If you’ve got a lot of digging to do and don’t want to do it by hand, you may be looking for plant hire. Excavators come in a range of sizes from 1-tonne mini diggers to 14-tonne swing shovels. The size of your project and access can play a pivotal role in what you choose. With this in mind, we’ve created this step-by-step guide on how to hire a mini digger, to help facilitate an efficient, cost-effective job.
Step One: Measure Your Access
Before you begin, measuring the access to your property is essential. This includes the delivery location, gateways, doorways, and any other areas it will need to enter. The importance of this lies in the size of the plant you hire. Different weights have different dimensions. For example, a micro digger could fit if you need to enter a barn through a doorway. However, if you hire a 1.5-tonne mini digger without considering this, you may find you can’t carry out the work without changing excavators.
Step Two: Decide On A Size
Now that you know how big your access is, you can rule out any plant hire with dimensions larger than your entranceways. If you have a lot of space, and access isn’t a problem, then consider the job at hand. If you’re carrying out earthworks in a field with no cables or drainage around, you could hire a bigger machine to make short work of the problem. However, if you’ll need to dig delicately in a garden where sewage, mains electric and other services are present, you may be better off with a smaller mini digger.
Step Three: Find An Operator
To operate a mini digger on private property, you’ll require knowledge and experience, or a CPCS Excavator license. If you have one of these yourself, then there’s no issue. Additionally, if a groundworks crew are carrying out the work for you, then they’ll have competent operators to use the mini digger. However, if you’re not confident doing this work and you don’t want to hire a building company to operate the excavator, then you can enquire with your local business. At Corley Plant Hire, we offer experience operators as an addition to all machinery hires.
Step Four: Locate Any Services
When hiring plant, it’s crucial to understand the location of your services. Sewage, electricity, and gas are both dangerous and expensive to work recklessly with. If you don’t know there’s a mains electric cable or gas line running through your property, you could cause damage that risks the safety of everyone nearby and cost yourself a hefty repair bill. You can see where any of these cables may lie by visiting the National Underground Asset Register.
Step Five: Contact A Plant Hire Company
Now that you’ve decided on the size and measured access, found an operator and searched for local utilities, it’s time to hire your mini digger. We recommend finding a business that offers excavators in good condition, with cost-effective delivery fees and competitive prices. You can look at reviews online and discuss the experience with previous customers to get a good idea of whether a company is reputable.
Choose Corley Plant Hire LTD for Professional Mini Digger Hire
At Corley Plant Hire, we’ve got over 80 years of experience in the industry. What’s more, we’re a family business with CSCS & CPA accreditations which means we can offer you a free quote with expert advice and competitive prices. Get in touch with us to find out more today.
