May have gotten a little closer to starting up. - Contractor Talk - Professional Construction and Remodeling Forum

gran_national · 05-10-2008, 01:45 PM

Well, I was helping a buddy at his house today. He's totally refurbishing it inside and out. I had to leave, and he asked me to take a tamper back to the rental store. I dropped it off and noticed an air compressor outside and asked the guy if they ever sell them. He said that everything is always for sale and asked what I was looking to get one for. I told him I was thinking about starting into mobile sandblasting as a side business and we got to talking about it. He said he had thought about buying the equipment to rent out, but with the regulations on a rental company, he'd have to buy all of the equipment to supply clean/fresh air and he acted like he wasn't that enthusiastic about doing it. So, I asked him if I would get into it on the side if I could leave my information for him and he said that wouldn't be a problem. We continued to talk and I was asking him if there was anyone in the area that did it and he said that the 2 older gentlemen in the area that he knew that did it were getting out of it. One was having health problems (unrelated to blasting) and the other one was just getting out of it. Hmm, maybe they have cheap equipment for sale!! Anyway, he said the only place he knows that still does it is in town and they're not mobile. He even had a guy who was looking for someone who WAS mobile because he needs stuff done, but he has to rent a forklift and then bring it in town to the place that does it and then take it back to his location. This guy talked like there is more of a demand for someone who blasts and then repaints. I wouldn't think painting equipment would be too expensive and would probably pay for itself quickly.

It just so happens that my wife, who has her own cleaning business, cleans these people's house. They own a couple Tru-Vaule stores in the area and my mom used to babysit for them, so...maybe I'll have an "in" with this guy and he can drum up some business for me. Sorry it's so long, but I got a tad excited and figured I'd fill you guys in.

MEDIA MAN · 05-10-2008, 05:59 PM

Some promising news. Is the guy going to figure up a price on the compressor? Good luck, hope you can get some good deals on equip! Generally this is how most of this gets going. Someone knows someone who can use the service. Word of mouth goes along way!

plazaman · 05-10-2008, 09:45 PM

just check the condition of the rental unit. They tend to be abused. In anycase, these equipment are built to take abuse.

killzoneq2 · 05-11-2008, 01:28 AM

Sounds like a deal if you can get them to come off of there equipment..My offer still stands on my 600# clemco, dead man and hose, air filter and hose. All you need is a helmet and compressor and blast hose and fittings. For the time, effore and gas put into this I think it is all well worth $1000.00. Price the dead man/ hoses and filter....If I sell it at that price I will be breaking even, so dont ask me to meet anywhere colse. You got to come after it....Good luck and let me know if you need pics..Chris

killzoneq2 · 05-11-2008, 01:31 AM

Most of the rental companies use the Sullair 185 compressors. That is a good machine if taken care of. They use it for more jack hammers than blasting. My locat rentals will not rent blasting equipment due to all the regulations they have to comply with.

gran_national · 05-11-2008, 03:49 PM

Killzone, you were right on, it was a Sullair Airman 185. He said it had around 200 hours on it and he said he wanted around $10,000, so that idea was out the window as soon as I heard the price, but I acted like I didn't know whether that was a deal or not. He said it would be a little better priced around 1000 hours, but for one thing, I won't wait that long since that's his only compressor and secondly I can find them MUCH cheaper on the internet. Now, I'm looking around for a decent truck to pull it with because I have a 4 cylinder Tacoma now. I LOVE that truck, but it'll kill it to pull that around with media on the bed, plus a pot stashed somewhere.

It turns out that one of the guys who he thought was out of business is still in business because I made a call to him. Oh well, he's not mobile. I'll just keep looking for deals and see what happens. Thanks for all the help guys!

plazaman · 05-11-2008, 07:44 PM

dude, i think thats alot for a used compressor. Ive gotten prices on a new Sullivan

NEW Sullivan 185 cfm price at $11908.25
NEW Sullivan 210 cfm price at $12495.00

This was about a year ago. are they the 150 or 125 psi units. Aim for 150 if possible.

gran_national · 05-12-2008, 09:17 AM

Yeah, I definitely can't go new and even kicked around just renting a compressor for the first few jobs, but we'll see what happens. I've seen decent ones for $5000ish with around 500 hours, so I probably won't go new.

CO2Solutions · 05-12-2008, 12:52 PM

I know Atlas Copco Canada has a $1 lease - very basic, the price is lets say around $13,000 new over 4 years is $270 a month. At the end of the 48 months you pay $1 and it's yours. I was going to do this but I lucked out on getting a good used Atlas Copco compressor. It's pretty good if you don't have the money up front...and more than likely you'll make more than $300 a month to pay for it. Check with some manufacturers...

gran_national · 05-14-2008, 12:50 PM

I have a 4 cylinder Toyota Tacoma. Would it kill my truck to pull a compressor around with a pot on the bed and media in the back?

CO2Solutions · 05-14-2008, 03:13 PM

Here's the breakdown on your truck:
Towing capacity: 3500lbs
Payload: 1250lbs
Weight of the compressor is approximately 2300lbs...
may take a little math and truck knowledge now...I have neither...LOL

gran_national · 05-14-2008, 03:19 PM

I talked to the rental place and they acted like it wouldn't be a problem. I guess if I do blow mine up in the process, I can get the Cummins Diesel I've always wanted. I really do think it'll be able to handle it. I pull 2 snowmobiles with no problem, and that's around 1500 with everything.

For the record, the rental stores in this area charge $100 a day. That seems pretty steep because EVERY job I do will have to be a minimum of around $175ish just to cover materials (media, gas, compressor rental, overhead, etc). That's not even figuring in profit. Sounds like a $250 minimum for anything under 2 hours that someone else suggested isn't a bad idea.

CO2Solutions · 05-14-2008, 05:53 PM

yeah, you would really need to pick and choose your jobs based on potential profit when renting equipment.
With owning you can do those cheezy jobs that are more of a pain in the arse just to unload/set up (more time doing that than the actual job) - did one graffiti job like that today. BUT it's all about money and exposure...
I'd still look into buying direct....

plazaman · 05-16-2008, 09:08 PM

http://usedsandblastandaircompressors.com/index6.html

Check those compressors out. Much cheaper than the 10gs your rental man is charging you.

gran_national · 05-27-2008, 06:48 PM

What do you guys think? I haven't been looking a LONG time, but I've been looking for a month or 2 and this seems like a really good deal. They have 5 of them for sale and are ASKING $1200 a piece. There are pictures too and everything looks to be in great shape!! I posted the listing below:

This package includes a 3.5 cu ft. Schmidt portable abrasive blaster with 1" piping, pneumatic remote controls, ComboValve™, Microvalve, 55 feet of Twinline (Deadman) hose, pneumatic Deadman control, moisture separator, 50 feet of 3/4" blast hose* with one coupling, one nozzle holder, a 1/4" long venturi nozzle, a Blast Hood Respirator, 25' of air supply hose and a 41P2 airline filter.

Package retails for $3,000.

ASKING $1,200. per package

WE HAVE 5 OF THEM

Our used equipment is in perfect working order!

Schmidt portable abrasive blasters are safe, high productivity systems designed for use with a wide range of abrasive media. $1,200 per package (we have 5)

CO2Solutions · 05-27-2008, 09:48 PM

sounds like a pretty good deal to me...I've just recently started pricing out blast pots, I know very little...lol.

**Teetorbilt** · 05-27-2008, 10:40 PM

You may want to look at Hydrovane. It's a little known compressor with a high duty cycle but only 120 PSI max. unless they've changed recently.

We had 2 of the 65 CFM models that we ran at 100% duty cycle almost all day (lunch let them cool off). 6 yrs. and one failure, started leaking oil. A $135 gasket kit and about 2 hrs. fixed it. As far as I know they're still running 18 yrs. later.

gran_national · 05-29-2008, 10:39 AM

Well, the lady e-mailed back and said her husband would take $900 for each unit. The listing above is what all is included. You guys think that's a good deal? From what I've seen, it seems to be a very good deal. I was thinking of getting 2 and just selling another one on E-bay. If anyone is interested, let me know and I can hook you up with the phone number. The units are in Georgia, so it'd be a trip for my wife and I, but I could pick a unit up for someone who is closer to PA and you could pick it up from me. Let me know. I would appreciate a "donation" for gas for picking it up if you are interested. Let me know. I'll probably pull the trigger on this within 2 weeks.

plazaman · 05-29-2008, 04:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gran_national

Well, the lady e-mailed back and said her husband would take $900 for each unit. The listing above is what all is included. You guys think that's a good deal? From what I've seen, it seems to be a very good deal. I was thinking of getting 2 and just selling another one on E-bay. If anyone is interested, let me know and I can hook you up with the phone number. The units are in Georgia, so it'd be a trip for my wife and I, but I could pick a unit up for someone who is closer to PA and you could pick it up from me. Let me know. I would appreciate a "donation" for gas for picking it up if you are interested. Let me know. I'll probably pull the trigger on this within 2 weeks.

any pics of the pots? i dunno, i have 3 pots already!

MEDIA MAN · 05-30-2008, 01:51 AM

Save your reciepts (hotels, meals, etc.) and log your miles. All business expenses you can write off.