Need to Make some money with my Tractor.

[Dougster]

its too muddy to do anything around here right now and looks like its going to be that way for days to come, after this im sure it will be 95 degrees and humid like you dont want to know

Doesn't BIG ORANGE make a nice, cozy, air-conditioned cab with stereo and LCD DVD player for that Yuppie status symbol machine of yours?

Don't mind me Dan. Yet another new 'crisis" with another new potential client. Making me frustrated like crazy. The guy has a great little demolition and materials removal job right near home... including removal of a rotted tree and stump and spreading of some compost... but I can't find anyone who will give me a roll-off dumpster for the concrete + steel + rock + asphalt mix that will need to be hauled away. This is a nice job with possible subsequent work... so I've absolutely got to bid it!!! It is a perfect use for the root/rock grapple and BH thumb. I even get to use my new jackhammer! And the best news of all... Ya can't do this job with a full-size hoe (like my cheap, local competition would use) due to very tight space limitations!

Didn't find anyone today... but I've still got Monday. Wish me luck!!!

Dougster

 

[workinallthetime]

i have a job waiting for for the monsoon to quit around here where i have alot of stumps and brush to haul off. i got a guy of graigs list to do the hauling and unloading for me for 45 bucks a laod and thats the price i gave the customer. my hourly rate plus 45 a load. now i know you have that sweet dump trialer would it be possible for you to do the tractor work and then charge him by the load for removal? i think i could have given the guy im doing the work for a straight price for the job but there are to many variables with the stumps i have to pull.
if you spent a day doing the the tractor work and then another day hauling off the stuff this might make you some good hard cash in that account. Think about what you would do if you were the only guy on the planet to do the job and walk into it that way. dumpsters down here are 285.00 a load with a 250.00 deposite and they are picky about what goes in. alot of concrete will be heavy and will make for a bunch of trips with your trailer but factor that in if your going to bid or do it my way. i find x per hour and x per load to be more honest than 5000 to do the job and then your in and out in a day. customer perception of you and work is very important whe nyou are getting started. So many poeple thank me for working so hard and im just beside my self thing heck your paying me but thanks for the work.

my .02 for whats its worth, im sure there are big time operators on here who will strongly disagree with my ways but im still new, humble, and hungry

 

[Dougster]

i have a job waiting for for the monsoon to quit around here where i have alot of stumps and brush to haul off. i got a guy of graigs list to do the hauling and unloading for me for 45 bucks a laod and thats the price i gave the customer. my hourly rate plus 45 a load. now i know you have that sweet dump trialer would it be possible for you to do the tractor work and then charge him by the load for removal? i think i could have given the guy im doing the work for a straight price for the job but there are to many variables with the stumps i have to pull. if you spent a day doing the the tractor work and then another day hauling off the stuff this might make you some good hard cash in that account. Think about what you would do if you were the only guy on the planet to do the job and walk into it that way. dumpsters down here are 285.00 a load with a 250.00 deposite and they are picky about what goes in. alot of concrete will be heavy and will make for a bunch of trips with your trailer but factor that in if your going to bid or do it my way. i find x per hour and x per load to be more honest than 5000 to do the job and then your in and out in a day. customer perception of you and work is very important whe nyou are getting started. So many poeple thank me for working so hard and im just beside my self thing heck your paying me but thanks for the work. my .02 for whats its worth, im sure there are big time operators on here who will strongly disagree with my ways but im still new, humble, and hungry

Hi Dan - Normally I would use the dump trailer, of course. Been using it since I bought it to haul everything so far. Even today, I'm doing another 35,000 to 40,000 lbs of that pebble gravel mix that's been driving me so crazy... like trying to pickup marbles! And I went in to quote this new job thinking that's what I would do... but this stuff is really nasty and there's a lot of it. Too much and too ugly to be practical. No sane person would destroy a new dump trailer trying to save a few bucks for a client. This job is screaming for a nasty demo roll-off... and yes, it will have to be hauled off 4 or 5 times at least for all this debris. Worst part: The guy wants an absolute firm, fixed price... no time and materials possibility on this one.

One fact I've learned the hard way: Being a one man show, using the dump trailer can really slow me down. I end up driving when I should be digging. Each round trip to a landfill or "fill wanted" site can take an hour or more. Eats up time and fuel like no tomorrow. Overall, on this particular job, the roll-off could actually end up saving money... not to mention schedule and physically saving my trailer. The trick, of course, will be to find someone willing to take that ugly demo mix. So far, no takers... but like I said: I've still got Monday to find one.

Dougster

 

[LoneCowboy]

Hi Dan - Normally I would use the dump trailer, of course. Been using it since I bought it to haul everything so far. Even today, I'm doing another 35,000 to 40,000 lbs of that pebble gravel mix that's been driving me so crazy... like trying to pickup marbles! And I went in to quote this new job thinking that's what I would do... but this stuff is really nasty and there's a lot of it. Too much and too ugly to be practical. No sane person would destroy a new dump trailer trying to save a few bucks for a client. This job is screaming for a nasty demo roll-off... and yes, it will have to be hauled off 4 or 5 times at least for all this debris. Worst part: The guy wants an absolute firm, fixed price... no time and materials possibility on this one.

Couple thoughts
One is, get everything in writing (I know, usually a handshake deal), but if he wants an absolute firm, fixed price, make absolutely sure you are both discussing the same thing. Then, get your best price, add 10% for those unknowns. Trust me on this.
There are sometimes demo companies, they have trucks, etc that come out and take it, different from the roll off guys. And most of the roll off guys can't come but once a day. (which won't work for this job it sounds like)
Try junk hauling, etc in the yellow pages, should be someone who does this work.

 

[EddieWalker]

Yet another new 'crisis" with another new potential client. Making me frustrated like crazy. The guy has a great little demolition and materials removal job right near home... including removal of a rotted tree and stump and spreading of some compost... but I can't find anyone who will give me a roll-off dumpster for the concrete + steel + rock + asphalt mix that will need to be hauled away.

Doug,

I don't know if I'd waste my time with a dumpster. They have allot of restrictions and are pretty expensive. Call some dumptruck owners and get prices from them for what you need. Just plan on having everything in a pile for them and be able to load it quickly.

Eddie

 

[workinallthetime]

its jobs like that which make me want to own a 1 ton dump or a 45/5500 dump. something small easy to load and cost under 50,000. not ideal for every situation but will work for most. when i called about a roll off they told me all kinds of restrictions for materials, one for dirt one for green, one for concrete. there is a local rental place up here that rents large tandem axel goos neck dump trialers, would be nice for your situation, if you could find someone to haul for you

 

[rox]

Dugster,
okay I'll say right off, this is probably a dumb idea. Insteadoof hauling it away, for the biggest nastiest stuff is there any way for you to burry it? If si perhaps quote him a pice for burrying it or else the cost to ahve it hauled away.

From the customers point of view they know that there is going to be an expense due for hauling the stuff away. It is jsut logic, he want's it hauled away therefore he knows it is going to cost. He is aware of it already, he is jsut waiting for you to tell him how much it is going to hurt. If I wre in the customers shoes I would expect that you would be calling in a dump truck. i would not think at all this was a difincy on your part at all. To me it would be normal, your business is to dig and spread and you call a dump truck to haul. He knows a dump truck is going to cost him.

i hope you get the job! Good luck to you!

~rox

 

[Dougster]

Couple thoughts One is, get everything in writing (I know, usually a handshake deal), but if he wants an absolute firm, fixed price, make absolutely sure you are both discussing the same thing. Then, get your best price, add 10% for those unknowns. Trust me on this. There are sometimes demo companies, they have trucks, etc that come out and take it, different from the roll off guys. And most of the roll off guys can't come but once a day. (which won't work for this job it sounds like) Try junk hauling, etc in the yellow pages, should be someone who does this work.

You are right. I need a demo specialist. Ordinary rubbish & dumpster folks won't do. Whether the guy uses roll-offs or dump trucks... I really don't care. I got the name of a supposed "demo debris specialist" today... we'll see what he says on Monday.

I'm also going to check on Monday and see what the town DPW does. They are hauling off all sorts of nasty mix from this road reconstruction project right outside my house. It must be going somewhere!

Dougster

 

[Dougster]

Doug, I don't know if I'd waste my time with a dumpster. They have allot of restrictions and are pretty expensive. Call some dumptruck owners and get prices from them for what you need. Just plan on having everything in a pile for them and be able to load it quickly.
Eddie

One problem... by the way... is that the piles keep growing! Very difficult to get a handle on the total number of cubic yards of debris here. I may have to go back on Monday and remeasure. I want this job bad... but it could break me on a lump sum fixed price bid if the disposal costs get way out of control.

Dougster

 

[Dougster]

its jobs like that which make me want to own a 1 ton dump or a 45/5500 dump. something small easy to load and cost under 50,000. not ideal for every situation but will work for most. when i called about a roll off they told me all kinds of restrictions for materials, one for dirt one for green, one for concrete. there is a local rental place up here that rents large tandem axel goos neck dump trialers, would be nice for your situation, if you could find someone to haul for you

But the question is... Haul it where??? Where will they take a combination of concrete, rock, steel and asphalt out of a dump trailer (gooseneck or otherwise)... not to mention anything else that ends up getting thrown in those piles!?! Funny, but when I was down in hurricane country and buildings were down all around me... no one was asking that question down there. Maybe we need a good hurricane up here... yes?

But I hear you loud and clear on the dump truck. I can't wait to own one. This pickup truck plus trailers thing is getting old very fast.

Dougster