Hi guys, my names Liam I'm looking for some advice on starting owner driver excavator company

[Giles]

I have a website and google business listing which are god but get a Facebook business page for the work you’ve done (don’t use other people’s pics etc) and look for local groups on Facebook like via postcode or town/village etc people often ask on them for recommendations.

I would Note though there is a guy in my local one who’s all over everything like a bad smell and he’s too keen and when you check him out about 5 business down the pan etc if you can get friends/mrs etc looking out for leads on them good way of spreading name about

 

[Mark]

Have

mark,

have you left the family business then mark and gone on your own?

No still work there, started my own rental company for Machine control. Renting out Trimble earthworks 3D gps kits and Trimble gcs900 3D kits. Just a little side project I have going. Provides a good weekly return and take very little of my time to run.

 

[V8Druid]

I have a website and google business listing which are god but get a Facebook business page for the work you’ve done (don’t use other people’s pics etc) and look for local groups on Facebook like via postcode or town/village etc people often ask on them for recommendations.

I would Note though there is a guy in my local one who’s all over everything like a bad smell and he’s too keen and when you check him out about 5 business down the pan etc if you can get friends/mrs etc looking out for leads on them good way of spreading name about

......... is the best form of advertising there is ..... end of ......
similarly a bad job/name gets around like a sand storm .......
a good reputation is hard won and lost in a second

 

[Bob]

As someone who had a mini digger for a time about 20 years ago was hoping son was going to be more interested but wasn't too young Im a carpenter I could get a better rate per hour with hammer and saw than I could get for mini digger and driver so didn't try to hard and after 2 years sold it for more than I paid for it .Don;t write all builders off some are good to work for and pay well if you look after them but other are wankers drop you if some one is a penny cheaper or will not pay you ,ask mates who are subbies who work for them and find out about them .Remember anyone can work at a lost

 

[doobin]

The more I think about it, the more a micro would be the most profitable/stress free machine to run if you were aiming only to do digger and driver day rate hires.

1. It's the cheapest.
2. It drinks bugger all diesel.
3. (Big one) You don't need a trailer. Just stick it in the back of the van or tipper. Towing a trailer around increases stress, time and diesel use and basically eats straight in to your bottom line. With a micro and van, you're more like a plumber just jumping in his van to go to a job.
4. The customer doesn't know the difference, and a modern 1.2t micro is not far off an old school 1.5t machine. And it's day rate, so who cares? Especially if you are spending most of the time running the power barrow to the front of the job anyway! Pro tip- tell the customer they can save on a labourer for a day if they want to drive the dumper. They love to play at dumper driver, you charge them £40 for the power barrow. Put your feet up and have a swig from the flask whilst they trudge out to the tip area, then look busy getting the bottom of the trench 'just so' when they round the corner on the return trip
5. No access will be too tight, or if it is, it was a spade job anyway,
6. When you end up doing other odd jobs such as paving if the digger work is quiet, a micro is a perfectly good machine to have on site to save you hours in labour. If it's your own machine, then for most garden landscaping jobs any loss of productivity is offset by the fact that it's yours and it can stay on site as long as needed. With a ripper tooth and a grab a micro makes plenty of garden tasks pleasant. When starting out, you will probably end up taking on these filler jobs so having a machine that can get almost anywhere will be a great help.
7. When needed, a larger machine is cheap to hire until you can justify your own.


I often think that's what I'd do if I had no yard and just a front drive. It's relaxing- no stress, just turn up with micro, spade and a laser. But I'll tell you something else too, if you buy new machines on a decent finance term (I do five years) then you don't need much work per month to pay for them. My micro costs me £230 a month and the 1.9t £280. So if they each go out a day a month then they are covered. My first new machine was the 1.7t, it's just been sold and replaced with a 1.9t. It cost me 14.5k, I sold it for 9k (could have held out for more, but did a deal with an honest bloke who gave a large deposit at the start of lockdown and was willing to wait till my new machine came when who knew what was gonna happen) New machine equivalent to old would have been 16.5k, I spunked on some extras to make it 19k. But take16.5k, -9k = 7.5k cost of ownership, over 4.5 years that's £1666 a year for a new machine under warranty, there when I needed it.

If you're coming in to some redundancy money, then I personally would keep that as working capital and get the machines that best match your work on finance. You've a long lead time anyway for new kit, so if you are serious you'd best start making enquiries soon.

 

[GazCro]

The more I think about it, the more a micro would be the most profitable/stress free machine to run if you were aiming only to do digger and driver day rate hires.

1. It's the cheapest.
2. It drinks bugger all diesel.
3. (Big one) You don't need a trailer. Just stick it in the back of the van or tipper. Towing a trailer around increases stress, time and diesel use and basically eats straight in to your bottom line. With a micro and van, you're more like a plumber just jumping in his van to go to a job.
4. The customer doesn't know the difference, and a modern 1.2t micro is not far off an old school 1.5t machine. And it's day rate, so who cares? Especially if you are spending most of the time running the power barrow to the front of the job anyway! Pro tip- tell the customer they can save on a labourer for a day if they want to drive the dumper. They love to play at dumper driver, you charge them £40 for the power barrow. Put your feet up and have a swig from the flask whilst they trudge out to the tip area, then look busy getting the bottom of the trench 'just so' when they round the corner on the return trip
5. No access will be too tight, or if it is, it was a spade job anyway,
6. When you end up doing other odd jobs such as paving if the digger work is quiet, a micro is a perfectly good machine to have on site to save you hours in labour. If it's your own machine, then for most garden landscaping jobs any loss of productivity is offset by the fact that it's yours and it can stay on site as long as needed. With a ripper tooth and a grab a micro makes plenty of garden tasks pleasant. When starting out, you will probably end up taking on these filler jobs so having a machine that can get almost anywhere will be a great help.
7. When needed, a larger machine is cheap to hire until you can justify your own.


I often think that's what I'd do if I had no yard and just a front drive. It's relaxing- no stress, just turn up with micro, spade and a laser.

Sorry but good as the modern 1.2 ton (non micro) is they are a long way behind a 1.5 tonner in what you can achieve. Also not far behind in price.

 

[Russell]

The more I think about it, the more a micro would be the most profitable/stress free machine to run if you were aiming only to do digger and driver day rate hires.

1. It's the cheapest.
2. It drinks bugger all diesel.
3. (Big one) You don't need a trailer. Just stick it in the back of the van or tipper. Towing a trailer around increases stress, time and diesel use and basically eats straight in to your bottom line. With a micro and van, you're more like a plumber just jumping in his van to go to a job.
4. The customer doesn't know the difference, and a modern 1.2t micro is not far off an old school 1.5t machine. And it's day rate, so who cares? Especially if you are spending most of the time running the power barrow to the front of the job anyway! Pro tip- tell the customer they can save on a labourer for a day if they want to drive the dumper. They love to play at dumper driver, you charge them £40 for the power barrow. Put your feet up and have a swig from the flask whilst they trudge out to the tip area, then look busy getting the bottom of the trench 'just so' when they round the corner on the return trip
5. No access will be too tight, or if it is, it was a spade job anyway,
6. When you end up doing other odd jobs such as paving if the digger work is quiet, a micro is a perfectly good machine to have on site to save you hours in labour. If it's your own machine, then for most garden landscaping jobs any loss of productivity is offset by the fact that it's yours and it can stay on site as long as needed. With a ripper tooth and a grab a micro makes plenty of garden tasks pleasant. When starting out, you will probably end up taking on these filler jobs so having a machine that can get almost anywhere will be a great help.
7. When needed, a larger machine is cheap to hire until you can justify your own.


I often think that's what I'd do if I had no yard and just a front drive. It's relaxing- no stress, just turn up with micro, spade and a laser. But I'll tell you something else too, if you buy new machines on a decent finance term (I do five years) then you don't need much work per month to pay for them. My micro costs me £230 a month and the 1.9t £280. So if they each go out a day a month then they are covered. My first new machine was the 1.7t, it's just been sold and replaced with a 1.9t. It cost me 14.5k, I sold it for 9k (could have held out for more, but did a deal with an honest bloke who gave a large deposit at the start of lockdown and was willing to wait till my new machine came when who knew what was gonna happen) New machine equivalent to old would have been 16.5k, I spunked on some extras to make it 19k. But take16.5k, -9k = 7.5k cost of ownership, over 4.5 years that's £1666 a year for a new machine under warranty, there when I needed it.

If you're coming in to some redundancy money, thenI personally would keep that as working capital and get the machines that best match your work on finance. You've a long lead time anyway for new kit, so if you are serious you'd best start making enquiries soon.

8. It takes up very little space and can be stored out of the way in the dry easily. Not out the front where thieves might see it and no extra rent for a yard.

Sorry but good as the modern 1.2 ton (non micro) is they are a long way behind a 1.5 tonner in what you can achieve. Also not far behind in price.

I'm not so sure. It's been a while since I used a 1.5 but I don't think a e10 is far off. A kx008 on the other hand is a bit shite.

 

[doobin]

Sorry but good as the modern 1.2 ton (non micro) is they are a long way behind a 1.5 tonner in what you can achieve. Also not far behind in price.

A modern 1.2t (Bobcat E10, 1176kgs is a true micro- 710mm wide. Not far performance wise off my old school gear pump Schaeff 1.5t (weighed in at 1450kgs). There's only 274kg in weight between them. That's why I said 'old school' 1.5 ton machine.

I'm not comparing it to a modern 1.7t with piston pumps, but the point I made was that that average domestic customer for a day rate hire neither knows nor cares. It's a digger.

Anyhow, it doesn't matter. I could tell you the sky was grey today and you'd still try to tell me it wasn't.

Unless it was red and grey


Oh, and don't be tempted by the Takeuchi micro- it don't fit through a lot of doorways.

 

[Brendan]

Also all the micros are too heavy to legally carry on the back of a 3.5t tipper van

Personally don't rate the E10/dx10 less power than my old tb108 and the lift over height is poor

 

[Liam1992]

The more I think about it, the more a micro would be the most profitable/stress free machine to run if you were aiming only to do digger and driver day rate hires.

1. It's the cheapest.
2. It drinks bugger all diesel.
3. (Big one) You don't need a trailer. Just stick it in the back of the van or tipper. Towing a trailer around increases stress, time and diesel use and basically eats straight in to your bottom line. With a micro and van, you're more like a plumber just jumping in his van to go to a job.
4. The customer doesn't know the difference, and a modern 1.2t micro is not far off an old school 1.5t machine. And it's day rate, so who cares? Especially if you are spending most of the time running the power barrow to the front of the job anyway! Pro tip- tell the customer they can save on a labourer for a day if they want to drive the dumper. They love to play at dumper driver, you charge them £40 for the power barrow. Put your feet up and have a swig from the flask whilst they trudge out to the tip area, then look busy getting the bottom of the trench 'just so' when they round the corner on the return trip
5. No access will be too tight, or if it is, it was a spade job anyway,
6. When you end up doing other odd jobs such as paving if the digger work is quiet, a micro is a perfectly good machine to have on site to save you hours in labour. If it's your own machine, then for most garden landscaping jobs any loss of productivity is offset by the fact that it's yours and it can stay on site as long as needed. With a ripper tooth and a grab a micro makes plenty of garden tasks pleasant. When starting out, you will probably end up taking on these filler jobs so having a machine that can get almost anywhere will be a great help.
7. When needed, a larger machine is cheap to hire until you can justify your own.


I often think that's what I'd do if I had no yard and just a front drive. It's relaxing- no stress, just turn up with micro, spade and a laser. But I'll tell you something else too, if you buy new machines on a decent finance term (I do five years) then you don't need much work per month to pay for them. My micro costs me £230 a month and the 1.9t £280. So if they each go out a day a month then they are covered. My first new machine was the 1.7t, it's just been sold and replaced with a 1.9t. It cost me 14.5k, I sold it for 9k (could have held out for more, but did a deal with an honest bloke who gave a large deposit at the start of lockdown and was willing to wait till my new machine came when who knew what was gonna happen) New machine equivalent to old would have been 16.5k, I spunked on some extras to make it 19k. But take16.5k, -9k = 7.5k cost of ownership, over 4.5 years that's £1666 a year for a new machine under warranty, there when I needed it.

If you're coming in to some redundancy money, then I personally would keep that as working capital and get the machines that best match your work on finance. You've a long lead time anyway for new kit, so if you are serious you'd best start making enquiries soon.

Thats some good insight, I've made enquiries with takeuchi, kubota, jcb and hitachi..... I'm still not confident what I want to go for after you have just put that

 

[doobin]

Also all the micros are too heavy to legally carry on the back of a 3.5t tipper van

Personally don't rate the E10/dx10 less power than my old tb108 and the lift over height is poor

I reckon I just scrape by with mine and a decent s**t before I leave...

Seriously, it's close, but no point worrying. Unlikely to get pulled and if you did you'd not be far over.

Oh, and if you get a micro, for God's sake get one with servo controls.

 

[GazCro]

A modern 1.2t (Bobcat E10, 1176kgs is a true micro- 710mm wide. Not far performance wise off my old school gear pump Schaeff 1.5t (weighed in at 1450kgs). There's only 274kg in weight between them. That's why I said 'old school' 1.5 ton machine.

I'm not comparing it to a modern 1.7t with piston pumps, but the point I made was that that average domestic customer for a day rate hire neither knows nor cares. It's a digger.

Anyhow, it doesn't matter. I could tell you the sky was grey today and you'd still try to tell me it wasn't.

Unless it was red and grey


Oh, and don't be tempted by the Takeuchi micro- it don't fit through a lot of doorways.

Utter balls nowt to do with colour you still can't compare the two. 1.9 is a step up again. The thing is with the smaller end even small steps make big differences in what you get done. At least with a 1.5 tonner he can have a cab so he's got an all year any weather machine.

 

[Antony Holmes]

The more I think about it, the more a micro would be the most profitable/stress free machine to run if you were aiming only to do digger and driver day rate hires.

1. It's the cheapest.
2. It drinks bugger all diesel.
3. (Big one) You don't need a trailer. Just stick it in the back of the van or tipper. Towing a trailer around increases stress, time and diesel use and basically eats straight in to your bottom line. With a micro and van, you're more like a plumber just jumping in his van to go to a job.
4. The customer doesn't know the difference, and a modern 1.2t micro is not far off an old school 1.5t machine. And it's day rate, so who cares? Especially if you are spending most of the time running the power barrow to the front of the job anyway! Pro tip- tell the customer they can save on a labourer for a day if they want to drive the dumper. They love to play at dumper driver, you charge them £40 for the power barrow. Put your feet up and have a swig from the flask whilst they trudge out to the tip area, then look busy getting the bottom of the trench 'just so' when they round the corner on the return trip
5. No access will be too tight, or if it is, it was a spade job anyway,
6. When you end up doing other odd jobs such as paving if the digger work is quiet, a micro is a perfectly good machine to have on site to save you hours in labour. If it's your own machine, then for most garden landscaping jobs any loss of productivity is offset by the fact that it's yours and it can stay on site as long as needed. With a ripper tooth and a grab a micro makes plenty of garden tasks pleasant. When starting out, you will probably end up taking on these filler jobs so having a machine that can get almost anywhere will be a great help.
7. When needed, a larger machine is cheap to hire until you can justify your own.


I often think that's what I'd do if I had no yard and just a front drive. It's relaxing- no stress, just turn up with micro, spade and a laser. But I'll tell you something else too, if you buy new machines on a decent finance term (I do five years) then you don't need much work per month to pay for them. My micro costs me £230 a month and the 1.9t £280. So if they each go out a day a month then they are covered. My first new machine was the 1.7t, it's just been sold and replaced with a 1.9t. It cost me 14.5k, I sold it for 9k (could have held out for more, but did a deal with an honest bloke who gave a large deposit at the start of lockdown and was willing to wait till my new machine came when who knew what was gonna happen) New machine equivalent to old would have been 16.5k, I spunked on some extras to make it 19k. But take16.5k, -9k = 7.5k cost of ownership, over 4.5 years that's £1666 a year for a new machine under warranty, there when I needed it.

If you're coming in to some redundancy money, then I personally would keep that as working capital and get the machines that best match your work on finance. You've a long lead time anyway for new kit, so if you are serious you'd best start making enquiries soon.

as above i get enquires all the time for micro work pair it with a decent tracked barrow a Wacker and a laser and you would probably earn as much as i do with my 2.7 ton if i was 30 years younger i would have gone that way all day long.

 

[GazCro]

Going off in the wrong direction mind on some ways here. Rather than buy a digger and then try and find work to suit it you'd be better off buying a machine to suit the work your gonna do. You might be better finding some with and hiring for a start and see from that what will suit best.

 

[Brendan]

Micro and tracked dumper are similar sort of money and cheaper outlay and running costs but round this way many begrudge paying.
My own have done pretty much no domestic work for the last 6 months or so. Too many warriors out racing to the bottom. They have not really done much work either in that time the odd days here and there mostly been on hand digging stuff or on someone else's machine

If I was buying new again it would be the takeuchi, yes it's 30mm or so wider but more powerful and higher lift over height.

 

[Brendan]

I reckon I just scrape by with mine and a decent s**t before I leave...

Seriously, it's close, but no point worrying. Unlikely to get pulled and if you did you'd not be far over.

Oh, and if you get a micro, for God's sake get one with servo controls.

Pretty much any tipper after 2010 will be overweight, changes of getting pulled are slim but it don't take much to be very overweight.

Alot of tippers barely have a 1t payload (double cabs lucky to see 750kg) before you sit in it or load kit, micro at 1.2t, ramps at 40kg set of buckets at 80kg plus fuel and any other kit and passengers and you could be north of 1t over weight

 

[doobin]

Pretty much any tipper after 2010 will be overweight, changes of getting pulled are slim but it don't take much to be very overweight.

Alot of tippers barely have a 1t payload (double cabs lucky to see 750kg) before you sit in it or load kit, micro at 1.2t, ramps at 40kg set of buckets at 80kg plus fuel and any other kit and passengers and you could be north of 1t over weight

Just as well I'm so in to the bank for digger finance that I could only afford an 09 tipper then It's an ally body and from memory 1350 payload. So tight but nowhere near 1t over.

 

[Brendan]

Just as well I'm so in to the bank for digger finance that I could only afford an 09 tipper then It's an ally body and from memory 1350 payload. So tight but nowhere near 1t over.

Older ones have a far better payload, my old 2002 had around 1.4t my mates 2016 double cab had all of 750kg and another with a 2016 has barely 1t with a single cab

 

[fred]

fund your youtube channel doob, you look a lot younger than i thought

 

[Steve]

Someone once said to me " I have been very fortunate since going self employed as I started out with absolutely nothing & I still have most of it".