Mini digger purchase

[Smiffy]

They are all bloody French round here

The people working??
I don't believe you for a second

 

[Furniss]

Or sort of !

 

[Storrsy]

Rates in my area ,south norfolk are dropping.mostly to around £120 day and lots of people being laid off,know of the odd biggish firm,maybe 10/15 staff with nothing on the books after Xmas.talking about self employed
nick...

Maybe. But self employment is no picnic., How much time unpaid do we all put in to our business behind scenes. That includes I would say many sacrifices to a social life and quite likely family life. It definitely takes a certain person to keep at it make a go of it and maintain that over the long term, the endless emails, quoting, maintaining kit on an evening ready for the next day, keeping customers happy, and general organising required to pull of a job smoothly and actually make any money on it. So when people start talking about an influx of folk starting up self employed and working for next to nothing it doesn't really worry me too much. It really isn't that easy. Not to mention start up costs...

 

[V8Druid]

Interesting pic druid wheres it from? I would say its not too far off the average

link's in the post above Jim

 

[V8Druid]

Maybe. But self employment is no picnic., How much time unpaid do we all put in to our business behind scenes. That includes I would say many sacrifices to a social life and quite likely family life. It definitely takes a certain person to keep at it make a go of it and maintain that over the long term, the endless emails, quoting, maintaining kit on an evening ready for the next day, keeping customers happy, and general organising required to pull of a job smoothly and actually make any money on it. So when people start talking about an influx of folk starting up self employed and working for next to nothing it doesn't really worry me too much. It really isn't that easy. Not to mention start up costs...

spot on

 

[jimbo]

Some good points above.

If you have no building experience, do you have any experience with an excavator?

It's not so much just the cost of the machine, it's all the extras.
To be legal moving it, you will need a suitable weight rated trailer and tow vehicle with enough tow capacity.
Including the digger that could be 20k+
Somewhere to store it and trailer if you don't have a drive or off road space
Then your insurance rough guess...
Plant insurance £500+
Liability £500+
Then there is the little add ons like laser level, grease gun, servicing costs
There is people moving micro diggers on 3.5t tipper vans but they are all overweight, especially when you add all the crap stuck to the undercarriage/tracks, the buckets and ramps and then those running really bent with up to 2.5t machines on the back

Reality is you can earn not far off the same amount and just seat fill.

Only way you will know for sure is if you go for it

I can tell you I'm certainly taking a paycut by moving more into digger work.

I currently do all trades except gas and typically run a small team of guys doing extensions or individual newbuilds as a fully working manager from start to finish- never done any advertising and people do pay more when they research you because quality is always very high and they know if they call me years later with an issue its fixed straight away. as many of the people here know typically tradesmen point the finger at previous or later trades and the customer can get confused and stressed out which doesnt happen to my customers.

I'm 39 and for a few years I've been getting miscellaneous joint pains. Problem was i used to hammer it on pricework, , 80-90 hour weeks were common for me when i was in my 20's i had limitless energy and only needed 4 hours sleep a night tops. the upside of that is that I made loads of money, the downside is i've put alot of hours on my joints just like the guys retiring soon. the only day my knee doesnt hurt is mondays after its been rested on weekend digger jobs or days off

Now i do normal hours but its harder for me. I wont be in the game when im in my late 40's. I personally find digger work the easiest (I'm sure you all work hard but i mean in terms of physical activity) and think I could do it even when I'm in my 60's

 

[Monkeybusiness]

I can tell you I'm certainly taking a paycut by moving more into digger work.

I currently do all trades except gas and typically run a small team of guys doing extensions or individual newbuilds as a fully working manager from start to finish- never done any advertising and people do pay more when they research you because quality is always very high and they know if they call me years later with an issue its fixed straight away. as many of the people here know typically tradesmen point the finger at previous or later trades and the customer can get confused and stressed out which doesnt happen to my customers.

I'm 39 and for a few years I've been getting miscellaneous joint pains. Problem was i used to hammer it on pricework, , 80-90 hour weeks were common for me when i was in my 20's i had limitless energy and only needed 4 hours sleep a night tops. the upside of that is that I made loads of money, the downside is i've put alot of hours on my joints just like the guys retiring soon. the only day my knee doesnt hurt is mondays after its been rested on weekend digger jobs or days off

Now i do normal hours but its harder for me. I wont be in the game when im in my late 40's. I personally find digger work the easiest (I'm sure you all work hard but i mean in terms of physical activity) and think I could do it even when I'm in my 60's

If you are the op (on another ID) I thought you said you had no building experience?
If not then WTF?
Either way, happy Christmas mucker - (look after your body as it’s the only one you’ll get - I’m speaking from the experience of someone who has knackered theirs!).

 

[Smiffy]

I can tell you I'm certainly taking a paycut by moving more into digger work.

I currently do all trades except gas and typically run a small team of guys doing extensions or individual newbuilds as a fully working manager from start to finish- never done any advertising and people do pay more when they research you because quality is always very high and they know if they call me years later with an issue its fixed straight away. as many of the people here know typically tradesmen point the finger at previous or later trades and the customer can get confused and stressed out which doesnt happen to my customers.

I'm 39 and for a few years I've been getting miscellaneous joint pains. Problem was i used to hammer it on pricework, , 80-90 hour weeks were common for me when i was in my 20's i had limitless energy and only needed 4 hours sleep a night tops. the upside of that is that I made loads of money, the downside is i've put alot of hours on my joints just like the guys retiring soon. the only day my knee doesnt hurt is mondays after its been rested on weekend digger jobs or days off

Now i do normal hours but its harder for me. I wont be in the game when im in my late 40's. I personally find digger work the easiest (I'm sure you all work hard but i mean in terms of physical activity) and think I could do it even when I'm in my 60's

Knowing machine drivers in there 60s it isn't as simple as that. The repeated movements cause just as many issues. One blokes wrists are completely seized up and he is in great agony. But can't afford to stop driving a machine. Another ones hands are stick solid in the position he holds the joysticks In. He said it doesn't hurt he just has no movement there.
Obviously pros and cons of all work but with your experience isn't the management line of work a better bet. And better paying.
And if you have experience in all aspects then you would be well sort after.

 

[jimbo]

Knowing machine drivers in there 60s it isn't as simple as that. The repeated movements cause just as many issues. One blokes wrists are completely seized up and he is in great agony. But can't afford to stop driving a machine. Another ones hands are stick solid in the position he holds the joysticks In. He said it doesn't hurt he just has no movement there.
Obviously pros and cons of all work but with your experience isn't the management line of work a better bet. And better paying.
And if you have experience in all aspects then you would be well sort after.

I can see that RSI is a risk but it uses different movements than the ones that are currently troubling me. if these older digger drivers were doing it for decades they might have done more of the damage on earlier models with stiffer controls. I had to lay 1500 6 inch concrete blocks in the summer because some architect wanted to be belt and braces even though i did the calcs to show 6 inch thermals were miles within tolerance. joysticks cant hurt my wrists like they did

before he retired my grandad couldn't use his hands for much. the consultant offered him 2 sets of plastic knuckles which he declined but 2 years later they didn't hurt him anymore and he could easily do small jobs again because they somehow recovered enough when he properly rested them. I'm hoping that i can spend certainly more than half my time on a digger just to let other things recover

i really dont like desk work, SMSTS course was as much indoors as i could handle really

 

[jimbo]

If you are the op (on another ID) I thought you said you had no building experience?
If not then WTF?
Either way, happy Christmas mucker - (look after your body as it’s the only one you’ll get - I’m speaking from the experience of someone who has knackered theirs!).

sorry, I was meaning to give advice to the op about financial situation of moving into digger work like he is thinking of. using my own situation to illustrate because I recently made the decision to migrate into digger work as a mainstay whereas its been a fractional part of my job for a long time

 

[Bri963]

Knowing machine drivers in there 60s it isn't as simple as that. The repeated movements cause just as many issues. One blokes wrists are completely seized up and he is in great agony. But can't afford to stop driving a machine. Another ones hands are stick solid in the position he holds the joysticks In. He said it doesn't hurt he just has no movement there.
Obviously pros and cons of all work but with your experience isn't the management line of work a better bet. And better paying.
And if you have experience in all aspects then you would be well sort after.

in my 60’s here, and been operating and repairing machines, and fabricating most of my working life, with a bit of groundwork, labouring, landscaping and tree work mixed in, and tbh I have fewer issues than several I know who have done more desk based work. I rarely operate for more than a few days at a time now, but the machine that is hardest on my joints is my Kubota micro. Gets me across the shoulders. I’d rather have that than the stress that goes with management.

 

[Smiffy]

in my 60’s here, and been operating and repairing machines, and fabricating most of my working life, with a bit of groundwork, labouring, landscaping and tree work mixed in, and tbh I have fewer issues than several I know who have done more desk based work. I rarely operate for more than a few days at a time now, but the machine that is hardest on my joints is my Kubota micro. Gets me across the shoulders. I’d rather have that than the stress that goes with management.

I think variety is best for everything tbh these blokes have sat in a machine 8-10hrs a day since they left school.
I have to be doing lots of different things anyway. I can't do a single task all day let alone all week.

 

[charlie2]

I think variety is best for everything tbh these blokes have sat in a machine 8-10hrs a day since they left school.
I have to be doing lots of different things anyway. I can't do a single task all day let alone all week.

i am 68 now and retired, spent pretty much all my working life either at groundworks or digger driving mainly 3cx machines on sticks. i done some stupid hours at times as well i got diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis at 26 and for a couple years struggled to do much manual work. i eventually met a consultant at my local hospital and he asked if i was interested in trying a drug called methotrexate but would have to be closely monitered with blood tests etc. what i had affects the joint membranes and linings not the actual bone in the joint. for me it was a revelation and gave me a much better outlook i have been lucky that i met a guy that was really interested in rhuematology etc. i have had minor flare ups but increasing the number of tablets i take soon levels it out, i feel keeping working helped me more than doing next to nothing would have. since stopping work i get more aches and pains than i did working. my dad who was a farm worker then builders labourer also had rhuematoid arthritis and had to give up work in his early fiftys his joints got so bad his fingers and thumbs stuck out at all angles to his hands and he had to wear corrective splints , no drugs seemed to help him at all. i fully expected to be the same forty odd years of prescription drugs have probably affected me in some way or another but i am thankfull that i actually could carry on working as i did, it kept me fitter than i am now for sure.