@andre3k
Does he have a 1000 + gal fuel truck? Might come in handy, vs taking equipment off the job to get filled. If hes got 4 projects going, it'd probably pay for itself by the end of the year.
I don't think so. He has a few of the transfer tanks mounted on trucks for smaller equipment, but we filled up off site today for the big stuff. I'll ask to see if he has a big tank.@andre3k
Does he have a 1000 + gal fuel truck? Might come in handy, vs taking equipment off the job to get filled. If hes got 4 projects going, it'd probably pay for itself by the end of the year.
You act those hoes are fuel hogs. Just fill them every morning from a truck mounted L tank and you are good good the day. We have been trenching for the last 4 years with large hoes and fuel has never been a problem.@andre3k
Does he have a 1000 + gal fuel truck? Might come in handy, vs taking equipment off the job to get filled. If hes got 4 projects going, it'd probably pay for itself by the end of the year.
And that's the major point.And there are many trades where a person might never make as much money as doctor or lawyer, but they can still make a very comfortable living.
You act those hoes are fuel hogs. Just fill them every morning from a truck mounted L tank and you are good good the day. We have been trenching for the last 4 years with large hoes and fuel has never been a problem.
And that's the major point.
Psychological studies done all over the world, repeatedly, by different researchers, across large sample sizes, and under heavy peer scrutiny have consistently reached the same result. As long as you're making enough money to keep the debt collectors away you can have a happy life. It's up to you.
If his head is on right, a guy making $65K/year in most U.S. markets can be completely happy with his life while a maladjusted executive pulling down $10M/year can be downright miserable.
Once you're a surprisingly short distance above the poverty line, your happiness is something you make completely independently of how much money you have.
If you have multiple pieces of equipment then you will have a designated fuel truck and use the L tanks on your pickups for top offs. When do you ever take your equipment off site to fill it? Finding off road diesel is often not convenient. Now that I think of it the Vac and water truck would go off site to fill up with road diesel. However, all excavating equipment is filled by L tanks on the pickups with off road diesel.Depending on how much equipment he has, L tanks might be ok if your on 1 job site.
If you have a couple on 4 job sites, with a couple bulldozers, dump trucks & skid steers mixed in. The time & labor to transport them to fuel up could be a couple hours of down time. Logistics isn't cheap to haul them things around to a station that has ag fuel... becuase its cheaper than DOT fuel. You fill up 1 truck & boumce it to differnt sites, the crews aren't standing around with nothing to do a for an hour or two.
Coming into this thread a bit late, but I found over the years that there are three major factors in deciding how much land you can handle, both short and long term.
- Age
- Money
- Time
You cannot overestimate the impact of a larger piece of property on all of the above. I had the luxury of overseeing all the land development for a wealthy tribe a number of years ago and saw first hand what it takes to make a livible residence out of 50 - 200 acres of virgin or near virgin land. Having unlimited funds is one thing, but having to approve contracts and sign invoices for huge amounts of money is still very sobering. Roads, utilities, infrastructure, environmental and safety issues all must be resolved at large costs before the issue of home and outbuilding construction can even begin. After that, the maintenance component has to be factored in, something that is often overlooked.
With that said, if someone is 50 years old or younger, has plenty of liquid assets and an understanding family, then true rural living can be great. As for me, a few acres and a few dozen trees keep me hopping at my advanced age.
…I'm still on the lookout for a used 3/4 ton truck but it seems like they're in short supply here as well…
Take what you know & learned & get a part time job with someone doing the same type work as your FIL near you location. You might still be able to get the work done for fuel cost.Well today is my last day in Dodge City. I'm looking forward to going back to my regular job and getting a break. Having been working from sunup to sundown everyday since last Friday, but I have learned a lot.
I will NOT be purchasing any heavy equipment for my property. For what I'm doing its easier to rent and not have to deal with the long term maintenance issues. I'm a better mechanic than an operator and spent the majority of my time here doing maintenance and keeping his machines running. I would guess he spends 25% of his time dealing with broken machines and chasing parts down.
I had to replace an alternator on a front end loader and swap new batteries into the motor grader. I'm still dealing with an oil leak on our rock crusher. He spent 120k on this thing and it's spent more time broken than crushing asphalt or concrete. But when we do get it running he'll make that money back quickly. Too bad his business isn't closer to Texas, I could do what needs to be done for the price of fuel.
I'm still on the lookout for a used 3/4 ton truck but it seems like they're in short supply here as well.
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I'll buy a tractor. But Im referring to heavy equipment like a bulldozer or a backhoe. The maintenance costs on old machines can get crazy. A mini excavator and a skid steer should be able to do everything I need right now. We'll see how renting goes.Well after renting a Tractor for one weekend that was over 800 O bought one.
That one rental is 3 mo of pymnts.
Over 200 hrs on it on 2 yrs.
You may change your mind after a couple rentals.
I have always felt about tools of I use it more than once I will own one of um.
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I'll buy a tractor. But Im referring to heavy equipment like a bulldozer or a backhoe. The maintenance costs on old machines can get crazy. A mini excavator and a skid steer should be able to do everything I need right now. We'll see how renting goes.
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