By Mark Clement
Many building contractors—especially remodelers and custom home builders—have problems maintaining their schedule with excavation contractors notoriously delayed by weather and other problems. When excavation and site-prep are delayed, the builder's critical path gets caught on the side of the road before the framing package is even dropped. To combat this, they bring excavation and site work in-house by buying their own earth moving equipment.
This is what custom builder Dave Crosby did. It changed his life—and his business. He got so busy subbing himself and his equipment out to other builders beleaguered by the same problems that he's now a full-time excavation contractor—and the go-to guy for custom builders and remodelers. What's more, because Crosby was once on the other side of the framing nailer, he knows a builder's concerns and knows how to help them keep their schedules.
If you're thinking of taking earth work under your roof, the main question to answer is what kind of machine works best for your kinds of projects. Here's what Crosby says:
For in-fill/urban/close-quarters work, there's no beating the 5-1/2 foot wide CAT 303.5CR. The minimal tail-swing allows you to maneuver it between and behind houses and buildings to get at places traditional excavators can't go. It also has a knock-down blade so you can grade out soil and fill after the foundation is in.
The 303.5CR is also an ideal machine for demolition of single story buildings using a hydraulic thumb. For example, if you're doing a tear-down/rebuild, using the 303.5CR you can have the building in dumpster in short order. Try that with a gang of goons and some recip saws! You also maintain quality control—and schedule control while bringing in profit, rather than paying for a sub. In progress design changes from the builder are easy to handle, too: no stress, no delays, just profit and happy clients.
A good yin to the 303's yang is the CAT 262B Skid Steer. What the 303 lacks in load-and-carry capability, the 262 is bristling with. But it's also small enough to move around in tight spots that urban remodelers and custom in-fill builders confront every day.
If you have more room to move, say in the suburbs, rural areas or new construction, the CAT 420D backhoe/front-end loader is the way to go. As Crosby puts it, this is the one machine to have if you can have only one. With the backhoe, you can trench, install septic systems and dig out foundations while the front-end loader gives you options for load-and-carry work. You can get material into dump trucks or move it around on site easily. The piloted hydraulic controls of the 420D make it a pleasure to operate, and the power and productivity of this machine lead the field.
If it sounds like Crosby is sold on CAT equipment, it's because he is. "I only make money when I'm working, and the faster I work the more money I make," he says. He tracks the productivity, cost of ownership, maintenance, fuel consumption, repair costs and downtime of everything he owns, too, so this is no faint praise. "When it comes to building the most productive machines and keeping them in service, Caterpillar leads the industry in parts availability, technical support, shop service, field service and reliability. Their institutional support is breathtaking," he says.
Operator comfort is also a key feature. The creature comforts that CAT offers (A/C, radio, well-designed controls, good visibility, suspension seats) all help keep my employees healthy, happy and safe. A comfortable operator is a safe and productive operator. And that extends well into the bottom line business of bringing the earthwork in house.
www.Cat.com
Mark Clement is a remodeler and author of The Carpenter's Notebook and The Kid's Carpenter's Workbook, Fun Family Projects! Find out more at
www.TheCarpentersNotebook.com.
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