The one man show to grow

[Fastdirt]

I see you haul your brush and stumps in a 30 yard can, I do the same depending on the location. How did you come out on the logs and was it worth it to buck them and haul them to the log yard?

CM, a lot of times it's just me.....well all the time it's just me, and if time is an issue the dumpsters are very practical. Especially with tree debris because of it's light weight. Now demo debris can get really heavy. I can dump tree trash for $60 to $70 if I haul it myself to a local inert landfill. That's a great route to go if one is close by and I have the time.

$60 bucks to dump this monster. Luckily I just had only one to haul off because it wouldn't fit and I had to force it in while the swing gate was open from the back using a chain strapped around the stump.




What I find on hauling logs is it doesn't pay much. I can't remember if it was $170 for two log loads or just one. I had the time and the log yard was on the way home. The good part is you don't have to put them in dumpsters and pay to get rid of them or pay at a landfill. So' I guess it can be a benefit. As far as going out to try and make money on log loads would not be very profitable. These were pulp wood prices and not hardwood prices. I'll find the price sheet they gave me.

 

[Fastdirt]

Ok cool, im buying a takeuchi 1.5 ton. Its in much rougher shape than your ctl was. Did u buy the paint from tak or do you have a color i can source to repaint mine? You inspired me haha

I was actually just going to touch up the Takeuchi and it snowballed into a full repaint and prep. I started with the red,grey, and tan from the Takeuchi dealer in spray paint cans. Then I realized that wasn't what I wanted to do. What I did, was take the spray paint and painted some metal really good with the three different colors and took those samples to my local auto paint supply and got single stage enamel base line paint. Takeuchi sells the paint but this was a bit cheaper.

 

[AlldayRJ]

Do you have those paint codes? I have an auto paint supply place nearby that is pretty good.
Or maybe one or two cans from tak might be enough, it is a small machine haha

 

[Fastdirt]

That Cat is a beautiful machine. I really enjoy looking at your pics and reading your threads.

Thanks Orlando

I really try to keep the Cat looking good. I keep loppers and tarps with me to protect it. I am forced through a lot of tight areas and just refuse to run through trees. It only takes 30 seconds to scratch it up and it's there forever. Got a chainsaw too LOl. Really a tarp does wonders though.

 

[Orlando]

Man they are some tight areas, your professionalism inspires me, Bravo on your attitude and work ethic and the condition of your equipment!

 

[nedly05]

Our kubota 121 is a fast mini, if you're happy with your cat 312 maybe try a 305. I ran a 303.5 and it was a decent machine. I ran a friends tak135 and that seemed like a nice machine. I wouldn't go less than a 5 ton mini myself we have a deere 27 and after we got the kubota it sits at my fathers house a lot.

 

[kshansen]

Man they are some tight areas, your professionalism inspires me, Bravo on your attitude and work ethic and the condition of your equipment!

You sure would not want to sneeze or have a case of the hiccups while walking the hoe in there! Is the pin coming out of the bucket in the last picture?

 

[CM1995]

CM, a lot of times it's just me.....well all the time it's just me, and if time is an issue the dumpsters are very practical. Especially with tree debris because of it's light weight. Now demo debris can get really heavy. I can dump tree trash for $60 to $70 if I haul it myself to a local inert landfill. That's a great route to go if one is close by and I have the time.

Same here. Dumpsters for tree debris if it's in the city/suburbs because you can get so much more in a 30 yard than a dump truck, it makes $$ sense. If it's closer to an outlying brush dump then I haul it in dump trucks. We pay about the same for brush/stumps $55-75 per load.

I have a few concrete/dirt dumps around my area that charge considerably less to dump at but those are closely guarded trade secrets.

Same here on the logs. I have hauled many loads to the wood yard and only made money on pine saw logs, the rest was pulp wood price and it's marginally worth it once you add in the labor to saw it.

 

[caterpillarmech]

Great story and pics. Keep up the good work. I do agree with the hill coupler. Have put on twenty in the last two years and have not had a problem with one yet.

 

[Fastdirt]

Just finished a very exhausting week. On Monday I hit rock and had to return the next day with my "rock bucket". I got through it pretty good, and I got some compensation for it. Then Wednesday the job started out well till I got a call from my new insurance lady. You see, I just recently cut ties with my old agent. I got my old ins. agent through a customer I was doing demolition for. It was his wife. Well, remember the trailer demo I did the day after Christmas. I got ripped off on that job. So, I cut that crooked couple off. Anyway, my new agent who is awesome, called me while on I was getting started Wednesday on a job and said my CDL was suspended when she ran my license. Reason was my medical card expired. So, I left that job immediately. I left my guys and the trailer there and drove the dump truck home. Got my fiance to drive me to get a new physical exam. I passed, but was nervous of course. Then off to the DMV and still nervous. My guys sent me a picture text from the job showing where they discovered a pipe with gravel and a lot of water coming in. Turns out it was a French drain, but slowed the job up. Finally, the DMV cleared my CDL cancellation. It all worked out thankfully. Then she drove me back to the job to get my guys, which was well after dark. They did a great job without me, but didn't finish. The next day we finished. Then Friday dragged out forever on a job, but I finished that pool dig and it kept us out 13 hours. Today (Saturday) we started another job and hit a septic system and had to pull off. I get a pull off charge, but unfortunately I didn't get it before I left. We had such an early start too. At least it was Saturday and traffic was easy.

I've been stressed over getting new insurance and this new insurance lady has been fighting for me all week. Some carriers won't insure the dump truck...some won't insure the road tractor. I'm having to swap all my insurance including GL, equipment, two trailers, and three trucks. I am finally going to get health insurance too. My down payment is hefty and I just made my tractor payment on the 15th. I'm tight and my fiancé was chasing down checks for me to put in the bank. The new insurance lady finally pulled it all together at the end of Friday, but I didn't have the funds cleared to make the down payment. I still have current coverage, but I've cussed my old agent out because her husband ripped me off on that demo job, so she won't get me the proper loss reports to cancel with her. She said she would mail them instead of emailing them, which is a tactic of revenge. She was a shady one too. She didn't even have my trailer on the policy apparently. Good thing nobody stole it or worse. Her and her husband are yet another lesson learned in dirty business. Money has cleared my account and we are ready for the new policy Monday.

I didn't get any pics this week because I've been caught up in the moment. I did get two pics today. I am trying to get legit all the way around, so I bought a hands free ear piece for when driving the commercial trucks. I searched the DOT fines for using a phone in a CDL truck and it's around $2,000. I tried it this morning when I got to the job. I called my fiancé and it hung up on her three times and it wouldn't stay in my ear. Took care of that problem. LOL. My friends are using the LG piece that looks perfect but I forgot about it last week when I bought this ear piece.




I knew this was going to cause problems so I took care of this and the sent the pic to her for a laugh, but she already knew after three hang ups on the first try it would get smashed. I didn't even think about giving it to her till she said something when I got home



Just ordered this on ebay, should work good.



I don't know how I can do it without her. She will help any day, anytime, with anything.

 

[kshansen]

Sounds like a keeper!

 

[nedly05]

You're definitely a driven man, Brian. Most people would have thrown the towel in with all the hurdles you face, you just put your head down and bull through it,and that's awesome. Hats off to you man! I really like the pic of you and your fiancé too, that's cool. It's good to have a good woman to stand beside you!

 

[Fastdirt]

Well, I think I just lost a big job. I had put in a price for four custom home lots with huge hardwoods to do the clearing, basement, and grading. He liked my price and said I had the jobs. Then he called recently and said the county wasn't going to let him do septic systems because of lot size and that he would have to connect to sewer instead. I messed up when he asked me if I could do sewer lines. Of course I can, I used to run laterals all day long on a 300. I've done a lot of pipe. I just don't have the utility license. They even had sewer manholes behind the lots and not at the street. I could have easily subbed it out, but I was caught up on the spot and on the excavator working when he called and I dropped the ball. I'm sure he found a contractor that could do the sewer tie in, grading, and clearing. Another lesson learned. I do plan on getting my utility license when time permits.

 

[Fastdirt]

Well, back earlier this year after getting the Takeuchi I wanted to get another rig of some sort to pull it because my brother was half heartedly helping me and I had visions of him doing jobs separate from me. Well, he is out of the picture, but I still have plans for an employee when the time is right. I was going to pull the Takeuchi 150 with a F450...or I thought I was. I had a someone offering a great used F450 7.3L with a gooseneck trailer. I went and picked up the rig and pulled my 6,000 lb. F150 on the trailer and drove it home. Well, it'd been awhile since I had pulled Bobcats with dually's and about half way home I knew that setup wouldn't safely handle a 6 ton Takeuchi. So, I returned the truck to the guy.....Long story short, I searched and searched for a lowboy. Plan is to have the tandem and tag pull the Takeuchi and/or a mini excavator. So, I found a truck. A Peterbilt 379, that I have used but it is still not finished.

I originally wanted a L9000 like this with a big block Cat, but only found one that got sold out from underneath me.



Of course I wanted a 379 but knew I couldn't afford one. I was actually in the process of financing one and was saving the down payment. Well, that process took months and my down payment money was getting bigger and bigger and I wasn't far from being able to afford an OTR Pete 379. Definitley wanted the big block Cat and day cabs were too much for me to afford in one lump sum or period really. So, I found a good one from a great guy down in south Georgia who gave me a heck of deal on a straight 379 that had the big block Cat and had already been rebuilt for the sum of $28,000 from Blanchard Caterpillar. New crank, new head, new pistons, etc.. I'll barely put 20k miles a year on it.

These are pictures from the ad before I bought the truck.

 

[Fastdirt]

This is just after buying the truck. I wasn't a half mile from his house way back down some sandy south Georgia dirt roads. I had to stop and get out and jump in the air. It's ALWAYS ALWAYS been a dream of mine to have a Peterbilt 379 with a big Cat motor. First guy I worked for had a 379 with a big Cat he bought new. I took my class A test it in and would polish it all the time in hopes of driving it. That was around '95 when the 425 was king then the 550 came out right after that. I remember the brochures saying "King of the Hill" 550 horse power. It took about four months to actually get a truck. Well worth the patience. I believe I found a great truck to start with.

 

[Fastdirt]

Here's the videos of all the work I did to it. It is presently in the shop again. It's getting a 48" flat top with windows, short tanks, and the frame is being shortened by 24"s or so. It's a 252" WB now. Also having a pintle hitch welded to the rear to pull the tag a long.

The first day I got it in this video. I drove it straight to the paint shop. I couldn't believe how good it sounded.
http://youtu.be/QNzpGk6AYio

Along the way of getting fixed up.http://youtu.be/QNzpGk6AYio

Lot of hard work here.http://http://youtu.be/QNzpGk6AYio

Finished to a good point, but I realized I wasn't done soon after this point. I just don't like the hi rise sleepers in this line of work, but love the flat tops and the space.http://http://youtu.be/MJH-e1F2rQo

 

[AlldayRJ]

Call that guy back and explain the sewer stuff. It stinks but ive gotten jobs like that that i thought i lost just by making a phone call

 

[CM1995]

Call that guy back and explain the sewer stuff. It stinks but ive gotten jobs like that that i thought i lost just by making a phone call

I run into this situation all the time. In the State of AL, one has to be a licensed plumber to run sewer and water from the ROW to the building.

Since I am not a licensed plumber and don't have one on staff, I routinely turn down the site sewer and water on commercial projects. I have to explain the rules here in Alabama and they have no problem with it, usually the plumber for the project picks it up. I wish I did have my masters card because it's good money. I am not familiar with GA's rules on the subject but I have to explain AL's rules to the out of state GC's I work for on every project.

Don't be afraid to tell your customers what you are capable of and licensed for.

 

[Fastdirt]

Well, I sure messed that last post up, but don't see an "edit" to click on.

I actually called the builder back and it turns out I'm still on for the job. I had lost his contact due to a new phone issue and had to call the builder that referred me to him to get his number and apparently they have partnered up on the project, which is good news.. Turns out He is waiting on the sewer drawings. We will figure out a way to get a licensed utility contractor in on it somehow for a fee. Plans are going to be for two man holes and about 600' of sewer pipe for just three of the lots. Hopefully it will work out. I've inquired on getting my own Utility license, but it will take time if I can make it happen. In Georgia we have a utility contractor license and a utility foreman license. Also, need two references and two years utility experience.

A couple pics from a job I did for the one builder.

 

[Fastdirt]

I read a report from Caterpillar years ago that talked about ways to avoid getting burned out. They said to try to focus on the type of jobs you enjoy doing. I think for me it is backfilling and tearing down houses. I could do that everyday, it's definitely my choice. I've always loved backfilling basements. I remember always having to fill in the front porch stoup, but now homeowners want them for bunkers.

Luckily I had my guy run one machine and we double teamed it in about five hours. The builder actually had an engineer test the garage compaction after we left. He said we passed it with great compaction. Funny, I wonder if he thought we just fluffed it in there. The Takeuchi 150 can weigh in at 7 tons with a bucket full and really compact some dirt.