# Miss my machine now.



## woodchuck2 (Feb 27, 2008)

Last fall my mini-ex overheated on me with no notice of any problems a blew the head gasket. Being a grey market machine getting parts was a nightmare so i opted to sell it to the local junkie. He now uses it in his scrap yard but he does not use it long enough to get hot. I had a standby generator i gave an estimate for last fall and had already signed the contract so i was stuck with the price i quoted for installation. Due to the waiting period to receive the generator and the deep frost we had i opted to wait until this spring to install it. Since i no longer had my own machine i asked a friend to dig the ditch for the wiring and gas line. He just left his job and started his own business so i figured i would help him out. He runs a 9k lb Kubota 321 mini-ex and he is a very good operator. I mentioned to him that the owner may want other work done so he should try to sell himself to pick up more work and since he charges $600 for an 8hr day he might get a full days work. 

I described to him that the ditch i needed dug was a little over 90' and i wanted it about 18" deep. I told him i rounded the ditch off to 100' and that i usually charged $3 per foot on the average. He was like, "well i would like a little more than just $300, lets make it $400" . I said alright but this money was coming out of my profit as i already signed a contract. So the day before the dig i go to the job and pre run my wires in conduit and i sleeve the gas line in conduit so it all ready to go. The customer comes out and says she changed her mind on the location and moved it about 100' to the side of the home where it would be located only 50' from the home in a direct line to the service. She said not to worry about the extra wire that i had ordered and i could keep it :thumbsup:. So my friend shows up the next day, we BS with the owner a bit and we get to work. An hour later we are done so i mention to the owner that my friend can do some of the other work she had mentioned to me such as pulling some stumps and pulling large stones from the lawn. She and my friend walk around the next hour and she gets him a full days work. So i give my friend a hand loading his machine and i ask him how much did i owe him thinking it would be less since he only had to dig a 50' ditch. He was like, "the same we agreed on" 

I kept my composure, paid him and sent him on his way. I guess some friends show their true colors when all the sudden they see you as possible competition and take advantage when your in a bind. He was there a total of 3hrs, total work time was about 1hr and the rest was BS time with me and the owner drumming up more work. Even if he charged 1/2 day of what he normally charges it should have been only $300. But $400.00 to dig a 50' ditch and backfill??? Never again. With those type of billing practices i do not see him in business very long.


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## rino1494 (Jan 31, 2006)

I am on the side with you. We do stuff all the time where is turns out to be less work and we knock money off the price. He should have cut you a break, since you were helping him out in the end. Friends need to work together. 

Some may disagree, saying that he needs to cover his overhead....blah, blah, blah. In the end, it is greed and now he just lost some possible future work with you. If it wasn't for you, he would have been sitting at home on the couch.


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## Gary H (Dec 10, 2008)

I agree with rino, on this. You got thim the work, he just started out and could use the good contact you are. I can see the operaters view as he told you $400. He is looking at the money, instead of a source of income from you. And we all know how important contacts are in this poor econamy. 

You cant really say look I got you all this work, because then it looks like you are whinning. Your new ex- digger should have cut you a deal, because he made out just the same. The reason being is that you would push work his way, or aleast get the chance to bid on it. To make up any loss on that one job, he could add a little to another job, or just say fu** it, and live with the thought that he got a good contact and helped you out.


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## S.R.E. (Apr 8, 2010)

For 400.00 you should have been able to rent a machine and do it yourself. Then you could have picked up the extra work from the homeowner. That would have been all gravy.

If this guy is really a friend you might let him know why you won't be calling him again. Of course you might not have a friend any more but, he's going to wonder why you never called him again anyways. If you do talk to him let him know you aren't looking to get any money back or anything and refuse it if he offers it.


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## jkfox624 (Jun 20, 2009)

Agree with everyone above but on a side note doesnt $75 an hour seem a bit low? Maybe i just get gouged around here with the oil boom and everyone trying to make a quick buck but $100 is minimum for anything.


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## BrianHay (Jun 17, 2007)

This really sucks....but in a round about way it turned out kind of good for you. At least you know right off the hop what he is all about. And you got him figured out before getting in to deep with him bringing him in on a real big job.

Some of the biggest burns I have ever taken came from the people I let closest to me and/or tried to help out the most. I just chalk it up to experience and leave them behind.

I try not to let it bother me but it does some, I am only human. I think what bothers me the most is the vast majority are not insightful enough to understand why they got kicked to the curb or just how badly they burnt themselves when they burnt me.

This guy will likely see you working with someone else in the future and be mad about it. Because the way he probably views it is he came and helped you out and did a good job for you when you needed him.

If this is how he does business with you imagine how he does business with strangers....he will soon build the reputation he deserves which in turn will bring him in all the work he deserves


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## woodchuck2 (Feb 27, 2008)

Thanks for understanding fella's, just had to vent frustration. I just rented a machine on Friday for a job from the local hardware. Rent was $285 for the day and since my trailer is tore apart getting a new deck they let me take their trailer too. I hammered out the job that i needed it for, took it a friends place and dug him a hole for a sauna tube for a flag pole "freebie for a vet" and then took the machine to my other home and stacked up a pile of logs for firewood that i cut down last fall. As others mentioned i could have just as easily used a rental and most likely this rental for the 50' ditch but my schedule just did not allow it. Around here $75 an hour for a 8-9k lb machine is high, most folks are around $60-$65 an hour or the price may go by the job such as $3 per foot for ditches depending on soil conditions. After owning my own machine i saw what the overhead was and learned fairly well how to estimate the work involved. I will have another machine again, not this yr but most likely next yr.


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## jhark123 (Aug 26, 2008)

Around here you can rent a mini for $190/day and that's why I don't own one:thumbsup:


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