Starting a ditching company

[Robo17]

Hi, I’m a young lad who’s looking to start his own business in clearing ditches, what’s the best way to go about this? Is there a market for clearing and creating ditches? Restrictions at certain times of the year? Digger or back actor? Pricing points?

Thanks for reading
Based in East Midlands

 

[czechmate]

Hi, I’m a young lad who’s looking to start his own business in clearing ditches, what’s the best way to go about this? Is there a market for clearing and creating ditches? Restrictions at certain times of the year? Digger or back actor? Pricing points?

Thanks for reading
Based in East Midlands

Sorry, I can’t help, but wish you the best of luck

 

[Robo17]

Sorry, I can’t help, but wish you the best of luck

Thankyou

 

[principal skinner]

Back actor may be handy for travelling but I find them awful for just about anything else especially ditching when you want to move a buckets length every time. 8t 360 on rubber trackers so you can cross/track up roads a bit.
I can hire an 8t machine for £300/week so not worth buying one, normally have one on open ended hire in Nov/Dec and drive it myself.
Best of luck.

 

[Lincs Lass]

It takes years of experience to make a tidy job and getting the falls right .
Have you used a 360 or back actor

 

[Robo17]

It takes years of experience to make a tidy job and getting the falls right .
Have you used a 360 or back actor

Ah okay and yes used a 360 quite a few times but not ditching more leaning to ground works

 

[Hilly]

Get well paid driving someone else machine no need to start up on your own you will end up earning less than employed digger driver and have a load of bull sh!t to contend with, get a job unless your intending to be the next hero with 50 diggers ..

 

[principal skinner]

My brother in law has done ground works for years with his own machines.
Can’t clean a ditch out to save his life #hopeless. Over digs every thing and falls going the wrong way. He’s now banned from ditches!

 

[Steevo]

If someone local was experienced and offered a similar service to the extent they could be trusted to do a good job by themselves without needing monitoring, I’d be delighted to use such a service.

Doing the job right, and not needing to be monitored or managed it important…and often that only comes with experience.

 

[serf]

Ah okay and yes used a 360 quite a few times but not ditching more leaning to ground works

You may be best to work for an agri type groundworks comp for a few years to get to know the job and branch out from there

 

[Lincs Lass]

Ah okay and yes used a 360 quite a few times but not ditching more leaning to ground works

Grounds works you are working in the open ,on the level ,loading materials or spoil into waggons .
Overgrown ditches are a different animal , fallen trees over them ,not been touched for years , hidden culverts and land drains that havent seen daylight since they were put in .
Then its getting the bottom level without tearing it to bits and leaving big holes .
Been there and got the Tshirt .

 

[sustainable24]

Sounds tough I think you should ditch the idea. Only joking. Go for it I say but don't the councils do all the ditch clearing? Maybe you should speak to your council about being employed by them? Our council has been useless this past winter clearing ditches and my house and neighbours were getting flooded as a result so it would be good to have more people on the job.

 

[Fendt516profi]

Back actor may be handy for travelling but I find them awful for just about anything else especially ditching when you want to move a buckets length every time. 8t 360 on rubber trackers so you can cross/track up roads a bit.
I can hire an 8t machine for £300/week so not worth buying one, normally have one on open ended hire in Nov/Dec and drive it myself.
Best of luck.

Rubber duck on flotation tyres like @Gerbert

 

[Derrick Hughes]

i have both , love driving the back actor but you cant beat a 360 , must haves are a blade , if i changed i would defo get a Knuckleboom as I do a lot with a tapered bucket

 

[serf]

Go for it I say but don't the councils do all the ditch clearing

If only lol , there more likely to leave them to get over grown now days and flood the houses so they can push their Globull Warming agenda ...

 

[Chae1]

Sounds tough I think you should ditch the idea. Only joking. Go for it I say but don't the councils do all the ditch clearing? Maybe you should speak to your council about being employed by them? Our council has been useless this past winter clearing ditches and my house and neighbours were getting flooded as a result so it would be good to have more people on the job.

Councils, ditch cleaning!?

 

[Hilly]

Councils, ditch cleaning!?

In the 70s a little ….

 

[melted welly]

Councils, ditch cleaning!?

The stuff of legend, like unicorns.

 

[Lincs Lass]

Councils, ditch cleaning!?

Useless beggars round here cant be bothered to dig grips on road sides to let the big puddles off or when they do , they leave a mountain of rubbish sat nicely on the top ,right in the firing line of the flail which just throws it straight back where it came from.
If out lot had a brain cell ,they would be dangerous

 

[serf]

Councils, ditch cleaning!?

I know , theres always one comedian on here ...