Earthblog

We’re all just a few weeks away from the start of the “busy season”….that magical period of time that runs roughly from April through August, where it seems like there aren’t enough hours in the day to do all the work that needs to be done.  Grinding, polishing, removing, installing, one job flowing into the next. 

Well, now is the time to make sure you’re ready to go.  We get calls all the time from guys that need a machine for a job that starts “yesterday”.  Sometimes, of course, that’s unavoidable.  There are always going to be things that pop up, and maybe catch all of us with our guard down.  But, there are also often opportunities to avoid finding yourself in that last minute pinch.

If at the end of last year, you swore to yourself you were done renting that old, beat up walk-behind scraper for $x a day, and were finally gonna buy one next year, do it.  Don’t wait until you blow more money renting the same old machine for the first couple of jobs this year before you get fired up enough again to remember why you wanted to buy in the first place.

Also, right now, we’ve still got show special pricing from the trade shows we just did in Vegas.  Both Surfaces and World of Concrete were earlier this month, and the show specials are available all month, whether you made the trip or not.

And, lastly, there’s the used equipment market.  As you may have read in previous blog entries, the demand for used scrapers and grinders doesn’t come close to matching the supply,  So, if you’re thinking about a used unit for yourself this year, contact us now and let us know what you need so we can let you know when we have something available that meets your needs

Addressing your equipment needs now can help you enjoy an even better (and maybe less stressful) busy season!

We’ve made the decision to put together an inventory of factory refurbished planetary grinders, and floor scrapers.  This section of our website will be up soon.

All refurbished equipment sold will come with a full, 1-year warranty, just like a new machine.  They’ll also come with the same tooling packages as new machines, and all tooling included will be brand new.

This inventory will come from pools of demo equipment, trade-ins, and warranty repaired equipment.  Again, each used unit will be factory recertified, and come with the same warranty as our brand new machines.

If you’d like to receive updates when we get equipment in stock, just enter your E-mail address in the form above, on the right side of the page.  We’ll send out monthly lists of available inventory.  On the other hand, if you’re looking for something now, or if you’d like us to notify you individually as soon as a refurbished unit is in stock, fill out our contact form, and include what you’re looking for in the notes.

We’ve gotten many questions about used equipment over the years, and are very proud to announce this new program for our clients.

Here’s to a great 2009!

If you’ll be in Las Vegas for World Of Concrete in February, be sure to pay us a visit.  As you know, World of Concrete is where you can learn all about new products, techniques, and trends in the industry.  Demolition equipment, grinders, and floor scrapers, are on display, along with tools for cutting, drilling, chemicals, coatings, and more

To view the industry leading Renegade 5700 All Day Battery ride on floor scraper as well as the new revolutionary Renegade 5600 Propane riding scraper, you can visit your SED sales representative at the World of Concrete National Surface Preparation Equipment booth (# S13905) or the National Carpet Equipment booth at Surfaces (#5742) on February 3-6.

We’ll be happy to discuss these scrapers, as well as other equipment, products, and services we can provide your company.  At SED, we take pride in the depth and breadth of knowledge possessed by our team of experts, and our ability to assist our clients before they make a purchase, and long after, through the lifetime of the equipment, including disposal of used floor removal equipment.

We look forward to seeing you in Las Vegas, at WOC.

Just to clarify from the last post, finding small floor equipment is much easier than the riding floor scrapers or heavy duty floor grinders.  Local rental centers, and some Home Depot and Lowe’s locations will often have small walk-behind floor scrapers, spud bars, and even small floor grinders.

Rental fees will vary tremendously by location, but our experience in talking to guys is that a small walk behind scraper, that is NOT self-propelled, will typically be $30-$50 per day.  At an average of let’s say $40/day, you can get a machine similar to our Renegade 550 walk behind, which sells for $1300.  So, you’ve got about 3% of the purchase price for every day of rental.

It’s not uncommon for guys to get sick of renting, and contact us to buy one.  It’s not only the cost of renting that eventually gets to them, but also the hassles that may be involved.  Having to go pick up the equipment and the pressure of needing to have it back by a certain time to avoid over-charges and fees gets old pretty fast. 

The other point we hear is that guys that own a machine are free to use it whenever they want.  Often, if you run into a smaller job, you would definitely use the machine IF you have it.  But, if you don’t own it, it may be hard to justify the cost, and headache of going to rent one for such a small job.  So, you end up doing alot of those smaller jobs “the hard way”.

Again, it’s very hit and miss out there as far as rentals go, but, if you really are in that “once in a blue moon” situation where you need a smaller machine, call around, you might get lucky.

At least once a week we get calls from contractors who’d like to rent a riding floor scraper locally as a result of a job that popped up.  Most of the guys that need a rider several times a year already own one, but lots of guys that don’t run into floor removal that often don’t have a machine.

It sure would be nice if we could just give you the number of a local Sun or United rentals and you could head on over there and grab a machine for a few days.  Unfortunately, those rental centers don’t see the value in adding a riding scraper to their inventory.  Over all the years we’ve been doing this, we’ve sold maybe a handful to rental centers.

Maybe one day, we’ll implement a rental program on our own?  We could ship the machine to a locataion and let the rentor use it for a few days and ship it back.  We’ve had discussions about it, and while some of us think it’s a good idea, others think the machines will just get too beat up, and the risk isn’t worth it.

Maybe in 2009, we’ll experiment with this?  Until then, not sure what to tell all the folks looking for rentals.  Check your local rental center, but remember when doing so that you probably have no more than a 5% chance of finding one.  An option that’s more likely to work for you is to find a local contractor that owns a machine, and hire them to do the removal for you. 

Is that a great solution?  Not really.  But, it’s better than taking up 7,000 sf of ceramic tile with a roto hammer.

We get calls all the time from contractors out there looking for used grinders and floor scrapers.  Unfortunately, this equipment is pretty tough to find out there.

Every once in a while a client will contact us with a used Bronco or Renegade and tell us they’re looking to sell, but it is very infrequent…maybe one or two of these calls a year.  The other alternative is we’ll sometimes have access to a factory demo unit, or a piece of refurbished equipment.

If you’re looking for a used floor grinder or scraper, feel free to call us.  We’ll see what we can dig up.   But, don’t get hopes too high expecting to find something.  As Rory likes to say, used floor scrapers are as rare as “hen’s teeth”.

But, if you have a piece of equipment you’d like to sell, maybe something you only needed for one particular job, let us know.  We’ll see if we can’t help you turn your used flooring equipment into cash.

When buying a riding floor scraper, one question every prep guy must face is that of getting a battery machine or propane.  We do our best to help our clients figure out what’s best for them and their needs.  A few of the factors you’ll want to consider are:

1. What environment do you work in?  If you’re working in hospitals, nursing homes, and the like, they’ll often reject propane, regardless of how clean it burns.  On the other hand, if you’re doing big box retail, office spaces after hours, etc, propane is often an acceptable option.
2. How do you run your shifts?  If you need to run “round the clock”, propane may be a better option (if allowed).  Even the longest life battery machines will top out at 10-12 hours on soft goods.
3. What is your budget?  If you have a pre-defined budget, you should know that propane machines tend to be 15-20% less expensive than battery machines to purchase. 

While keeping all of the above in mind, there’s no clear cut answer of which machine is right for everybody.  Other options, although not as popular as the All Day Battery machines and the propane riders include corded machines, and riders with replaceable/removable battery packs.

It seems to us that the long-life battery machines are the way the industry is going.  They do cost a bit more.  But many contractors like the extra weight and power they are able to generate, and the extra flexibility they give you in what kind of work you can take on.  we’ve also seen certain states get more and more strict with regard to propane usage (New York, for example).

So, the short answer is that there is no short answer.  Do your resarch, speak to one of our consultants, and you’ll be sure to make the best decision based on your unique circumstances.