u/Lucky-Draft1058

I’m 20 and located in Central Texas. I currently run a small handyman business, but I’m trying to shift toward larger outdoor/property work like brush clearing, fence line clearing, overgrown property cleanup, debris removal, grading, and eventually light excavation.

I’m trying to avoid the mistake of financing a bunch of equipment before I actually have enough work to keep it busy.

Here’s what I already have:

- 2025 F-350 4x4 long bed, 7.3 gas, gooseneck equipped

- 5x10 utility trailer

- 16 ft utility trailer with ramps

- 23 ft equipment trailer, 10k capacity with ramps

- 12k electric winch

- Chainsaw

- Pole saw

- Blower

- Straight shaft trimmer

- 3600 PSI pressure washer

- Normal hand/power tools

- Welding/fabrication experience

I’m comfortable towing, hauling, physical outdoor work, fabrication, cleanup, and operating equipment.

My current thought is to sell the job first, then rent whatever machine/attachment is needed. If I start renting the same setup constantly, that would give me a pretty clear indication of what I should buy first.

The combination I keep coming back to is a skid steer or CTL with a brush cutter, since I could see that being useful for:

- Brush clearing

- Fence lines

- Overgrown lots

- Trail clearing

- Small tree/sapling removal

- Property cleanup

- Light dirt/gravel work

For those of you who actually run skid steers for a living:

Would you rent machines at first and build the customer base before buying?

If you were trying to start doing land/property work, what size skid steer or CTL would you want?

What attachments actually make you money most often?

Do brush cutters get used as much as I’m thinking, or am I overestimating how much demand there is for that kind of work?

And at what point did owning the machine start making more sense than renting?

I’m not trying to become a full-blown excavation contractor overnight. I’m mainly trying to figure out the smartest way to build into equipment work without putting myself under a huge payment before the jobs are there.

Any advice from guys who started small would be appreciated.

I’m 20 and located in Central Texas around the Austin/San Antonio area. I currently run a small handyman business, but I’ve realized I’m much more interested in outdoor, equipment, hauling, and property work than doing random small repairs inside houses.

I’m seriously considering shifting toward land clearing/property services, but I’m trying to figure out what I can realistically start doing right now without going $50k+ into debt for equipment before I have the customer base.

Here’s what I currently have:

- 2025 F-350 4x4 long bed, 7.3 gas, gooseneck equipped

- 5x10 utility trailer, roughly 2,700 lb capacity

- 16 ft utility trailer, roughly 5,200 lb capacity with ramps

- 23 ft equipment trailer, 10k capacity with ramps

- 12k electric winch

- Ratchet straps, tarps, job boxes, etc.

- Milwaukee 16" chainsaw

- Milwaukee pole saw

- Milwaukee blower

- Echo straight-shaft trimmer

- Honda 3600 PSI pressure washer

- Normal hand and power tools

- Welding/fabrication experience

I’m comfortable towing, hauling, fabrication, physical outdoor work, cleanup, and operating equipment. I’ve also done some tree work, junk removal, property cleanup, and similar jobs.

The kind of work I’d eventually like to build toward is:

- Brush and lot clearing

- Fence line clearing

- Overgrown property cleanup

- Small tree removal

- Storm/debris cleanup

- Trail/access clearing

- Gravel/dirt/material moving

- Grading

- Light excavation

- Skid steer and mini excavator work

I don’t own a skid steer, excavator, tractor, or dump trailer yet.

My current thought is to sell jobs first and rent the equipment needed for them. If I start renting the same machine or attachment constantly, then I’d have some actual numbers telling me what makes sense to buy.

For example, I could see myself renting a skid steer with a brush cutter pretty regularly if I can generate enough clearing work.

I’m not really interested in becoming a lawn mowing company, and I’m trying to move away from chasing $100-$200 handyman jobs. I’d much rather build toward fewer $1,000-$5,000+ property jobs.

For those of you actually doing land clearing:

If you were starting over with the truck, trailers, tools, and experience I already have, what services would you start advertising?

Would you rent machines as jobs come in, or is there a particular piece of equipment you think is important enough to own early?

What machine/attachment combination makes you the most money or gets used the most?

And probably most importantly, where did your first steady stream of clearing jobs actually come from?

I’d appreciate any advice, especially from people who started small and gradually built up their equipment instead of financing an entire fleet on day one.