Most maintenance work disappears. Here, people notice inside a week.

Ask anyone who's been here lately. Guests who came back this season. Guests who came fifteen years ago. Crew who've moved on and still check in. They all say a version of the same thing: you can see it changing. Not over years. Over a week.

That's an unusual thing to be able to say about maintenance work. Most of it is invisible by design. You fix the pump and nobody knows there was a pump. Here, the difference between how a thing looked Monday and how it looks Friday is the whole story, and people keep telling it back to us.

About the ranch

Sundance Trail Ranch is 138 acres at 8,000 feet, backing onto Roosevelt National Forest, 45 minutes from Fort Collins. One of Colorado's smallest dude ranches. Twenty-four guests at a time, 38 horses and building, about fifteen crew. Jade and Monty took over operations in April 2026 after 26 years of prior stewardship, and they inherited a place with good bones and more than two decades of things put off until later.

Later is now. There's a capital projects list. Fences, buildings, the water system, equipment, trails. And sitting in the yard is a brand-new Kubota SVL75-3 track loader with the bucket, pallet forks, bale spear and posthole auger. Barely any hours on it. Nobody's really put it to work yet.

That's waiting for you.

Why this seat matters

The ranch is moving to year-round operation. Dude ranch season runs May through September, then day rides, corporate offsites, ranch stays and full-property buyouts carry the shoulder and winter months. The property no longer gets to quietly fall apart from October to April. It has to hold up, look right, and be safe, twelve months a year.

Guests feel buildings before they can name why. A gate that hangs true. A trail that drains. Water pressure at 6am. A cabin that's warm when they walk in from the cold. They rarely say it out loud. They just come back, and they tell people. That's the work, and it's worth being proud of.

What you'll own

• The equipment program. The Kubota and every attachment, plus vehicles and trailers. Operation, service schedule, hour logs, all of it.

• The capital projects list. Sequencing it, costing it, then working it.

• Contractors. Sourcing, scheduling, standing on site while they're on site, making sure what got quoted is what got built.

• Buildings and systems. Water, propane, septic, power. When something fails at 10pm in February, you're the one who knows where the valve is.

• Purchasing to a set authority so you're not waiting on approval for a $200 part.

• Snow. The entrance, driveway, interior roads, parking, and every path guests and crew walk. Larimer County handles the county road. Everything inside the gate is yours.

• Day-to-day direction of two Wrangler & Ranch Hands on their maintenance half. Their horse work stays with the Barn Boss.

About the table

There's no back of house at this ranch. Most crew eat every meal with guests. You won't be held to that the way the lodge crew are, because your work doesn't run on the meal clock.

But understand what you're walking into: guests love the maintenance person. They want to know what the machine does. They want to know what that building used to be. They'll walk out to where you're working just to ask. That's not an interruption. That's the job doing exactly what it's supposed to do, and the person in this seat is expected to be good at it.

This might be for you if

• You've run a maintenance program, a crew, or your own trade business, and you'd rather fix things properly than fast.

• You've been waiting for a job that hands you a machine like this and gets out of the way.

• You can hold a contractor to a quote without it turning into a fight.

• You're solid on well, septic, propane and basic electrical, and you know exactly where your ceiling is and when to call a licensed trade.

• Winter at 8,000 feet sounds like the good half of the year.

• You want to be able to point at something in November that didn't exist in June.

This probably isn't for you if

• You'd rather not be seen. Guests will find you, and you're expected to be good with them when they do.

• You'd rather be told what to do each morning than decide what matters most this week.

• You need a full shop and three people before you'll start.

• You're looking for a season. This is a year-round seat, built that way on purpose.

The honest stuff

It's remote. Nearest real grocery run is 45 minutes. Cell signal is a negotiation. Some of what you inherit was done badly the first time and you'll be undoing before you can do. Winter snow doesn't ask what time it is, and the on-call expectation is real and will be written down clearly before you start, not sprung on you in January.

This seat reports to the Ranch Manager. That seat is currently open and being recruited, so until it's filled you report directly to Jade and Monty. For the right person, that's the best part of the job.

Room and board

Live-in preferred. On-property accommodation and all meals provided at no cost and with no wage deduction, and the chef cooks for crew through the off-season too. Local commuters considered at the same hourly rate.

Pay and schedule

$24.00–$30.00 per hour depending on experience, paid bi-weekly. Full-time, year-round. 8-hour days with a 1-hour break, plus a winter on-call rotation for snow and systems failures. Paid sick leave, FAMLI coverage and workers' compensation from day one.

Requirements

Valid driver's license. Ability to pass a background check. Willingness to hold current CPR and First Aid certification — we run the certification on property at our cost.

Preferred, not required: ability to tow, current CPR and First Aid, welding, small-engine and hydraulic repair, heavy equipment hours.

How to apply

Send a resume and your availability to office@sundancetrail.com, and answer these in the body of the email:

1. Tell us about your experience working on a guest ranch.

2. What sort of things are you good at fixing?

3. Why do you want a year-round role in the Colorado Rockies?

4. When can you start?

5. Are you looking to live on the ranch, or commute?

Sundance Trail Ranch is an equal opportunity employer. Employment is at-will and contingent on a background check and I-9 verification.