Shop Dirt Perfect www.dirtperfec... Took a road trip to pick up a new used pice of equipment give you my thoughts of buying equipment along the way. #dirtperfect #buyingequipment #unsedequipment #mythoughts
So what you’re saying here is that you drive the Chevys now so when you upgrade to a ford you know exactly what options you’ll want to spring for? Makes sense. Can’t argue with solid logic. If you keep buying these grader attachments you’re going to have a small fleet of them before spring!
Great thoughts man! I’ve definitely found the same experience with both the mini excavator and skid steer I’ve bought for my work. The other thing I’ve found when buy used is to make sure you have at least a 10% reserve in your budget for repairs and maintenance for the first few months in case anything comes up that needs fixing.
I created a three year rule for buying equipment for my contracting business. When I make a purchase I expect it to generate enough income (or time savings) to pay for itself in 3 years or less. Most of my investments are 10K or less, and many of them recoup my investment in 18 months or less. If I can justify the cost by using that method, I feel confident that it’s a good purchase. I’m not a fan of used equipment because down time costs grow exponentially.
Everything you mentioned makes sense. I feel the same way about buying hand tools. Years ago my trusty old Makita 7.2 volt drill wasn’t powerful enough so I bought a Harbor Freight cordless drill since I don’t use it everyday. When it let the smoke out I knew I could justify a better drill and bought myself a DeWalt 2 piece combo and have regretted it a bit. The fact that you’re mechanically inclined makes your choice even more valid.
I agree with you on the multiple tools route . If it pays itself back quick it doesn't cost anything to let some equipment sit an work every now an then. An keeping up your own equipment it can get hectic at times. Plus one option you have to look at is insurance cost. The way you have multiple trailers for the mack is cheaper than having a fleet of trucks. To do the same jobs. I also like fabricating my own attachments to save cash an design something outside the box. Currently converting. 3 pt bush hog that will be used by skid steer and a excavator with 2 mounts. An picking up a case backhoe bucket to change mount an teeth to use on a yanmar excavator vs 1500 for new bucket or 300 an little work to change this bucket to fit.
Mike great thoughts. One thing that has saved me big and also been the hardest to learn is patience. There's always a great deal out there if you can buy when it comes along vs just pulling the trigger. We've been able to buy machines and attachments at dirt cheap prices just for waiting. With all the new folks getting into the work and being financed to the hilt in a few years there will be some nice equipment to be had. Keep the debt low and the cash high dig on.
Your spot on! No-one knows better how you operate better then yourself. Purchasing the correct equipment is paramount to success of that operation, without putting yourself in debt.
I appreciate the video!! I honestly am glad you had the talk. I know what your saying about having multiple pieces of equipment. Really appreciate the video
Mike I really like how blunt and truthful u are. I worked for a person and I ran the dozer and the skid steer mostly. We bought so many attachments that were worthless or only used once and in the long run lost money because of that. But now that I'm looking at starting my business I have the understanding of what I need and the stuff I want. And it's because I had the ability to work with the equipment. The way u are thinking and the steps u are taking makes total since and in the long run like u did for that attachments. U did save ur self money. Keep it up. Ur doing great. The videos are a blast to watch. Thanks a million.
The cool part about it is, it is easier to get your money back on a piece of equipment that is paid for as opposed to something that you are making payments on. The route I took was to rent many pieces of equipment to find out what fit me best. I tried different brands and sizes of a piece such as a mini excavator. I learned the typical aspects such as dig depth and break out force but I also learned what I could fit into being 6'" 2". I enjoy watching your videos because you bring the common sense approach to equipment. Thanks again.
We have a SVL75 at work it does what we need to do I couldn't see us using a machine larger than that haven't had any real issues with it, company has owned it since new. Its a 2013 model machine doesn't have 1000 hours on it, gets used for loading gravel into the trucks. The boss needed a tracked skid steer for one job couldn't get a rental, went to the dealer bought it to do the job. It gets used once in a while on money making jobs but 90% of the time its used to load trucks from our stock yard. I used it on a 2 day job couple weeks ago doing a load and carry job moving 150 tons of material down a steep access road then along a narrow pathway. Drive 300 feet in then back out no room for error fall off the edge of the trail the machine would be a right off. My neck was sore after the 2 days, looking through bottom windows watching where my right hand track was while backing out no place to turn around the trail was a foot wider than the machine.
I have the same thought process on most everything with one EXCEPTION our cnc... only because it is the critical component of our business. So my thought was buy brand new and not but anyone else's problems. Plus new insured we had tech support and a guarantee on it. BUT Junior already had experience on that particular table and programs so we did know what we were getting. 😉 thanks for the road trip conversation!
Thanks for sharing (my wife needs to hear this 🤣🤣) I completely agree with your philosophy. I too enjoy working on the equipment and enjoy buying and selling. Have a great day!!
I got a 10k Thomas skid steer. I had never run any skid steer before. A real gamble. Fist year it paid for itself. It sits on my neighbors farm most of the year. But when I put it on a job, it happy I have it. After ripping up a few lawns I got a bobcat mini on tracks. No more ripped lawns. I learned from what the big machine couldn’t do and adjusted. Now the mini is on almost all my jobs.
I've used these attachments on jobs before and honestly not a big fan but they're decent if you don't have a grader. If I do use one I like the 8' blade because it tends to keep the wind roll out of the track. I have found that the two issues I have with them is #1 when you hit anything hard the arms can push up ever so slightly (not an issue on a grader) and throw off the grade. #2 it's easier to see with the higher position of a 10' or 12' grader. I do however really agree with your opinion on equipment purchasing and for the price you paid I would have probably picked up that attachment too lol.
Great chat Mike! Congratulations on the addition to your arsenal of equipment. I agree with your opinion that older equipment is easier to afford and allows you more flexibility, especially cash flow wise. In my years of playing in rock and dirt, I always kept machines maintained, not abused them, and tried to get out of them at or around 4500 hours. You made an excellent point during your chat, that "you make your money when you buy equipment", 5 stars on that point. Well maintained equipment holds it's value very well, and when you finally replace it you know the exact options YOU need for your work situations. Enjoy your weekend, you've had a productive week and now it's time to relax a bit with family or your toys! Work safe. Doug@ the "ranch"
Double check the quick coupler. Some Kuobota and bobcat attachments don't line up. An for finish grading it may cause problems. Just a heads up. Love the channel. Keep them coming
If you run a piece of equipment 50 hours a week, 52 weeks a year. it would be wise to buy it new. Most small companies don't do that so used equipment is a good option. Buying something used at a low price is a good way to decide if it works for you and how much you will use it. Some people don't want to have to repair anything or pay for repairs even though they spend a lot more to keep replacing equipment.
I have a small commercial electrical company. In the past I have worked for a large contractor. In the beginning, he owned some of his equipment. Between maintenance, transporting and storing it, insurance, multiple skill levels of operators, etc eventually he sold it all off and just rented. Fast forward to my company and hopefully I have learned. Where I am at, the cost of real estate is outrageous. It is much easier and cheaper for me to make a phone call and have any dirt or lift equipment delivered where I need it, when I need it. They take care of cleaning, servicing, and storing it for me. Who knows, perhaps in the future it may make sense to buy, but for now I will continue to rent.
It’s nice to see someone with the same issues I have I have a bunch of trucks and do tree work I started with a small bucket truck then purchased a bigger one thinking that’s exactly what I need and was happy I could get rid of the small one but once I used the bigger one for a couple months quickly realized I couldn’t get rid of the small one and use both on a regular basis same story with the tractor and the dump truck My wife and i work together well and maybe my expectations of hired help are just too high so we keep the business just us Sometimes its bad knowing how to fix and build everything It can quickly turn into a time suck Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts
Congratulations on your recent fleet addition. Even if you might not exactly know what you need, you certainly have a good formula to find out without huge setbacks, or penalties, and your learning and having a good time while your at it. Good video always enjoy your talks about your perspective and philosophy.
Appreciated the commentary, fully agree. My “stuff” is farm use variety and I’m more of a parts changer than mechanic so I can keep patching wore out backhoe vs newer hay equipment. Enjoy the videos
When you were talking about buying your skidsteer, I commented I bought a brand new Takeushi, love it, expensive (even well used they go for 80% of new value) but maintenance wise, fairly cheap so far. You bought a Kubota. no problem there, Kubota is probably the cheapest cost of ownership quality equipment out there. I have a 2016 U48 Kubota excavator, works great, love it as much as the Takeushi skidsteer. Like you said in the video, you just have to either know in advance what you require out of the equipment you (might) have to sit your butt in for 10 hours a day or learn as you go what you need on the next purchase. Comfort, ease of use, reliability and low maintenance costs. I look at all these before I buy any equipment. Doesn't matter what color it is. What do I need, what will do it, how much is it, and what are the trade-offs of A vs B vs C. A bit surprised about the AC button though, mine on the U48 is just a thermostat on the side next to the throttle. No AC button at all. Anywho, keep it up, you're getting pretty good on the skidsteer :)
I've had the same pickup truck for 38 years and this year I bought a 1998 Silverado I love it it's a nice truck it runs good it's easy running the heater works but I'm a scrap guy so I need a truck that runs and hauls a lot of weight Kurt
Absolutely agree, I bought my first skid steer after years of kicking around the idea. Now that I have it I can clearly see how it benefits me versus my bigger front end loaders. Next skid steer buying decision will definitely be operator focused.
Mike, you are correct. Like you I have probably too many machines for a one man operation. But , my analogy is , like a carpenter I have a tool for each job. Briefly, I have 4 excavators 1.5 ton through 13 ton, 3 dozers, D5B, D3C LGP, and a mini Rayco. Two 916 cat loaders and two Bobcat's. And three trailers. Now with the commercial jobs I do I sometimes call in help. I took my trucks off the road ten ( I do have a GMC 4500 pick up) years ago because the D O T in Massachusetts is awful. I need trucks I rent them. Many of my competitors don't understand why I have so much equipment, like you I hate trucking and a lot of my jobs run from a month to a year. Great video, good luck and stay safe.
You will like that attachment. I bought one back in the summer, ran into what you are as far as the controls. I shade treed it and ran a separate plug and made my own control box. It works good and with the added bonus it will only fit my loader so no one can borrow it. I totally agree as far as using older equipment, it will make just as much money as the shiny stuff.
I agree with everything you said. The only other way to try different machines would be to rent to get an idea. But attachments aren't always availabel for rent.
Years ago I thought I wanted a Grapple for the Skidsteer. Went to a rental yard auction. Bought a new never used flat bottom grapple bucket for 10 cents on the dollar of new. Used it once and hated it. Sold it for 15% off retail . Took the profit and added 25% and bought a straight tine open grapple. Love it and recommend it. Got luck on that one.
For your company and the abilities you have as a mechanic I agree 100%. There’s a guy near me that runs his company similar to you and it’s allowed him to grow without having the large overhead of newer machines
I’m not a contractor but I think you do things like most contractors should do. You need certain features the others might not and they might need stuff you don’t. Buying stuff when the price is right is always a good idea.
I am not in the business, but everything you said really does make sense. It really does come down to what works for one may not work for someone else. You have to find your own path in life. If I were to run a business it would be just like you do as I would probably be a small business as well and very hands on. Thanks for posting.
I totally agree with you mike you are in a unique position of having a small crew who can operate any machine you have, but you still need the machines to do a job without fuss thereby having a wide selection gear without that massive outlay of new equip and the prices that goes with it yet you have all the equipment you need to do your work at a third of the cost, that to me shows a real business head you are on the right track mike but don’t buy junk that’s going to take any profit you make on repairs every time it’s used well done
I Ran that grader. Mine was older too. Bobcat was able to totally upgrade it with the new valves and adapt the new wiring for laser. Was about $6500 for the upgrade with laser recievers. Still alot of savings there.
At the county where I work we send bids out for new machines and they buy the cheapest crap out of them. Most of the time we are never asked about what we operate when buying new ones to replace them. They never consider us and user friendly never. But love your approach
I think it depends on what your doing. I run a small lift crane operation 27 years & just couldn't be broke down on the job site with 5 to 7 people waiting for me. Looks like your operation is working for you.
I understand that thought process but well maintained machine is still a reliable machine and lot less systems to go wrong on my stuff for example had to send 30 guys home and pay 8hrs on a job in Atlanta when a brand new link belt crane with less then 100 hrs broke down. Brought in a old grove the. Day to finish the job. Last week a brand new cement truck less then 5k mikes broke down on the way to the job 6 guys waiting for over 3 hrs. I have very lift in the job down time year to date less then 5 hrs right now
I looked at a grader attachment for my A300 two years ago, then ran into a guy who had one and was able to see how it worked. It did okay if not trying to cut much, and if you do have to cut it better be finer material and not a lot of shaping involved. I do a lot of steeper driveways where annual erosion is often pronounced, no matter how well the water is drained. I wound up sticking with what I've got, on flatter driveways I use my Bobcat power rake (if I have enough fines to work with). If I have to put things back to right I bring my Komatsu D21A-7; it's no grader, but will shape rougher packed material with ease and I can clear and re-cut ditches and swales. For what a new grader attachment costs, I'd be tempted to opt for a used mini-grader if I had enough work to justify the $$. Yes, it's another whole piece of equipment, but from observation I think the overall performance would make me a lot happier.
What you said makes perfect sense.As a business owner you need to be smart and profitable. It does no good to have all kinds of equipment if you can''t use it.
The other option I've tried is to rent equipment for at least a week. Once I've spent around 40 hours in something you start to understand what is important to you. You've got a great channel and a business model that anyone would admire. Excellent camera work. Thanks
I kinda feel like some of that was directed towards me with the new equipment and only have two pieces to do everything 😂. This is why I bug you on Voxer everyday 😂. Great video buddy a lot of good information there 👍🏻
I agree with you completely and did it the same, except for the skid steer I bought brand new from the start. Except for my skid steer because I did a ton of research first.
Pretty much everything you said is true. You dont know what you need or dont need until you buy a machine. I kind of relate it to what DigginOk said about his backhoe. It works for him and what he does. I've dug footings with a 555 backhoe and with a mini excavator. The mini ex works best for me on residential footings but not so good on a commercial site. In that case I'd rather have the 555. I didn't know that until I tried it. Experience is the best teacher. I cant wait to see your "new" scraper in action.
I Agree, around here there seems to be a trend of resurrecting older equipment to get away from the new equipment and dump trucks with all the Tier 4 emissions and computer stuff. It seems alot of the smaller contractors are doing this. I can't blame them, plus your costs of new is really significant as far as getting the best return on your dollars.
I takes A LOT OF TIME to research properly, what you probably don't have is time to actually do that and I understand that. I do have time to research EVERY tool I buy and I will be honest it takes me 6+ months to do it...no joke. I have bought tools I didn't even know existed until I researched for a LONG time. You should be researching now for your next one already, now you have more criteria to search. There are tools you buy for the long haul and tools you buy because that one broke and I need that RIGHT NOW. Make a list of criteria for the long haul tools
Sounds like you've about got it figured out for yourself and your business model. My business doesn't have much in the way of heavy machinery like yours and I need it so rarely that it makes zero financial sense to own it so I either rent machinery or sub out work that requires it. For the big and expensive things my company does need (Servers, networking equipmet, storage arrays, electronic test gear and the like) I'll buy good refurbished equipment instead of new because I can get what would have been a $30-40k storage array for $10 with brand new factory drives in it just because it's refurbished. There are certain things I will buy brand new (firewalls mainly) because that's the only financially viable way to do it for them, but for everything else. Refurbished all the way, even if I have to do it myself.
I agree with you on your business plan. Small business owners have to be cautious with purchases that don't allow an increase in profit for quite a long time. Stretching the budget to extremes is not a good business plan.
I was in a different bussiness than yours , I had a small millwork company. I bought an $80,000 machine one time to do a large job that would not have been possible to do because of the size of the job and amount of employees I had. That one job more than paid for the machine ( edgebander) and then made it possible to continue bidding larger jobs. A lot of cnc machines are up there in price comparable to heavy equipment prices , depending on the machine and jobs your bidding they can pay for themselfs very quickly and make a bussiness grow. I was always the type though that if I couldn't pay cash for something then I didn't it, never once took out a bussiness loan. If everything is paid for, it really dosent take all that much income to ride out the bad times and wait for things to pick up again. I have seen so many companies go bankrupt though because they buy everything with loans, then you get a few slow months and your out of bussiness. I'm out of bussiness now but because I retired and sold everything , and went out when I was ready to go out .
I think of equipment as tools, because good tools make work easier. If they can do lots of jobs well its a good tool or machine, which is why skid steers are so popular; its a power unit with a giant Swiss army knife of things you can put on them. Also if you have to borrow something for a third time, you probably should buy it. I worked for a major University years ago in the equipment shop and doing everything you can in house is always cheaper than outsourcing it. If you can do preventive maintenance and repair your machines you are saving money. If its down better to have it down in your shop than paying for it to be down in someone else's shop. The only reason we had to have mechanics come do work is we couldn't convince the higher ups to buy a laptop and get the software so we could do everything, and those service calls were really expensive as the equipment dealers were a 50 minute drive away.
I do it it the same way we are a small company that does a little bit of everything. My grandpa use to say the tool makes the job. Took me a while to understand that but its true.
Well said Mr Mike. Great vid. I take pride in getting the job done with my old farm equipment and the satisfaction of repairing it when it goes down. Besides, they can have all this electronics , emissions control crap I don't want it . Lol. Thanks for sharing.
Kubota is an excellent skid steer.I have a Bobact but I am not in the contract business.I bought is to keep my driveway cleaned of snow.It has become a 20 driveway job.I can’t say no when I know these people need help.
I only buy equipment at auctions. If I know it sells for 2x as much elsewhere, I'll gladly invest. Win win. If I don't like it, I can sell and make money. If I like, there is a few dollars to put into it to make it better. I tried to get you into auctions earlier, when you worked the woodcarving fair. There is $ to be made. Hope u like the grader. Cheers!
What you are taking about is what makes America Great. People would see a need build it and make there job easier. A lot of people have become wealthy by doing this. I have ran a mechanic that cost the company over $1.25 million. I was modifying it 6 months after we got it, because I know for working similar stuff what works.
I think that’s really smart way to think of it. Can you do an overview on your Machines and explain what you like and don’t on each machine I think that would be interesting to see your perspective on them love the videos can’t wait for more
Good move Mike, between the skid steer and the grader attachment you saved 75 grand over buying new. Both will earn at the same rate as new and the fact that neither one has wing mirrors will save you in the long run. Lol
There's only one person that understand what you need to do your work and that's you and your right if you spend all your time running from job to job getting what you need your not going to get much work done just putting miles on your truck that cost a lot
Your a smart guy. You should be charging for all this good advise. Most importantly your right about everyone needs to make decisions that are good for their operation not what everyone else does. I only disagree with one thing you said. Pockets on shirts aren’t worth a damn!
Great video. If I could offer any insight for your next excavator definitely go with the blade and zero turn. It's crazy how handy both those two features are.
You are right on the money with what you're saying and also when you decide to upgrade you can afford to keep the older piece incase of a breakdown you're not dead in the water. I found this out last week. Had a major breakdown and crank the old up and put it to work but had'nt needed it in a year. You are dead right in what you're saying
AS A CONTRACTOR I HAVE 2 OR 3 OF EVERYTHING..MY FRIENDS WONDER WHY I MAKE MORE MONEY THAN THEY DO. ITS BECAUSE IM NOT AFRAID TO SPEND MONEY, AND PUT IN MORE HOURS WHEN NEEDED. AND I DONT NEED BEER 30 EVERYDAY.
It’s the same thing with toys you really have to own it and play with it yourself before you know exactly what it’s capable of and what it can do. I have a really good cat 318 FRC excavator, but its problem is is that it’s just a little short stick wise so it has trouble loading a lot of my bigger dump trucks. And at one point I had one with a longer stick that could handle it but it has broken down twice now and the problem is I need the price point to be under 100 bucks because that’s all my mom will allow me to spend on one of those excavators. So it is either that brand or I have to figure out how to lengthen the stick on my cat which would cost less but I would still have to pay a chunk because I’d have to have somebody help me install it. And the availability of a longer arm is not very good. So I’m gonna give this toy brand one more try with a Volvo excavator with me 19 inch boom on it hopefully that one won’t mess up.
I agree with you 100% most of the equipment I have I had a job intended for it and it paid for it on one or two jobs Facebook Marketplace will get you in the more crap to buying equipment
Just found your channel. easily becoming my favorite vs Stanley, Dirt Ninja etc. KEEP IT UP. I got my DEMO License exam next week in California. Nervous as heck.