him tell it he'll work 90 hours a week and can do anything but I betcha at 2:30 he's headed home to drink coffee and watch TV. I give it to you for building a good business. And you put in the time , you earned it and deserve to have a good living. One thing I noticed you seem to have an abundance of tandem dumps there. I've been on the hunt for a decent tandem dump for 2 years , I don't have 60 grand to pay for one. I've dug several pools , the guy uses the kits with the galvanized walls and grout in the floor with the vinyl liner. He says around here where we freeze and thaw the ground moves so much and that's what works best. Your pool excavations are most impressive. Sometime I wish I had some of your work ethic , I don't mind to go , but I'm in your boat , owner , operator , secretary , bill collector , bill payer , problem solver , CPA and I cook some nights. More to it than some think. My wife walks in sometime and looks at me and says well I can see your in a bad mood , she's right , someone didn't show up to pay me , tire issue , job site problem , lost a job , it affects my attitude more than it should. 12 bud lights a night helped for a while but that got old after a while. I've got an established business , started on my own in 2005, started dirt work mostly backhoe in the early 90s. Just now feel like I have a foot hold , I know nothing is guaranteed , but where there's a will there is a way. Its gratifying to do a job , settle up , happy customer , that's what keeps me going. I landed a NRCS job for a local farmer today , old customer from the old days , at least 6 to 8 weeks long. What gave me that gratification on this , he went to NRCS office and passed them a letter assigning me to handle all the affairs concerning this job. He's well off so to speak , owns almost 2000 acres. One reason I do his work , he see's my face there daily , deals with me , watches me operate a bit and goes on his way. And I detail his bill down to every last screw. That's one he likes , he's a dollar and cents guy. Keep it up brother and post pics when you can
Brian, been keeping up with you on the gram, love the pics. Couple questions, are all these jobs for one pool builder or a few different ones? I'm sure once someone hires you they see what a pro you areand never look elsewhere but getting that first job is crucial. Are you advertising for any work on your own? Whats working for you?
Also why all the different skid steers on site?
The shop and the pete are looking awesome. Congrats on finally getting it going
Great looking pools as always. Glad to see you posting pics. I think the foundation turned out great also. Reminds me of growing up in KY. Unfortunately no foundations around here.
Thank you. I couldn't read 35 pages of anything either. Maybe a couple pages before boredom but I'll post as long as people read it. I guess it's getting long.
I've ran as many excavators as anyone could want to run. I am very picky about equipment. I have been on many excavators that I had negative issues with balance, speed, power, etc. I think the 312CL is one of the best machines I've ever ran. I've put over 3000 hours on it and it's been a great experience. It's never failed me. It's a long stick with the long undercarriage and it's designed right. It's just a great operating machine. It will hold a full bucket way out over the sidetrack with no issues. It has a great cab with lots of room. It is great on fuel consumption. I can get two good days of work in on a full tank. The controls feel great. Tracks pull strong. I really have no complaints whatsoever. It has done me wonders in the aspect that I have not had to focus hardly any of my attention to this piece of my business other than maintenance. It's also capable of doing jobs in a tight situation or on a big scale.
Thanks for the reply. I hope you do keep posting because since I posted here I have managed to read the rest of the thread without realising. You're work and equipment is very impressive. It is very interesting to me as here in Ireland trucks like yours are not seen. Also swimming pools aren't popular with our climate. Lol. We are farming here so we use agri tractors to haul and most of our work is agri based. I'm glad to hear you're 312 has been a success. They don't have the best rep over here and aren't very popular. I think myself that it is mostly opinion rather than people speaking from experience. I don't think the dealer backup is great from cat here especially for the smaller setup so that is an issue. Hitachi is king over here but a good zaxis makes 5 to 10k euro more than the competition.
Keep up the excellent work and the posting.
Thanks.
Thanks. I think they are all good machines. I remember Cats having Hitachi parts, design, etc.
Nothing like the challenge of a tight site surrounded by expensive homes. New pool?
The 308 and PC88 sized machines are growing in popularity for the ease of moving. They won't hog dirt or take on a large demo with efficiency like a 320 sized machine will but they pack a lot of power in a small package. I would like to add one to the mix in the future for the smaller jobs and for ease of mobilization.