Talk to me about excavators

+1

I would probably rent pussy also if there was a better platform available.

 

It'd be cheaper in the long run for sure.

 

the general sharing would ruin it for me

 

There always seems to be someone cheap. Guys that run a business without insurance, cutting corners on every move, just crap work. If you're good, you can charge more.

Be careful with a big excavator, you'll start digging too wide, too deep, too sloppy and everything will cost more.

 

Just be sure to be first in line and don’t get greedy and go back for seconds. Problem solved.

 

I should clarify the $60/hr was about 10 yrs ago. Fuel and wages haven't gone up 3 rimes since then....

 

I bought a Bobcat mini last summer, like people are saying don't expect to do much grading or finish work with an excavator blade. they're primarily for filling ditches back in, hence the need for a skid steer also.

 

The problem you'll have now is that there is more work out there that people can't even keep up with. Anyone with equipment can name their price so they are holding on to stuff and running it longer.

2 years ago I picked up a low hour John Deere 590 for a song. About the 30k size your looking for and I love it. Did my driveway (800 feet) and figured I'd sell when done but to hell with it, having it is just good fun.

Just be careful if you find a deal in one as anything that needs to be done wont be cheap. Break a bucket pin? $450. Needs a bottom or worse yet the turret and your talking half of what you paid for the "smoking deal"

Big equipment = big dollars... and they will get those dollars either up front purchasing a nice unit or down the road when it has a failure.

Just did the injector pump on my pay loader and I was lucky it could be rebuilt.. $1200 lucky.

 

Don't listen to the naysayers, this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Go big or go home. You don't want to chance not having enough machine for the job.

You want something that they have to truck in on two lowboys and assemble
on-site with a crew of six and a small crane.
Something that will take you 15 minutes to climb up into the cab.
Something that you can park two Ram pickups in the scoop.
Something that you can use to rip a two-hundred-year-old oak out of the ground and fling it into the next county.
You want to be able to start digging a 2000 square ft cellar hole at 8:00 am and be done at 8:15.
Have yourself some manly fund and spend the kid's college fund to pay for it.
You only live once, go for the gusto.

 

What’s your budget?

 

Hello, are you the voice inside my head, whenever I think about buying literally anything?

We really need to talk. Well, I mean you really need to let me talk. You're somehow ruining and improving my life at the same time. lol Can you go on vacation or something? I have some purchases coming up, that I'd like to handle without your input for once.

 

Also on the price to move - My farmer buddies usually move mine for me but this fall when they were in full harvest mode they did not have time. Had to call in a local company with their low boy - Cost $450 to move aporx 50 miles. Keep in mind with a 30k lbs machine its usually as big as you can move with no special permits but will still require a tractor and low boy.

Honestly depending on how much your really going to dig, I'd say just grab a used Case 580E. Good 2wd units are dirt cheap and you pretty much will always get out of it what you paid. A good 4wd unit may set you back $15,000 for an OK one, closer to $20,000 for a damn nice one. Again, you'll always be able to sell it for what you have in it, you can move it with a pickup and good trailer and you can drive it most places. I've driven our back hoe 30 miles no problem - takes some time but doable.

Plus they are way cheaper to operate and you have a bucket to move all the dirt you hoe out.

 

Like this one https://reno.craigslist.org/hvo/d/silver-springs-case-580b-backhoe/7249226829.html
It is same one I have. I moved hundreds of tons of dirt, cut in to hill, made whole driveway and move a lot of boulders. Not perfect and fastest machine for all jobs but will do everything around property.

 

Bingo. Weird how this thread popped up as I am dealing with this same issue. I have contacted every dirt guy in 3 counties each direction from me. Half of them never even called back and the other half said they had so much work going on that they couldn't take any jobs. I need a thousand ft of road cut in and a cpl acres cleared for a barndo. I thought about buying a 15K$ dozer, was actually close to pulling the trigger. Then I figured I'd look up parts prices for it. Jeez Louise!

Why are these dirt guys so bowed up if the economy is so bad?

 

Scared of being out classed are we???

 

If you can find a Case 580 used in your area it would do the job for you, and you could sell it for what you paid minus float fees, and parts in a year or 2. Do it yourself, life is supposed to be fun, and who wouldn't have fun pulling sticks and being a kid in the sandbox again. Some of the best fun I have around here is seat time on the tractor.

Covid has killed the market for old equipment around here. I've been trying to find a decent backhoe for a couple years, but the prices this year have just gone stupid. What used to be a clapped out Case580 (the sv650 of the dirt world) that would go for ~$5000 is now 10-12k. A good decent 25-30year old one that used to be $10k is now $20k. It's nuts. Expect an older machine to need a few hoses, seals, a bunch of maintenance etc, but just hope you're not the guy that gets stuck with a big tranny repair or something else before you get your work out of it and pass it on to the next guy. Old equipment is generally like a game of hot potato. All depends on how much you like gambling..... I passed on 2 "decent" ones in 2019 and in hindsight I wished I would have bought either. Never in a million years would I have guess the market for a 30 year old backhoe would about double lol.

2 years ago this was a $5000 hoe. https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1065630773880542/?ref=search&referral_code=undefined

The rental idea isn't a bad one either, if you can find somebody local. I'd rather buy one as then I can work on my own schedule for the projects I need done.

 

It would be the only time you'd want the rental to blow a hose lol

 

Honestly I think the economy is only bad for those who were barley making it prior to this year. Most people who are secure and had a any type of stability seem to be having banner years. Of course there are exceptions but everyone I know is crushing it.

And let's face it, folks who were making ends meet prior to 2020 were never in the market for equipment or having 2000 yards of dirt trucked in for a "project". Their project was making this months mortgage and keeping some milk in the fridge.

 

Ohh and add to the fact that a ton of the grunts on the crews in a lot of trades figured out they can make more sitting at home. So contractors have half the man power but same amount of work to do. Thus creating a huge backlog and also creating higher prices for jobs as they know they can get it.

This next round of stimulus will unfortunately prolong that cycle. Guys I know in the home construction or excavating are down big time headcount wise, it sucks for them but they are making it up charging more... rightfully so if the demand is there.

 

My budget is small, but isn't concrete. Got a lot of stuff to pay for in doing the whole project, which will all be on a shoestring. The less I pay for equipment, the more likely I'll be able to make my total budget.

That being said, I don't want to rent everything because I'd like to be able to do some work without being on the timeline of a rental, I'd also like to own a machine because the property is in the woods at the end of a gravel road and there will be trees falling down, and ruts in the road in the future, not to mention future projects and building on the property.

At this point I'm really thinking about taking a look at ClemsonsR6's loader.

That way maybe I can gravel the driveway and remove the trees with it. Then I can rent a mini x and, with the two, do the foundation and the trenching.

And, I think everything is booming right now because people are uncertain about future economic instability. That definitely has something to do with us going ahead and doing this now.

Our house is worth money now, if we need a loan, they are writing them... right now...

If everything crashes, (which I don't expect a big crash), after we sign the papers at the end of the month, the only thing that happens is my cost of materials goes down.