DMR's K-5 Gutter Machine Photopage part 1

What Do These Web Pages Have To Offer Me?

Superior Gutter Installation Set-up:
Even if you already have your own thriving gutter business with several crews I can show you how you can speed up their installations and improve your marketing to save you thousands a month. This is web site is the most comprehensive you will find on the Web by far, so you will find a lot of beneficial information if you take the time to read through it. If you are a gutter contractor, or looking to become a gutter contractor and you are a clever person possessing a pretty good mechanical aptitude, and looking for a good set-up like I have put together and are looking to get into more high end work, instead of the lame mass-production gutters new construction demands; you can read over these pages to get good ideas of how you can make it a reality.

As far as I know I have the only gutter and custom sheet metal training like this in the States. I can assist your start-up of this sort of business with lists of suppliers and tools best suited for this work, saving you a lot of time and money, in stead of trying to figure this out on your own.

Gutter Installation and Business Training:
There is a great deal of info on our web site regarding this sort of business, but it is not just the standard system. It revolves around a very high set of standards for quality and ethics that you will not find in the normal business world. We feel that if nothing else it is a smarter business model in the long run, saving thousands each month just in advertising costs and customer warranty work to keep the phone ringing for decades to come.

I do not profess this to be a quick-get-rich sort of program, especially since most of them are just scams to pick your pocket. It has a good potential of making a healthy living without breaking your back, or having to work with hazardous materials. It has growth potential, but I feel some of the best rewards is the feeling of pride and satisfaction of your accomplishments providing a good service to your clients and helping to build values in America once again.

I also offer a franchise options to help kick start your business off the ground running, as long as you share my ideals of quality work and ethics.

What you should do before contacting me:
Read through our web site carefully to get to know this business as well as you possibly can. Not just this one web page. Then write an essay on your experience, qualifications, and plans for this sort of business. Then e-mail that to me to begin the process and evaluate the cost of just what you will need.

You will need to mail half of the tuition to begin the actual training on-line to prepare you to maximize your training when you get here for the hands-on training. The other half will be due when you arrive for your hands on training. Read the sections below to find out more what that training entails.

What Kind Of Gutter Machine/Trailer Set-up Will I Need?

I still use my gutter machine on a regular basis. These pages are not to sell my gutter machine or trailer, since that would put me out of business for a month or so; to order another machine and make a whole new trailer. I just replaced all the painted steel screws with stainless steel screws in August 2005. We have had our machine for well over a decade and a half now and it has not needed any major service in all that time being kept out of the elements, which is the advice I generously went out of my way to offer you here on this web site.

As you will see on these several web pages; I have designed our gutter machine trailer to be sturdy, yet as light weight as possible, so it can be pulled up hill by just a Honda 3.5 liter V-6 engine. Light weight is imperative to be able to make it up steep hills, as well as having decent gas mileage. The Gutter machine with one full 400 lbs aluminum coil weighs around 2,000 lb without the trailer weight. So you have this, along with the weight of the trailer, shell, and your vehicle and tools, so you are looking to pull a good 8,000 to 9,000 #. It also needs to have a special opening access hatch in the roof, so the fork lift at the wholesale supplier can lower the 400# to 500# coil onto the machine's spool. They do not make standard trailers with this in mind. It is good to keep it low height as possible, so that you do not need to use a ladder to remove the screws to open the hatch, as well as minimizing the wind drag. The hatch needs to withstand freeway speeds and keep out the rain, while being simple and light weight.

Size and Decking:
The trailer should be a double axel with one axel having an electric brake assist. It does not need to be longer than 12' long plus the trailer tongue. A 10' long trailer floor was too short, but there is no need for a 14' trailer. A longer trailer adds a lot of weight and makes it that much more difficult to manage in traffic and park. It should have at least a 4' width between the wheels with the steel frame built out to the outside of the wheel wells for the shell support; for a 5.5' to 6.5' interior width. It does not need to have a wood deck under the gutter machine its self, so it is best to not get a trailer that is already decked. A 2x4 deck in a light cedar or redwood is best for the floor of the trailer, than just a cheap pine deck.

Vehicle Connection:
I prefer the hitch seen on these pages and you will need a tongue lift to get it on and off the towing ball. It is best to have the vehicle set up with a full set of clearance lights, back-up lights, separate turn signals, brake lights, and an electric brake controller with relays placed on each circuit to keep from melting your vehicle's electrical switches. That actually happened to me early on, where I had the wiring professionally installed, but one day the steering column started smoking and fried my switches, costing me over $300 to have replaced. I ended up having to rewire it all myself with the added relays.

What About Used Gutter Machines?

I do not deal in used machines as they are not worth having. I do not know any business that buy used machines and tries to recondition them to sell, as there is not enough money in it. You cannot get a new machine for cheap, but there is not much advantage to getting a used machine. It most likely needs to be rebuilt, which costs several thousand dollars and more time out of service. And that is if you can find a technician local to you that knows what he is doing.

Most gutter contractors will mount their machine on the back of a pick-up truck, leaving the machine exposed to the elements, and they become riddled with rust. Some gutter machines may have a some stainless steel rollers, but the bearings are not stainless steel, nor the frame. The motor will most likely need replaced or rebuilt. Some of the custom parts (if they can be found), are very pricey, which could cost you more than the difference of a new machine, not including the labor to do all this research and rebuilding.

If the machine is not in very good shape, it will crack and scratch the painted sheet metal or worse yet, it is common that it will no longer form it the right way, and even have the sheet metal constantly bind up and jam in the machine. I have seen gutter machine advertised for as little as $5k to $6k USA $, but that does not mean they are really worth that much. I think the current price for scrapping mixed metals is about 7 cents a pound, so that is $140 a ton. That is about how much they weigh, so that is about how much you should really have to pay, plus the weight of the trailer, if it has one? <LOL>

Wouldn't you rather just have a care-free new machine with all new parts and the latest technology? Down time will cost you a small fortune. Even driving an old beat up work vehicle cost way more to a contactor than the payments on a new rig. For every day it is in service, you are loosing $500 to $1,000. It will also hurt your sales and referrals.

Yes, I drive an Acura 4 door sedan. You might wonder if that hurts my sales, but anyone can see that I could afford a truck if I chose to, but I clearly choose to drive this. It shows that I am a clever guy who has thought this through very carefully, and I find this rig to be far more user friendly, with the ladders down where I can reach them, without a ladder.

What Do I Need To Do To Keep A Gutter Machine In Good Running Order?

Maintenance on a good gutter roll-forming machine that has been kept out of the weather is hardly ever needed. The drive chains may need oiled every other year or so, depending on how much it is used.

Keeping it on a trailer also saves thousands in fuel expenses, as well as wear on your work vehicle, since few trips you make require you to have the gutter machine with you. Such as bids or supply runs, or just finishing up the job you already started. Not to mention less road vibration that can wear and change the settings on a machine, and shorten the life of the bearings as well. It also makes driving far more difficult to have that extra weight, and your stopping response time much worse. In an accident with this one ton machine, the weight of the trailer, your ladders, and tools, will also make the impact that much worse and cause more damage.

We have developed a system where we bring the trailer out on the road in only around 1 out of 10 trips. You do the math.

What If I Need Training In Gutter Installation:

As stated above, for more information than D M R Gutters.com has generously provided on this web site already you will have to pay for personalized lessons. I will be happy to tailor them to meet your needs and adjust the cost accordingly. You will most likely need to be able to spend a week or so here with me for a portion of this hands-on training. You can bring others to train with you.

With my training program and franchise options you can get:

(a) Internet correspondence to set up this training time with other details, along with correspondences before hand to begin some of the training, in order to help maximize your time while here.

(b) Learning the lingo and sales techniques that work, without placing your client under stressful pressure.

(c) Provide you with a list of tools and suppliers that are best for a resource.

(d) A detailed work system to save you a lot of money and time.

(e) I will be going over marketing concepts and work with you to develop a starter web site to market your service for clients local to you, which is linked to this web site. This will give you that professional image and save you a great deal of time on the phone and in person answering common questions. It will also save you thousands a month on advertising costs and help you find better pre-qualified clients.

(f) I will show you how to maintain the web site, and add your personal touches and photos. A list of user-friendly inexpensive programs needed, that we have tested over the last decade of web design work.

(g) Copies of print masters for your sales brochures and other paper work.

(h) Book keeping and tax information.

(i) You could even use the name; Dynamic Metal Rendering, and list yourself as an official D M R Gutters franchise to help give you a head start to impress new clients. With the full training and franchise, you will not have to worry about another gutter contractor training with us competing for your business within a 100+ mile radius of your location for as long as you are in business there.

(j) We will be taking you out to actual customers homes to do bids and actual paid gutter work, and see how we interact with clients, with a hand-on demonstration of gutter installation.

(k) I will be demonstrating most types of gutter sheet metal fabrication and installation, even if it is not relating to the jobs I have lined up. You would be using aluminum material to demonstrate with and practice on, so we can see that you are able to do it yourself. You will be returning with samples and templates to refer to afterwards.

(l) Then some afterwards teaching and answer time on-line; for some of the questions that you will come up with later.

And more details that I may not have thought to add here.

As far as cost; for this training with a comprehensive hands-on instruction with up to 5 students for a full week or two would run just $5,000 to cover all I'm offering listed above. Again, I will customize this program to fit your needs and adjust that cost.

If you are unable to spare more than a few days devoted to this sort of training I have a couple other options:

(a) to just hang with me and see what I do for $250 a day. Although, it may be a bit trick arranging my schedule to fit your time here where I am doing that which you would benefit most from.

(b) to have me spend my full attention with you while you're here for $500 a day; in order to show you these skills, and have you then make your own sample practice pieces to bring back with you to use as a reference guides.

We have a guest room here, so you would not need to spend the extra $ for that and my wife is a pretty decent cook.

You could spend much more than that on just getting a good custom web site designed for your business, so I know this is quite a bargain for all I'm offering here, and save you more than that in the first year alone. This is a small start-up cost for most any type of small business. This will also greatly increasing your chances for success, where most small businesses fail within the first 2 years. I have specialized in gutter replacement for 18 years now, since 1992.

If you are serious about our training program, read through the dozens of web pages on our web site (not just this one web page), write an essay on your qualifications, experience, your business plan so far, and let me know just what all you need from me most.

Then send it to me in an e-mail.

Questions?
What Do You Have To Offer?	What Do I Need To Keep My Gutter Machine In Good Order?
What Kind Of Trailer and Machine Will I Need?	What Would a Decent Gutter Machine and Trailer Cost?
What If I Need Help Building a Trailer?	How Do I Arrange to Train In Your Gutter Installation System?
What About Used Gutter Machines?	DMR Gutters Contact Information