What size digger do you wish you'd bought?

[janelondon]

Finally about to start our build, and we have a ton of trees to clear. A first quote we got from a local tree surgeon included £6k (!!!) for a 9tn digger + grab hire.

 

Looking to purchase a secondhand digger as our build is fairly large and no doubt it'll save us quite a bit £££.

 

While we'll occasionally operate the digger, most of it will be done by local tradesmen we hire. Anything to note about insurance/liability?

 

Also, what size digger should we get - or do you wish you had bought? We have ample space at the site, and want a balance of cost vs efficiency vs eventual resale value. Thanks!  

Edited January 10, 2023 by janelondon

[Iceverge]

Whats the budget for the digger?

 

I had a 7,5t tracked Sumitomo excavator and now a Massey 860 backhoe.

 

The 7.5t was fine for everything apart from digging big holes in the ground. It got particularly good at bursting hoses ,pinging seals and throwing off tracks towards the end.

 

The backhoe is awkward and slow for any back actor work but the front loader works fine. Beware any soft ground however. It goes down like the titanic. It too likes bursting hydraulic hoses. 

 

Is it an option to get a tracked excavator + tree shears and operator on hire to take to down the trees? Cheaper, faster and much safer for all involved.

 

 

 

[nod]

I borrowed a 5 tone digger this time which coped with Boulder clay and everything else It’s worth baring in mind The larger you go the thirstier they are 

I would hire and perhaps buy later 

[ProDave]

I had a 3t digger, it was just what came up locally at the time. I would have preferred bigger say 6t.  The larger machines say 13t would have been too big for my plot.

 

I had a few trees to take out and the 3t digger struggles to get the stumps out.  If you have not done this before leave a good length of trunk on the tree and use the digger to push / pull it over after loosening the ground around it

[gc100]

Don’t get a digger/backhoe- we had one one the farm and they are big awkward and not great compared to an excavator. There is a reason you see excavators way more these days. Unless you are moving lots of materials from A to B the excavator is much more practical and faster all round . 
My build has finish now but I still have my old 3T excavator- it’s just too useful to get rid off but I probably will at some point . Most excavators will struggle with pulling mature tree stumps out. I had a 18T one of site to break and crush concrete up and that struggled a bit with a couple. As per above make sure you leave lots of trunk on and use the leverage. 

It really depends on your budget but bigger the better really if you have lots of room. 

[Conor]

I've hired a 13t, 8t, 5t and 2.5/3t.

 

For digging drainage trenches, duct runs, moving stuff around, and 3t is the best. The 5t was a bit big for digging down the side of the house, just was capable of some fairly heavy digging. The 8t was great and moving a 200t pile of clay. The 13t is only useful on a completel clear site for moving material about.

 

On balance, the 5t is the one to get as you'll be able dig your founds, service trenches, and still be able to dig a 300mm wide hole close to the building.

 

Re letting other people drive it... Do t go there unless they are fully insured and experienced! Your self build I sirance won't cover it 

[Mr Punter]

Large tree roots weigh a lot and nobody really wants them.  Mud will kill the chainsaw and they take an age to dry enough to burn.

[Thorfun]

bought a 2.7T Kubota. great little machine but the lack of reach is frustrating. i managed to get smallish trees out with it by digging around the roots and then lifting out. it's been a great purchase and i've used it to dig our driveway, trenches, move pallets of blocks, carry materials around site and other things too. but i think a 5T would've given me a longer reach. But as @Conor says would probably be not as usable on a smaller site.

 

for insurance i added machinery to our site insurance so it's covered under that.

[twice round the block]

You can't let other contractors loose on a machine, if they find an unmapped cable or collapse a trench when someone is in it... your going for the high jump.

 

Larger machines are cheaper secondhand as you can only tow upto 2.7t, so anything bigger has to be transported on low loaders etc. and the cost can be high, even more so if it ever breaks down on site..

[jamieled]

I wouldn't automatically assume buying a machine will save you money. It might, but there's a significant chance it could be more expensive than hiring. Factor in the hassle and cost of breakdowns (esp if you're not mechanically minded) and also be aware there's a world of difference between buying and using yourself and buying for someone else to use in terms of maintenance, h+s etc.

 

If you're paying someone else to use your machine, I struggle to see how that becomes cost effective Vs just getting a local digger driver in with his own machine. 

[gc100]

8 hours ago, jamieled said:

I wouldn't automatically assume buying a machine will save you money. It might, but there's a significant chance it could be more expensive than hiring. Factor in the hassle and cost of breakdowns (esp if you're not mechanically minded) and also be aware there's a world of difference between buying and using yourself and buying for someone else to use in terms of maintenance, h+s etc.

 

If you're paying someone else to use your machine, I struggle to see how that becomes cost effective Vs just getting a local digger driver in with his own machine. 

I started off thinking this and hired/got one with a driver to begin with. I suppose I spent nearly £6k before (120hrs worth maybe) then I bought my own. 

 

it cost me £11k to buy and now 2 years later worth about the same. I’ve done about 1000hours in it. It’s only cost me fuel and one burst pipe (£35). No brainer for

me.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 11, 2023 by gc100

[Jenki]

I have bought a backhoe, a lot of advice on here, and it is justified advice, was get a 360 tracked machine.  I went for the Backhoe, as it has the loader and forks.  I have dug all the footings on some cabins. lots of drainage, moved 200 tonne of stone, 16 Cube of concrete with it, so I am glad I have this over a 360 digger, and as the house build start and I'm moving more sheet materials / pallets it will be more helpful.

 

There is no doubt I would have spent more hiring.  But the Backhoe is not ideal, digging trench's takes some prior thought, and lots of manoeuvring to get the job done, and I've sat there many times knowing It would be quicker with a 360.   Also on a small site it just wont work, I've got Acres and some time struggle to manoeuvre  the machine to where I want to dig.

 

If I had the money I would have bought a 5T 360, and a separate loader with forks.  

 

SO  buy a 360 if you know how to drive it or are willing to learn. If your thinking of letting others drive it STOP. You also have to think about security. 

 

[janelondon]

Wow, this is great. Thanks everyone for the insights. Now off to do some more research. 

[ToughButterCup]

Just remembered this about What They Dont Tell you about owning a digger

[ProDave]

If we are doing digger pics, this was mine.

 

 

That was digging the hole for the treatment plant, almost at full reach down into the ground, a smaller digger with less reach would have struggled.

 

And on the subject of maintenance, the astute will notice a steel bar forming a temporary pin for the boom.  It had just sheered it's original pin and this was the best I could muster up to get the job done until I could replace the pin properly.  It was somewhat floppy like that!!!!

 

It was a very old 3t Komatsu.  Not what I was really looking for but it came up on ebay, and I put in a silly low bid and won it for £2500.  It was old and worn but it worked, did everything I asked it to and I sold it for £2500 when finished.

[pritch]

When I was involved in a similar large-scale landscaping project, we faced the same dilemma about digger size. We ultimately went for a mid-sized digger, around 5-6 tons. It was large enough to handle significant tree removal and earthmoving tasks but not so large that it became cumbersome to operate in tighter spaces. In retrospect, this size was a great balance between power and maneuverability.