Hire mini excavator?

Mark M

Mark M

Mark M

Soldato
Joined
6 Jan 2006
Posts
3,437
Location
Newcastle upon Tyne
Ive got some serious amounts of earth to shift and about 6 big tree trunks to shift along with about 30 shrub/small tree roots also. Can anyone hire a mini excavator or do you need any sort of licence/training before they will hire one out?
 
I've been looking in to this for levelling my garden, it's only a small garden but it's on a horrible incline which makes it dangerous for my son as he could fall on to a lowered patio.

There are adverts on ebay and gumtree for hiring an excavator and a man to operate it. Not very expensive either.

The question is, what do you do with the earth they remove?
 
I'll check out gumtree/ebay thanks.

I assume you'll have to hire a skip to get rid of the earth but for me Im building a couple of retaining walls and levelling things out so I shouldn't have much spare if any.
 
In my experience they just ask if you have operated one before, and give you a quick run down of the controls if not.
 
If you're going to pack the lower earth down a bit you'll be surprised how little there will be left if it's anything like my garden.

When I priced one up it was actually cheaper with the operator - I would have gone for that but did what I needed by hand.
 
Personally I'd hire one with an operator, a skilled operator would be able to get a lot more done in a day than if you're trying to learn how to drive it etc.
 
Bat said:
In my experience they just ask if you have operated one before, and give you a quick run down of the controls if not.
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This
Be aware that unless it is a larger model pulling out the tree stump will not work
You could dig it out however
 
valve90210 said:
Personally I'd hire one with an operator, a skilled operator would be able to get a lot more done in a day than if you're trying to learn how to drive it etc.
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Yeah, but it's FAR more fun operating one yourself!!
I had to hire one when landscaping someone's garden from a hill to a three-tier affair, in the middle of Winter while digging in pretty much solid clay... Quite the experience, although I have fond memories of being inside a nice comfy, sealed cabin during a load of freezing rain, with the heater on!
 
It's more fun for 10 minutes then it's just annoying. I ripped a track off one and spent an hour putting it back on.

If you have a lot to do then I'd hire an operated machine. You'll get loads done in a day.
 
Hire one with an operator. They are not much more expensive and will do it in less than a quarter of the time you'd take to do it.
 
Regy53 said:
i sell diggers and you boys are called weekend warriors in my trade ;)
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Weekend warrior here I come :D

On reflection though Im going to get one with an operator as there are a few of the stumps next to the fence and I know what will happen if I do it myself...
 
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