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truck crane rates?

ponytl | Posted in Business on July 4, 2007 07:23am

not have’n hired any crane work for a few years and have’n offers from friend to lift stuff for me for free i really had no idea what to expect…

crane came… had to set up in 4 different places  to set 20 roof top ac units… 60ft  truck mounted crane… we did all the rigging and pointing… just by chance i knew the opperator (an old race’n buddy that by luck i never wrecked)…

took 2.5 hours…

total bill $225.00   he set every unit within inches of the roof deck (blind to him) so that i could put sleepers down for them to rest on… then set them down… just about perfect everytime… 

zero complaints… and well worth the $$$  they didn’t cut me any deals standard rates…   just seemed cheap to me… not complain’n 🙂

p 

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Replies

  1. davidmeiland | Jul 04, 2007 07:34am | #1

    That's fast and cheap. Lemme guess, you would have paid $400-500 for that if asked, therefore he left a couple hundred on the table.

    1. ponytl | Jul 04, 2007 04:51pm | #5

      would i have paid $400-500.00  ?     LOL   no but i'm tight... would it have been worth it?  yes....  I knew the rate  $90.00 hr  2hr min. price starts when they leave the shop.... (less than 5 miles from me) when i called to check prices and times...

      i figured on about $300-350....    I have a large sign shop 100yds from me that i'm good friends with and they offered to do it for free...  but i didn't know how long it'd take and for $90 an hour i hated to tie up a crane i know they paid 200k for...

      the crane they used was truck mounted (f7000 ford)  their smallest one... 60ft   he didn't have to rig the jib... i knew what time he'd be there so i had all the units on the lot & ready...  my bobcat with forks move'n each one into place for him to lift...  I know the driver/operator and he told me they were all union... so i assume he's paid well... he knew what he was doing so that i'm sure saved time on my bill as well...

      I would guess that a truck mounted crane like the one used dollar for dollar being as simple as it is would be more profitable than some larger more complex ones... he told me he'd been on another site before me... and had another job when he left me...

      i was sated

      p

      1. slykarma | Jul 04, 2007 05:06pm | #6

        In my experience crane time is almost always money well spent. Wish I could get truck crane for under 100/hr.

         Lignum est bonum.

  2. gzajac | Jul 04, 2007 01:01pm | #2

    Great price-Here in Connecticut it would have been $360 for the minimum.

    Greg

  3. User avater
    BossHog | Jul 04, 2007 01:39pm | #3

    Around here a crane that size is about $100 an hour. Sounds like your rates were right in that area.

    I'm Not Crazy - I'm Eccentric
  4. User avater
    dieselpig | Jul 04, 2007 03:13pm | #4

    I think I usually have to pay the 4hr minimum of $400.  That four hours covers travel time too so I usually get about 2 1/2 hours of on-site time for that money.... but rarely need more than an hour of it.  BUT.... it always seems to be an easy check to write.

    View Image
  5. IdahoDon | Jul 04, 2007 05:15pm | #7

    About $100/hr. here as well. 

     

    Beer was created so carpenters wouldn't rule the world.

  6. frenchy | Jul 04, 2007 07:33pm | #8

    ponytl,

     I take it you still haven't purchased a telehandler.. OK you're leaving money on the table.    But at least your crane guy is treating you right..

    1. User avater
      dieselpig | Jul 06, 2007 04:20pm | #10

      I've got a telehandler Frenchy.... and there's jobs I still hire a boom truck for.  The boom trucks can get to places that I can only dream about with a telehandler.  They're great machines dude...... but they're not the be-all, end-all solution to everyone's building problems that you always portray them as.  IMO, you doing a disservice to people by recommending they go out and buy $60K+ machine that may not be the right tool for their job.View Image

      1. davidmeiland | Jul 06, 2007 04:51pm | #11

        ... and you thought I was busting someone's balls over the price of a chopsaw!

        1. User avater
          dieselpig | Jul 06, 2007 08:36pm | #12

          Why you gotta bring up old sh2t?  LOL..... the sales pitch just gets old after awhile.... more so when it doesn't really even relate to the topic at hand.  Warped wood?  Buy a telehandler.  Your concrete sub took a check and ran?  Buy a telehandler.  Need to change a lightbult?  You guessed it.... buy a telehandler.   As you know... I'm a full time framer Dave.  And there's months that go by that I can barely justify owning one.View Image

          1. ponytl | Jul 07, 2007 01:55am | #13

            as soon as i can find one that needs just a little work that i can get for $700 don't think i won't have one... when i got my outdoor sissor lift the guy had a grove crane not truck mount but you could drive it on the street... it was a bank deal and $1500 would have bought it... but it was 500miles away   don't think i didn't  mapquest back roads  but at 30-40mph  just didn't seem like a road trip i wanted to take...

            i built a boom for my sissor lift  so i could have used it to lift my ac units... (it has a 7ft x 12ft platform) but... the crane deal was better/faster... i will use the sissor lift for 3 lower roof units i didn't want to set yet for fear they'd be copper mined... but they are small  under 250lb units...

            i can always find a way to cut costs to right at zero... which comes close to what my time is worth

            p

      2. frenchy | Jul 08, 2007 01:36am | #19

        dieselpig,

          Frankly there are jobs you shouldn't do with a telehandler, and one of them used to be putting up trusses..

          About three years ago that changed when the swing carriage started to come out..

         If you are familiar with them they swing like a crane does.  Add a jib and and a swing carriage they can be as productive as cranes can be..  take the big dogs.. the 56 foot telehandler plus a 12 foot jib and you can put something 68 feet away and still have 2000# capacity (depending on brand).

         Cranes, even truck mounted cranes have some real limitations..  never get them in the mud.. if they can't reach it from a hard packed  driveway they can't put it up.  Truck mounted cranes also have some real limitations as far as capacity goes. Their maximum rating is only at 5 feet from the pin.. as they boom out away from the pin the capacity goes down dramatically.

          Combine their lack of off road capability plus their capacity restrictions and there are things you can't even achieve with a truck mounted crane that are bread and butter to a telehandler.. Add the need for someone to hook up the load and unhook the load and truck mounted cranes suddenly really start to lose compared to telehandler..

          Now I will say that tower cranes and really large truck cranes (note the difference between a truck crane and a truck mounted crane)  usually aren't as limited.   However they still have the limitation of requiring one to hook up plus one to unhook..   The limitation of being tied to hardpacked surfaces is diminished with a rough terrain crane,  however a great deal of caution is advised.  Most telehandlers can extract themselves from most terrain while rough terrain cranes are so ponderous that in certain circumstances if they are stuck it's a major extraction job to get them out..  We're talking about a serious weight differance here.. telehandlers, even 10,000# ones weight no more than 30,000 pounds while rough terrain cranes can weigh 80,000 pounds and up.

          Modern new telehandlers sell for nearer $90,000 for the 6000# 42 foot that is commonly used with the equipment most builders are ordering them with.  .

    2. User avater
      JeffBuck | Jul 07, 2007 08:35am | #18

      which part didn't ya understand?

      $225 and he's done.

       

      how is a lifetime of payments cheaper?

       

      sometimes ... like in .... more often the not ...

      it's cheaper to rent than buy/lease.

       

      the guys not setting ac units on buildings for a living ... he's reno'ing a building.

      probably a once in a job requirement.

       

      Jeff    Buck Construction

       Artistry In Carpentry

           Pittsburgh Pa

      1. frenchy | Jul 08, 2007 01:56am | #20

        Jeff Buck, 

           Lifetime of payments?  Most that I arrange financing for have 5 years while the equipment lasts about 25 for builders.. That's nothing down and 5 years of payments..  20 years of use for basically free.. (OK,  add a modest amount for annual maintinace and repairs, some for fuel and some for insurance) but the per hour cost for a telehandler is about a 1/3 of what a grunt costs and properly used a telehandler replaces about 1&1/2 decent grunts).. Not to mention the telehandler won't ever file a workmans comp claim on you, argue with the boss,  show up drunk or any of the thousands of issues you have with grunts)   

          Yes some builders give the tittle to a bank to arrange a line of credit to buy property to build a house so they are paying for longer than 5 years.. but using the equity of one item to gain another item is standard practice..

         Absolutely it may be cheaper to rent than buy.. it really depends on you and how you approach work.. if like me it's a hobby then rent is cheaper. if you only do one or two small houses a year then by all means rent..

         If you are a full time professional it's silly to be without. If you can't swing the payments for a new one  you should be able to buy a solid used one for around  $550 a month with nothing down.. it may not have all the whistles and bells new ones have but your increase in productivity will quickly increase more than enough to make the payments..

        1. User avater
          JeffBuck | Jul 08, 2007 09:46am | #21

          "That's nothing down and 5 years of payments..  20 years of use for basically free.."

           

          spoken like a true salesmam ...

           

          BTW ... how many do U own.

          way I hear it ... they're practically free?

           

          Jeff    Buck Construction

           Artistry In Carpentry

               Pittsburgh Pa

          1. frenchy | Jul 08, 2007 10:43pm | #24

            JeffBuck

              If you'd read what I wrote you'll note that I do this for a hobby not a business.. But Yes I have rented forklifts over the years.  As I've said, I'm a overweight old guy who's never had to do anything physical for a living.. Lifting those massive beams and trusses up into place simply required mere fingertip strength. 

                Look at the pictures of my home  at 85891.1 and tell me how I could have built that place without the use of such equipment..

             

          2. jimblodgett | Jul 09, 2007 05:07am | #25

            (and Jeff Buck) - You just HAD to encourage him, didn't you.Huck said it first. I just agreed with him.

      2. ponytl | Jul 08, 2007 05:38pm | #22

        I have lived by this and preach it...

        any money you don't spend is money you don't have to make...

        "it's only $500 a month"    usually equates to... I have to bill/sell  $2500 to have that $500 for that payment

        when your outgo exceeds your income your upkeep becomes your downfall

        "sir I am not overdrawn... I am UNDERDEPOSITED..."

        p

        1. frenchy | Jul 08, 2007 10:36pm | #23

          ponytl,

            It's the old story, you must spend money to make money..

            You could save a lot of money on gas insurance and maintinace if you would simply ride a bicycle to work instead of your car or truck.. (until you factor in what your time is worth)..

             How much do you pay your help?  Oh,  you do it all yourself?  So another words you do the jobs that require no skill, no ability, and no judgement,simply a strong back.  As well as all the rest of the jobs.. Another words the jobs that call for $8.00 an hour skill as well as jobs that call for $50.00 an hour skill.

           If you do have others that hump lumber, set up scaffolding, help install windows etc..  for you and you pay them more than $8.00 an hour you're over paying for that help. Plus putting up with dealing with human factors.. No forklift has ever filed a workmans comp claim, showed up on the job site hung over or drunk, argued with the boss or any of the ten thousand other problems employees have

            It's the old arguement about nail guns..  You know that a nail gun is expensive compared to a hammer.   The nails are much more expensive than bulk nails are. add the cost and maintinace of a compressor and air hose etc.  and it's massively more expensive to build with a nail gun than to hand nail isn't it?

          Or is it? 

            Once you factor labor in suddenly  a nail gun is cheap!

           I've been selling this equipment for 17 years and the one thing most of my customers say is they wish they'd made the move earlier..

           Because a lot of my customers start out feeling exactly as you do I make them a simple offer. 

           Don't buy, rent. If it's not working out for you simply return it and that's the end of it.. If you do find out it's value then I'll apply all of the rent you paid (less interest cost)  towards the purchase..

           Rent for a week, a month, a year, or whatever you'd like untill you are staisfied that it's a smart move for you.. I'll do that with new or used equipment..

           If you ask I'm certain there is a dealer near you willing to do something similar..

           

            

            

  7. User avater
    jonblakemore | Jul 05, 2007 07:14am | #9

    About $450 here for that kind of job. I would love to find a guy with a truck mounted crane that would work for a two hour minimum. Sometimes we only need 1/2 hour but end up paying $115 for four hours.

     

    Jon Blakemore

    RappahannockINC.com Fredericksburg, VA

  8. Lansdown | Jul 07, 2007 01:57am | #14

    I'm surprised you didn't build your own. I'm thinking your homemade elevator ;-)

    1. ponytl | Jul 07, 2007 03:15am | #15

      LOL  ...  i know just enough to be dangerous...  but the fact that i know what i do can kill... keeps me somewhat safe

      p

  9. User avater
    G80104 | Jul 07, 2007 03:38am | #16

    Set trusses a few weeks back with about the same size Boom truck, $95 per hr. with a 2hr min. total bill was under $300. Also had them boom up the ply wood, money well spent!

    1. jimblodgett | Jul 07, 2007 05:22am | #17

      Picked 1/2 a roof off of a house in less than an hour a few years ago. Took about a day to prep the roof and an hour or two with a sawzall to cut the roof into 4 sections, and maybe 45 minutes to get everything in a pile on the ground. The operator says to me, "you still got an hour on your minimum" so I had him lift the glulams and framing package onto the 2nd floor deck and we started framing the back wall before he made in down the driveway.Guy got all embarrassed about telling me he had to add a 45.00 trip charge to the 200.00 minimum charge because we were out of the free service radius. I laughed and wrote him a check for an extra 20 and told him to have a nice lunch on us.I would definately (rez?) have paid a lot more and been happy about it.Huck said it first. I just agreed with him.

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