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The one man show to grow
- Thread starter Fastdirt
- Start date
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
AlldayRJ
Well-Known Member
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
Also why all the different skid steers on site?
The shop and the pete are looking awesome. Congrats on finally getting it going
Landclearer
Senior Member
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.
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.
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We are a lot a like, it's all relative. Where you have 20k people and 20 hoes around we have 2 million people and 200,000 hoes around here. Sleep in two days around here and you WILL be replaced. It's just go, go, go. Luckily I was taught that way and it's become my personality. I'm not much of a conversation type when I get to work. I just want to get after it and go all out till it's done. I've become cold after spending 15k to 20k in a cab. Plus I concentrate so hard and focus with my eyes so hard that anything that is not progress is a distraction. Then after finishing everyday I tow my loaded down rig on overpopulated streets. When I get home it takes well over an hour to settle down and download my thoughts if it's a long day. I do love to pull equipment but it's tough around here with all the people. Yes when I get home I can be wound up or stressed out too.
I hear you on the Kentucky rock. Man oh man all you have to do is drive through Kentucky and see how at so many exits that had to blast in all the roads. It looks very very rocky from what I saw. Now I did see some of the longest straight dumps I've ever seen up there. Some had around 7 axles.....I've heard them called centipedes. They look wild. Heck a tri axle dump is a sight to see if you're from Georgia. All tandems here. Hope you find a good one. Thanks again....
RJ I work for many various builders. I've swapped work amongst other excavators and such. It's just like anything else. Lol, thanks for the compliments. No I don't do hardly any advertising..... but I will and have chased work. I will have my truck done soon and have a new guy starting tomorrow..... so we will see. I am not afraid to hunt work if I can back it up. We're working on it. The skid steers are just helping to shuttle dirt to wherever. Just like the hauling, I'm giving the work to someone else. Hoping to change all that. Thanks again RJ
Thanks, LC. I love a good basement dig in moderation. I was having trouble uploading pics here but I think I have always had my camera setting on high quality and they wouldn't upload. So we'll see if helps.
This was a job for a renovation company. Had to haul out 8 loads of wet trashy dirt. Through an 8' porte cochere downhill. Then we were finished and the builder asked if we could spread gravel to cover the mud while constructing everything. No problem on New Years eve except the big quarries closed early and my guy couldn't get a load of 57's to me till near dark. Then in reverse uphill in the dark with minimal gravel so as not to spill out when reversing... It was tough. I never once took that run for granted and had to look with my eyes at both sides every single time while reversing. I could've spun in the street but I hate doing damage to the tracks. We got done right before 7:00 and the neighbors had already called the builder to complain. It's only legal to work 7 to 7 in the city limits. Then it was off to dump the rental machine off after hours. Had to cross the lawn to get it behind the gate.
Sawdus22
Well-Known Member
Am I going crazy or did you delete your instagram?
AlldayRJ
Well-Known Member
Always fun dumping down hill like that, trying not to flip forward into the side of the truck! These are jobs that separate champs from chumps. Nice
We knew we couldn't back the truck in because of it being so steep so we brought the Takeuchi to shuttle the dirt to the truck. That is always a pain so we decided to do whatever it takes to avoid that. It worked out with the help of the swing gate and we got pretty good loads out.
Caught these guys working last week on the side of the road. This is the local company that I bought the 312C from. They went with these smaller JD's. All they do is utility work usually road side around all the other underground. The 312 had a small 24" bucket on it when I bought it. Just thought it was an interesting story. I'd like to think it had an easy life with a lot of idle time doing this work.
This was a bad job with a good view
Caught these guys working last week on the side of the road. This is the local company that I bought the 312C from. They went with these smaller JD's. All they do is utility work usually road side around all the other underground. The 312 had a small 24" bucket on it when I bought it. Just thought it was an interesting story. I'd like to think it had an easy life with a lot of idle time doing this work.
This was a bad job with a good view
CM1995
Administrator
- Joined
- Jan 21, 2007
- Messages
- 13,399
- Location
- Alabama
- Occupation
- Running what I brung and taking what I win
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.
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.
Nothing like the challenge of a tight site surrounded by expensive homes.
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.
It was a pool job. I guess I'm the pool digger but thankfully I get to change it up here and there. It seems I always have a house to demo or grade in the works and I look forward to those jobs a lot.
Heck those mid sized excavators are pricey too. They are good machines. I sure hope the PC88 has gotten quicker. I ran one about 10 years ago that was painfully slow but then some of these bigger mini's will give you whiplash they are so quick. Which one would you go with? I might try to get an 8 ton sized excavator later this year because I rent them from time to time and paired up with a skid steer they can get a lot of work done and you can haul them together on a 20 ton tag.
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CM1995
Administrator
- Joined
- Jan 21, 2007
- Messages
- 13,399
- Location
- Alabama
- Occupation
- Running what I brung and taking what I win
The last machine I rented that size was 2 years ago on an auto parts store, a 308D. Had some tight digging for a storm sewer between property lines. It was quick and powerful for it's size, lifted and set a 4x4 knockout inlet box which surprised me. I haven't ran an PC88 just my friends 78 which is a 2005/6 model.
If I were to pick one now, I would go with a Cat, not for blind brand allegiance but for my relationship with the local dealer, product support and knowledge of their product.
Yeah, they are pricey. Compare what a new one costs to a larger sized used machine with low hours and it'll leave you wondering. They also seem to hold their value well, considering original new purchase cost and what they're bringing in the used market. Tells me they're popular, if nothing else.
If I were to pick one now, I would go with a Cat, not for blind brand allegiance but for my relationship with the local dealer, product support and knowledge of their product.
Yeah, they are pricey. Compare what a new one costs to a larger sized used machine with low hours and it'll leave you wondering. They also seem to hold their value well, considering original new purchase cost and what they're bringing in the used market. Tells me they're popular, if nothing else.
hvy 1ton
Senior Member
Did they buy fixed boom Deere's or swing boom? Job is looking good, as always Fast? You didn't happen to get a timelaspe of all that dirt shuffling, did you?
Landclearer
Senior Member
We got an 8 ton Kubota. I think they have a new model of it out but ours is a good machine. We got a 24 and 36 inch bucket for it and it handles the 36 fine. I have set precast boxes and it did good. Something to take a look at.