Am I headed in the right direction with my biz?

[alonfn4]

A little about my situation I am 24 I have worked in the landscape, lawn care, pesticide and tree industries. I put in 2 years as groundie and 3 years as a climber and foreman. I also have 2 years experience working with pesticides and herbicides for weed control, pest control and fertilization. In addition to that I was a foreman for a small landscaping business for 2 years . I know the ins and outs of the businesses from bidding to tech to safety. Now I am on the next step of my journey. I still work 2-3 days a week for the lawn care company mainly because he has 900+ customers in good standing and he recommends me constantly. So I am doing tree work 2-3 days a week. I forgot to mention I have my own equipment saws climbing and rigging gear which I own outright no loans. I have a state business license and tax I'd. Just got quoted for insurance. But my main issue is what to do next.... I really need to buy at least a pickup truck and a small chipper 9". Is this the right thing to do? How did you pay for your first big pieces of equipment trucks chippers skid steer ...when you were starting out and do I sound like I am on the right track....

Ps I am looking at a used ford F350 crewcab with 8ft bed under 14K

Thank,

Alon

 

[flushcut]

A one ton dump and a chipper is a good start. The next addition should be a mini of some sort your back will thank you and your time on the job site will be less = more profit.

 

[superjunior]

What flushcut said, a one ton dump and a chuck n duck will get you started. A mini would be a nice bonus too. Gotta get my mitts on one someday

 

[tree md]

Sounds like you are on the right track to me. Your wallet will thank you on the one ton with the prices of gas these days. My C65 was eating my lunch when gas prices went through the roof.

 

[Kottonwood]

Are you doing mostly removals or prunes?


If you do a lot of removals wait until you can afford the right stuff. Don't blow your wad on a tiny chipper and plywood sides on your one ton, you'll never recover it. If you do prunes mostly you can get away with that stuff.

I would say you want a 12" chipper and a one+ ton dump. It is also nice to have a dump trailer and pickup for the wood.

 

[alonfn4]

Good advice so far keep it coming please...


Thanks,
Alon

 

[fearofpavement]

If you are mechanical enough to do your own repairs, starting out with older stuff will probably allow you to make a profit sooner. Beginning with debt is a poor way to start a business in my opinion. As mentioned a chuck and duck, while not great, will still reduce brush to small pieces. It won't eat bigger stuff but will do a lot. A dump trailer is cheap (<$3000) but will require another truck to pull the chipper. Another thing to consider is insurance on vehicles. Insuring a dump truck is much more expensive than a pick-up pulling a dump trailer. Buy used stuff at a good price and you can get your money back when you're ready to upgrade. Do you have a place to bring wood and logs until you can deal with them or cut firewood? Firewood can be a byproduct of tree work that brings in a bit of revenue in the slow times of the year. Do you have a business plan? At least some figures on a scratch pad? How do you eat if you break an arm or leg? Best wishes for your future.

 

[Goose IBEW]

I have an '87 C70 Chevy dump with the 500 cubic inch Detroit diesel. It gets 11mpg empty, 8 hauling heavy and 6mpg with 5 ton in the bed and the 9' plow pushing white stuff. 4 wheel hydraulic disc brakes and a 22,500 gvw keep it under cdl. When it comes to working heavy, I will put it against ANY gas truck for fuel economy. A big block one ton dump may only get 3 or 4mpg's loaded, 8 or 9 empty. I would not steer clear of the medium duty rigs with a diesel in them.My 1991 f350 turbo diesel 4x4, crew cab 8' bed with 4:10 gears gets 12 towing, 15 around town and 20 on the interstates.

I am starting out real simple, getting the saws I own up to snuff, getting the climbing and rigging equipment supplies, insurance, buisness name and LLC. I have a 6 ton tag that I put 4' stakes on and load up with branches, the logs go into the truck. I want my overhead low so I plan on saving cash to buy a chipper, stump grinder. Best of luck.:msp_thumbsup:

 

[struggle]

My only advise would be steer clear of any Ford diesel 6.0 liter you come across no matter how good of a deal. That motor can bankrupt the best of people.

 

[hunthawkdog]

I Think

6.0 is junk dont ever doit. for 14k ud be abel to get a decent forestry bucket I give 13.500 for mine and bought a 12" chipper for 6k i worked out of the back of a pickup I couldnt imagine going back. I think u should start with something more versatile than a chipper dump. I would rather have a bucket then chipper dump if i had to pick. Before i had a bucket I had conviced myshelf I could climb faster than a bucket could work now I realize I should of got one sooner i get work done faster once I bought the bucket the rest of the equipment came fast

 

[alonfn4]

Just to Start Thanks to all of you who have responded to my questions so far:hmm3grin2orange:

I understand what you are saying about a bucket truck being more versatile than a pick up but for me its kind of the other way around. As I only do this part time the bucket tuck has one purpose and one purpose only and that's tree work which kind of limits my options as to what it can do outside of work. I do Handyman work and a ton of local odd jobs for people in my community. So I think a pickup is more my speed. I would like to build a small custom dump trailer 8 foot chip box + a mounted 8-9" chipper and some built in tool boxes. Put together with decent quality used Equipment. Does this sound realistic. I Don't want have a truck that I only use once or twice a week, but a truck I can use daily for all types of work. I love doing tree work, but I am still a long way away from making a living at it I want to take it slow and build it up as i make more money. ????? HELP PLEASE

 

[O41 Super AV]

Im in the same boat as you are and it is difficult to figure out what you want to spend the big money on when it comes to larger equipment. i also do general construction and remodeling so a box truck is the way to go for that because you can keep all your saws hand and powertools inside that plus plenty of room for materials. also at the end of the day you just lock it up and don't need to worry about the weather or theft, i live in NJ wish i didn't have to worry about theft...
As for the tree work a electric over hydro dump trailer is a good idea. depends how handy you are, but my pop and i converted a old snowmobile trailer into one on the cheap. it is easy to over load and won't dump but if you weld up some angle iron near the front to make a hold for a high lift jack to help get it started it works great.
insurance is another thing to keep in mind, if you get your LLC and a GC license you can get insurance policy that will cover you for a wider range of jobs you might want. It also allows you to sub out to other contractors and be covered. The costs will be whole lot cheaper if you can have zero employees, and have your help work for you as sub-contractors. now you still will pay them by check and give them a w2 come tax season but its up to them to claim their earnings there are some limits to that but with the tax laws they are wide and easy to bend. just something to keep in mind.