Anyone in the Dirt Work bidness here? Got questions!

[FTG-05]

If I were you I would just take that tractor of yours and try drumming up more driveway repair work. Work for yourself. Start an LLC for it, or not. That's what my neighbor did and I didn't think it was going anywhere but he's started getting more work than he can handle alone, and dragging me into it. Asking me if I can go spread gravel for him here or there with my own tractor (paid work of course).

Sounds like a good idea.

Thanks!

 

[strykerAKAmack]

With the CDL the regs are as long as combined weight is less than 26000 combined no cdl required
ie: 10000 truck 16000 trailer .
You can get a NON CDL here in PA for over that but under that your good .
Where they get you is you need a combination plate on your vehicle to tow said weight .
So if you have a one ton that plated for 10k and you can tow 16k no cdl required but you need a combo plate rated for 26k
to legally tow it .
I thought I needed a non cdl to tow my 12k trailer with my 10k GRVW truck around ....Nope
As long as I register truck as combine plate weight class 8 , I'm good to go .legally in PA I can tow around a 16k all day long with out a problem .
If you were to borrow my trailer and had the truck to tow it but didn't have it registered for the proper weight class you would get a ticket if pulled over
for being out of class .

Now this is all for just personal use commercial use is another whole ball of wax

 

[MulchingContractor]

If you're thinking about going into the business yourself but want some training first, check out my ecourse over at skid academy. I teach proven methods used in my own business for the last 12 years to show contractors how to make the phone ring with quality customers. It's free to sign up.

Skid Academy - Take Control of Your Skid-Steer Business.

 

[BrokenTrack]

I'm a retired Boeing engineer, now going on 6 years. It's starting to get stale doing the same thing pretty much every day here on my farm and need to do something different. I've been watching Andrew Camarata's dirt working videos on youtube. And one of the things I do enjoy about my farm is working on and continually improving the one mile gravel road I live on. Plus, I'd like to earn some "toy money" so I can buy more guns, ammo and reloading supplies (I have two rifle ranges and one pistol range on my property - shooting be expensive Yo).

So I'd like to get a job helping a small contractor who does excavation, backhoe, gravel and other type dirt jobs. I'd prefer part time as well.

I would envision my role as one of support: driving a truck to and fro, maybe running a skid steer moving dirt while they did the primary digging. In other words, the opposite of "dig a trench and if you hit a gas line you'll kill a thousand people" type jobs.

I'm not gonna lie: I've never operated heavy equipment before, just my Kubota L4330 tractor (well plus my cousin's big JD combine, but that was in the late 70's). I've looked into getting a TN Class B CDL (able to operate +26k lb vehicles) and I can take the knowledge test ok, but can't take the skills test since I don't have a +26k lb machine to test on. Not sure what to do there, if anything. In addition, I'm +63 years old, worn tore up knees and recovering from a broken back: I won't be digging ditches or bailing hay any time soon.

On the positive side: As a retired person, my schedule would be pretty flexible. Plus, having worked at Boeing +32 years, if I say I'm going to show up for work, then I show up; undrunk and unhungover.

If you're in the dirt work business as described above, would you even consider hiring someone like me without heavy equipment experience? What advice would you give to someone to approach a dirt works contractor?

Thanks for the comments and suggestions!

This is exactly what I do. EXACTLY.

I have a friend that lives 2.5 miles away and does earthwork for state and town roads and he just could not get help. He could not spare anyone to mow the sides of the road with a boom mower, so I am doing that, but also run his roller, loaders and excavators if need be.

I work as a subcontractor so it does not mess up my retirement, but like you, I do not really need the money so I give most of it away to charity.

It keeps me busy, my fiend gets "good help" as he calls it, and good causes end up with most of the money. I call that a win, win, win.

 

[FTG-05]

This is exactly what I do. EXACTLY.

I have a friend that lives 2.5 miles away and does earthwork for state and town roads and he just could not get help. He could not spare anyone to mow the sides of the road with a boom mower, so I am doing that, but also run his roller, loaders and excavators if need be.

I work as a subcontractor so it does not mess up my retirement, but like you, I do not really need the money so I give most of it away to charity.

It keeps me busy, my fiend gets "good help" as he calls it, and good causes end up with most of the money. I call that a win, win, win.

So there's hope!

Glad to hear about your good fortune! [insert beer icon here]