Thinking about doing a little backhoe work on the side

I have a small piece of recreational land up in the hills of rural Western New York, and may eventually want some backhoe work done for septic, driveway, building pad, etc.

Naturally this got me thinking about buying my own backhoe, which I've always daydreamed about. If I did that, I would be interested in picking up some little side jobs near my property, for others needing the same type of work.

I have zero experience with heavy equipment except farm tractors, and watching and chatting with operators from time to time. I figure digging on my own property would be a good way to learn.

I am leaning toward an older Case 580, or maybe similar Deere or Cat if I can find one. I am hoping to find something under $10k. I like the backhoe because it seems like it can do a lot of different little jobs, and I can drive it where I need to go.

I know a guy who is really into vintage equipment who is always trying to convince me to get a really old machine, but I will probably avoid that, as tempting as it sounds.

I don't mind tinkering with machines, and am very mechanical. Diesels and hydraulics are pretty foreign to me though.

My big concern is liability insurance cost. I won't ever go anywhere near utilities or existing structures, and would limit jobs to real simple ones. My main worry is just driving the thing down the road and clipping a car or something. My instincts are to skip insurance and just keep it real casual, but common sense tells me that could be really dumb. I just worry that insurance cost could kill any hope of making a little money at this.

Any idea of the lowest I might pay for liability insurance for this?

Any other ideas or suggestions are really appreciated.

David

Thinking about doing a little backhoe work on the side