Newbie Looking for Land Clearing Advice

[CKnott71]

Hello Everyone,
I'm a retired (military) Firefighter, I've been working as an EXPAT for the past few years and have recently been blessed with the opportunity of starting a new life in Texas without being away from family as I have been off/on for roughly 20+ years. I'm looking to starting a land clearing business considering our farm needs some work done on it I would start there using a skid steer with forestry attachment (hydro ax, forestry mulcher, this attachment goes by many names) to hone my skills and then advertise out to the local community. Was looking to get some information regarding start-up, insurance, etc. any/all advice, stories of past/present experiences as well as positive/negative aspects of the business in which I wish to start will be appreciated.

I look forward to reading your replies

Thanks in advance

:thumbsup:

 

[mguitas]

Welcome to the forum.

 

[deerseeker001]

Welcome from Wisconsin

 

[Briana03]

Welcome to TractorByNet!

We moved your thread to the Land Clearing Equipment forum.

 

[ROWmulcher]

You have a good start up plan, research before you buy a machine, don't believe what a salesman tells you, there are good low hour used machines out there. Have them inspected. Practice on your property, learn your machine. Don't oversell what you can do, you will have a pissed off customer. Approach some of the larger contractors, ask if they will send you the small jobs they don't want to bother with. As a firefighter,your not afraid to sweat, that will be a big help lol. Good luck

 

[CarlR2010]

CK,

Welcome to the forum, you are in the right place. The Land Clearing Equipment forum contains too many lessons to count and they are free. This is far less than what the guys in the discussion paid for them.

IMO, the best thing to do to start is start on page 51 and read back to page 1. Then ask all the questions you can think of. These conversations are a treasure.

Carl

 

[CKnott71]

Everyone,
Thanks for the advice and vote confidence

Carl
I just started going through the pages and writing questions as I go

ROWmulcher
I will definitely utilize your advice approach larger contractors and do more extensive research regarding the tools of the trade

Again Thanks Everyone

 

[yellowdogsvc]

Hello Everyone,
I'm a retired (military) Firefighter, I've been working as an EXPAT for the past few years and have recently been blessed with the opportunity of starting a new life in Texas without being away from family as I have been off/on for roughly 20+ years. I'm looking to starting a land clearing business considering our farm needs some work done on it I would start there using a skid steer with forestry attachment (hydro ax, forestry mulcher, this attachment goes by many names) to hone my skills and then advertise out to the local community. Was looking to get some information regarding start-up, insurance, etc. any/all advice, stories of past/present experiences as well as positive/negative aspects of the business in which I wish to start will be appreciated.

I look forward to reading your replies

Thanks in advance

:thumbsup:

I'm from Texas and that's pretty much how I started.
What part of the state are you in?

A few things come to mind.
You will need a sales tax permit, insurance, and I'd look into workman's comp. I have all of that. Most of the guys I run into, have none of it and are fly by night in my opinion. If you are going to work beyond your neighbors, I'd hone those skills at your place. You will quickly find what works and doesn't work.
You don't need to jump in with 100k machine to get started.. I'd find a used machine/used head and let it take the learning curve. You will pick it up pretty quick and if you are handy with tools, you can keep it running pretty good.

There really is a lot to discuss so it might be better to throw questions out there. I could tell horror stories all night around a campfire about the dumb things I did or the lessons learned the hard way. I've been at this almost 20 years and I'm still learning something new everyday but luckily I think I've got the machine operation part down pat. I was blessed to have my own place and an in-laws ranches to practice on as well as neighbors' properties. That's about all one can hope for if you want to hone the skills before going commercial.
I'm sure your military training will make you a natural around the machines so it will boil down to what you choose to operate and how you plan on doing clearing.

Anyway, welcome to the forums and thanks for that service!

 

[MacLawn]

Oh me, I wish you were near my place! I'd let ye practice a bit!

 

[CKnott71]

I'm from Texas and that's pretty much how I started.
What part of the state are you in?

A few things come to mind.
You will need a sales tax permit, insurance, and I'd look into workman's comp. I have all of that. Most of the guys I run into, have none of it and are fly by night in my opinion. If you are going to work beyond your neighbors, I'd hone those skills at your place. You will quickly find what works and doesn't work.
You don't need to jump in with 100k machine to get started.. I'd find a used machine/used head and let it take the learning curve. You will pick it up pretty quick and if you are handy with tools, you can keep it running pretty good.

There really is a lot to discuss so it might be better to throw questions out there. I could tell horror stories all night around a campfire about the dumb things I did or the lessons learned the hard way. I've been at this almost 20 years and I'm still learning something new everyday but luckily I think I've got the machine operation part down pat. I was blessed to have my own place and an in-laws ranches to practice on as well as neighbors' properties. That's about all one can hope for if you want to hone the skills before going commercial.
I'm sure your military training will make you a natural around the machines so it will boil down to what you choose to operate and how you plan on doing clearing.

Anyway, welcome to the forums and thanks for that service!

Thanks for the welcome YellowDog
Sorry for the delayed response internet out here has been hit/miss the past two weeks. I'm in West Point and with reading all the post to answer most of my questions (Thanks again to your post/replies) I'm hoping to be up/running by Feb just gotta finish getting all my ducks in row.

 

[CKnott71]

I'm from Texas and that's pretty much how I started.
What part of the state are you in?

A few things come to mind.
You will need a sales tax permit, insurance, and I'd look into workman's comp. I have all of that. Most of the guys I run into, have none of it and are fly by night in my opinion. If you are going to work beyond your neighbors, I'd hone those skills at your place. You will quickly find what works and doesn't work.
You don't need to jump in with 100k machine to get started.. I'd find a used machine/used head and let it take the learning curve. You will pick it up pretty quick and if you are handy with tools, you can keep it running pretty good.

There really is a lot to discuss so it might be better to throw questions out there. I could tell horror stories all night around a campfire about the dumb things I did or the lessons learned the hard way. I've been at this almost 20 years and I'm still learning something new everyday but luckily I think I've got the machine operation part down pat. I was blessed to have my own place and an in-laws ranches to practice on as well as neighbors' properties. That's about all one can hope for if you want to hone the skills before going commercial.
I'm sure your military training will make you a natural around the machines so it will boil down to what you choose to operate and how you plan on doing clearing.

Anyway, welcome to the forums and thanks for that service!

Thanks for the welcome YellowDog
Sorry for the delayed response internet out here has been hit/miss the past two weeks. I'm in West Point and with reading all the post to answer most of my questions (Thanks again to your post/replies) I'm hoping to be up/running by Feb just gotta finish getting all my ducks in row.

 

[yellowdogsvc]

If you have the energy, there is work out there. I'm not blessed with tons of energy nor do I like to drive long distances so I limit my home range a lot which limits my growth. That's a personal choice to make but if you start out with a larger range, you will have more work. I get calls from all over the state and most people I turn down as for a referral. Once you get into it, get in touch with me and I may be able to send some work your way.
I also find that a lot of guys get into this with the cheapest rig they can find and they either go out of business or walk off of jobs because they promise the moon. I try and do quality work and that automatically sets me apart from a lot of guys but I know my limitations and I'm up front with customers about that. I think someone with a mid sized machine or a high in skid steer can make a good dent in their market but having access to bigger machinery will open all kinds of doors at least in Texas. I have other ambitions so I don't go the route of the big machine but if I did, I could have one working all over just based on the phone conversations I have.
Something to think about.

 

[KrayzKajun]

If you have the energy, there is work out there. I'm not blessed with tons of energy nor do I like to drive long distances so I limit my home range a lot which limits my growth. That's a personal choice to make but if you start out with a larger range, you will have more work. I get calls from all over the state and most people I turn down as for a referral. Once you get into it, get in touch with me and I may be able to send some work your way.
I also find that a lot of guys get into this with the cheapest rig they can find and they either go out of business or walk off of jobs because they promise the moon. I try and do quality work and that automatically sets me apart from a lot of guys but I know my limitations and I'm up front with customers about that. I think someone with a mid sized machine or a high in skid steer can make a good dent in their market but having access to bigger machinery will open all kinds of doors at least in Texas. I have other ambitions so I don't go the route of the big machine but if I did, I could have one working all over just based on the phone conversations I have.
Something to think about.

**** good advice yellowdog.

 

[Beaudeane]

If you have the energy, there is work out there. I'm not blessed with tons of energy nor do I like to drive long distances so I limit my home range a lot which limits my growth. That's a personal choice to make but if you start out with a larger range, you will have more work. I get calls from all over the state and most people I turn down as for a referral. Once you get into it, get in touch with me and I may be able to send some work your way.
I also find that a lot of guys get into this with the cheapest rig they can find and they either go out of business or walk off of jobs because they promise the moon. I try and do quality work and that automatically sets me apart from a lot of guys but I know my limitations and I'm up front with customers about that. I think someone with a mid sized machine or a high in skid steer can make a good dent in their market but having access to bigger machinery will open all kinds of doors at least in Texas. I have other ambitions so I don't go the route of the big machine but if I did, I could have one working all over just based on the phone conversations I have.
Something to think about.

Yellow dog, Ive got some the same questions myself. As far as limiting ur svc area does that mean 30 miles or couple hundred? Plenty more questions to come. I'm looking for a way out of being an owner-op truck driver like I been doing last 22 years now. Still just researching the possibilities. Any help appreciated from anyone willing to share some info

 

[Steve Marshall]

I'm a vendor to land owners and land clearing contractors and have clients that range from single skid steer operations to ROW contractors. Land clearing is a simple business. Until you are actually in it. I think the biggest mistake newbies make is that they under estimate their TCO and as a result under charge. It takes a lot of money to keep the equipment up and running. You can literally be broke and out of business 6 months before you realize it.

My advise, for what it's worth, would be to start small and reinvest the profits from your jobs back into your business. Being that you're a firefighter could be your strongest attribute. Not only because you are used to hard work in harsh environments, but because you know other firefighters that may be looking for work in their off times. Finding reliable labor in this industry can be a challenge.

 

[yellowdogsvc]

Yellow dog, Ive got some the same questions myself. As far as limiting ur svc area does that mean 30 miles or couple hundred? Plenty more questions to come. I'm looking for a way out of being an owner-op truck driver like I been doing last 22 years now. Still just researching the possibilities. Any help appreciated from anyone willing to share some info

I missed this thread's updates somehow.

I try and work 45-50 miles from home base but that's A LOT of land where I am in Texas. A 100 acre ranch can keep me busy for months off and on if they want it to look nice versus dozing everything.

If you have a Class A cdl, you can haul enough supplies and attachments to make an out of town trip worth it. Don't get me wrong, I'll travel for the right job but I have a lot of referrals locally and find that shooting rabbits often beats shooting elephants if I can be in my own bed and around my kids more.

 

[yellowdogsvc]

Sage advice..

I'm a vendor to land owners and land clearing contractors and have clients that range from single skid steer operations to ROW contractors. Land clearing is a simple business. Until you are actually in it. I think the biggest mistake newbies make is that they under estimate their TCO and as a result under charge. It takes a lot of money to keep the equipment up and running. You can literally be broke and out of business 6 months before you realize it.

My advise, for what it's worth, would be to start small and reinvest the profits from your jobs back into your business. Being that you're a firefighter could be your strongest attribute. Not only because you are used to hard work in harsh environments, but because you know other firefighters that may be looking for work in their off times. Finding reliable labor in this industry can be a challenge.