Owner-Operator Costs of Forestry Mulching: Owner Costs Explained
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- čas přidán 1. 12. 2017
- Figuring out your Owner-Operator Costs is important to any business. This video focuses on how to develop your Owner Costs portion of the Owner-Operator Cost Worksheet.
Video by: Dave Clevinger
Clevinger Forest Services, LLC
Located in Clarksville, TN
Office: (931) 802-5910
Cell: (757) 871-5026 (call or text)
email: dclevinger@cfsmulching.com
www.cfsmulching.com
ClevingerForestServices
/ davidclevingerclevinge... - Věda a technologie
Thanks brother! I'm going to watch this again with a note pad out tomorrow.
👍👍
How anyone can give this a thumbs down I have no idea. Great video and great info. Thank you!
Haha! Yea, right? Oh well, doesn't hurt my feelings in the least. Just glad that the info is helpful and useful to people who need it out there! That's what matters.
Those are from people threatened by competition.
Because they realize that 200 dollars won’t be doing into their pockets an hour as easy as they thought
@@africankid2149 stay around 3000 per hour why won’t it go into your pocket?
This is really good information covering many of the basics for owning and operating this or any type of small start up business. What's even more impressive is that you took the time to put together an outline for people you don't even know and made a video to go over it. I'm really glad there are still people out there who don't mind spreading their knowledge from a perspective of an actual owner/operator; and for that I say Kudos! Thanks for your time.
I sincerely appreciate YOUR appreciation of this video, Ed. Thanks for your kind words, and your time to post them here.
Thank you for taking time to do this. Cannot wait to keep up with your channel.
Steven Pepin I appreciate you watching, Steve👍
Extremely helpful for scaling and getting off to a great start. Thanks, Dave!
Glad to help. O&O Costs are extremely important to know, if you want to be competitive and sustainable as a business. Good luck to you.
Awesome breakdown, Dave. Very helpful. Thanks for sharing.
Celebrity Services Thanks! Glad you found it useful.
Excellent Video! I look forward to the operating cost video. Thank you very much for the very informative and educational work.
Thanks Willie. I'm working on the Operator Costs video now. Should be up in a couple of days.
Thank you for taking the time to lay this all out. I’m just getting started and this video helps immensely! Time for me to start pulling together all my numbers to make sure I have everything covered.
Glad you found my information helpful, Jarrod. I’d say that figuring out this Owning-Operator Cost is the most critical and important task you can do. It is an excellent blueprint to follow to research the equipment and its associated costs, and when completed it is a good decision making tool, and allows you to project other business revenues and expenses. Best of luck to you👍
Awesome presentation look forward to the operational cost break down. Very good job explaining everything. Thank you so much.
Kenneth Sanders Thanks, Ken. Glad you found the information helpful. Here's the link to the Operating Cost video:
czcams.com/video/SQF8_fWCUvA/video.html
Thanks for the video. Very informative. You laid out all of the information in a very basic way which helps tremendously. When I have started looking at the numbers, it can seem very daunting but your points broke everything down effectively while still conveying the important big picture information. Very good starting point for me.
Thanks for your comment, SC. Glad the info helps. This video covered to Ownership Costs, and I still have to post the Operator Cost portion of this Cost Analysis Worksheet. But if you follow these steps and add in your realistic numbers, then the final Cost Per Hour results will get you to bottom line numbers that you can base decisions on going forward. Good luck.
Great video. Very helpful information. I look forward to watching your other videos as we are starting a family business in this industry in California!
Glad my video was helpful to you! Forestry mulching would be a great service in California. Cleaning out the under-story ladder fuels would be very helpful to stop wildfires from spreading.
Absolutely the best informative video on CZcams. You knocked it out of the park Mr. Dave. I hope you have a wonderful year and stay safe! Thanks.
Thanks! I really appreciate that.
Great job breaking it down.. Much needed information
Body By Ellis Thanks Ellis. Good to hear the information is helpful. Operator Cost details video will be out soon.
You Sir have a great approach and attitude...thank You
Don Ahlquist Thanks Don. I really appreciate that.
Very helpful guide for starters. Thank you!
Lacosanostra Glad you found this information helpful. It's an essential calculation that must be done for any successful business to make decisions.
Extremely helpful. You really made it simple. Well explained. I enjoy your videos. Thanks Craig in Alabama.
Craig Parker Glad you found this video helpful and informative. If you ever start your own business, it's very important to calculate your Owning & Operator Cost for all of your equipment.
Dave, A big THANK YOU for the great way in which you educated me on the important part of starting a business like this. Very methodical and in words that can actually understand. I amlooking forward to your next video and learn more about operational costs. Thanks again for the time and excellent info.
Hey Tom- Thanks a lot for your comment. It’s always good to hear that someone found the info in my videos helpful.
Here’s the link to the Part II of calculating the Owning-Operating Cost. czcams.com/video/Py2fKDjDI6g/video.html
4 years later still good information 👍
🤙🤙
Thanks so much for such an informative video!
bozobennett Thanks for your comment. Hope the video was helpful and answered some questions for you.
Great video very informative for someone like me that may be interested in starting a business I look forward to your next video.
David Simmons Good to hear you found my video informative, Dave👍 Appreciate you watching.
@@clevingerforestservicesllc1164 vlll
Dave - thank you for the great breakdown and itemization. I look forward to the Operating Costs video as I'm thinking about getting into the business up here in the Puget Sound area. Thanks again.
You bet, Dave. And thanks for the comment. I'm working on the Operator Costs video now, and it should be up in a couple of days. Glad its helpful to you, and good luck.
No doubt you run a successful business. I can tell you are a smart guy. I enjoyed the video, thanks for posting it.
Mark Allgood Appreciate that, Mark. Just wanted to put out there that doing the right homework first, will reduce business risk and will give you great cost detail that helps make your business more competitive.
Have more to say...but for now the compliments. Class act, from a gentlemen, you will succeed in life. Thank you.
Stephen Johnson I really do appreciate your comment, Stephen. Thank you. We reap what we sow. It's that simple for me.👍👍 And I'm happy to see others succeed, too.
Very very helpful. Thank you so much Sir !
CRISTINA DANIEL Very glad to hear you found the video helpful! Thank you, Cristina.
I’m planning on starting my own business and this video helped
Great! Knowing your costs upfront is the right path to success. This Owning-Operating Cost spreadsheet is the right place to start.
Well done. You took all the verbiage an broke it down so it's easily understood.
Michael Baumgardner Thanks Mike. It's good feedback to know that what I'm trying to explain is coming through clearly to listeners. It's kind of weird for me to be out there talking to myself with a camera, and still stay on task and focused on topic without any notes. If you have any questions about figuring out Owning Costs, just let me know.
Just saying, GOOD JOB! I’m a retired disabled veteran at 50 y/o and I have been wanting to do something that would keep me busy just enough that I work at my own pass. This is exactly what I have been thinking of doing as a business in mid Louisiana. I have watched a few of your other videos and again, great job. Thanks for sharing this info for new guys like myself....
Chris Shockley Thanks, Chris. It's good to hear you found my videos helpful. This can be a good business to operate as a one-man show, if all the numbers work out in your market area. Definitely a good way to make a second income to supplement your retirement pay👍 Hope you're doing well, and good luck to you!
Great information sir. Thanks for this!
Good to hear my video was helpful👍 Thanks!
Excellent information and very helpful!! I would be curious to see you're breakdown on Operating cost. Thanks for putting this together!
I made another video explaining Operator Cost details on my channel.
Oh. Forgot to mention I have 60 acres in Texas that I want to have cleared. Way overgrown in briers and small trees. So I have been researching best way to get this cleared. That how I found your channel and became fascinated with your work. Thanks again.
You bet, Gary. Using a forestry mulcher is definitely the best way to clear small trees and brush from land, especially if you plan on planting something on it in the future.
I appreciate you watching my videos.
Great stuff as always Dave! Thank you for the video!
Rhett Cheatwood Thanks Rhett! I've been getting a lot of feedback on these videos that are more business machine ownership related. It seems there are a lot of people that are interested in getting into business with skid-steers and mini-ex's, not just for forestry mulching, but generally. I get tons of emails with questions on the basic business decision analysis stuff, like this video on figuring out Owner-Operator Costs for machinery. So if you have customers out there on the fence about pulling the trigger on a Bobcat, some of these videos might help them out getting started.
Excellent thanks for sharing your wealth of knowledge.
You bet, Mike. I appreciate your comment. Viewers have asked me all kinds of questions, so there's also a wealth of information in the comment section of each of the videos I've posted over the years. Everything you need to know about starting, operating, and managing a forestry mulching business can be found in there.
Clevinger Forest Services, LLC you’re welcome. My son is a firefighter and works 48 on and 4 days off. He and a buddy are looking at various options for businesses. Your videos are exactly what they need as they investigate things.
Very thorough and useful information. You showed it in layman's terms. I don't have to get an accountant to explain it.
Scott Newton Thanks, Scott. That was my goal with this video, to keep it simple and helpful. It's important to figure out these numbers accurately, and not to guess at them, since this information will make or break a business. So you have to have accurate information to make decisions with. Thanks for watching and commenting.
Definitely subscribed Dave - thanks
Thanks, Chris, I appreciate you watching. I'm making a new video now. Its about using Viking blade teeth for the first time, mixed with carbide teeth. Hopefully it will have some useful information.
This is interesting, I believe you would succeed at any business you wanted to run.
It always interested me in how some owner operators go broke and other owner operators do very very well,
You see this a lot in farming, logging, trucking especially dump trucks.
You do good work, on the before and after pictures, your "after" work is second to none.
Pm Tips It is interesting. Once you have cracked the code and understand the framework to follow to start and run a business, then I do believe it does translate into any other business opportunities. It takes a clear plan, homework and understanding what you are doing. I see many people getting into forestry mulching. Some guys have great plans and do their research, and some guys just hear you can charge $200/hour (and think that all goes into their pockets) and they get over-extended buying $200,000 worth of equipment, and don't have any clue of their owner-operator cost, how to market, how to have an internet presence, who their target customer group is, etc, etc, etc. I like helping people getting started who ask questions that I can tell that they are doing their own good research. But I don't waste my time with people who start out by asking me "How much do you charge?", "How do I find customers?", and "How much can I make in a year?". Totally lazy questions. And lazy people shouldn't be attempting to run their own business. It's a lot of work that takes initiative and thinking.
@@clevingerforestservicesllc1164
I agree and follow the same mind set on web development and marketing new businesses. Thank you sir,I have been interested in this business a long while.
Thank you sir.
This was excellent! My 3rd time watching. I just did all this on my yellow notepad. Man I am grateful for you Dave! I'm kind of shocked that you base this on 500 hours. That's less than 10 per week.
Richard Andrews Good! I'm glad this was useful for you. Hopefully it was easy enough to follow along and create your own ownership cost worksheet from it. I have another video on my channel that explains the details of how to calculate your operator costs, too.
The numbers I used in this video were just generic numbers to illustrate how the formulas work. Any Hours or Dollar Costs that you input into your specific Owner-Operator Cost worksheet should be for your specific business plan, equipment, and costs that you've researched.
Appreciate your comment, Rich.
@@clevingerforestservicesllc1164 I understand. Thank you my friend.
Thank you Dave. A very nice and informative video. Looking forward to more. Allen over here in Washington State. Forest fire country. Some areas are using or considering forest mulching to keep fire danger down. It might be a good ad on to my excavating business.
Hi Allen- I've gotten calls from guys in CA, OR, WA, and ID looking into getting into forestry mulching, since they all mentioned their states are leaning forward, or starting, forest management practices. These machines are perfect for clearing the under-story, also called ladder fuels. Just makes sense to do it. I lived in Germany for 10 years, and most European countries manage all of their public lands.
Thank you great video
Glad it was helpful!
Great video
Michael Smith Appreciate it, Mike. Glad it was useful.
Excellent Sight Dude!!!
Thanks!
Great information.
Thanks! Appreciate you watching.
Thank you!
You bet, Brian. Thanks for watching.
thanks great advice
Glad to hear you found the video useful. Thanks, Dave!
very well done Mr Dave, just subscribed from central oregon and enjoy your approach to making videos and detailed explanations. I don't own my own business but have often thought of and wanted to work for myself and mulching was actually one of my ideas. I liked this video very much as there aren't many videos that break this down and explain everything how you have. Yes it would be very hard to stay on task talking to yourself but you got er done haha.
Hi Woos. Thanks for the good word. Glad to hear you find my videos interesting, informative, and/or helpful. I'd recommend to anyone who has a go-getter personality and work ethic to start their own business, no matter what field its in. Its very satisfying. I try to post videos that potential customers can relate to as far as what a forestry mulcher can do for them, and also some geared for those interested in the business side of things. These are just based on my experience and knowledge of some things, and I'm not the guru, but any information can be helpful to folks out there.
Clevinger Forest Services, LLC yes sir it is very helpful even for me. I would love to work for myself and especially the satisfaction of it but I'm not sure what I would or should focus my attention on. Most all my equipment experience is around construction but forestry is where my heart is as all my family were Pacific northwest timber Fallers and or loggers of some form. I work for a county road department and we just traded the usfs roadside mowing for cost of our permit to use their road next year for a chipseal project, and I'm hooked! we had a boom flail and a 60" brush hog attachment for a cat 299 track skid steer like your size machine. I enjoy working hard and doing what I agree to and then some........thats how I was raised and it feels right to operate like that. My issues are I haven't "experience" or connections to the work I want to do nor the position really for financing or funding for start up and waiting for the first check to come. I do enjoy your knowledge and sharing that, so keep at it Dave and safe mulching
Woos - I'm in similar territory up near Puget Sound and would be interested in what equipment choices you make. It sounds like you will be rocking and rolling pretty soon!
Dave H honestly for me right now, this whole thing is kind of a pipe dream..........meaning I've been very very fortunate to have the job I do with full benefits for myself and my family, vacation time earned, paid holidays and the like. County road maintenance in Bend, Oregon isn't real lucrative but will pay off in the end when I retire.....now that doesn't mean at all that I wouldn't love to doing that for myself.
Awesome video man! Looking to take my business into the land clearing ASAP.
Awesome! Good luck to you.
very informative you covered all the bases as a former owner operator i can say that you must study your target area and see how many others are also doing this.
Jeddco66 Thanks for your comment, Jed. Your absolutely right. You have to do your homework on figuring out your local area as far as competition in the market, who are your customers going to be, and if the physical conditions of the landscape are conducive for a forestry mulcher to be an effective land clearing tool in that area. If you don't mind me asking, why did you get out of the business? That might be helpful for others to read as part of this conversation. Thanks.
I had to quit driving because of a spine injury and a life style change so i sold all to my partners.
Jeddco66 Oh, dang! Back injuries are the worst. Chronic pain is not fun. Sorry to hear that, but hope things worked out for you.
I own a Landscaping company and have grown exponentially over the last 10 years. This video brought me back to the basics which as you grow you sometimes forget. Thank you for this. We don't own a mulcher but have a toro tx1000 mini skid with a brush mower and a John Deere with a brush mower. I do enjoy your videos, keep it up. Jason
Crew Cut Services Thanks for your comment. You're doing all the right things if your business is thriving for 10 years, since it's very competitive. Congratulations on that.
I work with several landscapers who will take on bigger clearing jobs, and sub the bigger mulching part to me. It's a win-win for both of us. I give them favorable pricing so they can build a competitive job bid, and they can expand into bigger clearing jobs without committing to the additional cost and maintenance of a forestry mulching machine.
Continued good luck with your business.
Thank you for the excellent financial analysis. Very helpful information. Looking forward to understanding operational costs for the mulching equipment (fuel, lubricants, parts, mulcher teeth, etc). Could you also provide some information regarding the trailer and truck used to transport your equipment?
aeromechanix I appreciate your good feedback. Glad this information is useful and helpful to you. The Operator Costs portion of the O& O Cost Analysis worksheet is a little more extensive than this Owner Costs portion, so I will get that video together when I have a break in my schedule in a week or two.
As to details covering trailer and truck, I did GoPro some video the same day I made this Owner Cost video, since I had all of the component equipment sitting there. This video will talk about the logical process of selecting the the right equipment to accomplish the core mission focus of a forestry mulching business, and the considerations of how to select equipment that optimizes the value of the money spent on this equipment. I'll be editing this video over the next few days and get it posted next week.
Your thinking of all of the related components of this business is right on track. Shows seriousness and thoroughness, which are both absolutely required by a person launching a business.👍👍
You provide pertinent and valuable information for those looking to purchase/lease land clearing machines and attachments - thank you, very helpful for me. Surprised you've only got 27+k views since 2017.
Chris Sanford Thanks, Chris! It always surprises me how different videos get very different amounts of views. I don't know if it's how the algorithm works, or how I title them.
Thank you sir
Eric Davis You bet. Hope it was helpful to you.
Subbed, thanks Dave
I appreciate you watching. Thanks Huff!
Great info
Thanks! Appreciate that.
Thank you
You bet. A little bit of the right information can make a big difference to a business.
Thank you! This was great information, as I am starting my own small business with no experience. I am relocating to Tennessee and will be purchasing a small farm with a home and storage facility. I look forward to any advise you can provide in the near future. Thank you once again!
Thanks, It’s always good to hear that someone found my information helpful. Best of luck with your new property and business!
Exactly what I was looking for. I'm pushing 60 hard, and looking at a 3rd career. It seems like this is a slightly tapped service in my area, and there is room for competition.
Never be afraid of competition. Just be better than the other guy.
Awesome job rather than burn it. Good on u mate
Mulching is the way to go🤙
Dave, I just wanted to say thank you for providing some very down to earth information. I can tell your business plan is methodical and well thought out. I am eagerly awaiting you next video. I am planning on retiring shortly fortunately at a pretty young age and am looking at starting this type of businesses in my area. I would really like to converse further with you as I get closer to my start up. I’ll shoot you an email when I get a little closer if that’s ok.
Happy New Year!
Mark B Hi Mark- I'm glad to hear that my videos are helpful to others. That's my goal. Email me anytime with your questions or thought. Be glad to help in any way I can. dclevinger@cfsmulching.com
Did you ever start this business?
@@scottydoesntknow254 Yes I actually started my business before I retired. It has been a good venture and learning experience. Since I have retired I have quit advertising and have started to just cherry pick the jobs I want to do. I guess being retired has kind of made me focus a little bit more on things most important to me,like my grandsons a little more and therefore less focus on working 40 hrs a week on mulching.
@@markbarnes1963 thats awesome. I may be getting medically retired from the military and really want to do this kind of work but its very nerv racking to get in such debt because we need to get a house too.
@@scottydoesntknow254 I ended up getting with my local Bobcat dealer and he hooked me up with used machine and mulcher. I was in for about $65,000. I financed it for 5 years and had a payment of $1200 a month. I also bought a trailer and financed it as well with a payment of $130 a month. I had a truck to pull it with so I just needed to make around $1500 a month to cover payments and insurance. The biggest struggle I found was not finding work but not being able to make money when the machine was down. Even with a new machine under warranty there are repair delay issues. I am lucky that the area (central Florida) that I’m in, has plenty of work and I can generally bill out at $200 an hour.
Boy I tell you, I’ve been in the towing business for over 20 years. It’s a good business but I’m getting tired of the traffic dangers that we face everyday.
I’ve been looking at machines for a month now. My friend is a land developer so he’s helping me out on picking the machine for me. Hopefully this works out for me but anything is better than towing vehicles off the highway.
Yes, I agree. I hate being on the side of roads. People are so distracted and its so dangerous. Hope your new career change works out. No traffic in the woods!
Good information and well explained. I really like how you cleared out the woods on your own property. Do you go as far east as Scott County? We would like to thin out some of the 38 acres we have adjoining Big South Fork River & Recreation Atea. Thanks, Tim
Cliffside Acres Thanks, Tim. The area I showed in this video was a thick, gnarly, mess of vines, briars, and bent trees. I get way more enjoyment from my land now that I've thinned it out. It looks like a park.
Sorry, but I don't travel out to Scott County. It's beautiful country out there. I try to stay within 60-miles of Clarksville, TN. I don't know of any operators out your way, or I'd recommend one for you. I've had many calls from land-owners in East Tennessee, so there might be a business opportunity in that area.
Great Video helped a ton. Are you still going to do the operating cost video?
Nicholas Nealy Glad the info was helpful to you, Nicholas. Yes, I'll post the video on Operator Costs sometime around Jan 7. I'm currently out of town for the holidays. Figuring out your Owner-Operator Costs for a piece of equipment is one of the most important first steps in the business decision making process. It has to be done. It determines the minimum price you need to charge to sustain your business. So the video will be good stuff!
Clevinger Forest Services, LLC ok Thanks alot!
Would enjoy seeing the operator cost and profit video.
Body By Ellis The Operator Costs video will be out in a week or so. I've got a few jobs to knock out before Christmas first. Thanks for your feedback, Ellis.
Clevinger Forest Services, LLC you're welcome. Anytime
Even if your oener operator add operator cost to pay yourself seperate from profit if something hapens youll have to pay . If not you have a secure pay check..
Yes, I do add the operator wage (which I am the operator) into the Operating Cost calculation, separate and before the profit margin is added into to the overall price per hour that I charge.
Here are two videos I made that explain in detail how to calculate Owner-Operator Cost of a piece of equipment:
czcams.com/video/D8jmDlM1_bs/video.html
czcams.com/video/Py2fKDjDI6g/video.html
👍👍👍👍👍👍
carlj3515 👍
Can you go over what you use for billing software. Such as quick books or just use a receipt book etc..
Mustang power I use Quickbooks Pro. It's just an all-around professional business accounting and management software. Besides being important at tax time, it seamlessly lets you set up a customer database and you can send them estimates, invoices, and receipts directly from the Quickbooks program. It's also very good for inputting all of your business expense receipts which allows you to query this database at anytime to review individual or categories of total amounts you paid for items over a specific period of time. You can also link Quickbooks Pro to your business bank account, which allows you to reconcile your books, and also allows for customers to pay their invoice directly online through the invoice to the bank.
Outstanding video Dave. One point of clarification for your viewers though. At 21:17 you say "$70,000 divided by 500 hours equals $46.67". What you meant to say is that $70,000 divided by 1500 hours (3 years) equals $46.67 per hour. I don't think anyone caught it except for the occasional anal airline pilot like myself. Yea, it's geeky stuff and I catch stuff like that.
Thomas Schwarzkopf You are correct, Tom! That was a quiz just to see who was paying attention😆
You obviously got the concept of doing the math. I should have pulled out my whiz-wheel to back up my ad-libbing calculations. That gadget would have blown some minds.
hey buddy, very good write up. I'm looking at starting a mulching business in Missouri. I was wondering the type of people and places you target for business. I was also wondering how you drum up business without having the equipment. I'm not afraid to go 120k in debt, I'm afraid of not having the work once i get there. Currently there are 3 other companys that offer this and the closest is approximately 50 miles away.
Thanks for commenting.
I haven't had to do any advertising to target certain people. My customers find me either online, word-of-mouth, or repeat customers.
I have a website: www.cfsmulching.com
A business Facebook: facebook.com/ClevingerForestServices/
A CZcams Channel: czcams.com/channels/xj06Pe04AzSlrho9rCPNdw.html
I don't think you can actually drum up business if you don't have the equipment to perform your business. Not sure what you mean by that. Starting any kind of business takes research into figuring out if you'll have enough customers in your specific area. If there are three other companies doing forestry mulching, I think that is a good indication that there are people wanting forestry mulching done. Just have to get out there and compete.
Thanks for your videos they are very helpful and you pretty much cover it all you seem like a layback guy do you have any employees to help you
TCC I Thanks for your feedback. Good to know this information is helpful to you. That's my goal with these.
As far as my nature, I am a very calm and very focused person. 26+ years as an Army helicopter pilot will do that to a person.
The majority of my business does not require a crew, but on jobs where it does require several people, my business model is to flex hire subcontract help. That keeps my business overhead streamlined.
Dave - so you went from beating the air into submission to beating the brush into submission? ;)
Dave H Haha! You're exactly right! Guess it's in my nature to defy nature. 👍
Curious about the stumps left below the ground. If say a farmer is going to be plowing and planting later, how do the stumps affect this and what needs to be done to remove them? So is business best if customer is only looking to have above ground cleared. I may not understand the process enough but hopefully you get my question and are able to answer it in some way. Thanks and love your videos.
Glad you like my videos. Thanks.
Every farm I ever worked on, and I work a lot of farms, the farmer actually prefers leaving the stump in the ground. They want it mulched down even with the surface of the soil so equipment won't get hung up on it. They are most concerned about saving their top soil. Stumps, as well as all the mulch, will decompose over time, and it's all good nutrients to be put back into the soil. Not many farmer "plow" soil anymore, its mostly no-till planting and broad-seeding. These skid-steer sized forestry mulchers are designed for trees only up to 8"-diameters, so these don't have large stumps that could potentially cause depressions in the soil after they rot away. A big tractor will just plow up any of these smaller stumps, if they do need to plow the first year. After a year they are pretty rotted and weak.
Thank you. Love watching the videos.
Excellent information to help people thank you for your time in this. Did you say you purchase (finance) or lease?
I purchase my machines, for a few reasons- First, purchasing has a lower monthly payment than leasing. Second, you can depreciate the machine at tax time, which is a lot and is great for off-setting revenues. You can not depreciate a leased machine. One down-side to purchasing is that to buy your first machine, you will most likely have to put up some equity money to get financing. I generally would recommend trying to finance through the dealership, since they can be easier to get financing through.
@@clevingerforestservicesllc1164 thank you! I’m currently a Firefighter Paramedic in California who just bought property in Idaho. I will be leaving my job in California soon and I’m looking at options for work out there when we make the move. I have heavy equipment operating experience prior to the fire service. I really enjoyed it. This looks like something I would enjoy and living in a rural area I think there would be a great market for it. I plan to rent a skid to clear my land to hone my skills. Hopefully I can find a mulching implement to rent as well. See how it goes and then make the decision to pursue it or not. My land is paid for, and plan to build with cash. I figure if all is paid off then I just need to make ends meat to provide for my 3 kids and wife. Appreciate your channel
That's crazy this video was 4 years ago and now the price of a Bobcat with mulcher is around $140k! I asked around yesterday....
Yes, the supply chain slow down after the Covid issue has really caused a decrease in supply of machines, while the demand has gone up. It’s crazy what new equipment, along with everything else, costs now!
I want more. Please
joe dailey Thanks Joe. I'll have the Operator Cost details video out in a week or so. Gotta get some customer jobs knocked out before Christmas first.
Hi Dave, great video, well thought out. Do you need to be licensed from the state to perform this type of work?
Thanks. No state license is required for this business category of work.
@@clevingerforestservicesllc1164 10/4. I truly appreciate you sharing the information that you've posted. I only created this CZcams account to be able to comment on these videos and converse with you. Talk soon, from Michigan.
- Nighted
Hello, Thanks a lot for sharing your expertise (You are a PRO). I read every comment and answers on you videos, and the $46.67/hr (clarified by Thomas Schwarzkopf) should be easy to figure it out for a future business owner.
No offense intended, I personally would like to include the truck value, and some necessary tools for this trade when repairs, some times, will slow me down with my jobs and customers, if needed, I can do most repairs myself with a used mill, a lathe, a good welding, sowing, and hydraulic press with the right size fittings and crimping tools, BUT if people takes care of their equipment, AS YOU COMMENT on other videos, they can save lots of money and downtime.
Pay close attention to Dave's comments and experience. They have a lot of teaching.
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Thanks for this comment. I’m glad my videos and answers to comments were informative and helpful to you, and anyone else! Thanks!
Great video. On average how many hours do you work per year?
Mark Kness Thanks Mark, I appreciate that.
The number of hours per year my business does is proprietary information, and hope you understand under this open forum. I will say that I meet my business revenue targets, and I have consistent work all year round. I purchase new, replacement Bobcat T-770 and Ram 3500 trucks every 3-years so I can keep them under full dealership warranties, according to my business plan and it sustains itself. I know that's vague, but you can draw some conclusions. No two business plans have the same exact goals, so my business numbers are not relevant for comparison unless our business plans/goals are similar. If you're in the process of a business start-up and would like some assistance, feel free to contact me off-line and we can discuss things: dclevinger@cfsmulching.com
What's a ballpark on how much would it cost to buy a unit to start out .
A new Bobcat T770 costs about $83,000. A new Fecon mulcher head costs about $23,000. A new trailer costs about $6,300. A new Dodge Ram 3500 w/diesel engine costs about $54,000. But you don't have to buy new equipment.
Do you require a deposit of any kind first? I'm in the lawn service business and am wanting to sell and get into the land clearing but I know how customers can be and I know this would be a much larger hit if a customer refuses to pay at the end
I only ask for a 1/3 advance payment when the job is going to take 5-days or more, otherwise, I do not ask for pre-payment.
I ask all customers for payment at the end of the job, after they inspect the finished work and are happy with it. 95% of customers pay me the day I finish, 4.99% pay online when I email their invoice. I’ve only had two customers in 7-years that paid in the 30-60 day range, and they were both home builders.
And I operate on a handshake here in Tennessee, and I also don’t do and type of formal contract work for utilities or government.
I discuss the work to be done before I begin, and try to be very clear to set the correct expectations for what the finished job will look like. I just don’t have any issues with customers paying.
How do you do an estimate ? Do you charge by the square footage of property?
I look at three main things when I look at a customers property to be cleared: type and size of material to be mulched, density of the material, and the terrain.
When I first started in business, I practiced with my machine clearing areas with these different characteristics. I would note the time it took to complete an area, then I would walk around the boundaries of the area I cleared with an app that would calculate the square feet or acreage. I'd then convert this into time (in hours) per 1-acre, and I would mentally note the type, density and terrain. After some experience, I can look at an area, I can estimate if that area will take me 3 hours per acre, or 11-hours per acre, and everything in between. If a customer knows he has a 5-acre field, then I can give him a close time/cost estimate for the whole job. If they don't have any idea how much ground they have to be cleared, then I give them a cost per acre estimate, and I work by the hour. I generally just give estimates, and NOT job quotes. It's been my experience that most people don't know how much area they want cleared, so to manage that risk of either under-quoting a job, or quoting a cost that adds too much fluff that it seems unreasonable to the customer, I give cost per acre estimates, and then I work by the hour.
Before you buy the tractor do you have the right truck to pull it if you have a 1500 it’s probably not gonna be able to do it you’re gonna need a diesel truck plus the trailer to pull it then the tractor and all that good stuff
Start first with the tractor and all the equipment you will need to haul. Add up the weights of all this equipment. Second- select the trailer length and GVWR based on how much deck space the equipment needs, and make sure the USEABLE load weight of the trailer can safely carry the equipment. (Trailers have three important weights you have to know- 1-the actual weight of the trailer itself, 2- Useable load weight, and 3- the trailers’ GVWR. (this is the weight of the trailer plus the useable load weight).
Third- Buy a truck that is rated to safely haul the GVWR of the loaded trailer.
I wouldn’t use a Ram 1500 or F-150 to haul 18,000-20,000 lbs of stuff.
NO! I just started my business and I traded my 2013 Chevy 2500 Duramax for a 3500 dually. Would the 2500 tow it, yes, BUT when you have a 8,000# trailer, a 15,500# Deere 334P with FAE mulcher and a truck with a auxiliary fuel tank, tool box full of tools, you're looking around 30,000+# or more safety becomes a issue! When you have a company name placards on your tow vehicle highway patrol WILL stop you and inspect everything to the load rating of your truck, trailer, registered weight, and even the tire load rating, and if anything is over its rating you will be shutdown and fined extensively! When you get this much weight you're in CDL territory and bordering on DOT # and subject to DOT # and log books! It is a slippery slope
Have an accountant set up a chart of accounts using quicken or QuickBooks include an equipment and supplies database . have your dealer give you equipment hours for service. They can tell you by here top selling parts needed for repair. Then a shop rate for a service. Negoiate a reduced rate for time and materials. Make a schedule for your downtime and vendors down time that does preventive work and schedule. I n high season you may have to wait for parts put them into inventory if hard to locate and time is money. I assume a complete set of cutter heads in inventory or possible hydraulic lines. A lit of parts you bought and number of machine hours. I would be willing to pay you for this info if I decide to go into this biz in the Pacific Northwest
Robert Jackson Sounds like you know something about fleet maintenance management, Robert👍
Do u need a CDL for your set up
Answered many times in comments below.
I'm missing something. I get $70,000 divided by 500 hours as $140 per hour?
I mis-spoke in the video, but I had a pop up note correcting what I said. Line 3A of the Ownership Cost is Net Value divided by Total Hours (ownership usage), which in this example was 70,000 / 1500 =46.67. In the video I said 500 hours, but I meant to say 1500. This is calculated by taking the ownership period in years (3), multiplied by the estimated hours per year of usage (500). I.E. 3x500=1500. What you are looking to find is the total dollar amount you have to recover, and divide that number by the total hours that you expect to run that machine for as long as you plan on owning it.
Hope this makes sense.
Is the 500 hours usually what you run in a year?
Hawkins Schirmer No, I just used that as a round number as an example for this video. The number of hours of work one forestry mulching machine can do will be based on the business owners goals, local customer base and environment, and local competition. The actual number of billable hours my business does per year is proprietary information.
500 hours on the machine is 500 hours on admin and 500 on travel as well. Look at 500 as 500 billable hours.
Tennessee taxes your assets? That’s insane.
Yes, business taxes in TN does include a county tax on your business assets, and the state taxes your gross revenues.
Paying taxes every year on the same pieces of equipment and other assets, is totally out of control. Even though they automatically depreciate your listed assets yearly resulting in lower taxes, It makes no reasonable sense to be forced to continue to be taxed repeatedly on the same piece of property, in addition to the original sales tax paid when purchased. Makes no sense since it is a negative incentive to purchase additional equipment needed to grow a business.
Can you install metal tracks on a t770 easily
Michael Pici I don't have any experience or knowledge about using metal tracks on my Bobcat, so I can't give you a good answer on that, Mike.
Hi, so this shows only owner cost. Where the profit for yourself
Adan Rodriguez I have post another video how to calculate the Operator Costs: czcams.com/video/Py2fKDjDI6g/video.html
The function of this Owner-Operator Cost worksheet is primarily to determine what a specific piece of equipment will cost per hour to run. Thats it. Its a tool to use to make business decisions from. One decision it helps you make is to compare this basic cost to what the market in your area will pay for this service. If your O&O Cost is $120/hour, and your customers will pat &150/hour, then that difference is your profit, and you can decide if that is worth being in business for. Thats the business decision process. You don’t determine your profit, the market does. But you can also game this another way- you can calculate your O&O Cost. Multiply this by the percentage of profit you NEED to make, then compare this amount to what the market will pay in your area. So if your O&O Cost is $125/hr and you need a 25% profit based on how many hours you think you will work per year, then multiply 125 x .25 = 31.25. Add this together to get the price per hour you should charge= $156.25 per hour. If your customers will pay that, then you know for each hour you work, you are covering the cost of your equipment, plus your profit for you. Then its a matter of getting enough billable hours per year to hit your revenue goals.
@@clevingerforestservicesllc1164 Well said. I like the percentage multiplier method. It's a measurable source of data that can be documented in MS Excel and compared with over time if you had to adjust it.
Dave a guy today quoted me 5,500.00 per hr! That"s a dollar a minute! What gives? Yes, show the rest of story. 20,000 dollars to do 4.5 acres. Who is paying these Prices for your services?
dan mekeel Ah, something is wrong there. That sounds like a mis-communication. The most expensive price that a skidsteer sized mulcher would charge is $250/hr. And the largest, industrial-size, commercial mulchers are, I would guess under $700/hr. So something is wrong with that quote. Unless you are talking about some extreme terrain clearing or some outrageous circumstance. Sometimes people will bid an extreme job that they know no one else will attempt to do, so if you really need it done, then you are going to pay for it.
Thanks Dave.
Why not just charge per job why per hour hourly dosent make sense with heavy equipment
Charging by the hour reduces the risk of under-estimating a job when you can not see all of the area to be cleared. Also, my customers found this to be very fair. I never lost money on a job, and all of my customers were very happy.
@@clevingerforestservicesllc1164 so you charge per hour with no other fee and still make out a good profit thats crazy no delivery fees dump fees etc
your math is wrong on line # 7 add it all up its not $55.47
This was more about explaining the factors that make up Ownership Costs, and the basic formulas used to calculate each one. But I'm glad you were paying attention to the math enough to sharp-shoot the teacher. You're one of THOSE people. lol
@@clevingerforestservicesllc1164 I just want to be sure, even by your example that got me confused with the numbers not adding up and want to be sure....I'm just right over here in Knoxville and I'm wanting to start up a skid steer business doing residential grading putting in swales and dressing the lots. I'm self learning and starting at the bottom is tricky...I got well than enough experience with the work as well as doing the bigger site grading with GPS dozers doing work all over town....I'm about there I just need the extra little things get started and to be able to go into this without and records and off the head by the hour pricing to be competitive, so many factors in this line of estimating...I would have very low overhead and great with figuring and delivering high production...I hate going to you tube but some videos has helped but sill got to hit the books and doing it in person really helps...I say after the first bid or two ill have it understood...
good video; would be far better if edited to 20 minutes.
George 35 minutes for good, free advice is well worth it to many people navigating the hurdles to starting up a business.
@@clevingerforestservicesllc1164 I agree we’ll
Worth it for free
I’m not sure why you wasted that much time trying to figure out totals you need to be around $3,000.00 per hour to earn money that’s what I do
I should’ve done that😂
This guy has it all figured out
Great video
Thanks! I appreciate you watching, Doug.