Advertising machine for hire

[mhilton]

I own a decorative concrete business and i want to keep my new piece of equipment working. What are some advertising methods that has helped anyone out there? I just purchased a Takeuchi tl140payup

[AWJ Services]

Just contact some smaller Contracting companies that have been going the rental route and offer your machine and an operator for a decent price.You both make money.:drinkup:

[bobcat_ron]

Get a jackhammer, then you are on both sides of the fence in the concrete business.

[mhilton]

thanks those were both good. Does anyone have any reports on hammer heads please no cheap ones

[bobcat_ron]

Stanley, both the jack and the dropping hammer, the Cyclone, those are heavy hitters.

The only downside with a jackhammer is they tend to beat the crap out of any machine, check with your dealer to see if you have a closed or open loop hydraulic system, Bobcats have nothing but problems if you run a real hard hitter, I know from LOTS of downtime.

[YellowDogSVC]

Ron,
How do you deal with rebar and metal wire when you are breaking up concrete? Is it a hand labor thing to cut the rebar?

[bobcat_ron]

I work along the rebar with the point, shattering the concrete off of it, then pick it out as I go with the combo bucket, if it's really nasty stuff, then I bring in the mini hoe to pick it out, but usually if you know how to snap rebar off in concrete you can do it as you hammer though the concrete.

[Gravel Rat]

Rebar and that rotten wire mesh is a pain in the azz :angry:

You can always advertise get rid of that rotten ugly paved driveway and replace it with a stamped concrete :laugh:

Ronald is right about a hammer ratting your machine apart but there is hammers out there that can isolate some of the ratting :laugh:

You need a enclosed cab thou or you will be eating some dust and going what did you say :cry:

[RockSet N' Grade]

mhilton: I just made up a brochure and had 1,000 high gloss copies made for $250. About 6 pictures of some of my jobs, my business name and services in the middle, and pics at the bottom. I will mail out 300 at end of Feb, 300 at end of March and 300 at end of May to "targets". "Targets" for me are remodel contractors, landscapers who don't have the knowledge or equipment to do what I do, suppliers of rock products, concrete contractors,pool and deck installers, and commercial developers. If I get just one or two jobs, it will have paid for itself. Last 3 years I did not advertise at all....this year, before the season starts, I am hammering at the advertising assuming it will be a tight market I want more exposure to any jobs that are out there....

[AWJ Services]

mhilton: I just made up a brochure and had 1,000 high gloss copies made for $250. About 6 pictures of some of my jobs, my business name and services in the middle, and pics at the bottom. I will mail out 300 at end of Feb, 300 at end of March and 300 at end of May to "targets". "Targets" for me are remodel contractors, landscapers who don't have the knowledge or equipment to do what I do, suppliers of rock products, concrete contractors,pool and deck installers, and commercial developers. If I get just one or two jobs, it will have paid for itself. Last 3 years I did not advertise at all....this year, before the season starts, I am hammering at the advertising assuming it will be a tight market I want more exposure to any jobs that are out there....

This is a really good idea.

The average cost of S185 Bobcat rental is about 250 dollars plus they have too provide an operator.
So most guys are at a min of 400.
Your larger equipment will be much more productive .
I rent me and my equipment out for 8 hours of machine time a day.
I would charge more for concrete demo however because it is rough on your machine and tracks.

[mhilton]

I put rebar in everything we do, non of that cheezy wire

[mhilton]

Yeah i am going to contact some companies and make new business cards up to incorporate machine services

[Gravel Rat]

Most of the time now kitty hair (fiberglass strand) is used in concrete that isn't being power troweled etc.

The only thing you probably can't be doing with the skid would be topsoil spreading. It would be a real pain in the azz to make sure you get all the black crap out of the undercarriage etc. Go do a topsoil spreading job its really wet sticky stuff then the next day you have a garage pad prep to do and you can't be dropping any black topsoil on the ground where you are going to place the concrete.

Good Luck

[bobcat_ron]

Been there, done that, steal the customer's garden hose if that happens, or time the job in reverse.

Not to brag or nothing, but that's where ASV U/C have EVERYONE beat!

[mhilton]

Topsoil is not to bad but shale or clay on a wet day

[jrdean62]

Kent and Labounty are the two companies my company uses for attachments. From what I can tell thay do a great job and require little maintenance.

[RockSet N' Grade]

mhilton: I just sent out my first wave of flyers. End of next month another wave. Updated website again, took out yellow pages.com ad. Hitting the nurseries and landscape product yards this next week to stock them up on business cards along with coffee and donuts in the a.m. The season for me is about 3-4 weeks away and I am beginning a full court press for advertising. I will be working and busy this year......I figure the early bird gets the worm or something like that....

[Stillwater]

Paint your number on the lift arms and park it in your drive way with a sign that says 200.00 per day free delivery free pick up. Oh hell go as low as 150 per day free delivery if you need to. even if it only gets taken 4 days out of a 7 day week that is 3200 or 2400 a week for doing nothing. even if it gets taken only 1 time a week at the end of the month it at least it covered the payment and all you did was drop off and pick up.

[Scag48]

Yeah, undercut the market and charge $150 a day. You must be joking, right? That'd be a good way to get started, piss off everyone else in the business.

Get your machine lettered with your name and number on it. Make it visible, eventually you'll get called up. DO NOT UNDERCHARGE. Charge what everyone else in the area is charging, you'll make more enemies than friends and you'll be bringing the market down in the area if you don't. Hard to raise your rates from $20/hr to $80/hour where they need to be once you get going. A 400% price increase is bound to piss someone off if they heard you only charged so and so $150 a day and now you're trying to charge them $640 a day.

[Stillwater]

Yeah, undercut the market and charge $150 a day. You must be joking, right? That'd be a good way to get started, piss off everyone else in the business.

Get your machine lettered with your name and number on it. Make it visible, eventually you'll get called up. DO NOT UNDERCHARGE. Charge what everyone else in the area is charging, you'll make more enemies than friends and you'll be bringing the market down in the area if you don't. Hard to raise your rates from $20/hr to $80/hour where they need to be once you get going. A 400% price increase is bound to piss someone off if they heard you only charged so and so $150 a day and now you're trying to charge them $640 a day.

No No No, I am chargeing you 200 your are chargeing them 640, I am wondering if you read the post in it's entirety, anyway Sorry you misunderstood my post, I should have been more clear,
Lowball the market? NO WAY! Piss everyone else off? who? Taylor rental? who cares about them, I certainly do not, This is for the machine ONLY the contractor or landscaper who is paying you 200 a day can charge their customer anything they want. AND the market remains untouched. So the only person who I will piss off is the nearest location where skids are rented and I do not care about them and I have no incentive or motive to protect them My idea strengthens and benefits the excavation contractors and landscapers. The group I have a interest in working with

[mhilton]

Well i do not want to just rent my machine, I want to operate it, there are alot of idiots out there and i know how people treat stuff. My tracks would be done at 500 hour and my door would problay be broke within a month

[Stillwater]

Oh man I used to think and worry about that as well. These years I am all about generating revenue now and tracking cost to benefits. If the machine is not running you are paying for it if the machine is running it is paying for itself and putting coin in the bank. If you are just intrested in wanting to be a owner operator then I suggest a more aggressive marketing plan for your skid services. You don't need to get the word out You need to push the word out that you are the go to guy.

[BobcatSteve]

Mhilton - pm me with your rental rates for the machine and also with an operator both daily and weekly. We frequently turn away work in south jersey that you might be interested in for the future.

eshskis - while you are correct about being the GO TO (http://www.877skidsteer.com) and tracking revenues to costs, It is too bad that you are not in our area. I would love to have you deliver us a new track loader to our sites for a flat $150 per day. You can be sure that it will be running a breaker for the eight hour rental. :hammerhead:

[mhilton]

BobcatSteve the site is not letting me pm, If you could go to my website and my contact info is on there www.hiltonconcrete.com

[Scag48]

No No No, I am chargeing you 200 your are chargeing them 640, I am wondering if you read the post in it's entirety, anyway Sorry you misunderstood my post, I should have been more clear

I understand now, but I don't think he's looking to rent the machine out. We looked at that as an option as well when we bought, rented our a new excavator with less than 50 hours on it and it came back a littlle beaten up.

[Stillwater]

Mhilton - pm me with your rental rates for the machine and also with an operator both daily and weekly. We frequently turn away work in south jersey that you might be interested in for the future.

eshskis - while you are correct about being the GO TO (http://www.877skidsteer.com) and tracking revenues to costs, It is too bad that you are not in our area. I would love to have you deliver us a new track loader to our sites for a flat $150 per day. You can be sure that it will be running a breaker for the eight hour rental. :hammerhead:

Hammer my head all you want, I have been doing this for a very long time, 200 for dirt bucket add 125.00 for my hammer and you grease every 2 hrs. experienced operators only. Over time you get to know who you are dealing with. My skids serve me 1 purpose and that is to generate money lots of it. plug in and run your numbers and see what it would do for you. Then run the red numbers for it sitting idle on the trailer in the yard and see what that will do for you. I turned my fear around years ago, I no longer fear the wear and tear of the machine being used and the potential for abuse, Now I just fear the machines on the trailers with no work for them and that is rare. These are tools nothing more and with obvious certainty, it's not for everyone.

[ksss]

Hammer my head all you want, I have been doing this for a very long time, 200 for dirt bucket add 125.00 for my hammer and you grease every 2 hrs. experienced operators only. Over time you get to know who you are dealing with. My skids serve me 1 purpose and that is to generate money lots of it. plug in and run your numbers and see what it would do for you. Then run the red numbers for it sitting idle on the trailer in the yard and see what that will do for you. I turned my fear around years ago, I no longer fear the wear and tear of the machine being used and the potential for abuse, Now I just fear the machines on the trailers with no work for them and that is rare. These are tools nothing more and with obvious certainty, it's not for everyone.

There is something to be said for that. I don't often rent out my machines but for certain guys I have done that. I see some guys fearing putting a hammer on their machines and would rather rent a skid steer to use for hammering. Man, I spend a lot of time with a hammer on a skid steer. I get 150 an hour so I hammer every chance I can. I use the machines like the tools they are. Most might shutter at what we do with them but I use the hell out of them. Thats why I bought the best machines to handle our kind of work IMHO of course.

[Stillwater]

There is something to be said for that. I don't often rent out my machines but for certain guys I have done that. I see some guys fearing putting a hammer on their machines and would rather rent a skid steer to use for hammering. Man, I spend a lot of time with a hammer on a skid steer. I get 150 an hour so I hammer every chance I can. I use the machines like the tools they are. Most might shutter at what we do with them but I use the hell out of them. Thats why I bought the best machines to handle our kind of work IMHO of course.

thanks.....

[mhilton]

I can see where you guys are coming from but I also run a decorative masonary business
and I will be using it 75% there and I figured since I have it I could venture into some machine services. Hey if it does good I will have no problem with buying more, I planned on buying a takeuchi excavator anyways.