Land It Podcast
Welcome to the Land It Podcast!
This is the podcast built for the business owners driving the machines, clearing the land, and getting the real work done. Brought to you by Blue Goat Land Leads, we shine a light on the land services — land clearing, excavation, and demolition — and the business owners who keep it moving.
Every episode brings you real conversations with contractors who’ve been in the trenches — from the jobsite to the office. We talk equipment, business growth, and how to land more work without wasting time or money. You might even learn some golden nuggets you can apply in your business no matter what stage of growth you're in.
No fluff. No sales pitches. Just straight talk with folks who know the grind and have something to say.
If you live for heavy machines and hustle, you’re in the right place. We want to help you land those big goals, land those big jobs, and just LAND IT!
Subscribe now — and let’s talk.
Land It Podcast
Turned Down at 18, Now He Does Land Clearing in Three Counties | 4W Land Management
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Payton Wilson got turned down for a skid steer loan at 18 years old. He cowboyed for the next ten years. Then a buddy called him about an $80,000 job on a Bitcoin mine, and Payton bid the job before he owned a single machine. That one job paid for the skid steer, the mulcher and the trailer inside the first week.
Today Payton and his wife Katie run 4W Land Management Services across three Texas counties: land clearing, forestry mulching, excavation, demolition, drainage, pond builds, house pads and driveways. Twelve services on the website, and Payton explains exactly why that list keeps getting longer.
He walks through the bidding system he built after underpricing a job by 30 percent, where he gives the customer a capped day range and eats the overage himself. He breaks down how a two culvert phone call turned into four acres of clearing, a demo, a house pad, and a one acre pond turned into a two and a half acre lake, all without moving his equipment off the property. He also talks about subbing out a pond job at cost just so he could watch a veteran operator work and learn how to build one right.
Plus: why he calls his competitors instead of fighting them, what it actually takes to run a business with your spouse, and the advice he gives anyone who is six months out from buying their first machine.
CHAPTERS
0:00 Meet Payton and Katie Wilson of 4W Land Management
1:22 Turned down for a skid steer loan at 18
2:56 The phone call that started the company
5:02 The first job was a Bitcoin mine
7:30 How he got job two and job three
9:34 Why word of mouth dries up on everybody
12:03 The job he had no business taking
14:33 How he bids jobs now so nobody loses
19:39 Knowing when a job is too big for you
21:19 Competitors who send each other work
25:42 Running the business with his wife Katie
38:09 Why 4W lists twelve services
39:56 Stacking services on one mobilization
41:56 Subbing out a job just to learn from a veteran
46:55 Why single service companies are getting stuck
48:32 How two culverts turned into a full site job
51:53 Cold calling real estate agents for work
55:26 Sales is really just conversation
58:54 What to say when they ask you to go cheaper
1:01:11 Advice before you buy your first machine
1:03:57 Set aside double what you think maintenance costs
1:07:52 Make sure you actually like the work
CONNECT WITH PAYTON
4wlandmanagement.com
If you got something out of this one, leave a review and subscribe so more contractors find the show.
#landclearing #forestrymulching #excavation #demolition #contractorbusiness #dirtwork
GET THE BOOK
Land It in the Dirt World, the marketing playbook for land clearing, excavation and demolition contractors.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0H6698DPX
LIST YOUR COMPANY
The Dirt World Directory, a national directory for land clearing, excavation and demolition contractors.
https://dirtworkdirectory.com/
MORE FOR DIRT WORLD CONTRACTORS
Guides, tools and marketing help from Blue Goat Land Leads.
https://www.landclearinginsights.com/