Skid Steer with Brush Cutter Rental

[Travis_R]

I'm fixing to hopefully get a land clearing job of 15 acres (if I bid it right). I think it's too much for my tractor but I'll use it if nobody will rent me a skid steer with a brush cutter attachment.

How much does it cost to rent these 2 pieces of equipment and where should i go to rent one?
I'm near Baton Rouge, LA. and would need one for 2 days max (as of now but that could change if other land owners notice that I have this piece of equipment there).

Also, what is required to rent one? I'm a homeowner but I do have a FX4 F250 diesel that I could pull it with if they didn't wanna deliver.

This was supposed to be a bush hogging job, but after looking at it, it's more than that. Most of the stuff is taller than my 38 hp tractor! It was "clear cutted" about 2 years ago, according to the owner, and it has EVER MORE GROWN! 2"- 4" cottonwood trees, thick grass, brush, some stumps, dried up mud holes and ruts, briars, you get the picture...

I went and looked at the property yesterday and said I would get back with an estimate this afternoon...

This will be the worst stuff I've ever cut. The skid steer would make it a breeze though, in my opinion.

I need as much info on this as I can get, really fast!

Thanks!

 

[boggen]

you have a few threads going about generally same thing. i replied to one already.

but as far as renting. open up the phone book yes the old "paper" phone book. and look up "machinery rental" or "rental machinery" call around up to 1.5 hours away. rental prices can change a huge amount.

granted rental places tend to charge a good amount up front. and longer you rent more discount you can obtain. half day and day rentals can be rather out right expensive, but say half week or weekly rentals can be very nice. and at times only a few dollar more vs one or 2 day rentals at times pending on equipment rented.

if it was not for one or 2 day thing. it may come down to having them drop things off and pick things back up. but you can not count on exact time of delivery nor pickup. and it could mean wasting a half day for equipment to show up. if you pickup and bring back. your extra time plus fuel / wear tear on vehicle. might make it cheaper to goto nearest rental place.

one thing about tractors though. you might want to double check with local tractor dealers. some times they have rental machinery as well. the job you want to do though. might be a tad to big for local menards / home depot / lowes rental of equipment. they tend to be in my experience ment for city folks vs what you are wanting. ((other words smaller equipment)) vs what you need larger equipment.

i would caution renting of stuff though, renting can eat you out of extra cash, granted it may take longer with what you have, and little more wear and tear on your equipment. but if it takes you longer it might mean more cash in your pocket. ((depends on what other jobs you have lined up and crunch time to get things done))

 

[fishfactor]

Be careful in your pricing if it is a clear cut. We work in these all the time and they may not look all that bad from the perimeter, but once you get in it can be a war zone. High stumps, slash (limbs/tops,crooked trees) piled everywhere. Not to mention the huge ruts made by the skidders. Clear cuts are really the most difficult and abusing jobs. We try to price them by the hour when possible. If we can't, we figure 1 acre per day per machine. Now this is running a mulcher getting rid of everything and you may be able to run a little faster with a brush cutter, but the obstacles will still be there. Slamming into 10" high stumps all day is no fun at all. We often describe it that we feel like a pinball at the end of the day.

 

[Rio_Grande]

I rented equiptment for a while before buying my track loader. I got an 80 hp machiene for $100 a day. The ASV 100 with forestry head was $200 a day.

b really careful with rental equiptment as already mentioned.

 

[QwikDraw]

local here is Bobcat with fecon $750 day.