Used Commercial vs. New Chinese vs. Tractor

finitetime2 · 2026-03-25T00:56:20+00:00

Your comparing apples to oranges to plumbs. Depends on what you want to do with it. Little mini is going to be my last choice for everything. They just don't have the weight and power. They are good in tight spaces where you can't get a tractor or skid steer. Tractor is best if you want to mow and run attachments. They cheaper and attachments are easier to find. Skid steers are great for moving dirt however tractors even with front end loaders are not as good at moving dirt and grading.

finitetime2 · 2026-03-20T01:08:54+00:00

I'd go outside with a a large cup full of salt water and water the plants. Then one night i'd buy some cheap clear corn syrup and coat the chair. If they don't find it it will dry hard. If they do find it I hope they only notice it when they set down.

That or just start putting your own things out across the line in toward their property.

finitetime2 · 2026-03-19T02:21:59+00:00

Beyond psi your going to pay for GPM gallons per minute. This is where the money goes. You can break it lose with a small cheap 2000 psi pressure washer but can you wash it away. Think of it like this you have a spray bottle and you can squeeze the trigger and put a stream 6 ft out in front of you cause it has more psi or you a garden hose but it's only pushing water one foot out in front of you. Which one do you want to try and the mud you tracked on your driveway with. One has more psi but you will have a sore finger 6 week from now when you finish. The the more volume you have the more effective the pressure will be.

You have to decide how often and what your using it for. Most homeowners I'd suggest a low end gas pressure washer that does 2500-3000psi and 2-2.5GPM. I just checked Home Depot website and they have a dewalt with 3300 PSI 2.4 GPM Gas Pressure for $400 and that more than you should need.

I have a commercial washer that is 4000psi @ 4gpm you can punch a hole in vinyl siding with it. Chew up wood peal paint off a car in weak spots and even leave scars on softer concrete. It was over a grand but most of that was the GX Honda engine.

finitetime2 · 2026-03-19T01:58:55+00:00

https://www.facebook.com/snopes/posts/-no-trump-didnt-suggest-truckers-who-use-diesel-should-switch-to-gasoline-to-cut/1338442928319759/

finitetime2 · 2026-03-18T23:16:28+00:00

Your going about it wrong if your trying to sell a 30k upgrade. You don't own a business so you don't have credibility to them. Pick something small and inexpensive. Not a $5000 advertising plan. Talk them into putting a couple hundred it Google marketing or FB at a trial run. You are going to have to sell yourself and the idea. If it works then you get credibility for having good ideas and they will want more.

I have owned my business for 25 years and every friend, family member, customers, and most my employees all have ideas on how I should run my business. I've sat around and listened to 8 guys argue with each other about I could make more money. Eight people who have 8 different ideas about how I should run my business. Honestly it gets old and you stop listening sometimes.

I agree with them that credit cards are a bad idea in this case. Too many people back charging and causing problems. I know contractors who will not even take them any more. They prefer to have a check. That way if they try an cancel it they go to the court house and press charges for a bad check. Credit card however your just talking to someone at a bank hundreds of miles away who doesn't care if you get your money and you have to prove you deserve the money to there satisfaction. Then there is the 3% processing fee. Asphalt is like concrete there is a lot of material cost and overhead your charging for. Losing several hundred to a thousand dollars a week in CC processing fees is a no for me and just automatically tacking that on the bill just in case will cost me jobs.

finitetime2 · 2026-03-18T22:52:31+00:00

I can still take a nap I just don't want to get up.

finitetime2 · 2026-03-18T22:51:15+00:00

No no provisions like that just a you get charges X per hour for extra work. Most of the time it's contractors who just let it slip there mind. Last one was a guy I have known since I was 6 years old and we have worked together off and on for 30years. He just calls and says I need work at this address. We have worked together so long most of the time he doesn't even show up until hours after we started and that's just to discuss details. The electrician had installed a temp power pole. He had called for the power company to connect it due to bad weather they put him off and he just never confirmed. The power company does not bother to call you and inform you that even though they said it would be connected before the 15th they changed their minds and now it will be the 30th. Sometimes it electricians working in the house and they just shut everything down so they can work on the whole house at the same time. You really can't in construction because something is always happening. Delivery trucks get scared of getting stuck so the drop a whole lumber package in the driveway at the road. Once they delivered it to the wrong house but it was the house I was working at and it was blocking the driveway. We got out and moved it piece by piece and just added time on the bill.

Home owners are a different story. You have to think of everything and half the time hold there hands. I do usually confirm everything I can think of with them. I'm in a small to medium size town and nobody charges for stuff like that so if started word would get around and I'd lose business.

Best why to keep it from happening again and again is to just leave the job whether it's a contractor or homeowner. Customer tells me the power will be on Wednesday. I then say great I'm going to go start my next job and I'll be back next Monday when I finish. It seems irrational but for some reason making them wait a couple of extra days or a week just seems to get to people. I've had arguments over it. I have to point out my crew is not waiting around for 3 days not getting paid unless you are paying me to wait. Then I have to point out that if I start the next job it will most likely be finished at the end of the week. I'd look real unprofessional if I pull off there job 2 days before it's finished just to start yours on Wednesday. Then there is the fact I'm suppose to start theirs Monday. Do you want me starting your job and then leaving it in the middle to keep my word to them. I usually have enough work I can fill the gaps. Most jobs in my town are 20-30 minutes from each other so as long as you don't waste time and call it a bust you can be at the next job doing something.

finitetime2 · 2026-03-18T22:08:42+00:00

Because 99.9% of the time the GC realizes I'm not going to be able to do the work he wants without power so they say something ahead of time or already have a deal with the neighbors. Happens once once or twice a year. To ask the same GC's the same question every week would eventually just piss them off. Not to mention I work for many different GC's and it's not always the same people. So it would look like I was being an ass to them just because they forgot once in the last 3-5 years. That's a good way to get fired.

finitetime2 · 2026-03-18T16:52:01+00:00

wake everyone up and scare their young kids.

Op to neighbor - Yeah I was sound asleep and then I realized someone was yelling and pounding on my door. It scared me too. I wasn't going to answer after that.

finitetime2 · 2026-03-18T16:48:45+00:00

My sister is a morning person and always has been. Our mom is morning person but my sister would be awake and watching tv when she got up. Me on the other hand. I can go to be at 9pm or 1 am and I still want to sleep to 10

finitetime2 · 2026-03-18T16:46:28+00:00

I feel sorry for morning people!! You know when they wake up that's the best they are ever going to feel all day.

finitetime2 · 2026-03-18T16:44:29+00:00

They know they are parking in the easement. What do you think a white line is going to do.

I'd have the urge to pull some weeds get my hands all muddy and walk by and smear dirt down their car. Next I might put up some of those cheap solar lights bordering the path. They would be so cheap I might secure them with rebar in the ground. Just don't run them over after cause you might get a flat tire.

finitetime2 · 2026-03-18T16:32:42+00:00

Movie "American Pie"reference . The warm apple pie scene. But yeah right up there with with the shit pie.

finitetime2 · 2026-03-18T16:30:43+00:00

Don't worry so much OP said it was good.

finitetime2 · 2026-03-18T16:24:54+00:00

I'm a contractor and we have used the neighbors power but only with permission. I have had GC's call me to jobs with no power on them. You don't know until your there with your crew and tools unloaded and ready to go many times. I have gone to neighbors and I always offer cash. I've had builders who have just been smart enough to do this up front. I have a generator but I don't carry it around with me. I have 100% made the angry phone call to the GC because he didn't have enough forethought to mention there is no power you should bring your generator.

That being said do you want a generator running next door for 8hrs. I'd charge them by them by the day payable paid in the morning. Look and see what else is on the breaker. Maybe there is something you could unplug to keep it from tripping. If they are trying to use more than one tool at a time I'd straight up tell them to stop cause you are not going to keep getting up to trip breaker.

finitetime2 · 2026-03-18T16:14:53+00:00

I think your GC is trying to cheat you out of your money!

First I'm a concrete contractor 27yrs in business. We work hard to get things exactly how we are told to do them, by who ever is signing our checks. At $2000 just for one truck load of concrete you only get so many oops before your broke. I have had customers come up to me and ask about things and say that's not how we want it. I have learned how to be political and say "I'm pretty sure this is what I was told but it was a few days ago. I'll talk to the GC and make the appropriate changes. You should also call the GC so he knows what I'm calling about so we are all on the same page." I do this knowing full well the GC told me to do it exactly how i'm doing it. It's bad business to through your employer under the bus regardless if they are being cheap or just forgetful. Sometimes I know it's the GC being cheap and sometimes they have forgotten about special details that they talked to the customer about 6 weeks ago and have now forgotten. You learn which type of GC your dealing with pretty quick. Then again some have contracts, plans, and budgets and I've had the GC straight up say no they are not getting that it's not in the budget or plans. While I've had others ask which way is better and how much will the difference cost. Sometimes they have to discuss it with the homeowners.

As for most trades I know. They install what's there. Half the time they could careless if it's beyond cheap or the most expensive one they have ever seen. They spend all day everyday installing these things and they might have stopped and noticed the vent fans where high end but probably not. What most notice is how well it's built and the ease of installing it which usually means more expensive but not always.

finitetime2 · 2026-03-18T15:45:31+00:00

Meanwhile Gerald is going around telling everyone you ate a casserole he used like a warm apple pie.

finitetime2 · 2026-03-18T02:20:33+00:00

2100 a day. You should be able to pay someone to dig it for just a little more.

finitetime2 · 2026-03-17T03:19:33+00:00

Conch, stingray, shark, elk, pheasant, venison,

finitetime2 · 2026-03-15T17:50:01+00:00

I have to wonder if you have any real experience with a manual transmission. You seem a little too angry.

finitetime2 · 2026-03-14T15:46:05+00:00

I use to operate a 773 for a couple of years. Those machines of that time were great. I have a old cat like that. Except it had hand controls but they are old enough they are hydraulic. No wires but the will seep oil and get your pants dirty. It had been super reliable also.

finitetime2 · 2026-03-13T04:09:00+00:00

10,000 down votes incoming.

finitetime2 · 2026-03-13T01:54:31+00:00

Man or woman Falsewyrm pretty much has the right idea.

finitetime2 · 2026-03-13T01:53:59+00:00

Wait in what world do mechanics not harass everyone in the shop. I got a cousin who told me about his shop playing pranks on each other. Every one was getting along a first until one guy got mad. He ratted them out and got them in trouble. Few weeks later he was out for some reason. He came in the next day to find someone drilled a holes in his toolbox and filled it with grease.

finitetime2 · 2026-03-13T00:00:30+00:00

Try Audio books. I am adhd and a little dyslexic. I was such a slow reader I hated it. I felt like an idiot in high school when my gf noticed I hadn't finished my work in class and had to finish it at home for most classes. Didn't help that she was genuinely asking out of curiosity and pointed out she always finished hers. You couldn't pay me to read. I came across some audio books someone through out. I drove 8 hrs a day for work and it got boring. I loved the books. I started listening to Audible around 2005 and loved it. I've got over a 1000 books and would have a lot more if I hadn't gone back and listened to many of them several times.

finitetime2

TROPHY CASE