THE adage of buying local works the same for contracting local, according to Warren Ross who has been in the earthmoving business for close to 15 years.
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His business, Ross Brothers Excavations, Condobolin, has some 40 different machines including four excavators and full-time and casual staff of 16, so dam work or irrigation channel construction and cleaning is high on Mr Ross's agenda.
"We also specialise in roadwork, whether on farm building or reconstruction upgrades or local government road contracts," he said.
"Much of our work has been council road contracts as we have graders, water trucks and rollers readily available."
Mr Ross said while council tendering work and equipment hire was the backbone of his business, earthmoving equipment not in use was always available for farm work.
The company had been booked solid for dam cleaning work up until the recent rain, however there was still a number of projects to be completed.
Utilising a contractor's equipment is far cheaper than owning it, according to Mr Ross.
"People need to remember low-loaders are an issue out here," he said.
"It is a 400 kilometre run to pick up and return hired equipment from Parkes, so using local businesses saves a great deal of money before any dirt is moved."
He said it wouldn't be worth the investment for a farmer to have his own excavator.
"They are too expensive for the amount of work they'd do on the property."
A second-hand grader would cost some $50,000 by the time interest and maintenance was added, so Mr Ross said farmers would have to justify the purchase if deciding to conduct their own road grading.
"I know one bloke who bought a crane to use in building a shed.
"It rained and he never used it."
While a farmer may think it handy to own his own gear, he also has to look at the interest and depreciation, repairs and labour, Mr Ross said.
"If it doesn't add up, then contracting is the best way to go."
Contractors have the efficiencies, according to Mr Ross, because they have the plant for the job and the expertise.
"We get a lot of irrigation channel work, mainly maintenance," he said.
"Farmers had gone without water for a long time and are playing catch-up now and need to make some money again, so there's not a lot of new infrastructure going on at the moment."
Dams are bigger these days, in the 3000 cubic metre category, so Mr Ross said larger equipment was needed for cleaning jobs using excavators or crawler dozers for reshaping.