Renting BH Any Tips?

[JohninCT]

I rented from a place called United Rentals their web site indicates that they are pretty much nationwide. Check out their web site to see if they have a location near you. They are not like the typical rental yards around my area which mostly carry just small tractors, skid steers, and excavators. These guys seem to cater more toward construction contractors and have all the big machines. The price I got for rental on the JD 160 was $650 per day or $1995 per week. They also have monthly rates too, but I didn't get that price. BUT after you add the cost of transport to/from your site, insurance, tax, etc the total was about $2700 for the week. This is 7 days calandar time with no limit on machine hours If you figure this out based on a 8 hrs work per day it works out to about $50 per hr. You, of course have to pay the fuel cost which right now is pretty expensive - and these are very thirsty machines! /forums/images/graemlins/ooo.gif Most of the guys in my area charge by the hour PLUS transportation charge so you gotta make sure you compare apples and apples. In the end, I did what I wanted when I wanted to do it and how I wanted to do it. Plus, the fun factor of using a machine like this yourself to do a project should not be overlooked /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Another possible option might be one of those skid steer mounted grinder machines like was posted in Trail Clearing Thread

John

 

[JohninCT]

I rented from a place called United Rentals their web site indicates that they are pretty much nationwide. Check out their web site to see if they have a location near you. They are not like the typical rental yards around my area which mostly carry just small tractors, skid steers, and excavators. These guys seem to cater more toward construction contractors and have all the big machines. The price I got for rental on the JD 160 was $650 per day or $1995 per week. They also have monthly rates too, but I didn't get that price. BUT after you add the cost of transport to/from your site, insurance, tax, etc the total was about $2700 for the week. This is 7 days calandar time with no limit on machine hours If you figure this out based on a 8 hrs work per day it works out to about $50 per hr. You, of course have to pay the fuel cost which right now is pretty expensive - and these are very thirsty machines! /forums/images/graemlins/ooo.gif Most of the guys in my area charge by the hour PLUS transportation charge so you gotta make sure you compare apples and apples. In the end, I did what I wanted when I wanted to do it and how I wanted to do it. Plus, the fun factor of using a machine like this yourself to do a project should not be overlooked /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Another possible option might be one of those skid steer mounted grinder machines like was posted in Trail Clearing Thread

John

 

[JoshJ]

Just my 2 cents:

From the above post: renting= $50/hr + fuel

Hiring out: $65/hr (plus transportation maybe)


I dont know if you have ever run an excavator before (I havent touched one) but I'm willing to bet that the guy you know will cover more ground for $65 and hour than you will at $50. When all is said and done, it will probably cost you MORE to rent a machine than to hire it out.

But maybe if you get on his good side he'll let you have a go at the controls for a few mins /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Also, not to be a wise guy, but if all you are doing is pulling the stumps out, how can someone NOT do what you have in mind?

 

[JoshJ]

Just my 2 cents:

From the above post: renting= $50/hr + fuel

Hiring out: $65/hr (plus transportation maybe)


I dont know if you have ever run an excavator before (I havent touched one) but I'm willing to bet that the guy you know will cover more ground for $65 and hour than you will at $50. When all is said and done, it will probably cost you MORE to rent a machine than to hire it out.

But maybe if you get on his good side he'll let you have a go at the controls for a few mins /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Also, not to be a wise guy, but if all you are doing is pulling the stumps out, how can someone NOT do what you have in mind?

 

[brandon07]

Josh, the reason is I had the loggers leave oaks and holleys and I know what trees I want where, I don't want to have to many because they get in the way of plowing/shooting, and I want to clean up along my road and around the gate, plus who wouldn't want to run an excavator for a week+?? /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif He doesn't charge a transport fee but again I know what I want done. No I haven't ever ran a excavator, I am only 16, but I went ahead and rented a 120C last friday and had it delivered that afternoon for $1650 plus 250 dollars to deliver. I checked around and just about everyone has an hour limit so you can't just run the piss out of the machine. My local Deere dealer only had one and it happened to be a 120 which is what I wanted. There limit is 45 hours, in the morning I am calling to see what it will be when I go over. I have already gotten about 2/3 of my field cleared in 16 hours and I figure I can get it just about done tomorrow. After im done with that im going to dig some kind of a water hole for the doves and then doing some clean up along my road and around the front gate like I said before, and then my neighbor wants me to dig a small pond. Got any tips on that lol? /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif
BTW I will have some pictures before to long if anyone wants to see them, it isn't pretty but once I move the stumps out of the way a friend is coming over with a dozer and a root rake it level/clean things up a bit. Its gonne be alot of work, but I wouldn't want it any other way. I will try and keep you guys updated if you want /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[brandon07]

Josh, the reason is I had the loggers leave oaks and holleys and I know what trees I want where, I don't want to have to many because they get in the way of plowing/shooting, and I want to clean up along my road and around the gate, plus who wouldn't want to run an excavator for a week+?? /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif He doesn't charge a transport fee but again I know what I want done. No I haven't ever ran a excavator, I am only 16, but I went ahead and rented a 120C last friday and had it delivered that afternoon for $1650 plus 250 dollars to deliver. I checked around and just about everyone has an hour limit so you can't just run the piss out of the machine. My local Deere dealer only had one and it happened to be a 120 which is what I wanted. There limit is 45 hours, in the morning I am calling to see what it will be when I go over. I have already gotten about 2/3 of my field cleared in 16 hours and I figure I can get it just about done tomorrow. After im done with that im going to dig some kind of a water hole for the doves and then doing some clean up along my road and around the front gate like I said before, and then my neighbor wants me to dig a small pond. Got any tips on that lol? /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif
BTW I will have some pictures before to long if anyone wants to see them, it isn't pretty but once I move the stumps out of the way a friend is coming over with a dozer and a root rake it level/clean things up a bit. Its gonne be alot of work, but I wouldn't want it any other way. I will try and keep you guys updated if you want /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[brandon07]

Oh yeah, John these things do use some fuel I put $65 dollars in it yesterday and $75 today. And Josh I don't think he could have ran it faster than I am /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[brandon07]

Oh yeah, John these things do use some fuel I put $65 dollars in it yesterday and $75 today. And Josh I don't think he could have ran it faster than I am /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[Marlowe]

Comparing a backhoe to an excavator for removing stumps; I had the opportunity recently to do just that.

A buddy of mine loaned me a John Deere backhoe for a weekend to remove stumps. My stumps were mostly pine in the 6" to 12" size range. The JD did a fine job and was easy to learn to operate. It was strong a very stable with the legs extended. The next weekend another buddy loaned me an excavator with an arm and bucket the same size as the one on the John Deere backhoe. This machine was on tracks and had a blade to drop to stabilize the unit while digging. I used this machine primarily for digging foundation ditches, but I did have quite a few more stumps to remove and gave it a go. It was far less stable than the tractor and didn't have the sheer guts to pull the stumps out the backhoe did.

Picking up a big stump and transporting it with the tractor was tricky but possible. Forget it with the excavator; too tipsy with anything but small stuff. This was a compact excavator from Caterpillar, but not by any means a mini. It was over a 7000lb machine. The controls were a pleasure with the joy sticks and the machine was comfortable to operate, a bit more so than the John Deere.

In short, both machines could remove stumps, and both could dig ditches, but for stumps I'd take the backhoe any day, or maybe a bigger excavator. The backhoe would have made a mess of the intricate ditch network I needed to dig for my foundation. Both machines have their place in our world.

Have fun and be safe.

Tom

 

[Marlowe]

Comparing a backhoe to an excavator for removing stumps; I had the opportunity recently to do just that.

A buddy of mine loaned me a John Deere backhoe for a weekend to remove stumps. My stumps were mostly pine in the 6" to 12" size range. The JD did a fine job and was easy to learn to operate. It was strong a very stable with the legs extended. The next weekend another buddy loaned me an excavator with an arm and bucket the same size as the one on the John Deere backhoe. This machine was on tracks and had a blade to drop to stabilize the unit while digging. I used this machine primarily for digging foundation ditches, but I did have quite a few more stumps to remove and gave it a go. It was far less stable than the tractor and didn't have the sheer guts to pull the stumps out the backhoe did.

Picking up a big stump and transporting it with the tractor was tricky but possible. Forget it with the excavator; too tipsy with anything but small stuff. This was a compact excavator from Caterpillar, but not by any means a mini. It was over a 7000lb machine. The controls were a pleasure with the joy sticks and the machine was comfortable to operate, a bit more so than the John Deere.

In short, both machines could remove stumps, and both could dig ditches, but for stumps I'd take the backhoe any day, or maybe a bigger excavator. The backhoe would have made a mess of the intricate ditch network I needed to dig for my foundation. Both machines have their place in our world.

Have fun and be safe.

Tom