size of excavator for baseworks?

[sunflower]

Our foundations are going to be reasonably straightforward (famous last words!!)

 

100 m/sq house. Site with a v mild slope, currently a field. Clay soil. Hoping to do beam and block.

 

We're looking to buy an excavator for this, which it will also be super useful at our equestrian centre.

 

Can anyone advise, will a mini excavator (1.5 ton or thereabouts) be far too small for the job? 

 

Do we need to consider a bigger excavator, say 3 tons?

 

Grateful for any opinions, thank you

[Mr Punter]

Get a large excavator if you have the space.  8 tonne would mean you could load the muck lorries and not need grabs.  It will also be good for materials handling.  Hire it with an operator.

[nod]

I borrowed a 5 tone excavator Which was fine for Drainage footings etc

and loading packs of block If your going to be loading lorrys for muck away it would  be a little bit slow 

move a three ton machine on loan Which would struggle with clay footings 

[twice round the block]

Any size machine can cope if you know how to use it. This was my 1.5T Volvo 2 weeks ago. 

The bigger and more powerful the machine the more damage you can do unintentionally.

 

If you  have the space a JCB  or Massey with a back actor and 4 into 1 front bucket maybe a better choice. 

Edited February 10, 2024 by twice round the block

[SimonD]

15 minutes ago, twice round the block said:

 

 

 (Expletive deleted) you're brave!

[Pocster]

2 hours ago, Mr Punter said:

Get a large excavator if you have the space.  8 tonne would mean you could load the muck lorries and not need grabs.  It will also be good for materials handling.  Hire it with an operator.

Big is best with driver ; good access for 8 ton trucks 

[Pocster]

1 minute ago, SimonD said:

 (Expletive deleted) you're brave!

The man’s a gambler . We await a photo soon of digger in trench 

[SimonD]

Just now, Pocster said:

The man’s a gambler . We await a photo soon of digger in trench 

 

Or maybe it's been lying in the ditch for two weeks since?

[Pocster]

1 minute ago, SimonD said:

 

Or maybe it's been lying in the ditch for two weeks since?

Still want a photo 

[joe90]

I had a jcb 3cx fir the duration of my build, heavy (can do ground damage if very wet) but very handy for all sorts of jobs with front bucket, forks etc (and great fun to drive)

 

Edited February 10, 2024 by joe90

[SimonD]

17 minutes ago, Pocster said:

Still want a photo 

 

Totally!

[SimonD]

Well, I only have a little one 🙄 But of course it's how you use it that counts, isn't it?

 

[twice round the block]

11 minutes ago, SimonD said:

 

Totally!

Skip loader taking afternoon nap.

Volvo still upright.

Haven't got my knee down on a digger for 30 plus year's 

[ProDave]

45 minutes ago, SimonD said:

 (Expletive deleted) you're brave!

The soil at our site is so soft the trench sides would have caved in with that.

 

To do similar on our site I had to put down some old scaffold boards to spread the load futher.

[ToughButterCup]

You need three diggers. 1.5, 5 and 16 tonnes.

If your experience is anything like ours, you'll get your money back on each of them.

[saveasteading]

Tempting, fun and macho to diy this. But  a jcb with experienced  driver can do it much faster and better. 

IF you are organised and in total control of line and level.

Then he takes the machine away, leaving you space.

 

But if you aren't organised, then your diy digger sitting idle isn't costing you as much as the other. 

[crispy_wafer]

2 days, a 3 ton machine, and a pro sorted mine, depth to 1m though.  I’ve hired in various sizes since to do various jobs probably total cost of 1600 ish in hire fees.  Wanted to buy one as can certainly make use for one but i think the capital is better spent on my build.  Maybe when the vat payment comes in at the end 🤣

[SimonD]

On 10/02/2024 at 15:57, ProDave said:

The soil at our site is so soft the trench sides would have caved in with that.

 

To do similar on our site I had to put down some old scaffold boards to spread the load futher.

 

Yeah, me too - with some soft wet clay in parts that caved in without the digger being even close!

[scottishjohn]

3  t or 4,5/5ton is more than enough for any foundation work and can be fitted with a rock pecker 

 main advantage of 5tonner is the extra reach over a 3t --1.7 very little reach --meant for road repairs and gardening 

 

 limit with 3ton is it won,t lift a full wet bag of sand  at any thing like reaching 

 and if you want to pull out tree roots then 7ton + is needed or a lot of knibbling away at the roots -with a 3-4ton and they probally won,t lift the root ball if over 12"-15" dia 

 i have tb230  tacecuchi 

taceuch i was my choise cos its the only one that you can wipe the dozer blade with  bucket --so making cleaning up and stone lifting easy-and a 5ton one was another 15k+

 it handles all my mega stone work - can lift 600kgs -- but a wet tote bag of sane will be over 1ton

 if you have the space you can buy  old big diggers quite cheaply --but your 1.5-1.7 --that can be towed with a pick up or van are very pricey in comparsion 

 the bottom line is how much do you want to pay 

a 8year old 3toner will still be 16k +vat for a good one 

new price is about £37k+vat 

I bought a 3 year old for £30k inc vat 

 

Edited February 13, 2024 by scottishjohn

[scottishjohn]

On 10/02/2024 at 13:52, nod said:

three ton machine on loan Which would struggle with clay footings 

mine is fine with the very hard stone ground and clay is no problem - fitted a pecker to remove live rock from inside my old house when doing the sub floor  etc

so only limit with 3t ,to me is that it will not lift full wet tote bags  or ppallets of blocks -

[joe90]

2 hours ago, scottishjohn said:

main advantage of 5tonner is the extra reach over a 3t

Yes my JCB 3CX had the “extra dig” (extending boom) it weighed nearly 9 tons and was mighty powerful and I often used the long reach, even as a crane. 

[Koko90]

I think a 3 Ton mini excavator might be better. I equipped my own small excavator with a "toy", and I have to say that my work efficiency has improved a lot.

[scottishjohn]

the most used things on my site are the 3t digger and the 3 ton dumper 

i could not have manged any of my project without it 

especially with the stone grab -it has made my jobs possible and you cannot overestimate how much time and energy it saves  and how much one man can do 

apart from cost of extra help -

especialy if you are an oldly like me  on the mountainous site i have