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Mini Digger Hire


Royboy
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Unless you've driven one before I would suggest paying a bit more for a driver, I didn't (how difficult could it be after all) and in all the fun of it forgot to measure how deep I was digging. I now have a shed base with about 2 feet of hardcore and a concrete slab that would support a small house :no:

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Cat scan the area. Then scan again.If it's a mini digger slow and steady or you will bounce around like mad. Best bet is park it away from anything and have a go til you understand what each lever does. Don't track with the blade down and don't ever think that you won't hit services just because you are only grading. Go through any main and best case is a fair few £ getting it repaired. Get a zero tail swing and never let anyone inside your swing area. Lastly the red lever is only meant to be down when your bum is.

Working for a excavation company we CAT scan every dig, and order in utility plans from all main providers for every site.. Gas, water, cable, leccy etc... But even still, there are occasional 'strikes' on unidentified services. Drains, cables laid to garages and heating oil pipes are all immediate suspects in domestic properties.

If you go dredging around without proper prep you risk a nasty surprise. Unless you laid the old drive yourself of course and cab guarantee you know what's underneath the top 6".

Edited by Longchalk
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Well I've pulled up all the old Tarmac and now I'm having second thoughts on hiring a digger on my own, it's a mix match of concrete slabs, concrete footpath and sand and stone, so not sure what's under the well compacted sand and stone, I've not had much look with trade people so does anybody have a man and digger in the North West or no of any reliable good ones that won't have me off ? Cheers

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You may find the insurance is only for damage to or theft of the machine.it will not cover the cost of repairing any damaged services.you could need public liability also as any interruption of any service to others is claimable against yourself.when you add it all up the cost of Man and machine is not expensive.

This, insurance covers me for when I am contracting out but not for me on my own land.

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I agree.

If you have decent co ordination it should come easy enough.

Obviously as mentioned services are an issue so make sure all is clear on that front.

Next to the man hole cover there's a big patch of sand and stone, will this indicate that there's a sewer pipe running under there ? I might have a did and see what's under there

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I agree.

If you have decent co ordination it should come easy enough.

Obviously as mentioned services are an issue so make sure all is clear on that front.

I hit next doors water my water my calour gas pipe and my sewer pipe all with out the digger lol, all in one stretch of 30 meters and three hours , even cat scan would not have found the pipes , the gas I dug and found marked it and carried on, it was a root grown round the bloody thing five feet away that did the damage , next doors water I found twice on my land under the extension just marked this with the digger phew! my drive was Tarmac there was a part of it two feet wide that the new pipe work had to go under thought tunnel under with a spade no problem untill if chopped straight through water pipe yep next doors and went straight through it like butter

So in theory the digger wasn't the problem on any damage , water board came out turned water off as stopcocks were seized , he wasn't allowed to fix pipe but very kindly gave me the parts and talked me through it even got stopcock changed by him as I did repair, calour gas came out and fixed pipe that was my only bill 120 quid

Edited by bullet1747
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If there's no pipes entering the man hole at the depth you found the sand etc you should be safe but always hand dig next to a chamber. Measure the depth to the top of the pipe and note flow direction. As you move upstream allow a rise of 1 in 4 and the opposite downstream. Allow for branches into the main run from your or neighbouring properties. Anyone with more than a modicum of sense can drive a digger. Big difference between driving one and operating one !

Edited by digger
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If there's no pipes entering the man hole at the depth you found the sand etc you should be safe but always hand dig next to a chamber. Measure the depth to the top of the pipe and note flow direction. As you move upstream allow a rise of 1 in 4 and the opposite downstream. Allow for branches into the main run from your or neighbouring properties. Anyone with more than a modicum of sense can drive a digger. Big difference between driving one and operating one !

Haha can you repeat all that !!

Hopefully I won't be digging as deep as the pipes ha, ive found the original footpath to the front door so maybe I'll just flag over the top of that to save digging that up ?

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Whoever said there is a world of difference between driving and operating a digger got it spot on.

 

And what size is mini? For me a 1.5T is mini, 0.8T or 1T is micro and can be as much use lifting concrete as a toffee hammer is for banging in 4" nails. You'll probably get man and (the right) machine for about £30 an hour plus diesel and vat. Give it a day and a lorry with clamshell to take spoil away, go to your work and come home when the job's done right.

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Whoever said there is a world of difference between driving and operating a digger got it spot on.

And what size is mini? For me a 1.5T is mini, 0.8T or 1T is micro and can be as much use lifting concrete as a toffee hammer is for banging in 4" nails. You'll probably get man and (the right) machine for about £30 an hour plus diesel and vat. Give it a day and a lorry with clamshell to take spoil away, go to your work and come home when the job's done right.

Agree totally , but where's the fun and adventure in that lol
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Booo, where is the fun in that.

He said I can have a go when he's finished ha

I've ripped all the old Tarmac up and put it in my skip so I can take old hardcore to a lad I know that want it, just speaking to him and he prefers it with Tarmac in !!! Looks like job tonight is pulling it back out of skip

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