Cleaned out the shop and found my old job log from 2010

I was sorting through a box of old papers and found my handwritten log from my first year running my own crew. I flipped through it and added up all the linear feet of fence we put in that year. It was just over 8,000 feet. That number hit me hard. Last year, my three guys and I did over 32,000 feet. Back then, it was just me and my buddy Mike, digging every post hole by hand with a clamshell digger for most jobs. Now we have a small skid steer with an auger, and I can quote a job in my truck with an app. The work is the same, putting up a solid fence, but the scale and the tools are totally different. It made me think about how much sweat and time that first 8,000 feet took. For the old timers who were doing this before me, what's the one tool or change that made the biggest difference in your daily grind?

3 comments

3 Comments

noah_smith1mo ago

My first year's profit was less than the price of a good auger bit.

gavin_reed1mo ago

Heard a buddy say his first check bounced for less than that.

hannah_fox26d ago

Bet they still charged him the overdraft fee. Banks love that.