Experience of those compact digger / excavator things ...

Posted by: DIL on 18 May 2005

Hi,
We are extending our house; widening the garage to one side and adding a bigger entrance. This will involve digging out ca 2m x 6m (garage) and 4m x 4m (entrance), both to around 1m depth. Does anyone have experienc of those little digger/excatavor things that one can hire, or is it better (but less fun) to get a man with a JCB. The ground is ca 6" topsoil over sand or clay.

/david

Posted on: 18 May 2005 by Justyn

David,

With the amount of earth you want to remove (about 45 tons in total), the easiest and fastest option would be to hire in a JCB complete with driver. The mini diggers you mention could work out more expensive, as a full size JCB would most probably be able to excavate all of the works during a single day.
(Yes - It's a lot less fun but also a lot less hassle)

Be wary of the tipping costs if you can't accomodate the spoil, I've just had a hardstand and footings excavated for an extention and the cost of disposal of the spoil cost me as much as the actual hire of the JCB.

Hope this helps.

Justyn.

Posted on: 18 May 2005 by Berlin Fritz

Offenders in Swindon would have that finished in half an hour, using plastic teaspoons, innit

Posted on: 18 May 2005 by long-time-dead