Ga., S.C., N.C. Contractors

[1idejim]

If Bess is the PNW version of the LS gulfstream and the Boss is the captain, the flight attendant must be Mrs. Boss. That means dog really is the co-pilot.
Sorry Rosa, couldn't help it.
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[FLCthes4:11-12]

My 2 cents on the original question. I live about 60 mile NE of atlanta. I seriously doubt you can pull down 50k as a tech. Maybe 30-35k as a tech and 45-50k as department head but then you are likely to have the same issues as the owner. But in atlanta there is no shortage of large companies looking to hire. Come down take a job to pay bills and learn the lay of the land and go from there. I think that a owner/operator could make a fine living with a small service truck working on residental irrigation lots of 3-4 zone builder systems that make you say wtf!!! Good luck in whatever you do.

[SprinklerManNY]

Thanks for the info.

Do you work year round or seasonally? Do you winterize? How many stops are usually done a day, I heard guys talking about 3-4. Here when just residential we do 10-20.
What is the typical charge for service call, head change, turn-on?

[Mike Leary]

Originally Posted by Wet_Boots

I'd feel a whole lot better about a site if it had a separate (smaller) hose supply line for the yahoos to hook up to.

Well, I just checked the site, no blown lines, only a pilot error (mine). I had blanked the clock just before we left and added 8 new programs to give the cistern some more time to recharge. The client has raintowers with big impacts to water his pasture during the day and it always worked fine until dorfman entered "PM" instead of "AM" into a program start time. As dumb luck would have it, the zone that came on while the impacts were working, was one of my large I-20 zones and the RM flow sensor did exactly what it was programmed to do and shut the system down! Oh well, it cost me a $100.00 bucks for fuel, and we had a nice cruise back "over the hill" from Coeur d' Alene.

[koster_irrigation]

Im in NC.
Operating in the eastern half of the state. Doing irrigation only.



Theres pleeeenty to do for sure. I would stay in the service side of
things if i had to do it all over again. The overhead is too high with doing installations the bigger your business gets. Were always running into overtime every week doing 45-55 hrs per man or so. We're never "caught up"
as the saying goes, and our slow time is jan-feb.


Yes, the dirt can be really hard in certain parts of the state, Raleigh area is
maily clay-loam. East of raleigh is sandy loam and can be especially hard also. Once you get east of greenville nc & fayetteville its primarily sand.

We work all over. My trenchers are set up for rock & cup teeth.

Be prepared to get a NC irrigation contractors license before your shovel touches down, they're getting real strict. You have to pass the exam.

[pgp]

Nick if that's you stop crying!!!! LOL

[Irrigation Contractor]

Originally Posted by koster_irrigation

Im in NC.
Operating in the eastern half of the state. Doing irrigation only.



Theres pleeeenty to do for sure. I would stay in the service side of
things if i had to do it all over again. The overhead is too high with doing installations the bigger your business gets. Were always running into overtime every week doing 45-55 hrs per man or so. We're never "caught up"
as the saying goes, and our slow time is jan-feb.


Yes, the dirt can be really hard in certain parts of the state, Raleigh area is
maily clay-loam. East of raleigh is sandy loam and can be especially hard also. Once you get east of greenville nc & fayetteville its primarily sand.

We work all over. My trenchers are set up for rock & cup teeth.

Be prepared to get a NC irrigation contractors license before your shovel touches down, they're getting real strict. You have to pass the exam.

Does having the license in play keep the pricing up or does at least benefit the industry near you?

My biggest complaint around here is actually the lack of licensing and regulation. I know, I know....be careful what you wish for right?

I see the biggest projects going in around here being done by some of the worst installers due to price. It absolutely amazes me the junk installed and they keep getting away with it. Nobody is inspecting the systems and I would have thought by now it would have caught up with the contractor, owner or city codes???

[WaterWizardSprinklers]

Originally Posted by pgp

Nick if that's you stop crying!!!! LOL

LMAO!!! No it's not me....sure sounds like me though. Funny thing is I'm going to Atlanta for business (not irrigation) soon.

[Mark B]

If you were coming to NC, I would go to the supply,NC and work that section of NC. You would have Wilmington, all the way to north Myrtle Beach, SC. There are a ton large developments in that area. You would have NC17 to travel on. Plus there is some good fishing in that area.