Excavation Buisness

Hey everybody. I am a newbie to this forum. My name is Shawn :waving and I have been addicted to heavy equipment since I was knee high to a grasshopper. I really love excavators. I have always wanted to start a little side business with an excavator. My problem is I do not have my cdl's. I really would prefer not to have to get my cdl's. I have thought about buying a 1 ton diesel truck and just renting from my local CAT dealer. I think the biggest excavator I would be able to legally haul without cdl's would be a CAT307 (operating weight is 15,000 lbs). Would that size excavator be large enough to take down tree's? What size tree's would it be safe to take down with an excavator that size? Just looking for any direction or idea's.

Welcome Shawn. I too am young and all about side jobs.

A 307 is a very versatile machine because it is not a mini, but not a "big excavator" and like you said, you can haul it with a 1-ton.

If you give more information of the work you plan on doing we can better judge your needs.

If you are just doing trees there might not be a limit to tree size. You can work around a tree and make just about anything happen. #whateverittakes

Hello there Shawn, you need to carefully total the GVW of both the truck and trailer and see what the sum is. If you have a 450-4500 series truck or higher and a tri-axle trailer or such, you will likely be over 26,000 gvw. You are aware that at that point you will need a CDL and in my opinion you should just grit your teeth and just do it ,as you will likely be needing it anyway. The temptation to do Sunday afternoon outlaw hauls to just get it done will just get you caught sooner or later. You also need to check the local market carefully as one more guy in may well cause a price war for work which will be a race to the bottom! I know you think it is just side work, but you will need to turn a profit to cover breakdowns and INSURANCE! Side work is a second job, not a hobby, and you need to treat it as such. I get your enthusiasm trust me, I was young once too(I think) but have a valid plan and do not deviate from it, and maybe enlist a CPA for business savvy.

In MD, the law is 20,000 lbs and up to 26,000 lbs, you have to have a non-cdl, cdl. In other words, you have to have the physical and health card. I've been doing what I do for the last 25 years, insurance is up, prices you get are down, housing starts down, if you want to get some experience, work for somebody, first, you'll get a free education...

I would like to get into cleaning up places after they have been logged. So it would most likely be piling up already fallen trees.

I didn't really think about the insurance. How much coverage would you need for that kind of work?

I have tried to get on with some excavating outfits around here but they all want you to 5-10 years experience. It's hard to get that kind of experience without someone willing to hire a newbie.

The nice thing about having cdl's would be I could use much larger excavator's. I have looked at the tests and man they look tough. I guess I need to just sit down and do some serious studying to try to pass.

Thanks for all the replies!

If you are worried about passing the cdl tests. I would really reconsider even trying to start a business. Not trying to be rude but cdl tests are pretty easy compared to starting and running a business. If you can't find a job in this business, not trying very hard. No they aren't going to throw you in a machine. You need to start at the bottom and learn it all especially if you want to start your own.

OK there's a lot to discuss here.

First off there is no legal combination I know of that can tow a 307 (15K lb machine) without a CDL. A 1 ton which would be too small to safely tow 18-20K lbs IMO, will have a GVW of at least 10K. You will need a 18-20K lb gvw to tow the a 15K machine - that puts you in class A CDL territory.

Any combination of truck and trailer that's over 26K pushes it into CDL territory with the exception of a 26K GVW truck pulling a 10K trailer.

I didn't really think about the insurance. How much coverage would you need for that kind of work?

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I'm not being snarky but you've got a lot to learn before you launch a business. In order to be legit you'll need at a minimum general liability and a commercial auto policy. Depending on your state laws you may be able to opt out of workers comp. if you are the only employee.

The cost of insurance varies widely from market to market and state to state. I would budget $5K a year for GL and auto for one machine and one truck. GL is based on your payroll - both employee and sub in addition to your annual volume. If your volume increases so does your GL. For example just GL can run $20K or more a year (there are many, many variables that dictate price) for $500K a year worth of work.

One also has to decide what type of corporation you want to set up. LLC's are quick and easy to set up and come with the protection of a corporate vail. Then there are C and S corps as well. I wouldn't suggest going as an individual proprietor as there is little legal protection if something goes sideways.

You'll need a good accountant and a good lawyer. Having a good accountant is crucial in running a successful small business and if your in the business long enough you'll need a good lawyer..:cool2

Owning a small business is all about managing your risks. Risks come in all shapes, sizes and forms and you need to protect your business and yourself the best way you can. Of course you don't have to be a corp. or have insurance to go out and work for individuals but one lawsuit can take away everything you've worked for up to that point. Furthermore you don't have to do anything wrong to be sued, there are opportunist out there that are always looking for something for free.

That's true people are definitely sue happy these days. You guy's have brought up a lot of good points. I already have a good full time job. I just wanted to do some excavating jobs on weekends because I love operating machinery. I guess it's not really good as just a hobby. I need to just get one of these:

excavatordude87 said:

That's true people are definitely sue happy these days. You guy's have brought up a lot of good points. I already have a good full time job. I just wanted to do some excavating jobs on weekends because I love operating machinery. I guess it's not really good as just a hobby. I need to just get one of these:

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Don't get me wrong I wasn't trying to discourage you but there's a lot to owning a small business. Buying the machine and doing the work is the fun and easy part.

Paying the bills, doing the paperwork, keeping a steady flow of work (cash flow), negotiating the maze of gov't rules and keeping customers happy is the tough and aggravating part.

The fun of excavating is why we put up with the headaches.

excavatordude87 said:

That's true people are definitely sue happy these days. You guy's have brought up a lot of good points. I already have a good full time job. I just wanted to do some excavating jobs on weekends because I love operating machinery. I guess it's not really good as just a hobby. I need to just get one of these:

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I believe that counts for time and experience:tong

I take some big trees down with my kx-121-3 Kubota that weighs 9500 lbs. I pull it with a 3/4 ton pu and a gooseneck trailer with two 7000 lb. axles. Just takes more time on a small excavator. (But I love it).

Hi my name is Sean and I am looking to start my own excavation business by doing side jobs I have over 12 years experience with operating heavy equipment welding and other forms in this business I'm just asking for general questions on how to get started thank you very much for your replies