dive2diver said:
He did ask if I wanted to buy his unit, and he ask mentioned track issues, like I said I believe he does push his equipment very hard. I am going to plan out going out to his job site which is about 20 miles from here so I will see how his equipment and his maintance practices work out for him. I have so much to think about and understand before I make this leap.
I would really question why he wants to sell. Is it because it isn't as profitable as he expected, maintenance costs are eating him up, etc, etc? Again, I still say buy a used machine if you can find one from someone else that can't afford it anymore, changed his business plans, etc. Machines like this depreciate very rapidly, and a 1 year old machine may sell for 1/2 of a new machine, and especially if you can do your own work this is a much better buy.
People that argue for always buying new "because you aren't getting someone else's problems", or "customers don't want to hear that your machine is down" or ect, etc, do so primarily to justify their own proclivities for always buying new. That's like my former SIL who justified buying a new Ford Taurus "because than you don't have to worry about repairs because it's under warranty", never taking into account that Ford Taurus's depreciate faster than almost any other car. (heck, it wasn't uncommon to see these cars that cost ~ $23k new being worth about $5k two years and 30k miles later.) And it certainly was a factor in her bankruptcy and divorce!
If you can buy a good used machine with attachments, a trailer and truck for around $30k-$50k you will be vastly ahead of having twice that wrapped up in new equipment for use on a part-time basis. Personally, I think that is still too high of an investment, unless you are certain that you will get enough work to gross at least 4 times your expected monthly expenses. Any less than that, and you will end up working for nothing or worse when things go wrong, and go wrong they will.
In all honesty, I still say that you don't want to do this on a part-time basis unless you have enough cashflow from your primary job to be able to make all payments for at least 4-5 months or even longer if needed. This is called margin, and will save your rear if things don't go as expected, and helps you to sleep at night!
Always, always, always, have an exit strategy and at least one backup plan that you can live with if things go wrong. Remember, most Americans don't do this when borrowing money, and that is why so many are broke and always living paycheck to paycheck.
Robbie
