Epic VA Treemek Build

jwelchert said:
Hi Steve. I've been looking into setting a truck up myself and oddly am in a similar situation as you (working for the local electric utility). Could you share what your final build cost was? I saw somewhere through the thread, you had anticipated $350k. Is that where it came in? How much of that was for the truck, saw, crane, fab etc. if you don't mind sharing. Or if anybody out there has a setup and would share some of that information, it would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance.
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The whole shebang is about $375k. Cab and chassis was $60k. I had some add ons here and there but thats the ballpark, not to mention all the other stuff I bought to do the work.
 
Steve Connally said:
The whole shebang is about $375k. Cab and chassis was $60k. I had some add ons here and there but thats the ballpark, not to mention all the other stuff I bought to do the work.
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Got it. Thanks Steve. With being on the FD, how many hours a week on average are you keeping it moving? I'm just trying to weight out all the liabilities before I take the plunge to make sure my decision is educated. Along with many, I'd be virtually the first in my area to have one, but I want to make sure I've spread the word enough to get those contracts to keep it busy. I need to start soliciting those in my community to make sure I can keep it busy enough. I'd likely work through the build this winter.

I'd like to make the truck have a fifth wheel plate to have the ability to have a trailer pulled behind it if at all possible. I've got to work with the designers to make sure that's even possible, but if it is that'll be the route I go.
 
jwelchert said:
Got it. Thanks Steve. With being on the FD, how many hours a week on average are you keeping it moving? I'm just trying to weight out all the liabilities before I take the plunge to make sure my decision is educated. Along with many, I'd be virtually the first in my area to have one, but I want to make sure I've spread the word enough to get those contracts to keep it busy. I need to start soliciting those in my community to make sure I can keep it busy enough. I'd likely work through the build this winter.

I'd like to make the truck have a fifth wheel plate to have the ability to have a trailer pulled behind it if at all possible. I've got to work with the designers to make sure that's even possible, but if it is that'll be the route I go.
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The truck will need to make itself 3500 bucks a month -plus maintenance and fuel/oil and inspections and insurance. Realistically, the truck should get 5 grand a month and whatever is left over is split between the company and your wages.
 
Would love to know how you come to those numbers.

Steve have you stayed with your original pricing schedule or have you altered it once you have seen what costs are vs projections? Care to share gross numbers with us?
 
RoyalTree said:
Would love to know how you come to those numbers.

Steve have you stayed with your original pricing schedule or have you altered it once you have seen what costs are vs projections? Care to share gross numbers with us?
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I’m just thinking about servicing debt in 350,000 dollar range. I’m sure y’all can come up with better figures. And Canada has different insurance schemes etc. Basically it’s a guess. And probably a pretty accurate one. Plus, when you run a business, I'm sure you well know, all things need to be replaced over time... so you factor replacement cost in etc. I could do a detailed cost analysis over 10 - 15 years? But that's just the equipment, has nothing to do with the business turning a profit or the operator making a dollar.
 
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I’m averaging 24 to 32 billable hours a week. Lowest month has been 13k and best was 19k. I’ve billed 70k since March. I have adjusted from half day rates and full day rates to hourly with 4 hour minimum including an hour of travel locally. I think it’s worth way more than $175 an hour but I don’t think raising rates will help. I’m gonna loose customers. That day rate led to being taken advantage of with the “just one more piece” mentality. Now I tell them I’m at 8 including travel and if they want more it costs more. I had a 10k setback with the cab and chassis that depleted my cushion. I’m trying to play catch up on that. I have no issues having enough work my profit margin is still pretty low but there’s some of that just starting out.
 
When I retire from the fd I should be able to work 32 to 40 a week easily. I just did a travel job. That was well worth my time and led to some strong leads. I get nervous when the phone doesn’t ring but I always end up filling my days. I try not to worry too much but sometimes it gets the better of me. I can work about 5 or 6 days and pay all my bills. I’m still not paying myself but I pay all my fuel for my personal truck and the cell phone bill. That’s about 400 a month so it’s like getting paid. Plus I’ve learned how to fix stuff I always paid people to do.
 
You don’t wanna know all the stuff I’ve paid to fix on the Chassis. I’ve got a complaint out agains the dealership and am considering getting a lawyer. $10k in repairs and that doesn’t include all the lost work hours. The crane is basically maintenance free 1000 hours at a time. All that needs to be done I can do and basically for pocket change per year. The saw head has a cost with ththe learning curve but basically it’s like maintenance on a chainsaw until you break something. Luckily all my issues have been warranty except bars and chains. Chains are $26 a pop from Bailey’s and the bar is $90. First service on the boom is 1000 hours or 12 months. I only have 450 hours on it and I’ve done 57 jobs so far plus the crane school and some ISA training.
 
What else do you wanna know? I did a couple of my own jobs initially but it’s such a pain in my ass I stopped that. Now I refer all my personal customers to the company who uses me the most. It works out well. Just by using me so much he’s made enough to buy a stump grinder and a mini. He truly understand I am not a cost of doing a job but a means to make more money with less work,fatigue, and people on payroll. He’s paying me $175 an hour but netting more money than he has on removals. He uses me about 8 times a month sometimes. He’s got himself and 1 other guy so it works out. He’s crushing jobs with me. Jobs that would take a 6 man 2 climber crew to accomplish in the time the 3 of us get it done. That’s the key. Efficiency. It’s not how much you can lift at one time. It’s how efficiently you can do the entire job. I’ve taken plenty of 8k lb brush picks and spent 25 min waiting for the hook to come back. I take about 1000lbs a time and non stop
 
Steve Connally said:
What else do you wanna know? I did a couple of my own jobs initially but it’s such a pain in my ass I stopped that. Now I refer all my personal customers to the company who uses me the most. It works out well. Just by using me so much he’s made enough to buy a stump grinder and a mini. He truly understand I am not a cost of doing a job but a means to make more money with less work,fatigue, and people on payroll. He’s paying me $175 an hour but netting more money than he has on removals. He uses me about 8 times a month sometimes. He’s got himself and 1 other guy so it works out. He’s crushing jobs with me. Jobs that would take a 6 man 2 climber crew to accomplish in the time the 3 of us get it done. That’s the key. Efficiency. It’s not how much you can lift at one time. It’s how efficiently you can do the entire job. I’ve taken plenty of 8k lb brush picks and spent 25 min waiting for the hook to come back. I take about 1000lbs a time and non stop
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Yeah I kinda figured a 5 grand a month tuition for one of those. That's really not bad when you think of how much they can do. On the other hand, if all your eggs are in that basket and a major repair issue shuts you down... Well we all know what happens there... Stress-O- meter fully to the right!
 
Steve Connally said:
What else do you wanna know? I did a couple of my own jobs initially but it’s such a pain in my ass I stopped that. Now I refer all my personal customers to the company who uses me the most. It works out well. Just by using me so much he’s made enough to buy a stump grinder and a mini. He truly understand I am not a cost of doing a job but a means to make more money with less work,fatigue, and people on payroll. He’s paying me $175 an hour but netting more money than he has on removals. He uses me about 8 times a month sometimes. He’s got himself and 1 other guy so it works out. He’s crushing jobs with me. Jobs that would take a 6 man 2 climber crew to accomplish in the time the 3 of us get it done. That’s the key. Efficiency. It’s not how much you can lift at one time. It’s how efficiently you can do the entire job. I’ve taken plenty of 8k lb brush picks and spent 25 min waiting for the hook to come back. I take about 1000lbs a time and non stop
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$175/ hour is way to low
 
Steve Connally said:
About 5k a month for payment. 1100 for insurance. 6 to 800 for fuel a month. A few consumables but maybe 200 a month for those. Parking 125 a month and tolls about 50
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Extremely generous of you to share all the facts and figures you have Steve ( I'm not in the market for a crane). You're going to help people go ahead or not go ahead in some very meaningful ways.
 
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