Hiring plant for the first time can feel like guesswork. The good news is that most jobs come down to two simple questions: do you need to dig, and do you need to move what you dig?
When you need a mini digger
A mini digger is a compact tracked excavator. Hire one when the job involves breaking ground: footings for an extension or garden wall, trenches for drainage or cables, digging out an old patio, levelling a garden, or clearing a plot before a build. Mini diggers are small enough to get through many side gates and onto tight plots, and a good operator can do in an hour what would take a day with a spade.
When you need a dumper
Every hole produces spoil, and usually more than people expect. If that spoil has to travel any distance, from the back garden to the front drive for example, barrows quickly become the slowest part of the job. A dumper moves it in far fewer trips.
- Tracked dumpers run on rubber tracks, which spread their weight. They suit soft ground, lawns, slopes and narrow access.
- Hi-tip dumpers lift the load and tip it at height. They suit loading straight into a skip or onto a vehicle, without shovelling everything twice.
When you need both
Most groundwork jobs need both: the digger digs and loads, and the dumper carries. Hired together, they keep each other busy, which is where the real time saving comes from.
Questions to answer before you book
- How wide is the narrowest point between the road and the work area?
- What is the ground like on the way in: lawn, paving, gravel, mud?
- Where is the spoil going: a heap, a skip, or away from site altogether?
- Do you know where buried pipes and cables run? Check utility plans or a free search service such as LinesearchbeforeUdig before any digging.
- How many days will you need the machine?
Talk it through with us
Absolute Waste & Hire hires out mini diggers and dumpers from our own fleet, and because we are a licensed waste carrier, we can take the spoil away at the end too. See mini digger hire and dumper hire, or call 07301 880665 and tell us about the job.