Business plans for Mulching

[dive2diver]

Hello Guys,

I am new to this forum and am starting to get an idea in my head about starting up this kind of business in my local area (Eastern North Carolina). I am trying to start to plan the beginning stages here's want I do know I would like to buy the ASV RC-100 foresty package this much I do know, I am looking at right about $60,000 for this setup, please correct me if I am wrong this why I am asking questions here. I currently have a F-150 so I will have to upgrade this area, possibly to a F-250/ Diesel or Dodge, I would probley be looking a using a gooseneck trailer for this setup. I have not contacted a dealer yet for the ASV but I know there is one in Greenville, North Carolina. I need to know some of the other things to think about, I know I need to look at Insurance (amount of coverage ?), Pricing PPH or amount on land Acre size/ flat rate? Do you charge min time amount, or how about driving time to the job site. I have already talked with one local landscaper and stated it would very easy in this area to make $14,000 for clearing a lot for a mobile home, I think that might be really high end but I am unsure. We have a lot of forest and tons of under growth here so may be possible. For the owners of the ASV RC-100 package how long does it take clear an area? I know this is long winded and more questions may come to mind later but any advice would very helpful and thankful.

[HeyUvaVT]

I am sure robbie will weigh in on this sooner or later as well..but here is my take...we charge by the hour unless it is a small job..the rate will depend on what your market segment will bear...here we can get $250/hour all day long...you have to take into account the price of the skidsteer which is between 48000-55000 depending on what you get...we bought the RC100 with the forestry kit on it with out the fecon cutter that you can have preinstalled on it and it ran us 52500.00 with a bit of haggling...the cutter heads will run between 18000-27500 again depending on what you buy and how much haggling you can do....consider what you want to do..if you want to clear land fast and arent as worried about the finished look (like if you are clearing for development) then look at a hammer type cutter (Loftness Carbide Cutter...Fecon..Tushhogg...FAE...etc) If you are looking for a more finished look (like when you are clearing up the woods or trying to clean up land for property owners or realestate...then look at the Loftness Timber Ax which cuts the debris into smaller pieces...either way the price isnt gonna change much they will be in the range I named for you...we have a F350 Duall Diesel with a Hudson 7 Ton deck over trailer...the trailer was 3500.00...you will need insurance both on your equipment (theft..damage..etc) to keep the bank happy unless you can finance this all out of your own pocket in which case can you loan me a little? I dont know the exact number we pay each month because its tied into our business policy for another company we own...

The speed with which you will be able to effectively clear a lot will depend 100% on how you run your machine and what cutter you choose...we have Timber Ax and there are links to some pics of a small job we did in another thread here that Robbie started...the job in the pics took us about 2hours not counting time taken to cut by hand around the bigger trees where the cutter couldnt get..

This is a potentially profitable business but just like anything else its work..running the machine is only the beginning..I am lucky in that I dont have to worry about quoting jobs or figuring costs or doing any of the business end of the deals...I just run the machines and do the work..

Hope this helps you some and whatever I missed I am sure Robbie or someone will come along and help you with...

BTW

The thread with the pics is titled Mulching Project

[joemitchell]

$250 dollars an hour, what machine are you running UVA? If you charged that in Georgia you might as well call the repo man. I need to move where you are.

Later

[Robbie Hegwood]

Hey Uva. I second Joes comment. If we could get $250.00 an hour we would say business is great also. About half that around here is average. Sounds like ya'll have a good setup with your friend and his father. There are so many variables here we (the operator) really needs to see first hand to bid correctly.

Know onto dive2diver. I don't know your personal situation but there are a ton of things you need to do first. You started at the right place by looking here. Alot of factors talked about here that do not come up before purchase. I'll just start a list and use what you will.

First you need atleast a 1 ton truck (your choice) You really need a trailer larger than 14k Tractor=13,000lbs w/head Trailer=min 4000lbs your already over 14k Any attachments you carry Bucket=500lbs Grapple=600lbs Fuel=??

Next major issue. You need to know exactly how many are doing this in your area. Within 200 mile radius. You need to know there rates. Matching theres is fine just cannot go over. How long have they been in business (roughly) if they have been doing it awhile they will run circles around a novice. Our area is a little saturated. Oh well. Too much fun to quite.

Insurance is not to bad. Check around you will be guided to the agents who handle business of this type.

Productivity. As Uva stated varies greatly. Just talking with Joe I know he his more aggresive than I and therefore his productivity would be alittle higher. He is also buying a machine to do just that. Then again more money. In his case it was a must, his Bobcat was a POS. But you must overestimate everything. An acre will take 4 hours. If you can do faster great.

Fuel= these tractors run at full throttle, 5 gals. an hour.

Air filters. Can only blow them out about three times before replacing. Need to be blown out daily. Filters are $50.00

Advertising= Phone book ad $1000.00 easily. A couple $100. on newspaper ads. Easily $250.00 per month on advertising.

You will need a gooseneck trailer. 1 tons not rated to "bumper(reciever) pull"
that much weight. You will need a hitch $500.00

Oh ya, another biggy. Teeth or blades for your head. Timberax blades Roughly 100hrs per set. $1000.00 per set. Carbides 300 or so hours per set. Roughly 3k per set. That's if you don't break any.

As in my case ( Saftey section, ASV face Down) any down time from mechanical or maybe a WRECK!! If it's sitting in your yard it's costing You money.

How are people in your area clearing now. Bulldozer, Bobcat, hauling off debri etc. and how much does that cost. Can you be cost effective against that method.

Okay I'll give a chance to catch you breath. This is in no way ment to discourage you but help you develop a strong business plan. I had someone asking me these same questions (WIFE) and it helped greatly.

Now is a good time of the year to start. Any more questions ask away. You may teach us something. Good luck Robbie

[HeyUvaVT]

Believe it or not joe and robbie...we get comments constantly to the effect of "Thats all your charge?!"...you have to take into consideration the area...around here bigger excavation companies charge 8500-9500 to clear ONE HALF ACRE...so when you think about the fact that I can go in and clear out all but a few big trees in a matter of 2 hours or so its not too bad...90% of our work is actually sub contracted through some of the bigger companies around here that send us in to clear the lot of all under brush and scrub then they come in and use their excavators on the few big trees left and have ALOT less hauling to do..less equipment and men on site etc etc...like I said before we are VERY lucky right now having gotten into this a bit ahead of the curve around here...it prolly wont last forever the way it is now but we are taking full advantage of it while its here....i did see for the first time another skid steer (gehl ctl 80) with a cutter on it (fecon) at the local John Deere/Gehl dealer so we will see how that goes...

Anyways back on topic...about the trucks...YES you need AT LEAST a one ton...I have Dually with a weight distribution hitch with a Pintle hook...I have a 7ton payload trailer (gross weight more like 18klbs which is OVER the rated limit BY FAR for my truck) We are a pen stroke away from buying a Tandem truck and tag trailer which we will be able to carry both the RC100 and the 110 on..besides the fact that we cant move our Cat on our own right now lol

Like Robbie said..dont be discouraged by these drawbacks..just be glad there is someone here to tell you this stuff becuase there wasnt for us!

[QwikDraw]

I must be living in the wrong area. We have a big company that comes in clears a building lot, pulls the stumps, sends it all through a big grinder, shoots it in a trailer and hauls everything away in two days and charge $3500...hard to compete with that. And to top it all off I workd outside all day yesterday and my face is still bright red from the 5 degree weather....lol.

$250 an hour, is that for the whole crew or just the Timber AX?

Update on me. I have still haven't pulled the trigger. I have 3 dealers working me and my friend at Bobcat still wants me to try a T300....I will try one out just because he is my friend but I told him not to be mad if I go with the ASV. I do have a chance at a 20 acre job which would take all the pressure off and let me decide on dealers based on support and not price. Keeping my fingers crossed....
BTW, getting better pricing on the Bradco now...
18 trees to go...and its 2 degrees this morning.

Ted

[HeyUvaVT]

WOW thats cold....

We looked at the T300... Hope your friend doesnt take it personally

$250 an hour is the RC100..Timber Ax..One laborer with chain saw/pole saw/clearing saw who goes around clearing around bigger trees and limbing trees that will be kept and also removes any trash which in turn makes it take ALOT less time to use the timber ax..think of it as cutting your lawn after someone has trimmed everything...robbie and joe can tell you how much faster you could clear something if you didnt have to take the time to trim around trees and in between tight areas with the skid steer...we charge no fuel charges and no cost for travel time for jobs within an 2 hours of home...

Around here the question is when can you do it and how long til its done because I need it done yesterday..not how much will it cost...things are in a serious boom around here right now..like I said I dont know how long it will last so might as well do what we can now to pay off the machines right?

[dive2diver]

All good point brought up thus far and this is exactly want I wanted. Good point on the using a 1 ton truck vice a 3/4 ton, I was pondering the issues of additonal attachments. Mainly items like a rake and a lift bucket. I was also wondering how to deal with the taxes both fed and state. I would hate to start doing real well and get a knock on the the door. Again I am just in the planning stages now so I am just trying to cover all the bases right now so hopefully I can walk in to the bank/ credit union or where ever for a loan or maybe I am just dreaming to big and need a reality check. Thanks.

[dive2diver]

Oh yea I found the link for the bradco Magnum mulcher head looks good. Anybody done a demo with one yet? I would think for the type of woods we have here a hammer type would do better than a blade type. We have tons and tons of pine trees with lots of thick under brush hardly any rocks to speak of but can have some very wet swampy areas which I think the RC-100 can deal with rather easily.








Bradco

[rox]

dive2diver,

I woudl like to offer you encouragement and support. Two saying I have always lived by, "No Guts No Glory, and No Pain no Gain." There is nothing like a monthly payment to meet, the monthly "nut" as my hsuband called it, to motivate you. I was terified when my hsuband bought hsi first restaurant we we took out a secon mortgage on our house. In the 1980's Home equity Lines of credit were jsut being introduced and I was really worried about taking one, but I believed n my husband and supported him with his dream. understand that your wife is going to be nervous but if you ahve here support, a good head on your shoulders and a will to succeed you can make it. Jsut think if you would ahve had one of these how much business you could get after a hurricane. No guts no glory dive2diver.