It's hard to turn down a job since out goal is to GET jobs...until you do a few that you wish you passed on. A hard lesson everyone has to learn. Great video Todd.
You are so correct. I’ve repeated that lesson the hard way more times than I care to admit. Just because I can do the job, does not mean I can do it efficient enough to be profitable. In the past, over estimating my equipment capabilities. Has lead to costly equipment repairs and under estimating time required to complete the job. I wish I could say I have learnt my lesson but I’m still susceptible to repeating every once in a while.
You're daily rate is spot on for what I usually charge up here in NJ however alot of customers nowadays are so use to all the landscaping companies who claim they do everything cheaper than us excavating companies and 99% of the time they can't do the job correctly. Then I get called back asking to requote what they screwed up... and of course I have to charge more than originally quoted to fix the mess... and once again they look at me like I have 3 heads and can't understand why it's more now than originally quoted ?? I just tell them good ain't cheap and cheap ain't good ! You got what you paid for !
Love the honesty and integrity that you show your customers Todd, hopefully I can find someone like you to clean up the wood line of my property, or rent a mulcher myself lol
I love your videos when you discuss the business portion of your company. It’s fascinating to listen to your reasoning process and I come to understand how and what you make your decisions. By subbing it out to someone you know you strengthen your working relationships, which can only pay off on the future. You may pass yourself off as just a hillbilly, but you are one shrewd guy and one can learn an awful lot from just listening to your train of thought. Kept on giving us more videos like this, please.
Yes sir I’d rather take the trees and stumps out whole, it’s rough on your machine breaking those stumps up. Plus I don’t like cleaning up a mess someone else left behind. I tend to pass on these jobs unless I’m slow and can take my time. Keep em coming bro!
Every customer is a potential job. Why walk from a customer, any customer, even though they have a number in their head, doesn't mean they are realistic or know what it will take You to do it. So estimate/quote the job in pieces: 1) Land clear 2) Stump removal 3) Foundation excavation 4) Driveway Give the customer a presentation to educate the customer on the subject of what it will take a professional like you to do this project. Selling is educating a customer on the project and the process. YOU are the expert. YOU are the person that people come to because YOU can be trusted to do the best job at the best price. Imho
You make good points but from years of experience.... I have learned that sometimes it's a waste of one's time to try to educate someone when its obvious it wont make a difference. And unless you are standing there reading the persons body language, facial expressions, tone of voice you can make that judgement call.
@@rtwllc4793 Any time a customer demands an estimate is the time that you walk away. There is a hidden agenda the customer has and frankly you aren't obligated to give an estimate or quote. Know when to walk, know when to run.
Hi great comment. Would it easier if the quote was done over the metaverse? I mean just put a head set on and there you are standing next to the customer and jobsite. That job is 15 days easy.
Don't ever stop, cause you have motivated me to go out on my own with the knowledgeable information that you have provided to all of us viewers. You my friend are a welth of knowledge and inspiration. Do keep up the good work and video's. They are very much appreciated. Thank you, your friend and follower.
Todd honest go's alone ways..Love all your videos and way you teach in them helps me alot ...I work for a company but I'm the only employee other than the owner...we do alot of what you do so I'm learning on equipment and putting in driveways and everything...Thanks for all you do..
I appreciate the willingness to be honest and share the love around. I have had many a job where everyone would have been better off to sub it out. I have one guy that my family has used for years that subs frequently and I don’t mind at all. He gets a commission and he knows who to contact and get the job done he subs are always on time never had issues.
Thanks for the props Todd. And I'm not sure I qualify as being "educated" just yet but maybe one day haha. Thanks again for that referral too. I might post a video about milling the logs afterwards
Usually if the customer has worked on it already, the price is going to be higher. That goes with numerous different trades. I always like the tree still in place if removing the stump also. Less strain on your equipment letting the leverage of the tree help pop the stump out. Always nice when you have someone else to refer the work to and not have to tell the customer no yourself.
Well, limits are like stepping stones. Limits help us learn to grow beyond them. Limits are points that help us connect one after the after the other to help us go beyond what we know.
Man I e been watching ur videos for awhile now and learned so much from the content. Thank you so much for the detailed explanation of operations on jobs. I e been working on trying to start my own business like this here in central Arkansas. I’ve been climbing ladders since I got out of high school in 1995. It’s past time to do something different. Again thank you.
Appreciate your videos.. Never understood negative comments on youtube. Most times it's by people who do not put out videos themselves. Anyway, continued success on your business. Sincerely, Ed
For land clearing what would you suggest? I plan to start a company doing land clearing and demo work. I’d like to eventually get a mini excavator, a skid steer, and a dumb trailer. Will be working in Texas.
Keep the great videos coming Todd! I am torn right now as to the more but shorter videos versus the longer ones. Anyways, keep 'em coming and I'll keep watching, commenting and liking! Take care brother
You got a great channel here. I really enjoy watching your vids. I just bought a new skidsteer and started a business of my own. Your videos are helpful and fun to watch as well. Just watching how you go about completing a job or getting a job and so on. I have a lot to learn and your videos have helped with with knowledge and boosts my confidence that I can make it in this world. Thanks
@@bossturbo it’s good. I still have a day job but it’s a different day job. Getting my work by word of mouth these days so that’s good. I post a lot of it on my RU-vid channel.
You are dead on with the clearing its always easier to take the whole tree with the stump down. In less safety is an issue with structures in the way or utilities above or below ground. Good choice on the hand off. Cant wait to see the one stack Mack with a box on the back in action.
I was immediately thinking the same thing you said about pushing the tree over still attached to the ground. Not sure what size ex you have but I know it takes me anywhere between 20 and 60 mins to dig out stumps with my bx23s.
I would have to agree with you on that one. With my 10k machine those stumps would be a drag. would need a much bigger machine to make quick work of those.
Love your vids just found you yesterday and already subscribed. Im in iowa and just about to start trying to get into the biz. I already bought my gooseneck dump trailer and occasionally rent skidder/mini x for stuff but would love to own a skidder or tractor and then rent out whatever else i need until i know its going to take off or not! Your vids have helped me decide what I want to do
Ya, one no longer sees so many troll bait and hater comments on RU-vid. Glad for that myself. Appreciate your channel. Makes me feel good about humanity lol. There really are nice guys (and gals of course) out there. Oh ya, the lapel mic, definitely an improvement.
Very helpful, as always. $1500 a day seems reasonable to me for a typical land clearing job. Do you find people feel shorted by a "per day" quote instead of something like a per acre price? (Like do they think the worker will work slow to make more money )
I would of bided around 7.5 to 12k for that project. after the logs where cleared out .I would of rented a Large 50- 70k excavator and ripped the stumps out with that over the weekend. No need to wear and tear on my smaller equipment.
@@DigginLife21 I can certainly understand that. The last one I bought I had to put new trunions, and injectors in it about a month later cost me about the same. I sold that truck I’m going to go back to a single axle for now because the insurance is so much cheaper for the amount of use it gets with me it’s a better fit.
Hi handsome. My theory is the following: customer wants to pay $3,000.00 and work you for 2 weeks. Maybe you could have cleared the trees only for 3k. He could clear the stumps. And for 3k grand more dig his 8 ft basement. He huals the dirt.
I think this is a helpful video I appreciate you I was thinking about getting into the business and this was just one of the parts that I was very curious about so again thank you for the helpful information and keep doing what you do bro
Buying a house atm but next big purchase i want is a f550 dump truck. Setting up a tiny house in corner to keep house rented and i want to build (2) 20x40 heated storage units to help with costs. I could have this all done by december. I want to start my own company in a few years: clearing lots, gravel pads, driveways etc. I am new to equipment but im working for a great company that has every machine you could want so im learning the dozer and excavator very quickly atm. Boss lets me use his machines for clearing my new property, I could be moved in very soon. I figure if I focus on getting my lot fenced off first to establish boundaries I could focus on my storage units and have them up before december. 200 amps is coming in for tiny house in just a few weeks, pretty excited. My question is this, IF by december I could realistically afford to spend 1500 a month on a equipment purchase; what should it be? I want the truck to haul rented equipment to get started.
First get your Class A lic. if the sticker in your Truck + the sticker on the trailer is over 26001 you will be illegally driving and will be facing misdemeanor charges. Sec, Market and sub everything out to sub contractors with a 10 to 25 percent mark up. This will get your feet wet on how to deal with people and negotiations, contracts etc. This will also tell you if the market is healthy for the business. I would not mess around with a 550. They're too small of a truck to get anything done. I would get a Class 7 dump landscape body or something with a swinging tale gate. Class 7 is your 750, 7500 ETC. You can pull much heavier equipment and still do a wide variety of projects and debris jobs. And start with used. I paid 6000k for my F700. It paid for itself in 2 weeks. Dont buy new unless it is costing you REAL money not to have it. Build a relationship with rental companies and just rent what you need. When something cheap comes along then get it. But before you do any of this. Sit down and really crunch the number. Talk with a CPA and figure out. HOW MUCH DO I NEED TO MAKE. What ever your breakeven point is you need to add 20 to 30 percent profit on that. I mean everything Fuel, Power, Equipment wear and tear, food, Marketing cost. website. ETC.
Not yet, but I want to when things slow down enough. In most cases, the cost of cutting trees and hauling them off exceeds the value of the logs. Yes, there is some value but by the time you account for the fact that you're moving a big heavy obstacle off someone's property and not charging them to move it, I consider it an equal exchange. The value of the log is not added until the time/labor is added to mill it into something useful.
In the case of this guy, my agreement with him as a favor was to pile up the brush while I'm loading the logs, then charging for stump removal, driveway install, & basement digout
That's cheaappp for all that work. I charge by the job. I come up with a price like this based on how much wear and tear I'm going put my machine through.
