Big thanks again to Jobber for supporting the channel and helping offset bone-headed moves like these on my part! :D If you want to try jobber for free you can at this link: go.getjobber.com/coppercreekcuts

I am a Stormwater Compliance Code Inspector for the City of Orlando. I didn't write this violation but my partner did. Such a small world.

A small 2 ton mini excavator with a mulch blade may have helped, but I agree the land was too steep and sandy for your equipment.

Brad, what makes me watch your channel is your honesty and willingness to discuss and narrate your jobs and the issues/problems that you face and have to deal with. We hopefully learn something new with every challenge! I believe your honesty and forthrightness will win the day with the contractor you work for! I do enjoy the stormwater additions to your videos! 👍

I bet a lof of people will point out how much this is your fault. I just wanna say: I applaude you for reflecting so much on yourself here. You clearly said this job was like 90% your fault and maybe 10% the fault of people sending you outdated and/or bad and therefor misleading pictures.

1:36 in and I have a suggestion. Get yourself a jump starter pack for those batteries. It could also save you from battery drain running your yellow lights. I got a basic one from Harbor freight that someone had returned. Have used it to repeatedly start my tractor for snowblowing then used it for phones when we lost power.

You should buy or build a winch plate for your 2” recover hitch so you can winch the ventrac or truck out when stuck or if you need to pull things.

Sorry things didn't work out and thanks for sharing. We all can relate to situations when we're in over our heads. Glad your wife was there for you!

The best KZfaq channels are the ones who are willing to show fallibility. Your humility and integrity are without parallel.

Looking forward to meeting you Sunday. The man, the myth, the legend who my 3 year old son watches some mornings when he wakes up.

This video helped me so much wow, I would have been a lot angrier than you. However after seeing how you handled it, I am now going to work on my internal anger when I make mistakes. I grew up in Orlando, it’s the most humid area in the world. I can’t believe your attitude stayed in the green, I would have been mad. I definitely would have been up front like you but I would have been visibly angry.

I have been a commercial general contractor for 35 years doing primarily manufacturing plants nationwide. I have seen subcontractors that after arriving were clearly in over their head. It happens to all of us. That job looks like it requires some yellow iron. They probably knew that but gave you a shot. You were probably what we call "red ball low" on your price. You did the right thing and called the contractor and backed out as soon as you were sure you could not complete the project. You gave it your best shot and didn't just do a drive by. I wish I had more contractors like you. Thank you for your time.

What a job. I have learned to never bid a tough cut job without looking at it first- it burns me every time. With that said there are always unforeseen circumstances. Congrats to you and the Mrs for battling through it even though you could not complete it. This work will humble you sometimes and you handled it well. Thank you!

I hope you continue with these storm water clean ups. I know this job was a hard hit and lot of learning points. Great watching these to see how you solution it even if that is later call to cancel with customer.

Thinking you’re gonna have a quick big payday usually pulls the blinders over your eyes.

You gave it your all. That kind of work ain’t easy and many people wouldn’t even try. Good news is we got some enjoyment out of it. Thanks

I know having your wife there was definitely a massive help if for nothing more than just carrying you through the mental and emotional hurdles of a stressful job. I’ve taken overnight work and brought my wife along. When I realized I was in over my head at several moments I would just look over at her and her presence alone just made me calmer and not stress like crazy.

I don't know if it would have worked for you on this one, but don't forget that you can use down pressure on your deck to lift your front tires up. I've gotten myself out of several situations where I was almost stuck by doing this.

I often have the same problem as you, if someone only sends me photos of the work to be done - then the work seems very easy and pleasant, and later it turns out to be completely different. My wife also often tells me in such moments that it is better to increase the price of the order at the beginning than to be upset later that the payment is too low. P.S. I also love it when my wife accompanies me during hard work 💖 And you could mow it down with a petrol brushcutter without any problem 🦾👋 Greetings from Poland 👋🙂

So relatable when you reach a point with things that you have to just laugh at it. Thank you for sharing your experience, there is always a silver lining…im glad you had your wife there to help you through it!

DUDE! You aggravated me SOOOO much with all the things you did in this video, still I have respect for you. So I am going to give you a few tips. Your Ventrac attachments. Put them on pallets. Get a pallet jack. You will find life so much better. If you ever take on/ or want to take on a job like this invest in the sickle bar boom mower attachment. Never wrap the come along cable back onto itself. What you should have done is take off the hitch bar and shackle and just used the hitch pin by itself. Hook onto that. Buy Anderson Power plugs/connectors and put them on every piece of equipment you have. Put them on your truck. Put them on a battery that you carry with you and is charged and maintained by your truck. A small deep cycle lawn tractor battery is good. Install battery disconnects on all too. Blocks are ok but better yet invest in some Tanden Master Jiffy Jacks. Not only will they make putting on and take off the tires on the Ventrac so much easier you use them for what they are intended. Changing tires on your tandem axle trailer. Learn to unlink chain link fence. Using that come along and some chain link bar and puller, you could have very easily taken a section of fence off and saved yourself a LOT of walking time. You could have had that pond drained and had the ventrac cutting all that in the center in no time. When it came time to pull out, just use your truck. Pulling the toro, you should have used the sling. wrap onto the lowest point as close to the wheels as you can. Sling over the shoulders like an ox. This will help you pick up on the wheels. Picking up on the wheels will make it so they don't dig in as much. Pulling from the blade/skid side with sling under the deck would probably work best. Invest in two 50 foot sections of 3/8 or 1/4 stainless cable with eyes at the ends. And a couple of snatch blocks. You could have used your ventrac to pull the toro back to the truck.

We ran Steel Spiked Tires on all of our walk behind equipment. I only wish we would have had a VENTRAK back then. in the early 90's, we were very limited on resources.

I wonder if you could use something like a snowmobile dolly to move those mowing decks around

Why was I holding my breathe when you guys were getting the ventrac unstuck. 😂 that was intense!!!

Wow! That's a big job!

As a small business owner, I love that you share these experiences. Your content is always both entertaining and full of knowledge :) I got to say, for the price of a Ventrac, I am really disappointed to see that it doesn't have locking differentials :/ Though for a bog down like this, especially if you are alone the next time, taking one of those blocks of wood and attaching it to the wheel with a ratchet strap would probably have gotten you out. Look up how a tank uses a log for scooping itself out of harsh terrain :) Best of luck going forwards, and apologies for my less than ideal English :)

I said it once and I’m gonna say it again, It’s ur work ethic, mentality and how u analyze and then come to logical conclusion, what makes ur content so much interesting and helpful 🙏🏼.

A jumper pack would be a great addition to your truck ! No need to depend on another vehicle for jumping

That was a close one. Nice job getting it out safe & sound 💯👍🏼💯👍🏼

Don’t worry about it. Live and learn. Great teaching video.

First time I have seen any of your videos. What stood out for me aside from your honesty and attitude was your wife and the help she gave you (which I know you acknowleged lots of times during the video). She was there for you when you needed help, got into it, challenged your ideas, and did whatever was needed, and it's so obvious and heartening to see you two work really well together. So even though the job was too much in the end, imagine how much harder it would have been for you if you were trying to tackle this one on your own without her!

Brad! DO NOT give up! The more experience you get the better you will get! Put that ventrac to work man! Don’t get down cuz you made some mistakes. We all make mistakes we just have to learn from it. I really do enjoy watching these new storm water videos! Seriously don’t stop making them! Charge more for them, etc.! Charge them to have you drive down and back to check it out for quoting purposes. Just don’t give up! If you’ve made it this far, invest in a Polaris Ranger so you have something that can pull the ventrac out. Get a longer trailer that can hold everything. Wait… if you’ve made it this far the boom mower would really help here😂😂 I’m not sure what to do about the brush. If you had a dump truck you could’ve used that but they get pretty expensive and not worth it if you don’t use it often. Maybe you have some things to consider before doing more of these jobs, BUT I think you are also still learning. This is like a different industry in and of itself.

Wow. This video surely is very educational. I was asked to do a job at a backyard of an abandoned commercial property that looked like a jungle with thick, tall 8-foot weeds while I specialized in mowing grasses and doing moderate cleanups. That was crazy but I politely declined the offer. Now I know it s ok to say NO if I can not do a proper job.

Well, this was a better outcome than I thought it was going to be based off the title. I thought maybe the Ventrac went into the drink and was stuck there! Certainly one of those situations where if you don't find a way to laugh about it, you'll just cry. So, glad your wife was there to help keep your sanity!

I'm in the same business mate, total respect to you for sharing this experience. We all have these days, we all get it wrong sometimes and have had to make the same tough but sensible decisions like you did. You have a fantastic attitude and work ethic, you deserve every success my friend. Thank you for sharing the good, the good, the bad and the ugly.

Someone needs to invest in a portable jump pack. Noco makes a decent lithium ion unit you could literally carry in your back pocket that would have no issue at all spinning over that Toro. At that time it would have been the best hundred bucks you have ever spent.

how we do it here in Ellendale ND at the city is we just take our John Deer with the brush Hog, it's an older modle that allows you to offset the Hog. By the time you run down each side the over hang in the ditch is completely cut. Either way you can't do it when it wet or like anything your going to sink on the incline and your going to rut it out.

Things don’t always work like we think they will and your showing one of those times. It may help others.

I'm reminded of what motivated me to get my first come-along: getting a 60" ZTR stuck in mud a hundred yards from the house and barn. But fortunately 30' from a tree line. Well played, sir. Well played in spite of everything!

When it rains it pours Brad. Had a lot of days like that myself, keep on truckin'

Been there done that. Glad nothing got damaged and you didn’t get hurt that job could have gotten really nasty and did more damage than it would have been worth

you need a winch for the back of your Ventrac. I have one on all my stump Grinders to keep them on the hill or extraction. Thanks love the video

You have a great attitude sir. I'm impressed..

As a lawn mowing business owner that also only has only me and my wife. I can definitely say we've been in this position before and of course the wife knew better. Don't feel bad we've all made mistakes.

I will only make this as a suggestion comma so I see that you kind of have to use a little bit of effort to push your attachments for the vintrack comma maybe you could have or design a handle bar kind of like a push mower handle that you can quick release or attach , so it will be easier to move them in and out of your garage? Just a suggestion. Remember this... No matter bow efficient a company tries to be, there is an average of 15 to 20% of lost time per job that is lost because of all aspect of prep and premanagement. It is a win loose no matter what you try to do.

I myself did a job by pictures and it was the last one. i might have broke even at best. your tenasity and honesty is refreshing i to would have beat myself up to get it done only to beat myself up and fail. my hats off to you sir.

Oh, Brad, I've been there. Sometimes, in spite of the best of intentions, things just seem to unravel once you start. I admire you for at least giving it a heroes try.

One of the things I most admire about you is your ability to say I messed up. That is one of the hardest lessons of life. Thank you for being such an excellent example.

I recently took a big leaf clean up, they had all the leaves already blown into piles and it didn't seem like that much until we started bagging up those piles. this property just simply wasn't able to get a mulching vacuum trailer back there. We bagged up 18 - 55 gallon bags, took a couple hours. In the end I had to send the home owner a email saying we could not finish it without me losing hundreds of dollars and lots of time. there was no charge, and customer understood. We should be doing her mulch in the spring on 2024

33:18 do you have a hover mower. 34:43 do u have a jump pack in the truck ?

Congratulations 🎉

Well Brad, I'm going to say two things. #1) You learned some lessons, what not to do. #2) Can't get any worse. It can only get better from here. Brad thanks for sharing this!

Check out the Tri-clone HEAVY DUTY trimmer heads for your next lawn care jobs

I was on a chain gang in Georgia did a few of these. Mower, bush axe, string trimmer, free state labor & maybe a chainsaw. You would be surprised what you can cut down with a mower easing the blade on to it. Which is another point; with your Toro bush cutter, raise the front up/ tilt it back, cut a rough path & then go back to make it uniform.

I noticed the front wheels spinning on the Ventrac when you were trying to get out of that initial stuck. I have wheel spin on my Steiner 440 when I lose traction. It would be nice if these were equipped with lockers. It would do wonders on the loose stuff.

You and your wife have a memory that you will always remember together years from now, and laugh and say remember when we…….

One of the least pretentious creators out there. You show the good, the bad and the ugly. Respect ✊🏼

You should have use a weed Wacker for the sides next to the Pawn

Amazing...... Winch from harbor freight works well, the 3500 one... Oraybe it's the 3000.... Got it for my tow dolly and it works well. Thanks for sharing the experience.

If I were you I would invest in a battery jump box I have one in every vehicle and they work awesome!! Project farm even did a few reviews on them. Also invest in a detachable winch for your hitch so you can pull yourself out if you get stuck. It would also be good to maybey look into getting a excavator with a long reach bushhog or brush cutter, I bet somthing like that would have made this job a breeze

Brings back bad memories for me when I was starting and hungry for jobs and to make a name for myself. I honestly think we all have to go through this and learn. I have a hard time putting my pride to the side and walking away from a job. Especially if a big pay day. After your first walk through I said I’d walk away now. Always an easy decision watching from a screen 1200 miles away! Best you can do is learn, move on, and not beat yourself up for trying. Keep up the great work!

Hey seeing use that come along give me anxiety I hate those things I put a 3500 pound Badland Harbor freight winch on my exMark stand on and I think getting one of those would be a great idea for your Ventrack

You can buy a harbor fright torque wrench for like $30….

A jump box of some sort would be a good item to add to the kit.

When you first felt the machine getting bogged, you should have stopped, raised or removed cutting deck. Then recovered the vehicle, followed with dragging the deck to Level ground. That’s what I would have done, hope it helps you in future 👍🤠

Perhaps you can get a 4k electric winch from Harbor Freight and quickly mount on the rear of the Ventrac and more quickly self-recover.

You need to grab yourself a jump starter. It would have saved you a lot of grunting there. I use a Noco Boost GBX45 that worked great the 3 or 4 times I've used it on a V6 and a V8. It also has an override for the reverse polarity safety circuit that allows you to jump a completely dead battery. Charge it up and toss it behind the seat of your truck. Check the charge every 6 months. BTW, you can also use it as a power bank to charge your phone and cameras.

I used to work for a local DPW for a few years and we had to clean out the retention pounds and almost all of them we did by hand because of how bad the terrain was

11:15... The gradient to me looks a no go. Reach mower or excavator with reach to remain on the level and reach with boom to the batter areas. I'll keep watching

I feel your pain and am hurting for you, manhandling that heavy Toro brush cutter. Those things are heavy; I have a similar brush cutter for the steeper hill sides. Those slide quite easily on steeper sites.

Some one selling a small self propelled flail mower over here for 2k. Weima wmx-663 might be worth a look some videos out there as well of it being used. Would be good to hire it for a day and test it first as it is from china style equipment as the price reflects. Not sure if suitable or not just putting some ideas out there.

Tri-clone trimmer head is perfect for this job

If you do get another job like this. Consider an excavator rental for the weekend. They just cleaned up a pond hear near my home and they used a excavator and literally put the machine straight into the middle of the pond. For larger jobs that I need a rental. I either split the cost if needed but mostly just put the rental charge into the bid amount. Consider also a trip charge for further away projects include your prep and clean up time into that. It took a minute to learn but hope this helps.

Maintenance is key. But I've helped a buddy before, one ventrac, and two-three guys with weed eaters and boots can be a big help for ya

Keep up the great work man it happens sometimes we look at pictures Biden the job a certain way get there and it's totally different. Next time I would factor in three hours of travel time just to look at the job and I would also figure in an extra day make them pay for lodging. Since you're three hours away from home

Now that’s a real ven Trac review

I’ve been in situations like this on a smaller scale where you ask yourself why.

With all the cool stuff you have, I’m surprised you don’t have a battery jump pack. Would’ve been perfect in this situation.

that was stressfull, thankfuly your wife was there. if i can help at all with either jobsite pictures or more physical work in hmu! im in Orlando

I didn't have this type of situation however, my first year mowing I hooked up with a property management company and I took on 54 properties in my home city and they came to me and offered me another 142 properties about an hour and a half away in another city. I would drive up at 5am and start mowing at about 7am. I would do 33 or more properties a day, solo. I would stay for a week and do that every other week. But I remember a few times when I'd get a flat, or my battery would die. Those were the worst, but like you said, you just learn each time and prepare for the next.

You will get more drainage work because you was honest about the whole job

Good man

I think you handle the situation quite well. You and your wife seem to make a good team. Also, it's not a total loss. You were able to make a little money off of the video!

Sorry that you took on a job that was beyond your equipment's ability. Though having lived in Florida and designed some of those drainage ditches, most are designed at a 1:1 or 2:1 side slope and everywhere the soil is sand. That is definitely a string cutter with a bush hog blade and probably waders to do that job or at least a medium sized excavator with a mulcher attachment and a bucket.

How do you keep the machine and attachments so immaculate ? even the tires looks brand new

Hey Brad, I’ve got a question for you. What happened to the Green striker trailer? I have not seen you use it since you bought it and it’s not even in the background of any of the shots that you’re loading stuff up.

Why do you not have a lithium jump pack!!! It would start that right up and fit in your pocket. Mine starts my ford van. My jump pack was less than 30 bucks.

Noco jump pack. Never leave home without

You wont believe the progress one can make with a pole hedge trimmer on the ground. 2 acre pond with some larger overgrowth in areas rest about same. 4 days, 2 guy, 2 Milwaukee M18 hedge trimmers.

great video, thanks for showing the dark side of the industry. I really enjoyed this. Also, you kind of look and sound like sean strickland! lol following you! loved the video

this is the attachment you needed for this job MA900 Boom Mower

Braver than me, and you know that there is no way to anticipate everything you'll need for such a job especially three hours away. So cut yourself a break, and how much better to have a wonderful wife to be there. Your gratitude towards her is admirable. Great video, and thanks for sharing it!

If you're going to do retention pond restoration and management for people You're going to need a long reach excavator. I think you just figured out why you need a long reach excavator because you're going to get the places that you just can't get in there with equipment You're going to need something tracked that can reach a long way. Now where I live I see people with specialized mowers and they're about they got two or three wheels on each side they're very similar to your ventrac but sometimes they got to get in there with a excavator because they have rip rap they have to work around as well or replace. Good luck buddy like many contractors the job looks like you can do it till you start working on it and you find out the hard way but there's no disgrace in bailing out if you can't do it correctly. I think it's better to tell the customer you can't do the job correctly then trying to do the job wrong.

First and only landscaping job I ever did by myself was a disaster. Took on way too much. I got it done because I took the job and wanted to see it through. But good lord did I make a mistake there.

If that walk behind had duel wheels it would have done well.

You need to run with some Max trax in the trailer

Oh man just one of those days where everything keeps going wrong!😅 Glad you could laugh about it and have your wife there to help!

JUST A GOOD HARD WEEK OF WORK!!! YOU JUST NEED BIGGER EQUIPMENT AND LEAVE WATER ALONE.. SUB OUT IF YOU CANT HANDLE ALL... NEVER BACK DOWN JUST LEARN BETTER NEXT TIME... TRUST ME HERE IN SOUTH LOUISIANA ITS LIKE THAT ALL OVER...

I used a similar to your toro walk behind bush hog on my property it was a billy goat and was green but I bet your toro is the same thing. I had a large area on a steep hill I had to do and it was absolutely brutal!!! After 1 hour behind it on a steep hill I decided right then and there I was done and going to buy a 4x4 tractor. WOW it was brutal. Now I mow with a Kubota L2850.

Only thing you can do is learn from this & maybe find a portable jump start that stays with your truck