Earning money with a 4' bucket?

[bigtiller]

If a man could do anything near the same amount of work with a shovel as he could with a tractor, Massey Ferguson would have gone out of business years ago.

I have worked on a few substantial construction jobs. They just don't need the small stuff, they have it covered. Like i said a man or two and a shovel can get a lot accomplished, if they are not afraid to work. If those men can't get the job done, they will be sent home and the union hall will send out someone who knows how to work. And the bosses are not going to take a chance on someone they don't know with anything mechanical.

 

[stan33]

Like i said a man or two and a shovel

I suppose a lot depends on the local labour force. Here labour is expensive and not readily available.

 

[2458n]

Everyone wants it done now. Then pay you as the money becomes available.

 

[stan33]

Everyone wants it done now. Then pay you as the money becomes available.

Yup that's a real issue in these parts, and quite often people never get paid for their work. I always pay people on the day AND I make them many cups of tea....both of which they are usually not used to getting.
If I don't have the money to get something done which I can't do myself, then I wait until I can afford it, before I get it done.
.

 

[LD1]

If a man could do anything near the same amount of work with a shovel as he could with a tractor, Massey Ferguson would have gone out of business years ago.

And if a man and a tractor can do the work that expensive yellow construction equipment can do, You would see alot more tractors on the jobsite instead of construction equipment

 

[stan33]

And if a man and a tractor can do the work that expensive yellow construction equipment can do, You would see alot more tractors on the jobsite instead of construction equipment

Jeez what is it with you guys???
First I get told that I'm a "maverick", then I get described as "some guy", then you try to make out my 46hp tractor (which is built a lot stronger than most tractors today btw) is nothing more than a sub compact. Then my tractor and loader gets compared with nothing more useful than one man and a shovel and now you are implying that I believe my tractor is a JCB.
I'm just trying to find a way to earn some money, it's not a crime nor is trying to find out if I can use my machine in some useful way. I did ask right from the start if people thought it would be too small, so I WAS AWARE that it might well be, yet many of you seem to think I wasn't and had to be told in pretty patronsing ways that it was too small.
I have not suggested I dig a new Panama Canal singlehandedly with a lawnmower for heavens sake.
I know I'm not American and may be seen as an outsider,, but some of the ways people have approached this was frankly downright rude and I dont see that happening to others on here, who do live in the US.
Happy Christmas

 

[Sprinklerman]

Nothing wrong with being a maverick , thinking outside of the box . Give it a shot .

 

[LD1]

Just trying to save you some grief. Big construction outfits are going to treat you just as you have been treated on here. As nothing more than a toy tractor wanting to play with the big boys. Not saying its right, and not saying a tractor wont be useful on alot of jobsites. But its just the reality.

I suggested you to seek out residential business. The market for a guy with a tractor is NOT working along side teh "big guys". Rather its doing the jobs that are too small for them to want to mess with. THAT is what you need to go after.

 

[stan33]

Nothing wrong with being a maverick

In some contexts yes, but in the context it was used, it was disparaging.

 

[stan33]

Just trying to save you some grief. Big construction outfits are going to treat you just as you have been treated on here. As nothing more than a toy tractor wanting to play with the big boys. Not saying its right, and not saying a tractor wont be useful on alot of jobsites. But its just the reality.

I suggested you to seek out residential business. The market for a guy with a tractor is NOT working along side teh "big guys". Rather its doing the jobs that are too small for them to want to mess with. THAT is what you need to go after.

When a person writes "nothing more than a toy tractor wanting to play with the big boys", they aren't out to "save grief" they are out to cause it.
I'm not a fool so please don't try to treat me like one. You may have won an 'Oscar' for your performance so far on TBN but don't overreach yourself by being cocky and assuming others are sufficiently dim enough be to taken in with nastiness cozied up next to 'advice'. The two don't mix and show your real intentions.

"Big construction outfits are going to treat you just as you have been treated on here" And who voted you a proxy construction site bully anyway?

 

[LD1]

When a person writes "nothing more than a toy tractor wanting to play with the big boys", they aren't out to "save grief" they are out to cause it.
I'm not a fool so please don't try to treat me like one. You may have won an 'Oscar' for your performance so far on TBN but don't overreach yourself by being cocky and assuming others are sufficiently dim enough be to taken in with nastiness cozied up next to 'advice'. The two don't mix and show your real intentions.

"Big construction outfits are going to treat you just as you have been treated on here" And who voted you a proxy construction site bully anyway?

No ill intent meant. I have a similar sized tractor, and do the exact same thing you are wanting to do, I just stick to residential. The big companies dont want to mess with some unknown guy with a small tractor. BTDT trying to drum up work. The market is in the work that is too small for the big guys to want to mess with.

Like someone building a barn and needing a drive added or cut in. (lacking the big construction equip that would be there if doing a basement/septic) it can get expensive to hire a dozer to cut it in. I have done many driveways using the tiller set at 4" depth, the just scrap off the loose stuff. Can do about 200' of driveway 10-12' wide in just a few hours. And can do it alot cheaper than someone hauling in a dozer. But dont get this type of work on a big construction site....because the dozer is already there.

I get a fair bit of work 6 months or a year after construction or new builds is done, dressing back up things like where water was cut in and it settled over the years.

Leveled areas for swimming pools or little "yard sheds"

Again, all stuff perfect for a smaller tractor, and not worth while and expensive for a large outfit to bother with.

It dont matter if you have a 100hp modern 4x4 with a loader. You are going to be treated like a guy with a SCUT in the eyes of a large construction outfit. I said "nothing more than a toy tractor wanting to play with the big boys" not meaning thats how "I" view you, but how "they" will view you. I've been there. Been treated like that myself. THAT is the grief I am trying to save you.

Things may be different down under. Give it a shot. Just dont want you to get discouraged and disappointed when treated that way. There is plenty of work for a small machine. But not working for the table scraps of the big dogs

 

[stan33]

If all this were true and there was no place for a smaller loader in a remote rural construction site or any site for that matter, who would have bothered to invent the Bobcat skidsteer I wonder...its got a smaller bucket than mine and I see them on plenty of construction sites.
And yes I do think things could well be different here. I know most of the contractors in the area, both the builders and the equipment contractors. I doubt very much I would get treated with the kind of disdain I have experienced here...no way. They might say, sorry don't have the need or they might say, if we need some help further down the line when time is running short, we may give you a trial day see how you go. But the sneering...no way.
We have a phrase in this country and it goes like this "if a person wants to try, give them a fair go".

 

[LD1]

If all this were true and there was no place for a smaller loader in a remote rural construction site or any site for that matter, who would have bothered to invent the Bobcat skidsteer I wonder...its got a smaller bucket than mine and I see them on plenty of construction sites.
And yes I do think things could well be different here. I know most of the contractors in the area, both the builders and the equipment contractors. I doubt very much I would get treated with the kind of disdain I have experienced here...no way. They might say, sorry don't have the need or they might say, if we need some help further down the line when time is running short, we may give you a trial day see how you go. But the sneering...no way.
We have a phrase in this country and it goes like this "if a person wants to try, give them a fair go".

A bobcat is way more effective and faster at FEL work than a tractor. More maneuverable, better visibility, and given equal lifting capacity, a bobcat is physically alot smaller. Skid loaders pretty much took away all the kind of work you are wanting to do, and they can do it faster.

And a bobcat with a 4' bucket would be a really, really small one

 

[stan33]

A bobcat is way more effective and faster at FEL work than a tractor. More maneuverable, better visibility, and given equal lifting capacity, a bobcat is physically alot smaller. Skid loaders pretty much took away all the kind of work you are wanting to do, and they can do it faster.

And a bobcat with a 4' bucket would be a really, really small one

In an area where you get any type or size of loader at the drop of a hat, I would agree, but here where you can't I think there is more chance. 4' long but higher and deeper than the Massey and the skidsteer buckets and it overall carries more than a skidsteer bucket...I can't see why that rules it out so easily.
Enough of this nitpicking negativity, I can only try.

 

[Budweiser John]

Interesting thread.
My son purchased a Ditch Witch mini skid steer last spring and added an auger head, grapple, pallet forks, material bucket and stump grinder. First year, last summer, working part time covered his expenses, equipment note and finished the season in the black.
The take away here is defign your market, establish a web site and never leave home with out a hand full of business cards. Don't even try to compete with the big guys and leave the big projects for the unions to sort out.
"happy Home Owner" who pushes a desk all week soon learns that five yards of landscape mulch sitting in his driveway waiting to be spread before his wife's garden party is now a huge PITA and is more than willing to drop a C note or two to get the job done in a couple hours rather several days

Advertise, Advertise, Advertise. Get the word out, return phone calls promptly and show up on time with well maintained and washed equipment. Clean work wear suitable for the season and a "can do" attitude.

Smaller equipment can make money.......

 

[stan33]

The bucket capacity of the mid to upper range sized Bobcat S160 skidsteer is .43 cubic yards. My bucket capacity is .60 cubic yards.

 

[stan33]

Interesting thread.
My son purchased a Ditch Witch mini skid steer last spring and added an auger head, grapple, pallet forks, material bucket and stump grinder. First year, last summer, working part time covered his expenses, equipment note and finished the season in the black.
The take away here is defign your market, establish a web site and never leave home with out a hand full of business cards. Don't even try to compete with the big guys and leave the big projects for the unions to sort out.
"happy Home Owner" who pushes a desk all week soon learns that five yards of landscape mulch sitting in his driveway waiting to be spread before his wife's garden party is now a huge PITA and is more than willing to drop a C note or two to get the job done in a couple hours rather several days

Advertise, Advertise, Advertise. Get the word out, return phone calls promptly and show up on time with well maintained and washed equipment. Clean work wear suitable for the season and a "can do" attitude.

Smaller equipment can make money.......

Thanks. The issue here is that there isnt that much residential stuff because there aren't many residential houses, at least not with any land. There are farms of 1000 acres and around 300 acres. There are a few blocks like mine of around 100 acres but not many and nothing between that and small houses with small gardens. There really aren't any 5 or 10 acrea blocks at all. So the farmers can do for themselves, most likely, which leaves only a few 100 acre blocks and the rest is construction contractors. If there were more suitable residential blocks then I wouldn't be trying to pursue the contractor route so doggedly. But I take your point.

 

[PILOON]

Well I only have a 4 ft bucket and a 20 hp tractor with about 1200 hrs on it.
I'd venture to guess that 500 of those hours earned me $50. ea.
Not bad!
But I never actively chased tractor work it usually came because other equipment was too bulky or a job too small.
Grading a drive or spreading topsoil was the typical task.
I only did my own snow as ground speed is a mere 6-7 MPH and every drive here is very far apart being rural.

All that to say that ,YES, you can earn $$ 's with a CUT, but don't quit your day job.
(PS my hours were spread out over about 10-12 years.)
Every little bit does help.

Guess it helped that I was doing renovations over the last 20 yrs and was basically 'jonny on the spot' with a solution.

 

[LD1]

I'm not trying to nitpick. For loader work, there is no comparison. Skid loader is king. You aren't gonna win an argument with me or construction company that you tractor is gonna do loader work better. Skid loaders were built for the sole purpose of doing that, and they do it well.

I am trying to help. Trying to steer you in the direction of doing residential work so you don't get discouraged if you get turned down by a large outfit. You consistently keep trying to justify yourself and your equipment to me for no reason. I already said give it a go.

I'm done here

 

[OldMcDonald]

stan33, Some people on here can be a bit tetchy with their advice from time to time, but the majority are ALWAYS helpful. Your problem is that you are in a totally different position to almost every TBN member.

I was in Northern NSW when I farmed in Oz, about 50 miles south of Moree. I understand exactly your position, but do not understand a lot of US terminology. For instance, I do not know what others posters are on about when they refer to "unions" being involved in projects. I also get the impression that big as the US is (smaller than Australia of course) they do not have the long distances between properties or towns. If somebody has to haul equipment a couple of hundred miles (maybe a lot more depending on where you are situated) or have you do the job before he can get the equipment there, then he will pick you.

I bought a boomspray and let it be known I would spray crops around about. I got a fair bit of work because I had the only spray within at least a 20 mile radius - just that little extra income. I am sure you would be the same with your FEL. How many others around about have one? I have not owned one myself since 1979. I cannot think of anybody near me in NSW who had one either. Yet in the US it appears to be an essential piece of equipment.

My brother once had a contract to build a golf course on one of the Shetland Isles. A local crofter with a little grey Fergie and a FEL made a lot of money.