Hauling medium sized excavators

I'm kinda curious how many excavators he buying, better be a bunch.

 

Yeah, Connecticut does not have that many excavators.

 

Well actually...
There's lots here. Plus they have a equipment auction in North Franklin CT every now n again. I think Ritchie bros bought it last year: people bring equipment from all over the east coast.

OP I'd bet you couldn't do it cheap enough with paid for equipment.
If a friend offers you a deal that sounds sweet... Ever time that happened to me in my life it was a bad deal.

 

Art Heavy Haul out of Lemont IL just liquidated their entire heavy haul fleet. The buyer came to pickup up the trailers and decided he only wanted the Fontaine's. They have a few 3 & 4 axle XLs, with or without the booster.

 

So they finally went broke on the heavy side.. I have heard they hauled on the lower pay side of things.. bye bye

 

I don't want to discourage a young man from his dreams, everybody has to start somewhere. But, you are headed down a slippery slope, be very careful here. If you can keep the business end and family/friend end separate, you will have a fighting chance. It is a lot easier to drop your price when you're too high, than it is to raise it when you're too low. At the end of the day, it still costs $x.xx/ mile to operate your truck. This doesn't mean you can't help a guy out of a jam once in a while, just be very stingy with the favors and good deals.

@cnsper hit the nail on the head. It may work a couple times, but it will eventually bite you in the ###. Others, as well as myself, have experienced this exact same thing first hand.

 

My personal experience says this deal has disaster written all over it.

I've had several deals like this fall in my lap. Difference is I already have the equipment to cover it. They all fizzle out in short order. You also learn to stay one step ahead on your money, so when it does fizzle out, you aren't the one left holding the bag.

 

Not all make and models weigh the same. Some 339's weigh in at 80k some will push 90k. Just a heads up. You'll want a sixty inch spread in Texas. 26 foot well. And I'd say go with a 50 or 55 ton. If it is lucrative enough you may want to add a stinger at some point. Definitely go seven axles. If your going be loading 70k or more.

 

This seems to be my experience as well. Some people really talk things up. Just to find they never materialize. ( not sure I spelled that correct)

 

2 years ago I got into a 7 axle setup myself.

1998 KW W900B, proper heavy specs, 3406E at 550, Brakesaver, heavy 18 speed, 20k drop axle, 46k rears on Chalmers suspension, 4 line wet kit, short wheelbase 214"

1998 Trail King 3 axle 50 ton lowboy, air lift 3rd axle, 20 or 22 foot well, 50 foot overall length.

Truck cost me 42,500, trailer cost me 32,000. That's 74,500 in equipment for some older iron. After doing a little work to each I wouldn't hesitate to take them anywhere, although I mostly do local moves I've gone on some longer road trips with no problems, but I do keep up with maintenance quite a bit.

Not sure how new you want to go but that's quite an investment for some 'buddy work' as I refer to it.