Meadowlark, My equipment is Old but all in good shape. The Gradall is a 1994 model that I bought from the City of Beaumont for $7000 at their auction. It has a 5-foot wide bucket and a 25-foot reach, the bucket hold 7/8 of yard of dirt. By buying it from a Municipality I was able to obtain all the service records since it was purchased new, plus all the manuals.
My dump truck is another story; it is old (1974 model) and rusted out but mechanical in decent shape. Drives and hauls dirt, I cant ask for anything else as it was free. My father gave me the old truck as he has a dump truck service down in Liberty County. He has 3 other newer Kenworth 16 yard trucks that he transports River rock and sand from the Dolen / Rye Texas area mainly to Beaumont area.
My tractor is a 1994 model Mahindria 575 DI with a 5 ft FEL and a 6-foot box blade and brush hog.I bought it from a friend for $4500.The tractor has about 600 hours on it and it is in good shape. The only gripe I have about the tractor is the its India made based on the old International tractor pattens. Which would have been great if the would have stuck stricky to the original pattens, but they put metric sized hydraulic lines on it with British fittings on all the FEL and power steering hoses. Which makes the very difficult to find locally here in east Texas. Parts availability is my only issue with it.
So as you can see from above hauling dirt runs deep in my blood for several years. It is not something I practically like to do, but when you want something bad enough that you can do. You just do it! I started hauling dirt straight out of High school for a couple of years and before. I have chosen a totally different way to make my living, as I am lead tech for Global Voice Operation for the second largest bank in the US. I got as far away from the dirt business as I could. So I am not your typical DIY guy.
As you have read from many other peoples postings here (Eddie Walker’s story comes to mind) to own and operate equipment. You have to be 5/8 mechanic which is probably the least thing I like to do. I was fortunate to have parents that believed with encouragement, and will power, I could do anything I set my mind on doing.
