What is the benefit of the excavator vs bringing a dozer in for almost half the hourly rate?
Pond cleaning fiasco
- Thread starter Ky hills
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SmokinM
Well-known member
Long reach can clean it without draining it and letting it dry. You also get the benefit of being able to load it straight to a truck and take it away from the pond to dry if you want. End of the day a good man on the excavator can move more dirt.
OP
OP
Ky hills
Well-known member
They are charging us $1200 a day, and supposedly if they work part of a day they only charge for part. They said if they used the bigger equipment it would be $3000 or $3500 a day. They moved in a bigger trackhoe today, but not near as big as what you are talking about.
A few years ago we had an outfit use one of those real big ones, but it was just as much of a mess as the operator turned out to be a drug head.
Named'em Tamed'em
Well-known member
When I dug my ponds my buddy had this huge old American track hoe with a 6 yard bucket!!
Couldn't keep with the artesian spring bailing.
Couldn't keep with the artesian spring bailing.
A friend of mine bought the 60' reach hoe I mentioned and was charging $180 an hour. He stayed fairly busy but wasn't making enough to keep it. The guy that bought it from him is the one charging $2,500 a day. He says it takes so much time to move it and get it in position he needs $2,500 to make it work for him. The pool I need cleaned out is about 1.5 acres. I got a bid for $5,000 to enlarge it by 1/2 acre and raise and widen the damn by 1-2 feet. I'm good with the $5,000 but it really won't help the silt issue. I really don't want to pump it out and have a dozer clean the bottom out. Guess we'll see, it's not a necessary project but I would like to get it done. Ihope we never have another drought but it would sure make getting this done easier.
Nice. I didn't know if they could move the muck with the bucket or if it all just ran out. Not draining it is a big plus.
I know prices are different every where but for $5k I think dozer could clean it out, expand it, and add on to the dam. It would be real close. Yes it would have to be drained but it might save money or atleast ensure it's done like you want.
I get a D6 for $130-140/hr. Haul in and out will depend on the amount of work. A hoe is usually a pricey transport vs a dozer depending on where you are.
Just a thought.
pdubdo
Well-known member
"Didn't know it was a road"...you mean people just put gates in the middle of their pastures? 
Well what happened? Are they still working or did they get the boot?
The 5k was for a scraper tractor and a 100hp dozer. D6 is running $160-180 around here now. It's about to the price were you are better off buying equipment and using for a year then selling it.
Back to the OP, I'm not at all surprised they did that to your road. Dang near every contractor I have out does something unbelievably stupid and then can't understand what they did wrong. I've got a few that I can trust but they are really pricey and stay booked. It's not just dirt or fence work either. We had a guy mowing our yard several years back. Our house has has 1,200 sqf of porches and he kept covering them in clippings. When I ask him about it he said he didn't have a blower to clean it off. I told him to make the first 3-4 rounds blowing grass away from the house, guess it made him mad because never came back. Sometimes I think it's gotta be me expecting too much
OP
OP
Ky hills
Well-known member
Against my better judgement they are still working. They brought in a little bigger trackhoe. Seems like they are making a little noticeable progress now.Well what happened? Are they still working or did they get the boot?
Still not very satisfied with them, but hoping it will come out somewhere near tolerable.
I don't blame you. It's easy to fire them until you are standing there by yourself and the work still has to get done.
With all the work and too few contractors a lot of them have gotten pretty spoiled. They want to do it their way and if you ask diffently they move on down the road to some one who won't say a word. They have no intentions of working together.
OP
OP
Ky hills
Well-known member
That's right, and like these guys they are young and think they know it all, yet don't have an ounce of common sense, or the knowledge of how to work with others.
We worked last night and got our cows and calves all up in the front field so we could wean some calves this morning. We fastened the gates going down in the back where they are working. While separating calves we saw one of them go through the gate and leave it open.
Before we let the cows back out of the holding lot, had to go around and close the gate behind them. Wife had texted the guy to tell him to shut the gate, and he said oh yeah we'll take care of it. They've always got excuses the one that left the gate open said he thought the other guy was right behind him, but he didn't show up for another couple hours.
callmefence
Keyboard cowboy
Leaving gates open is no good. My guys are required to text me a picture of locked gate's at the end of every day.
As far as knowing it all. When it comes to my business I know more than anyone else imo. A sure way to lose money is to let a customer run your business. Better to pack your iron and go.
As far as knowing it all. When it comes to my business I know more than anyone else imo. A sure way to lose money is to let a customer run your business. Better to pack your iron and go.
OP
OP
Ky hills
Well-known member
I agree, Fence, whatever business somebody is in they should know more about than somebody that's not in that line of work every day. When I said know it all's, I was referring to the generalized habits of young kids or anybody else for that matter of having an answer or excuse for everything not necessarily directly work related. When I hire somebody for whatever job, I'm doing so on the premise that they do know how to do their job. In most cases both me and them would be up the creek if it was dependent on me knowing what to do.
I'm one of those people that if I can see a problem it usually is a pretty glaring one.
Like I've said before I can't work with somebody breathing down my neck, and I don't expect to do that to anybody working for me. Once I see a major mistake though I'm gonna watch out for my interests and check in with them ever so often.
My favorite saying one of my bosses use to say is no one knows every thing. They just think they do because they don't know what they don't know.
Plus, I like supporting people starting out with businesses. I'm not afraid to learn together if they are willing. The people I work for are all business men who like to pay it forward and give some one a hand up if we can.
Plus, I like supporting people starting out with businesses. I'm not afraid to learn together if they are willing. The people I work for are all business men who like to pay it forward and give some one a hand up if we can.
One of my most humbling experiences was a closed production loop that was making oxygen. Yes, making oxygen. We had meter to measure every thing in the gas stream. Point A had zero oxygen. Every thing up stream of point A, zero oxygen. Point B 20' away, oxygen. Flir cameras no leaks. No vaccums. Nothing.
After a weeks of isolating it and meeting with experts no ideas. The second week I starting making every one retest and rerun every thing from ground zero like a new project. Week 3, we found there was an error in a chemical for treating the gas from the factory. The error had made just the right mixture with our gas analysis to actually produce oxygen from scratch.
That gave experience to teams of people who had been doing it all their lives.
There is always some thing to be learned.
After a weeks of isolating it and meeting with experts no ideas. The second week I starting making every one retest and rerun every thing from ground zero like a new project. Week 3, we found there was an error in a chemical for treating the gas from the factory. The error had made just the right mixture with our gas analysis to actually produce oxygen from scratch.
That gave experience to teams of people who had been doing it all their lives.
There is always some thing to be learned.
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For the life of me I can't understand whats so hard about opening and closing a gate. It must be a really hard thing for most people to do though, kinda like getting up and going to work everyday I guess.
OP
OP
Ky hills
Well-known member
It's true you never get to point where you should stop being open to learning.
Our mindset is that we want to maintain a good relationship with people, and show kindness whenever possible. We are not in a situation to literally pay a lot forward, though I am known to sometimes tip a little extra if it's possible when someone does work here. Sometimes we'll send some fresh eggs or garden produce home with somebody at the end of the day. My wife has fixed dinner for workers or we have picked up something in town for them to eat. It's kind of the rural way that I grew up with and I love being able to do those those small things.
Both my wife and I have recently been down with Corona, and mine went into pneumonia. Friends have been to the grocery for us, and a couple guys from church have went to the feed store for me and have mowed our yard. I'm really appreciative when people are willing to help, and always enjoy the opportunity to return the favor.
Our mindset is that we want to maintain a good relationship with people, and show kindness whenever possible. We are not in a situation to literally pay a lot forward, though I am known to sometimes tip a little extra if it's possible when someone does work here. Sometimes we'll send some fresh eggs or garden produce home with somebody at the end of the day. My wife has fixed dinner for workers or we have picked up something in town for them to eat. It's kind of the rural way that I grew up with and I love being able to do those those small things.
Both my wife and I have recently been down with Corona, and mine went into pneumonia. Friends have been to the grocery for us, and a couple guys from church have went to the feed store for me and have mowed our yard. I'm really appreciative when people are willing to help, and always enjoy the opportunity to return the favor.
