Vijay

Me too, I'm used to this place so you won't hurt my feelings lol

Thinking about this even more (and looking at every digger I see working on roads now), what can be done to help combat theft of diggers? Would disabling the engine be a good start?

Using 0% transfer credit cards is a good way of getting some interest free credit for up to 2 years. There are a lot that don't charge any fees for the transfer and as long as you pay the monthly minimum and pay it off (or transfer again) at the end of the period, it's interest free.

That's a pretty good idea and I'll see if a mate who uses farm machinery is free too

Hi Terry, I do but I intend to be fully hands on with my build (well as much as I can) and am not under pressure in terms of a deadline now as I've kind of missed my window with the builder (and my Mum has to have a heart op in the next few months) so I probably won't start building till next year now. So that's why I'm contemplating the digger and as already said, it's there when ever I need it rather that struggling to do a job with a shovel or waiting for a machine to arrive.

Cheers. I read your post on the Ebuild forum and I will be taking that if I buy one (which is becoming more appealing). I'm certainly not opposed to digging with shovels and getting my hands dirty, but already having a bad back does make me think ahead and not want to damage it any more - and therefore have to hold up work. Does your site insurance cover your digger and what about after your site insurance ends? I emailed a local hire place and they say their 1.4 tonne mini digger will dig to just over 2m. I'm happy to look at 3 tonne machines but what benefit will a bigger machine give me, is it just not pushing it's limits for everything? (so it's cruising doing the work)

Just wait until you try reversing a trailer around a corner lol

lol I'm a Londoner

I don't have anything in mind that I need to lift to first floor, I guess I was just wondering what else a digger could be used for So for general works, a minimum for 3 tonne?

Thanks guys. I'm just at the weighing up stage at the moment. I'll look into hiring with and without a driver too. My site is pretty flat with nothing to remove in terms of existing buildings or walls. It's just over 1/2 acre with no access issues or overhanging cables. I've got the following to do: Footings (between 1.2 and .5m), drainage, RWH tank, soakaways, service trench, quite a large front drive (will be block paving but I will need to get a working surface down as it's clay), paths around the sides of the house, garage concrete slab, rear patio area, about 220m of hedges to plant and site levelling. My thinking is like ProDave, it would be extremely handy to have on site as and when I need, as this is a 5 year project for me Also, can a digger happily be used to lift materials up to say first floor level? What sort of size digger should I be considering (or not considering) for my needs?

are the wooden stakes in the empty footings for concrete levels? Were they just left in?

Hi all, After some crazy prices to dig the foundations, a couple of mates have suggested buying a digger and doing them myself. I've never used one but I've been told they are pretty easy to pick up the controls, so I'm contemplating on giving it a go. I need to go down between 1.2 and 1.5m and maybe a but deeper for a RWH tank? Any suggestions on what size of digger I should be looking at and anything else I should be considering when buying one? Cheers Vijay

Thanks for the post/pics, I'm contemplating digging my own